Tove Lo quotes:

At first, my bedroom had flowers and yellow walls and huge furniture in plastic that was orange and green - and furry green bed cover and everything. Then, I think the day I turned 13, I painted the walls black and put Kurt Cobain on the wall and just changed everything into a dark theme.

I am an open book, and I'm fine being me: I'm not a perfect person.

The very first song I ever wrote was a song called 'Crazy' when I was 11 or 12 with my best girlfriends - we had a girl band. It was about loving a guy who everyone else thought you were crazy for being into.

I think there's always a bit of pain in everything that's ecstatic - relationships and love, they always come with pain.

We lived by the water, and I was a pretty normal kid until my teenage years; then I dyed my hair pink and spiraled out of control.

If you say, 'I listen to pop,' you picture this kind of perfect, colorful, polished song. I want to have that, but when you open it, you see this gritty dark - kind of like dancing your tears away. Disguise the sadness in a pop beat.

I thought 'Twinkies' was just a word for 'cookies,' not a specific thing. They kind of scare me a little bit because they last forever.

I've always liked music that has a darker vein to it. I come from such a safe upbringing - very stable, classic family, everything's nice and good - I was always looking for something different.

When I play a song for someone the first time, if I make 'em laugh, I think, 'Yes, I've succeeded.'

I'm always exhausted after a show, even if it's just half an hour.

I knew when I went to a very hippie high school that focused on music that I wanted to do something in the industry.

Singing gives me a lot of energy.

A rock star is expected to act like a mess, sound like a mess and look like a mess. People don't expect you to show up on time and be a professional. But when you're a pop star, you have to do all that, look perfect and be a role model.

Both my best and my worst habit is that I'm very impulsive.

I wanted to write about relationships in a more honest, raw sort of way. Get away from all those cliches about how 'time heals' and how you can be the better person. Less sugar-coating and more 'feel the pain.'

When people like your music because it has vulnerable honesty, and you're able to comfortably admit to flaws and imperfections, then that's the most liberating thing about being an artist.

My dream was never to become this unattainable star.

There are some nights where I don't get enough sleep, or we're traveling a lot. And then I'll go do a radio show, and the DJs are usually so energetic. And they're like, 'Why aren't you excited?' I say, 'I am excited. I'm just Swedish. This is my excited. I can't get to an American excitement level.'

I was always drawn to the self-destructive kind of way. I thought there was something beautiful about it; I don't know why.

I can't live just being content. I can't have a routine. I can't be settled because then I just get really frustrated.

A good song stays in your head because it's catchy, a great song stays because it means something to you.

It's OK to joke about yourself and have self-perspective, but, like, when you constantly put yourself down to get other people to tell you you're good, that annoys me. Have confidence!

I'm from a fancy, well-raised background. We were very well-behaved and not allowed to swear. It's the kind of place where people hide their problems under the rug and pretend it's all perfect. Eventually, you get sick of that.

I've never grown into loving someone. It's, like, either right away or slowly sinks in.

In the same way that I'm open when I speak, I'm that open on stage. I feed off the energy of the audience, too, so they're feeling what I'm feeling.

The fact is, when you date an artist, you have to know that they're going to sing about you.

There was this lynx at a zoo that was called Tove, and that I totally fell in love with. It was my dear godmother who decided to call me Tove Lo, after that lynx. It stuck.

When I'm angry, like, if someone gets me really upset, whatever comes into my head, I scream it.

For me, everything that you're passionate about always comes with a little pain. That's how life is, and that's how I want to live it. I don't want it to be balanced and ordinary.

I want people to FEEL something... If it's sadness, anger, horny, happiness whatever! As long as it doesn't just pass you by.

I want the feeling where you don't really know what to do with yourself - in the vocals, in the production. Everything.

I'd love to come to New Zealand!! I've been to Australia a few times - I'm well aware it's not the same country. I've heard from people it's beautiful - great diving, music and no scary animals.

It's important to tell the artist's story. It's their song! And it's always more fun to write together with the artist!

My main inspirations are the people around me, heartbreaks, frustration and everything that makes you feel stronger than you should.

Sometimes it starts with a random lyric idea that sets the tone for the whole song. Chords and sounds build from the lyric and rhythm, kind of. Sometimes it's a track I fall I love with... but writing my own songs, I rarely write on tracks.

There's this cliché of always falling in love with the latest song, and I'm kind of like that.