It was clear to my parents that I had the gift of voice, and they encouraged me to pursue it.

I started singing at age three - I opened my mouth some time, singing along to the radio, and my parents were like, 'Wow! You have a really great voice!'

For me, songwriting starts with a melody. When a musician plays a chord progression, either the words and vocal melody come to me, or they don't. That's how I determine who to write with. It works, or it doesn't.

My parents really encouraged me.

It took a long while for me to even put out a record because there were so many options of how to do a song, and in some respects, I'm never totally happy with the outcome.

Being in the public eye, there will always be negatives. Those dark aspects will always be there and, so too, those things that will try and tear you down, but I have made the choice not to engage with them. I'm not going to let them affect me or destroy me.