Quotes from Banks

Femininity can be a powerful thing.

When I'm writing, it's the weirdest thing: it's not even a conscious process. I'm not even thinking when I write, and then all of a sudden, I'll have a song that makes me feel so much better than I did before.

With 'Someone New', I was at my rawest, and I didn't want to cover it up. And same with 'You Should Know' and 'Under the Table.' I wanted it to be the lyrics and the chord progressions, and the intricacies of the guitar of 'Someone New' are so delicate, sometimes that's all you need.

My identity started developing through the songs I was writing.

I'm very moody, so I dress for whatever mood I'm in. Sometimes I want to be a little more boyish and flowy and comfortable. Sometimes I want to feel a little sexier and more composed.

I just think it looks so cool when a woman has a dirty martini. She looks so powerful.

Once I discovered how important writing music was to me and just what a huge weight it lifted off of me, I knew that it was going to be the biggest part of my life, the biggest love of my life, the biggest thing in my life.

I want people to feel the times where they don't feel good. You should dive into those emotions, because that's what I do with my music.

I tend to wear all black. I like feeling sexy, feminine, effortless, and real.

Being brave enough to just be unapologetic for who you are, that's a goddess.

I always say my music is like dark blue or black, like a punch to your gut that feels really good.

The most personal thing about me is my music. The most honest, pure thing in my whole life.

Every human is so layered. And 'Brain,' that theme is about - I'm just such a sensitive person, and I can pick up people's energies.

What people would qualify as R&B is, for me, just soul. And I love honesty and soul and heavy, crunchy beats that move you and make you breathe a little bit faster.

I think doing things that scare you a little is a good thing. A little bit of fear is never a bad thing. A healthy amount of fear makes everything taste better.

I have a very feminine voice when I write, a very womanly point of view. My last name feels strong and powerful. To me, it's almost a bit masculine. I like the dichotomy of the two. Two sides perfectly represented within my name.

Music is almost like a therapy for me. It helps keep me centered and think straight. Before I discovered it, I was walking around, and it felt like there were 25 extra pounds of gravity on my shoulders. It's like you're mute or something.

I like rap. I like anything with soul. I like anything you can feel, anything that makes you think that the artist had to make that song, or they were going to go crazy.

I know every line to 'The Little Rascals.'

I love grey. My mom told me that when I was younger, I would get mildly depressed when it was grey all the time. I'd be darker when it was dark out. But as an adult, I really love it.

'Before I Ever Met You' was the first one to come out and that just dives into the grit, and it's pretty graphic about a relationship. For my first song, it was very special the way it happened, because I didn't really hold anything back, and people responded to it.

I really believe that if you want something bad enough, and you work so hard to get it, and you have it inside, then if you just never stop, it's gonna happen.

Every artist is an artist, and every heartbeat is a heartbeat.

I think, probably when I was 15 or so, I was going through a really hard time with my family, and I just felt really helpless - I didn't know how to put anything I was feeling into words, and I was really confused, and I felt like nobody would hear me, but I didn't even know what to say.