Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The first artist I really loved was Stevie Wonder. That opened the doors to other soul singers like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.
Blackpool is a hilarious place. It's kind of like the Las Vegas of the U.K. It's by the sea and there's a lot of casinos and resorts.
My lyrics are about same-sex relationships, because that's who I am. It was important to me that I felt comfortable expressing myself.
I was obsessed with Jeff Buckley for a while - I was convinced that Jeff Buckley and I were communicating with each other through time.
Everyone has a different definition of what they find sexy, so why do we so often get given one version of what sexy is time and time again?
I think the word 'twink' is pejorative. There's something endemic about the gay community where we praise masculinity more than anything else.
The majority of the film industry is, like, obsessed with a ridiculous gender binary and keeping with this stupid social binary. Like, who cares?
My mum listened to stuff like Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos, but she also listened to a lot of '80s stuff like Heart. I still quite like Heart.
My dad had been very absent, even when he was there. Then he left the family and moved away. Our relationship, it feels to me, ended when I was 13.
I don't know if there's ever a point where you go, 'Oh, I'm successful now. Look at all this great stuff I've done,' because I don't think it can be tangible in that way.
So many queer people come out constantly for the rest of their lives, ya know? To the people they work with, to people in taxi cabs. Whatever it is, it isn't the one day.
I'm the person I am because of all the support we have but inside there is still a scared, gay kid, worried he's going to get bullied and people aren't going to like what I do.
What's great about being gay is that you can celebrate all types of sexualities, because we understand that being queer means you might also be gender nonconforming or bi or whatever.
We used to have quirky weird bands that made dance music like the Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode and I think people have still got an appetite for that type of music-melody and darkness.
I hear bands say they don't know what country they are in at times. Now I understand because we sleep at weird times and are always in different places - but I'm not moaning. It's all fun.
I grew up loving artists like the Spice Girls and Britney Spears - artists who seemed to live this fantasy lifestyle, and I remember always wanting to join these fantasy people in that world.
I like how it presented this contradiction because traditionally gay people have been shut out from the church, so 'Sanctify' was claiming a bit of that back and saying, 'My sexuality is holy.'
I genuinely do want the world to change in a positive way, but I wouldn't call myself an activist, you know? I'm an entertainer who engages with activism because it feels really meaningful for me.
School was like a hostile place. I just hated being at school. I think some people really thrive in that environment. I was a good student, but I just didn't enjoy school. I found it really tough.
Dating shows should exist for people who aren't straight. They're out there, there aren't enough of them. Whether you try and squeeze a format that already works into something else. I don't know.'
Now, to be a mainstream act, you have to be firing on all cylinders on so many different platforms. You've got to have a social media voice. You've got to do promo on TV. You've got to tour everywhere.
My mum's super Labour, and my gran. We all love Jeremy Corbyn in the family. Those are very deep roots and I feel like I could never not vote for Labour. Or I could never vote for the Tories because of that.
If you look at pop stars through the ages, we've had camp, glam popstars from the 80s - your George Michaels and what have you - but then people went back to the closet a bit, and became more homogenised and generic.
When I was younger I thought that if you were famous and successful, it would mean that you just felt happy all the time. That you would become, like, this mystical creature that people just adored. And so you would adore yourself.
When I meet gay kids and they know who we are, I remember that's amazing because literally every gay person in every gay story I knew growing up was doomed to die. There weren't any positive gay stories and it's incredible that has changed.
If you're making something tangible, whether it's clothing, a song, a piece of art... when you create something that's outside of yourself you take a bit of the pain and it's released, you let it out a little bit. That's my Oprah Winfrey moment.
I always had really, really bad nightmares, like night terrors or whatever they're called. I used to wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to move... I'd hallucinate and have really scary visions and dreams, so I wouldn't want to sleep.
I've done bits of writing for other people but when I'm writing music as Years & Years, I'm using my life and my stories and my experiences. I want it to be authentic and real but also to work as a pop song - I never want to just put in a cheesy line.
With anxiety and depression, what's been most helpful to me has been learning a toolbox - a set of skills I can use when I'm in periods of low mood or feel an anxiety attack coming on. When Years & Years took off it felt like I needed that toolbox really quickly.
I get to do my own thing with music. I get to write the songs and sing the songs. As an actor, you have to do what someone else tells you to do and say someone else's words. And you're limited by the way you look and music is just more rewarding creatively for me.
For a long time - when we first started getting a much higher level of attention - I really struggled with feeling like I was letting people down. Because when you do a show, there are, like, a hundred fans waiting to see you afterwards, and sometimes you can't see them.
Most of the pop videos I've seen that have any male/female interaction are usually centered around a romance - and that's great, I am all for romance. But let's face it, there are a lot of other sexualities and identities that are well-deserving of some shiny pop video love.
We are traumatized by growing up in a world that doesn't really accept us. Obviously, we've made great leaps and bounds, but I think there's a tendency to force a narrative onto queer people that once you come out... you have to be really happy and really successful and proud all the time.
I was a fan of Belle and Sebastian. I didn't really know a lot of their music - I only knew the kind of bigger songs because I had a friend, when I was younger, who was really into them. But I have always really respected Belle and Sebastian for what they are, what they do. Yeah, they're just great.
I think there's strength in being honest and open about yourself and your struggles. But it can also be a challenge. This is my life, I live with my own mental health, and that is happening to me every day. I can talk about it from a position of 'Oh, I've done this' but I'm still living that existence.
There was just this stage where I realised that people were listening to what I was saying and I could actually say something I believe in and, like... why wasn't I doing that? It's not because I think I have a responsibility as a pop star or whatever; it's because I think I have a responsibility as a human being.
The word queer first started being used in the late 1980s by members of the community who wanted to reclaim something negative and turn it into a positive. It's still a painful word for some, and lots of people don't identify with it. But for me it's a helpful and empowering term that unifies an ever-growing community.