Amanda Palmer
Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer, sometimes known as Amanda Fucking Palmer, is an American singer-songwriter who first rose to prominence as the lead singer, pianist, and lyricist/composer of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She has had a successful solo career, is also one-half of the duo Evelyn Evelyn, and is the lead singer and songwriter of Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth30 April 1976
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
If you stuck me in a room and gave me art-making tools but told me no one would ever see the results, I don't think I'd have much desire to make art. What I do comes from a deep desire to be seen and to see others.
There are so many people, so many artists, so many magazines, so many theater companies, so many people trying to raise money for so many things that it's easy to look around and just feel powerless or helpless, because even if you have some resources, you can't help everybody.
I never wanted to grow a thicker skin; I felt a real sense of pride in my thin skin, and in a weird way, I still do, because it's my thin skin that allows me to empathize with other people. It's the thing that allows me to create vulnerable art. It's the thing that allows me to create other feelings and make songs that actually grab people and touch people. I feel like I've spent my life fighting that thicker skin because I don't want to become an embittered asshole.
On many days, harder than the act of making the art itself is the act of sharing it and living in a culture that you know is built to tear you down.
I kind of rely on my artist friends to make my physical music worth buying by having them all come together and create beautiful artwork that everyone is gonna want to own to support my record.
I've watched so many women, from Kathleen Hanna all the way up to Taylor Swift, whether they're pop artists or rock stars or fine artists or writers, it is the subhistory of female artists that if you're going to make art, you're also going to have a full-time job of defending your right to make art.
You are an artist when you make someone feel something deep and unexpected.
Life as it should be: all friends, all art, all music, all love, all the time.
I firmly believe in music being as free as possible. Unlocked. Shared and spread. In order for artists to survive and create, their audiences need to step up and directly support them.
The impulse to connect the dots - and to share what you've connected - is the urge that makes you an artist
It would nice to live in a world where art can just be art!
I had very literal parents and I wanted to survive with metaphor and art, and there was a real sense of shame around it.
When you're an artist, nobody ever tells you or hits you with the magic wand of legitimacy. You have to hit your own head with your own handmade wand. And you feel stupid doing it.
I think performance art comes from a simple place of wanting to express things beyond just sound.