It's exciting for people to define who they are in relation to what I write - whether it be by loving or hating it.

It's not hard to feel afraid and insecure. I still fight an inner-critic voice, definitely. I hear it a lot.

If I have taken part in anything perceived as the fame machine, it's been my choice. My motivations certainly have been different from some people's that I've worked with. But it's okay to work equally passionately for two different reasons.

When I was producing on my own, I was doing it in order to - in a very patriarchal entertainment industry, let alone planet - very much hell-bent on trying to prove to myself, if nothing else, that I could do it as a woman.

The more vulnerable and the more confused the song is, the equal and opposite effect is how I feel after having written it.

For four to six months at a time, I would barely eat. I lived on a diet of Melba toast, carrots, and black coffee.

My brother says that I was writing songs about fate while he was off playing soccer. Now I tell him he's 33 and being a professional while I'm playing soccer with my friends. Ha!