Surround yourself with friends who only call you a superstar

My family comes from New Zealand, but I'm a London girl. I was born and raised in London, but I've got the blood of a New Zealander, so I always kind of felt like I didn't belong - in a good way.

I took temp jobs, recorded a demo in the evenings and eventually shopped a record deal. All I knew was that I wanted to write songs; thankfully, I also got to sing them.

I know I should keep this a secret, but Celine Dion is something of an icon to me.

A lot of my songs are about taking whatever life throws at you and making the most of it.

Music is a very powerful thing. If I'm angry, I can write a song about it, and it seems to make everything okay.

I'm very honest in my music and I'm often asked to explain the lyrics; as an introvert, I find that quite hard. And I always wear high heels on stage, which can be painful.