New Zealander Quotes

There is nothing likely to get you a bigger headline than attacking your own party.

We live at the edge of the world, so we live on the edge. Kiwis will always sacrifice money and security for adventure and challenge.

We actually did quite a lot of comedy on 'Xena'. The whole show was very tongue-in-cheek.

My plan is to shock people with what I can do, because I've got a few sides to me that I've never used on screen.

I was black and blue for about two years, but it's paid off tremendously. You know, if you get enough whacks, your reflexes pick up, and I've become quite good - if somebody throws keys or something, I can catch them.

I get to do all these really nice, little culty things. It seems to be the world that keeps inviting me back.

I am waiting for a sign that will indicate to me what meaning I must give to my life, but right now my existence is satisfactory.

For the first time in my life, I put my body and reputation on the line to stand up for my beliefs and do the right thing. I hope I've encouraged other people to do the same.

Treat everyone the same until you find out they're an idiot.

When I was a child in the 1940s and early 1950s, my parents and grandparents spoke of Britain as home, and New Zealand had this strong sense of identity and coherence as being part of the commonwealth and a the identity of its people as being British.

It's definitely going to be harder than it sounds to acquire millions of users in the U.S. It's going to be a lot of work, and you can't make light of that.

If you have a little extra parking, I err on the side of getting rid of it in favor of having some more greenery.

I see the great continuities in New Zealand history as being decency and common sense and up until now when we've confronted these things we've been able to talk them through, and I'm sure we will with this issue as well.

Big media companies have lots of money and content, but they have no way to tap into a good base of users.

A huge change has taken place in my lifetime.

You can get really left of centre influences in mainstream pop. Michael Jackson and Prince are some of the most progressive artists ever if you actually dissect their songs there's some crazy stuff going on.

When you work on an album for three and a half years, you're kind of ready for it to get out there. To have your songs reach people.

There's a vulnerability in music but you've also got to protect your sacred place and have a place you can still retire to that no one else knows about. So that's a thing I just try to balance.

The fun of being in the pop world is you can really play with people's perceptions of what the word pop means.

People like Jeff Buckley, the Mars Volta and Bjork made me listen to music differently. You learn the voice is an instrument you can do crazy things with.

Obviously I don't really go to church any more - no time.

My process is to be by myself when I record. It's quite an emotional performance to pull off when someone else is in the room. I prefer to go away and have my own time with it, bring it in later.

It's a really cool time for artists who want to strive for a little more depth in what they want to say to come forward. We live in a very fast world right now. We've got all this media and music which is so accessible to us, it's here one minute gone the next.

It feels like it's just starting in America and the UK. It's great to have a loyal fanbase in Australia and New Zealand. People in America say how polished our band are, but that didn't happen overnight; that came from doing all this touring back home.

I'm turning 22, so I want to start getting into work that reflects where I'm at in life now.

I'm thinking about a few weeks in Montreal to work with a producer I met there.

I'm so fascinated by the human longing for meaning. The way we relate romantically to each other is so much to do with our longing for meaning as well.

I'm not very funny!

I want to be the kind of artist who keeps pushing on every album. I don't want to settle on a sound.

I think 'SNL' is so well-known for its musical performances, as well, and people really breaking into America through a really great performance on there. So I think me and Gotye are both really excited to be amongst such company. You know, it's great.