Musician

The first time I sang in front of an audience, I was about 14 - it was at my guitar school's showcase, and there were about 30 people there. I was so nervous, but I did it.

This industry kind of forces you to grow up very quickly.

Music was something I found on my own. I got my first guitar when I was around 10, and it just all developed over time.

Success is when you see something, and you say, 'I want to do that,' and then you do it. It's being happy with what you do and doing what you love every day.

'Wild Things' is saying, 'I don't have to belong anywhere. This is where I belong.' It's a place in the back of my mind that I created, and it's cool, and I love it here.

Everywhere I go, every city, they're always like, 'What's in the water in Canada? What's in the water in Toronto?'

I just try to tell my stories in a way that is still light-hearted and fun to listen to. I'm not trying to bash you over the head with what I have to say.

We all act like we know everything in life, but nobody really does. That's what I want people to realize. For me, I know that I'm the same person. Nothing has changed. My family and friends know that.

I just want to keep my normal life for as long as possible.

Talent is talent, but fashion is separate, and it shouldn't be used to judge me as a singer.

I'm just glad that there's some diversity in the music industry with women so people know that you can be literally anything and still be able to make it.

It's hard to consider myself one when a lot of my fans and people who are calling me a role model are people my age and sometimes older than me. I feel like they're at the same walk of life that I'm in right now, and they can probably teach me things about life, too.

I barely have time to think. But the best way to stay grounded is to take it one day at a time.

As a young girl, I'm always going to have to work a bit harder to prove myself; that's just reality. But having to work harder makes me feel like girls are stronger, too.

I wanted to get through high school anonymously.

I don't wear a lot of makeup ever, even when I do interviews or when I'm on TV. I just keep it me, and I think it's important to show people I'm a regular person and regular people are beautiful, too.

My house was very strange. I didn't do things other kids did because my parents were very strict - I stayed at home, quiet in my room.

Having a mom as a hairdresser was really awesome: I was always her test dummy. I've had every style, every color you could imagine.

In second grade, I told a bunch of kids there was a homeless person living between the portable classrooms outside our school. It caused panic, and the principal had to announce on the P.A. system that no one was living there. I pretended I didn't know who started the rumor.

That's all I ever wanted to do: put out music from the heart that people could relate to.