Quotes from Michelle Zauner

So chess is kind of this nice thing that I have no real aspiration for. It's just a frivolous thing I can enjoy.

One thing that I really love about making records is that you can flow through fiction and non-fiction but, ultimately, everything's a commentary on real life in some way.

One thing that's nice about writing a book about food is - unless it's from a specific place - you can revisit things easily by preparing the dish. The sensory detail that comes from interacting with that is something that can be recreated pretty easily.

I don't think a lot of Korean people even make kimchi. My mom certainly didn't, so it's a very extra thing to do in the same way that I guess baking bread can be an even longer process that you're unsure about for a long time.

Maybe it's because I'm an only child or just an extroverted person, and I'm a kind of a ham, you know?

I think with any art making, there's a sense of urgency that you have for people to understand you.

You know, I never went to music school, and it's always seen as this very proper, serious thing to compose a string arrangement.

I knew that I wanted my third album to be the most drama and the strongest foot forward - every muscle flexing and using all the tools that you have in the toolbox.

I'd always struggled with being a very depressed and anxious person in high school. If I had let that kind of dark moment consume me, I wouldn't be able to climb out of it. So I became a bit of a shark.

I think that 'Psychopomp' is very much a Eugene, Oregon record.

I feel so overwhelmed by the kind of double hitter of a successful book and record. I just assumed at least one of them... would hopefully stick. So it's nice that both did so well.

There was a couple weeks when I was like, I'm going vegan and gluten free. Then I was trying all these weird diets because I think there was this element of control over my surroundings that that gave me.

I've been working with my stylist for a long time, Cece Liu. We've gone from buying and returning clothing, to this point where maybe finally a designer will dress me without me having to buy and return it.

I feel like it's a really natural part of writing: You lose perspective, and you have to let it go sometimes in order to come back to it and see that it's pretty alright.

My dad and I actually don't speak anymore. It's still something that I'm trying to figure out and I definitely don't have all of the answers to.

When I write a song, that process is sort of entwined with a lyric or a chord progression that suits the vibe, and that'll work off each other.

I grew up playing video games, since I was probably five years old.

I never thought I would be able to play in Seoul, the city where my mother was raised and I was born, and I was able to perform for my aunt.

Being a caretaker for someone who's dying was really, really hard at 25.

Sometimes I can really agonize over a creative project and forget that it's essentially professional play, you know?

I was a late bloomer when it came to reading. My parents didn't really read. Neither one of my parents went to college. I did not grow up with any literature in the house at all.