1- Where did you grow up? I grew up in a City called Kingston upon Hull in the East of Yorkshire, England (UK). My family decided to stay here for most of my childhood. 2- What is one of the first songs you remember liking as a kid? I’ve been around music all my life, it’s difficult to pinpoint just one track. When I was a child, Madonna made me sit up and learn to love pop music. Buffalo Stance by Neneh Cherry made me dance around my bedroom. Then Nine Inch Nails and The Prodigy happened for me and this began to pave the way to how I write now, with huge beats and gritty production. 3- What influenced you to get into music? Seeing that strong women can make a huge difference to the music industry. Standing their ground and controlling how they want to be perceived instead of what the industry expects. Shirley Manson from Garbage receives a lot of negative press from people who don’t understand her strengths, I think she’s amazing! 4- At what age did you start playing/singing? I’ve always sang songs and daydreamed out of the school window, often being told off by the teacher. From the age of five I was learning the words to many pop songs and this kept my attention more than school. I had a keyboard as a child which used to teach you how to play by highlighting the keys, so you knew where to go with each programmed song in its memory. Then I had a larger keyboard from my mum’s catalogue. 5- If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to yourself after finishing school? Concentrate more, apply yourself to more than one subject, not so much daydreaming and more doing what you want to be. 6- What are some of your favorite songs at the moment? I’m listening back to retro stuff at the moment. I went to a Record Fair, where you can buy old vinyl and it’s like a new world opening up in front of me. I never knew that there were so many awesome artists! 80s albums are my thing at the moment. I’m listening to Ultravox’s album, Vienna, and Human League’s Dare, which is synthtastic! Absolutely adore the synth pop of the 80s! Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan is awesome, I love the song Films, it gives me the happy shivers. 7- Do you listen to your own music? When I’ve written a song and it’s all mixed down and produced, I walk away for a few days to give myself a new perspective for when I play it again. It is hard to separate yourself and it’s often wise to get another pair of ears to listen. I trust Chris who I call my second pair of ears. He’ll walk into the studio and hear it differently, so he will suggest or encourage me to push a little more out of the song. When an album is released, I will take a few weeks off away from the album and then play it in my studio, like it’s written by someone else. Usually I’m very happy with the results, however I know I will not always be happy with everything, which is what drives me as an artist to be better with the next release. 8- Which musician would you like to collaborate with next? Liam Howlett from the Prodigy, I think he would easily understand the edge in my sound and would push it even further. 9- What is one of your favorite memories so far in your music career? I loved performing at Leeds 02 Festival with my last band, Paparazzi Whore. It was an awesome day and we bumped shoulders with many iconic stars that day, such as The Who and The Flaming Lips. 10- What advice would you give to someone that is just starting to get into music? Find you within music. It’s nice to be inspired but please do not copy, music needs you to progress on a style and to make it yours.
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