'It's really tough to make a name for yourself without compromising and without fitting yourself into a real specific mold. When I made the choice that I would be involved in every aspect of music and not necessarily make music for radio or MTV, I was saying, 'OK, this is me. You decide who it is.' '

'I wanted to experiment with that live energy, to push myself a little. It's very much about having intimacy with the music. I love theater - and I love playin…

'I just have to feel it first. It can't be cerebral at all. I'm big on lyrics, a big lyric person, especially the kind of singing I do. It's hard to sound not …

'When I make an album I take a lot of risks. I ignore the trends of the moment and one of the things I have to think of when making an album like this is the h…

'RCA wanted a sweetheart kind of girl. Trust me, it's fights, always fights, just to be myself.'

'The only film I ever made for money was something called Music From Another Room, which I really didn't like.'

I had a year where I sat around on my butt and declined generous offers to do more teen movies and more of the same characters as the one from 10 Things. I was…