“I hate the term 'emo.' It turned into this genre of music, when all music, if yo…” — Sharon Van Etten

I'm not a down-in-the-dumps person. I think some people assume that I am because of the music I write.

My career is based off of me talking about my emotions.

I was pretty troubled for a long time. And I didn't know that. As a kid, I never talked about my emotions. My mom gave me a journal, but I didn't know what it meant. I just wrote all the time, not even thinking about it. But it also made me feel better.

My friends actually used to call me the 'Female Conor Oberst.' I got to open up with him once, and I told him about that, and he thought it was hilarious.