With the first record (2008’s Ladyhawke) I was quite naive, but very excited and happy.

I was living in the U.K. I was back in New Zealand for the New Zealand Music Awards, which is like our annual New Zealand GRAMMYs.

I guess, a lot of people think is a long time between albums. It was needed for me. I went through a lot to get the album ["Wild Things"] finished. I actually went through a lot to even get the album started.

Years ago I was in a band called Two Lane Blacktop - we deliberately named ourselves after the 'Two-Lane Blacktop' movie, 'cuz it's a car chase movie. All our songs were based on movies, every single song. I love movies, and that was something that me and the singer in Two Lane Blacktop bonded over - we were design students together, we did a film-class together, so we became obsessed with movies. It's followed me around ever since then, it's a constant theme.

Stupid things like that which I never took into consideration – that I never thought about before like "Oh, maybe I'm hindering my singing by drinking all this amount before I go on stage. Maybe it's making me not project my voice properly."

I got to a happier point and then started making a record [Wild Things]. I don't mind at all that it sounds like LA, because LA was integral to me feeling better. Seeing the sunshine and all that other sorts of stuff was definitely a huge part in why the album sounds like it sounds.

I think love is one that can definitely make you go crazy, and it's almost like love can induce mental illness in a lot of people, or bring it out worse. It makes people make crazy decisions.