NINA NESBITT

I'm now 23 and feel like it's been a full 'crash course' in the music industry - I've only just found my sound.

I think you really have to know what you want if you want to be an artist. Otherwise, you just kind of end up in space, just floating around.

Working with other artists and writers over the past couple years has really given me a clear idea of my strengths and weaknesses and what is unique about me as an artist. I figured it's my storytelling lyrics, falsetto range and tone of voice, so I write songs to utilize those.

I do loads of pitch writing as well, where you write a pop song and then pitch it to DJs who can then work with the song, and sometimes they keep your vocal on it. It's just good to be involved in different things.

I would say my favorite is probably the 'Colder' video. Just because that sort of brings the album artwork to life. It's not my favorite song on the album, but visually, I think it just came out exactly how I had it in my head.

I absolutely love collaborating with other people, but I think it's so important to always be able to rely on yourself because there are ups and downs in this industry.

My career is my whole life, so if I'm not happy with that, it affects everything else.

A song like 'Loyal To Me,' for example, I originally wrote that for a girl band in mind, that's why it has so many harmonies and it's got that sort of '90s/R&B feel to it.

When I wrote my debut album I was around 17, I didn't really know what my sound was or who I was and what I wanted.

But I think as you grow up, you realise that actually, if you want to dress sexy there's nothing wrong with that - it's your prerogative as a woman to dress however you want.

I genuinely have no eating problem. I eat so much food. I think there's a lot of girls who are similar to me.

I have a song coming with blackbear. He's a huge artist, I would say in the dark-pop scene. He has also collaborated with a lot of hip-hop artists. He's huge on Spotify.

There's even a feature on my website where you can translate messages into codes, so whenever I have any big news it goes out in code first so the diehard fans are the first to know.

I took two years out to find what sound I felt passionate about and what I liked making. After the last album, 'Peroxide', which is quite poppy and acoustic, I felt really bored.

I didn't grow up with a musical family. My mom had a lot of CDs in the house, particularly Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, ABBA, all the sort of like diva icons. She's Swedish, so she loves pop music.

I don't know if I could lip-sync while waterskiing. I had to do that on horseback and it was a nightmare.

I get on really well with Jake Gosling, who is a great producer, and I have written a song with Fraser T Smith.

I picked up the guitar at 15 because of Taylor Swift.

I feel like in our society there is definitely still a lot of underlying sexism. It's funny how many guys are surprised when you pick up an instrument in the studio, or write your own songs.

I think when I started my first album, I was 17 or 18, so I guess I was basically a child.

I previously played King Tut's in Glasgow, which is one of my favourite gigs. It's really intimate.

So I just sat in bed for six months - I literally didn't leave the house - and it was the first time that I'd actually experienced being depressed. I'd be sad on and off but I'd never experienced actual depression. Like, crying for no reason. It was really horrible.

I dyed my hair blonde when I was 13 because I wanted to be like my mum and my gran, who both have blonde hair.

I couldn't get gigs because you need to be 18 in most venues. So I started doing videos. I wasn't thinking about getting a record deal, I just wanted to know if people thought I was good.

I had basically been shelved by the record label for two years and I was writing songs every day. I made two albums that just never came out, and that was just a really big knock to my confidence, because everything I sent seemed like it just wasn't good enough.