“Getting ideas is addictive. I have to stop myself from having ideas sometimes, I have to be like ‘okay, no more ideas!'”

Her debut record LP1 took the breath away from the music world; and her live performances have earned her the reputation of a goddess. After a spellbinding set at Laneway Festival, fierce UK singer, director and producer FKA Twigs had a long and insightful chat with Ed Kirkwood on Mornings.

Twigs shared how her background shaped the performer she is today: from being a dance school dropout, a cabaret performer, a youth worker, and even aspiring punk singer…

“People find it hard to understand, but when I moved to London I got attracted to Camden… and that’s where the punk scene lives. I loved [punk music] but I couldn’t do it, like – my voice just doesn’t suit it. I would try and do it, but it wasn’t my voice, it was an act.

But I still can have that strength, I can still have that determination, I can still have that freedom and I can do whatever I want… And to me, that’s what punk is: it’s being able to express yourself.

It’s difficult to understand because people say to me like, “Oh, it’s r’n’b…” – to me, it’s not r’n’b music because to me, I’m just doing whatever I want. To me, I’m taking sounds that were from an electronic music scene in the ’80s, like from Kraftwerk, I’m taking industrial sounds, I’m recording sounds on my phone from London and I’m making that into my drum beat; I record drips and I record knocks and I make that into my music… The only thing I can’t control is my voice, but my voice is my voice. That’s how it is.”

More interviews in the FBi Guestbook

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More Laneway 2015:

Interview with St Vincent

Interview with Benjamin Booker

Laneway takeover: Courtney Barnett, Dune Rats, Raury, Future Islands & more

Interview with Angel Olsen