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The word theatrical makes me cringe, because it suggests a performance is staged, put on, rehearsed. And while all this is true for an opera, I believe the act of singing and performing should always be honest, raw, guttural.

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
Word
Suggests
Makes
Theatrical
True
Opera
Believe
Performing
Always
Performance
Guttural
Performances
Staged
Singing
Rehearsed
Honest
Cringe

More quotes by Zola Jesus

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I don't know why people think I'm a Goth - that's a misconception.
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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.
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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.
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And my music is always such a release of what I feel inside, an impulse.
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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.
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No matter what you do, if there's something you're afraid of, you need to break through it.
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I know for sure that nothing matters.
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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.
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When you fall in love, you become weak.
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I don't find much influence in opera. It was such a different part of me.
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I think I'm making music that's pretty universal.
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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.
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I try to create songs that are really massive and intense, but at the same time remaining honest and raw.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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There can only be one Queen Bey.
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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