Quotes from Olly Alexander

Blackpool is a hilarious place. It's kind of like the Las Vegas of the U.K. It's by the sea and there's a lot of casinos and resorts.

When I meet gay kids and they know who we are, I remember that's amazing because literally every gay person in every gay story I knew growing up was doomed to die. There weren't any positive gay stories and it's incredible that has changed.

For a long time - when we first started getting a much higher level of attention - I really struggled with feeling like I was letting people down. Because when you do a show, there are, like, a hundred fans waiting to see you afterwards, and sometimes you can't see them.

Let's let our men be happy, be sad, be trans, be questioning, be bisexual, be non-conforming, be feminine, be masculine!

We could perform in space or be the first band to play moon, but we want to be the first 'Star Wars' band.

I was a fan of Belle and Sebastian. I didn't really know a lot of their music - I only knew the kind of bigger songs because I had a friend, when I was younger, who was really into them. But I have always really respected Belle and Sebastian for what they are, what they do. Yeah, they're just great.

My mum listened to stuff like Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos, but she also listened to a lot of '80s stuff like Heart. I still quite like Heart.

At 13 I taught myself piano from an old song book, and Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' was the first song I learned.

When I was a bit younger, I loved Rufus Wainwright - just the fact that he existed.

I think there's strength in being honest and open about yourself and your struggles. But it can also be a challenge. This is my life, I live with my own mental health, and that is happening to me every day. I can talk about it from a position of 'Oh, I've done this' but I'm still living that existence.

I get trolled. The usual stuff - sometimes it's homophobic, like gay hate.

When I was younger I thought that if you were famous and successful, it would mean that you just felt happy all the time. That you would become, like, this mystical creature that people just adored. And so you would adore yourself.