The idea of trying to predict what people will or won't respond to is risky.

Life is short. I'm here to make music, I'm not here to sit on a beach. That sounds really boring to me.

I made a note in my head to be aware of things as they were happening, because they might not happen again. Up to that point, I was not really that appreciative of what was going on, or thinking about documenting life in a plainspoken manner. I was talking about my life and writing songs, but then I would go back and listen and they were about dreams, and legends, and metaphors and that was just not my life!

I grew up in a place called Malahide, which is by the water and is beautifully quiet, leafy, and part serene.

I feel if I wanted to be taken seriously I have to study music the same way someone who wants to be a doctor would study medicine. You have to know your craft and by doing so I had to make sure to ignore what people were thinking as well.

I like what I like, I don't like what I don't like, and I'm very bad at toning myself down.

My love of R&B and hip-hop has influenced my life not even as a musician, but generally in terms of growing up and looking to America as an inspiration.