Yukimi Nagano quotes:

One of my strict, strict rules is a no auto-tune policy.

I feel like I'm still learning a lot with writing lyrics. In the beginning, like the first record, I wasn't so aware.

I was really into R&B and stuff like that, so I really wanted to sing like Faith Evans or Mariah Carey. But I definitely don't have the skills to sing like that.

Swedes, compared to Americans, can seem a little cold and introverted.

I really like our studio. It's definitely not in any way slick; it's very homemade, literally. Everyone has their own room to produce and write, and [there's a] big rehearsal space.

Gothenburg's definitely a music city as well, but I think just because of the weather - it's so cold and miserable - people stay in. Coming to the States and going into the store and people are like, "Hi, can I help you?" - I'm not used to people randomly talking to me that I don't know.

A tiny detail can make you feel completely different. I feel different if I wear something that I'm slightly uncomfortable in.

I didn't really like jazz that much and was unhappy in that genre. It was what I was doing just to get by and pay rent.

I don't write hits. If you just open that door, you're going to get a hit.

I find it a little stressful when you're in a really nice studio and you feel time ticking and the bill getting higher.

I've worked with a lot of different producers, a lot of different writers on the album, so I mostly feel like I learned a lot about what I don't want to do the next time around.

Most of the producers I work with are decent mixers. We'll wind up in these spots where I'll get the mix back and I'll put a few more pieces of production together and send it back to the mixer. It's so easy to change the entire perspective of the song by changing the mix.

My lesson from that [songwriting process] was that I should go back to where I was and try to make that first pure even more strong.

Now you know you're going to have to play music for the label, you know you're going to have to get an opinion from the manager. Now, I'm so much more conscious and it bothers me. I try to find my way back to writing without being too analytical or not thinking about whether this is good or is it bad.

You write music for yourself and if you just open that door and let people in, the audience is going to grow and it's going to become more accessible.