Quotes from Kate Nash

I got into punk at 17 after discovering an all-girl band from Long Island on the Internet called The Devotchkas - four crazy-looking girls with fast, driving basslines and high-pitched gang vocals who shared the same dress sense as the punks I used to eye up curiously in Camden.

One day when I was 14 I put together a makeshift CV and walked into this weird boutique in Pinner, near where I lived, to ask if they needed a Saturday assistant. They didn't, but the owner took me on anyway.

British summers give me a really happy feeling.

Listening to Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna gave me the confidence I needed to get up on stage and be photographed every night on tour.

I'll always be playing shows. Even when I'm a crazy granny wearing weird old granny clothes and wandering around with dementia, I'll still be playing. Whether anyone else will turn up is another question.

I love any excuse to dress up; my wardrobe's a bit like a fancy dress box.

I had heart surgery when I was 17.

My biggest crush when I was 13 was Leonardo DiCaprio. After I watched 'Titanic' I was completely in love with him.

When I was young I was listening to the Spice Girls and Destiny's Child. I was singing 'Independent Woman' and 'Survivor,' and it was all about Girl Power and being with your friends. I don't think I was singing, 'Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?'

Punk may have helped me find my voice and made me realise that I had the right to have one, but it was riot grrrl that helped me sustain that voice and shout a little louder.

Jealousy is not a nice feeling, I hate feeling jealous. But if you can admit it and laugh at yourself, then that's a good way of dealing with your feelings.

People have said I'm too fat to be a pop star.

A woman's body and a woman's image is a very political thing, so I trust another woman to understand what that's like and how to portray it in a way people can relate to.

Being a person is really hard, obviously depending on your background for some people it can be much harder, but mental health and how we feel about ourselves is so key to changing the world in a positive way.

The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players are the most wonderful creatures.

I never do anything just to be crude or in your face.

You have to be cynical because this is a business. Everyone is making money out of you.

Hair is so important and emotional. I dyed mine black and blond after a breakup - there's something really powerful about changing your hair when you're in a weird place.

Sometimes it's funny for me to just pretend I'm a movie character, and think what would you do if this was a movie? Or, what would you do if you were one of your icons?

Even though I'm super into tarot and astrology, I don't believe in knowing too much about the future.

My parents would, like, argue in front of us and it wasn't a big deal, whereas I know some people's parents who, if they argued, it was like, 'Oh, my God.'

My mum's got morals and principles, and I've been brought up with those ideas and beliefs.

It's really important to be a strong role model. It's one of my main things because I feel I've been exposed in such an extreme way to a lot of sexism.

I've got quite bushy eyebrows and brown eyes.