There's a stigma attached to 'pop music,' like it's a taboo word. It used to make my skin crawl when people said it, and I'd say, 'I'm not a pop star! I want to be a respected musician!' But I think people have changed the way they think about it.
With every milestone that I've come across, there's always been a little note at the bottom that's said, 'Don't worry, there's another milestone coming up.'
I was put through piano lessons when I was a kid. I say 'put through' because it was fun and I loved it, and it's been beneficial now, but it was difficult because, although I can read music, I much prefer just playing and improvising and at least finding my own way to play an instrument.
Every single pair of trousers I own has a plectrum in it.
I've purposely made my music to be challenging and different. There's some electronics, R&B, blues, Motown, country, jazz and lots of soul.
I would go to school and try to talk to my mates about music and playing instruments and stuff, and they would turn around and go, 'What're you talking about? Shut up.' And I realised that I was the weird one.
Genre hopping is something I intend to do, and I intend to do it forever and ever because I think genres are boring.
Music has always been part of my family's life. My brother, sister, and I all have the same ability to pick up an instrument and play.
It's amazing to be nominated for the Brits' Critics' Choice Award 2016. It's such a significant award that highlights the importance of new music, so it's a genuine honour to have been nominated alongside some other incredible new acts from the U.K.
I find myself working ten steps ahead of where I actually am on my laptop or keyboard, but I know what the ten steps are. I just haven't got to them yet.
Lyrics are really, really hard, I think, or at least they're really hard for me. Some people can channel lyrics faster. I find them very hard to find, so because of it, they take me a long time, and I really think about them.
I like making sounds and putting it together, I'm not just a singer or a producer.
The reason I'm scared of flying is because I'm not in charge. Being so far out of control terrifies me.
I remember listening to 'Songs In The Key Of Life' as a kid. Stevie Wonder has an ability to manipulate pop into something globally obtainable. Anyone can listen and enjoy it because there's something for everyone. That woke me up to the possibilities of pop music.
Ever since I was a little kid, my ears and my hands would talk to each other very well, so I could pick up instruments quite easily.
I didn't do myself any favours. I would be resentful of my own ideas even before I'd said them out loud. But music was always the most consistent and peaceful thing for me. So I taught myself to be my harshest critic rather than just a mean voice in the back of my head.
The most important thing for me is to have as much control over what's going on in front of me as I possibly can, so because of that, I don't play to a click track, and I don't have anything on the grid. Everything is triggered by me. Everything is played by me. Everything is within my control.
I'm always working on new stuff.
My mum would play Stevie Wonder around the house, and I remember just loving the songs and feeling so blown away by how much was going on.
I was studying primary school education. I was going to be a teacher. I was going to get my teaching qualification and have that as my safety net and then tackle the music industry.
