I was always keen to get involved in the school drama productions and was a member of the school choir. I was lucky to have attended schools that took music and drama very seriously and the teachers were just brilliant.
Music and literature have always and continue to be massive influences. Writers such as Seamus Heaney and Frank McGuinness. I have always admired the humanitarians that I knew growing up in Derry whose influence steered me in the direction of some of...
I don't think of my music in terms of a career. I just want to get it out there and do it. I'm not manipulating my sound to be like anybody or trying to write to sound like anybody else.
I've always gone back and forth between acting and music, but for music I'm not trying to be a pop star - I just like to do it.
I've never missed a gig yet. Music makes people happy, and that's why I go on doing it - I like to see everybody smile.
Once I was checking to hotel and a couple saw my ring with Blues on it. They said, 'You play blues. That music is so sad.' I gave them tickets to the show, and they came up afterwards and said, 'You didn't play one sad song.'
I have fun when I'm making music, and I want people to have fun when they listen to it.
I'm all about telling stories. I like people to picture the music video in their head when they're just listening to the song.
My grandparents don't really listen to pop music, and they only speak Spanish and only listen to Spanish music.
Music was my one way to vent.
My personal style reflects my music. My music and how I dress is just how I express myself; it's just me. My music is urban pop, and my style of dressing is urban but still girly. I like that combination. The contrast is very nice.
I wrote 'Wish U Were Here' for Cody Simpson, and he invited me to perform with him on tour and be in his music video. He was shy at first. I think it's the surfer boy in him that makes him so mellow.
My song 'Play It Again' is a perfect example of my music because the verses go so hard, and they're so urban; and then this pop hook comes out of nowhere and socks you in the face and makes you want to dance.
Some writers are curiously unmusical. I don't get it. I don't get them. For me, music is essential. I always have music on when I'm doing well. Writing and music are two different mediums, but musical phrases can give you sentences that you didn't th...
I like giving music-themed gifts. I've given a couple of music documentaries to boys. Especially if they don't have the same taste as me, I try to infiltrate their mind with my favourite bands.
Sometimes I think to talk too much about music almost cheapens it.
Folk is bare bones music.
The music is in the lead here, and a large part of this, I have no idea what I'm doing. I feel a closer bond with the craft of songwriting, stronger than I ever have.
I refuse to make uninspired music.
Right now I'm listening to a lot of different things but I listen to a lot of classical music. Eventually I would like to compose and perform classical.
My head works in music, so there's always music there.
