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I started performing opera when I was 10 years old. I didn't perform as Zola Jesus until I was probably 18.

Zola Jesus

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Zola Jesus
Age: 35
Born: 1989
Born: April 11
Composer
Recording Artist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Songwriter
Phoenix
Arizona
Nika Roza Danilova
Nicole Rose Hummel
Nika Rosa Danilova
Opera
Perform
Performing
Started
Probably
Jesus
Didn
Years
Zola

More quotes by Zola Jesus

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As a child, I was always making sound it was a compulsion. I loved to scream and yell and sing it freed me from all the thoughts in my head. I begged for opera lessons because opera singing is the most formidable, most emotional way to use your voice.
Zola Jesus
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Everything I do is a reflection of the duality within me. Musically, I really love things that are very synthetic and unnatural. And I also like the organic and human... the intrinsic, I guess.
Zola Jesus
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I guess something people wouldn't expect me to listen to are artists like Alicia Keys. But she is so incredibly talented. She has this huge voice and great work ethic, which I really respect in an artist. She is also very humble and gracious and devoted to her skill.
Zola Jesus
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I feel like humans are a disease. It's a hard thing to communicate in a pop song. I mean, who wants to hear that?
Zola Jesus
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True expression is hard when performing opera. The problem is that opera relies on the dramatic context of the piece. It can be interpreted and represented, but there are guidelines there is a vocabulary within the pieces that you must know objectively and reflect.
Zola Jesus
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No matter what you do, if there's something you're afraid of, you need to break through it.
Zola Jesus
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My music started as a way to break through weaknesses - like anxiety, which was completely taking over my whole life, where I could barely function.
Zola Jesus
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I like to remind myself that everything is meaningless.
Zola Jesus
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I don't know why people think I'm a Goth - that's a misconception.
Zola Jesus
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There can only be one Queen Bey.
Zola Jesus
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The greatest benefit of being a solo performer is that it is seriously frightening, but at the same time very empowering. It's just you and the audience. All the weight is on you to deliver the songs.
Zola Jesus
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I think I'm making music that's pretty universal.
Zola Jesus
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A lot of times I have the song inside of me and I have to fight to get it out. I'm a very visual person, so I can see the song but I can't hear it. But I think that if your music becomes a war for it to happen, in the end there's a certain kind of aggression in the music. And I think that's a lot more interesting.
Zola Jesus
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It sounds kind of stupid, but I've never not wanted to be a musician. It's been inside me since I was little so I don't know what else I would do.
Zola Jesus
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When you fall in love, you become weak.
Zola Jesus
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And my music is always such a release of what I feel inside, an impulse.
Zola Jesus
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The only reason I would write a break-up song is because my own problem of allowing myself to relate to people.
Zola Jesus
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People don't really understand who I am. They always think that I'm very dark or depressed, but it couldn't be further from the truth!
Zola Jesus
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I try to create songs that are really massive and intense, but at the same time remaining honest and raw.
Zola Jesus
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I feel like I am alone when I am in the presence of those I love. It is so freeing and comfortable, you become one with them.
Zola Jesus