61 Quotes by Laura Mvula

I write songs from the heart, and I don’t hold back.

You don’t have to aim to be the best of everything, thinking that one day you’re going to be the top of the world; I don’t think it exists.

I remember listening to Miles Davis in the car with my dad. I had just done my Grade 5 piano exam, and I was quite cocky. I said, ‘It sounds like he’s played the wrong note there.’ I remember the look of horror on my dad’s face, and thinking, ‘Wow, I have to figure out why that is not acceptable.’

I respect hippos. They just look the way they do; they can’t do anything about it, but they don’t seem bothered.

I always said when I was younger, I wanted to write film music, and I think that’s what my ultimate dream is.

Taxi drivers used to ask me what kind of music I did, and I’d say, ‘Well, it’s kind of jazz, soul, classical’ – but that makes no sense to anyone.

I don’t talk about Amy Winehouse as a ‘singer.’ She’s a pioneer. I listened to her endlessly when I started writing.