Sharon Van Etten

The only thing that's helped me get through some really hard times was just being able to write and express - it's very cathartic for me. I'm hoping that, by writing and performing for other people, it affects them the same way.

I'm getting bored performing the same songs over and over. Songwriting comes and goes.

I've always been really shy. I was always afraid of any kind of confrontation.

You write these vulnerable songs as a sort of therapy, but if you don't confront people on a daily basis, it's not reality. There's still a bit of separation there.

Half of my anxiety is about whether people are going to like me.

I guess I usually write when I'm in a really intense headspace, because it's my form of self-therapy.

When I write, it's to heal. It's my own self-therapy so that I don't actually feel sad all of the time.

I love being domestic: making coffee, just putting on a record, and just sitting, not doing anything. It's so great.

On first listen, it's nice to just soak up the sound without thinking about what it means. It's like a relationship. Records I've had for years mean more to me now than they did years ago.

Relationships. Ugh. You have to laugh sometimes.

I would love to work with PJ Harvey some day.

People always ask me, 'Why do you only write about heartbreak?' I think I only write when I'm broken, so that's just what happens. It makes me feel better, but having some distance helps.