For me music is a vehicle to bring our pain to the surface, getting it back to that humble and tender spot where, with luck, it can lose its anger and become compassion again.

The flower has opened, has been in the sun and is unafraid. I'm taking more chances; I'm bold and proud.

When you're a plebeian you want success, and when you're successful you want to be a plebeian again.

But looking back, the fact was that I had a couple of big hits too quickly and it was simply too much for an introvert like me to handle.

I was curious and hungry at a young age, and jazz was such a mystery to me, an ocean where you can express yourself in the moment. It represented freedom, it represented wearing wings and going somewhere with music.

I wanted to be a cheerleader, like my sister was - all the most popular and beautiful girls are cheerleaders and I wanted that, and it demolished this vision of myself. That's when I found the piano, when music saved me; that's when I first attempted to write my own songs.