Laura Mvula Quotes
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One of the things I haven't been ready for is how male-dominated the music industry is. I just didn't have a clue.
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I regrettably wasted time at university by being overwhelmed and intimidated by the talent of other composers. I felt stuck and didn't know what I was doing there. I enjoyed my experience, but I didn't grab it in the way I would now.
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You don't have to aim to be the best of everything, thinking that one day you're going to be the top of the world; I don't think it exists.
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I don't think I've ever been chatted up, and I don't think I've ever chatted anyone up. The Fresh Prince has the best chat-up lines.
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I grew up playing in youth orchestras, so they were my most treasured memories, so to be in front of an orchestra playing my own material would be incredible.
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Being a pop star is something I don't think I'm very good at. I'm worried it's making me too paranoid, because all of a sudden, life has become this constant assessment. When you put something out there and people get to hear it, then those people react to it, socially, culturally.
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My songs are very personal, which means they are fantastically therapeutic to write, but performing them night after night is emotionally draining.
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I always said when I was younger, I wanted to write film music, and I think that's what my ultimate dream is.
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I respect hippos. They just look the way they do; they can't do anything about it, but they don't seem bothered.
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I come from an African Caribbean background. I've been influenced by a reggae church music style, contemporary gospel, and rock all fused together.
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Taxi drivers used to ask me what kind of music I did, and I'd say, 'Well, it's kind of jazz, soul, classical' - but that makes no sense to anyone.
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My parents encouraged us to commit to things, so if we wanted to learn an instrument, it was all the grades and all the theory.
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I don't think I always look in people's faces, like, as - I think especially when I'm doing my more intimate songs that are quite personal, I always feel it's a bit accusing if I stare in someone's face when I singing quite a personal lyric.
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I love church buildings, particularly cathedrals, and I like living in spaces that remind me of music or evoke that creative energy.
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Teaching was my first job after leaving university. It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it. Some of the kids were disruptive, but I could deal with it because I was only 24 at the time, and my own school memories were still fresh.
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Limitlessness is important for me; I want to be able to use every opportunity to push me forward onto the next thing.
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London audiences have this reputation for being a bit too cool for school.
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It's important for any artist - particularly female artists - to feel completely comfortable and to know what they're trying to do.
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I've always had this passion to be creative, and wanted to sing or be in bands and make music, but I didn't have ideas as to what format it'd be, or how I'd do it. I'm not very good with plans. I didn't think it would be me at the front, either. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that was something I'd prevent.
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Topshop is one of my favourite shops, and I love shoes by Giuseppe Zanotti. There's a graduate fashion designer called Kate Falcus who makes me beautiful commissioned pieces - one of my favourites was the white Glastonbury dress she made me with the puffy skirt.
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Lots of people think I'm telling porky pies when I say how nervous I get about singing. I was good at working out how music was put together, and I was good at being at the back, but if you asked me to sing up front, then I looked like I was going to pass out.
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There was always a piano in the house when I was growing up - my dad played, and I thought it was cool - and when I was eight, I begged my parents to let me have lessons. After a couple of weeks, I wanted to give up, but my parents were very focused and made me keep going, which I'm very pleased about now.
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I like pastels and lighter shades on darker skins. I feel like it lifts everything and accentuates being chocolate.
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I envy those who can wear red lipstick or any bold lip colour, really. My top lip just doesn't seem to take colour - there's nothing I can do to change that, so I usually just use a nude on the bottom lip.