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" When I was a teenager, I had a record company after me. They wanted me to be a pop act. They said they wanted me to be the next Sonia. I was 16 at the time. I said, 'No thank you.' "

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" In a way, I'm lucky that I was never classically trained and never went to a music college. I'm just from a normal working class family and happened to get obsessed with music as a teenager. "

Imelda May

Music

Lucky

Family

" I'm not comparing myself at all to him, but I like the idea that Ernest Hemingway always wrote about certain things he knew, he knew the ins and outs, back to fronts of what he was talking about. I love that as an inspiration for myself, to keep it true to what you know. "

" I got a great kick being in the Warner Bros. studios - that was really cool. I kept singing the 'Looney Tunes' theme song all day. I'm sure they haven't heard that one before. "

" I was brought up with old-fashioned values. I wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend until I finished school. I wasn't allowed to wear make-up: the nuns would scrub your face if they saw it. "

" I got my first leopard print coat when I was 15. I nearly got beat up, but I was happy with it. "

Imelda May

Happy

Got

" I had a big time punk-rock phase and psychobilly phase. I used to go mad for the Guana Batz. "

" I went to a Catholic all-girls school, and we would play cassettes of music we liked, and when it was my turn, they would laugh at my choices. I would play Billie Holliday, Elmore James and Howlin' Wolf, but it was fine; if I had to listen to their choices, they had to listen to mine. "

" I started gigging when I was about 16, and I was way too young to be in the clubs. "

" You have to change your life for yourself, and it's about the fun of getting there - sitting in the tour van, breaking down on the side of the road, you know, having a laugh with the guys in the band, making mistakes with nobody watching. "

" 'Love Tattoo' I recorded without a record company. I'd gotten turned down by the record companies - they said they didn't get me, which is fine, I suppose. "

Imelda May

Tattoo

Said

" I know exactly what it's like to not have a penny. I know exactly what it's like trying to get a job. I know exactly what it's like having bloody one tin of Ambrosia left in the cupboard. But I know I can survive. "

" I'm not a feminist that hates men by any means. "

" I started singing in church with my sister Maria when I was four, and I've been pretty much singing ever since. There's never been anything else for me to do. "

" I lost a boyfriend over Elmore James. You know that moment when you send mixtapes at fifteen? He sent me pop hits, and I sent him Elmore James, and I never heard from him again. "

" I love punk rock, The Clash, The Ramones, The Cramps. I love where it all came from, and music for my ears now, it has to have that same electricity, adrenaline and danger. "

" Everybody told me that if I insisted on doing rockabilly music, I'd never have a chance of selling any records. In fact, I lost count of how many people told me to ditch it all together, in favour, I guess, of sounding like everybody else. "

Imelda May

Together

Chance

" I am not musically educated yet. I don't read - I make my own language that works for myself. But I play by ear. "

" Ireland and America, music-wise, are very closely related. The Irish came over with their fiddles in hand, and you can hear it in the bluegrass and rockabilly. I love it when music from different countries combine. "

" When I heard Elvis and his 'Sun Sessions,' I went mad for it. I was about thirteen. "

" I love festivals in that people seem to let their hair down more. I love that people run from stage to stage. I love going as a performer because you get to see band that you wouldn't necessarily go see. "

" The Spanish and the American audiences are lunatics. They are very passionate and, like the Irish, they don't have as many inhibitions. If you are playing somewhere like Austria or Sweden, it takes them a little while to come out of themselves. "

Imelda May

Passionate

You

" I don't see why women have to get naked to sell an album. It's crazy. "

" I love to have no plans. It is amazing where your day can turn when you have no plans: meeting people or just going to a little pub on the side of the road. "

" I'm sorry, but Juicy Couture tracksuits and Ugg boots don't move me in any way, shape or form. I refuse to wear them. Modern fashion doesn't appeal to me; the 1950s were better in every way, don't you think? "

Imelda May

Sorry

You

" Music rules a lot of my life - I was bitten by the bug young. "

" I'm a normal consumer but try to do the best I can. I try to buy locally, and I mostly avoid supermarkets. "

" I'm lucky to come from a very musical family. If you put a record on and turn the volume up, there's a pretty good chance you'll have a lot of people dancing very quickly. "

" I love to cook. I love having friends over and family. I am definitely a feeder - I feed everybody. I am jumping around the kitchen like a crazy woman. "

" For me, rockabilly is very, very exciting music. It's electric and kind of wild, you know? It's 'make your hairs stand up on the back of your neck' kind of music. "

" I believe in God. "