It's strange: I love pop music, and I really can enjoy it, but I didn't feel like the characters within pop music - like when Madonna sings 'Crazy For You', for instance, I don't feel like I would ever be the character she takes on in that song. I would never feel... I don't have that confidence in me.
When I wasn't working, I was learning how to use production software on YouTube and making music.
In London, I used to play 'Boys of Summer,' but it didn't feel right, because it doesn't apply to your surroundings, to the weather. I remember being in L.A. and listening to that record and going, 'Oh, I get it now.'
I think it's much harder now with the Internet to hone anything. It's easy to share things: you do one track, and it goes on Hype Machine; people are being exposed a lot earlier.
I was obsessed with 'The Lion King' as a kid, and I really wanted to go work in an animal sanctuary and have my Lara Croft moment.
The first time I shared music was on Myspace. Then SoundCloud came along. The difference with SoundCloud is that people can comment on stuff, which was more frightening but also way more fun - especially if they liked it.
If you told teenage me that I would end up supporting Tegan and Sara for a month in North America, my head would have probably exploded.
After putting out songs with 26 million views on YouTube, your life changes a little bit. Suddenly everyone's like, 'Where's the album?'
For me, one song is not enough to be in a person's world. I need to be in their world for 40 minutes; I want to fully experience it and immerse myself.
I'm massively inspired by Janet Jackson, and I adore Whitney Houston and Madonna.
There are two ways of dealing with being odd. One is to really try and conform, and the other is to do the opposite and really make a thing out of it. At school, it wasn't that I was bullied, but everyone was very aware that I was different. I was kind of the token weird person that people accepted into their group, almost like an accessory.
I'm a lesbian. That's how I identify myself, but I think there's a massive spectrum for everyone.
I'd written songs since I was 16, but I never thought that I would be a musician full time.
Do stuff that is true to your own experiences.
I found my own voice slowly. I don't do big tricks like Mariah Carey, so I've found this weird way of singing that works for me.
As I grew in confidence, I was able to come out and say that I'm a musician.
It is important that you're out, and it is important that you're visible.
With 'White Light,' I had just finished watching 'Under the Skin' and was really obsessed with the idea of science fiction presented as normality.
Some of the best songs are love songs. They're things that we all go through, and when we're going through it, we think that we're the only person in the world going through that. Having that music there sort of reminds you that you're not alone. It happens to me, too, as a music fan.
The best thing you can do is having to say no to putting out something that's good, because everything else is better.
