You want inspiration to come in a natural way and let it happen when it's going to happen. The last thing you want is this ghost looming over you saying "it has to be good" - remember that feeling of loving what you do, and don't let the business aspect murder that. It takes away the creativity for me.

Yukimi Nagano

Most of the producers I work with are decent mixers. We'll wind up in these spots where I'll get the mix back and I'll put a few more pieces of production together and send it back to the mixer. It's so easy to change the entire perspective of the song by changing the mix.

Yukimi Nagano

perspective song wind

A tiny detail can make you feel completely different. I feel different if I wear something that I'm slightly uncomfortable in.

Yukimi Nagano

tiny details different

You write music for yourself and if you just open that door and let people in, the audience is going to grow and it's going to become more accessible.

Yukimi Nagano

writing doors people

I think that kind of balance comes with the process of growing together as a band, the Little Dragon. We love to write, we love to create, we love to play live, and I think we love and appreciate what we have together. How that evolves, and how we balance it, is something that's come with time. At the start we were all like, "Tour tour tour. We just want to play. That's all we want to do."

Yukimi Nagano

appreciate writing thinking

One of my strict, strict rules is a no auto-tune policy.

Yukimi Nagano

auto-tune strict tunes

I've worked with a lot of different producers, a lot of different writers on the album, so I mostly feel like I learned a lot about what I don't want to do the next time around.

Yukimi Nagano

albums different want

Gothenburg's definitely a music city as well, but I think just because of the weather - it's so cold and miserable - people stay in. Coming to the States and going into the store and people are like, "Hi, can I help you?" - I'm not used to people randomly talking to me that I don't know.

Yukimi Nagano

cities talking thinking

If you listen too much to doubts you're totally lost.

Yukimi Nagano

doubt

Swedes, compared to Americans, can seem a little cold and introverted.

Yukimi Nagano

introverted cold littles

I really like our studio. It's definitely not in any way slick; it's very homemade, literally. Everyone has their own room to produce and write, and [there's a] big rehearsal space.

Yukimi Nagano

rehearsal space writing

I find it a little stressful when you're in a really nice studio and you feel time ticking and the bill getting higher.

Yukimi Nagano

getting-high nice littles

Keep at something even when you don't feel inspired. Don't wait for inspiration! I write a lot of songs that are terrible, in the hopes that one song that has something special comes out of it. Just stay at something, and write every day if you're writing lyrics.

Yukimi Nagano

inspiration writing song

My lesson from that [songwriting process] was that I should go back to where I was and try to make that first pure even more strong.

Yukimi Nagano

lessons strong trying

I don't write hits. If you just open that door, you're going to get a hit.

Yukimi Nagano

ifs writing doors

I feel like I'm still learning a lot with writing lyrics. In the beginning, like the first record, I wasn't so aware.

Yukimi Nagano

records writing firsts

It's always a bit risky, when you put yourself out there with somebody in a collaboration, but I think we learn things every single time, and we come out of it with a new perspective on writing because everyone's process is different. Unfortunately we don't always get to spend time in the studio with those artists - oftentimes it's just sending files online. But both can be liberating and productive in their own way. Some of the best collaborations happen when you're all in a room together.

Yukimi Nagano

artist writing thinking

Now you know you're going to have to play music for the label, you know you're going to have to get an opinion from the manager. Now, I'm so much more conscious and it bothers me. I try to find my way back to writing without being too analytical or not thinking about whether this is good or is it bad.

Yukimi Nagano

play writing thinking

I was really into R&B and stuff like that, so I really wanted to sing like Faith Evans or Mariah Carey. But I definitely don't have the skills to sing like that.

Yukimi Nagano

skills wanted stuff

I didn't really like jazz that much and was unhappy in that genre. It was what I was doing just to get by and pay rent.

Yukimi Nagano

jazz unhappy pay

To foster creativity, I think a little pressure can be good, but stress isn't good. Knowing that you have a defined window of time and you're going to dedicate your attention to it is a positive - but you can't think of it as needing a track that's going to change your life.

Yukimi Nagano

creativity stress thinking