I've been in the songwriting circuit as well. I've been in a couple writing camps where there are seven top writers or whatever, and they're writing songs for a young girl or a young guy that are coming up, and they're kind of nuts.

Not to get mushy, but I realized after talking to my parents what absolute guts they must have had to let their teenage daughter be in a rock band, play in bars, do all of that.

What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves. We don't pay a whole lot of attention to any type of judgment that we might get from outside people. I think that comes from growing up onstage.

It's important for people to realize that music is gender-less. We are proving that every single day. On this tour, there are more women than men in the audience, and it's beautiful to see these girls own these hard-rock moments.

I was really lucky that I came to puberty at a time when music and politics were completely intertwined.

When feminism does not explicitly oppose racism, and when anti-racism does not incorporate opposition to patriarchy, race and gender politics often end up being antagonistic to each other, and both interests lose.

I think politics is an incredibly noble and fulfilling enterprise, and it's the best way to do the most good for the most people.

I cannot think of any venture I have initiated where an earlier failure wasn't an important precursor to an eventual success.