I've never been good at being nostalgic, and I've never been able to focus on sound without having a voice that's very here-and-now.

I couldn't even have a guitar. But I got a three-track recorder that was so small that I could take it with me. Then I started recording and writing properly. I recorded lots of voices, not just my own. I was interested in people speaking and singing English and trying out words.

I'm always going back and forth between wanting to do stuff that's abstract and stuff that's just telling everybody to listen.

I've always been so interested in the way the body feels when singing or being on stage, or being in the audience for that matter. It doesn't have to be the typical "rock" experience. It can be so much more.

When I write stuff that's provocative, I want people to think about that, too. I'm in between a pop musician and an artist in that way. I want people to be part of the music as they listen, but I also want them to think: What was that?

I remember being very, very aware of gender when I was really young. Not necessarily in a bad way. Maybe it's a little bit because I'm Norwegian and how I've been brought up.

I'm inspired by that rawness in very direct communication. My work is not meant to keep people happy or give them an escape.