My parents were real classic rock freaks, so I heard a lot of Zeppelin, Stones, Hendrix stuff. Thankfully, they were also into lots of old soul, too, so we listened to Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire and War. I was so isolated where I grew up (a small town in Pennsylvania) that there was literally no culture.

I wanted to make some music with deeper meaning mixed with the fun and cool stuff I've been doing for so long.

Everything I do has to come from a sense of fun and joy.

I've quit drugs and drinking and been into healthy stuff like yoga.

I am not one of those writers that it just flows out of effortlessly. I have to sit and write and rewrite and sometimes it's really challenging to get anything good out of myself.

Basically, this industry is mostly run by men, and I think women have a harder time...I've had enough of the "Women in Rock" issues of magazines and all of that. There's no reason why we should have our own separate little genre; that's just ridiculous. Besides, what is the genre? I certainly don't fit into the whole "Lilith" thing (thank God), but I am a female musician. And there are enough other great females in music that don't have to fit into it, either.

I love New York so much; I could never live anywhere else, and ESPECIALLY not in my hometown.