Musician

I've always just kind of been a single-minded person.

I had maybe 200 followers when I started. A bunch of radio stations were like, 'Uhhhhhh, my daughter has more followers than her'.

I love New Orleans. I love jazz. I grew up practicing jazz piano, and that's just been such a cool genre to me. There's a lot of talent there.

I think I have always been a hard worker in school and in sports and everything. Growing up, my parents encouraged me to do that from day one.

I used to daydream in class about what it'd be like to be a singer. It's what I wanted to be ever since I was little, but I never knew if it'd happen or not. I was just a normal girl who was doing all the things teenagers do, but on the side, I was attending music camps and going to songwriting sessions.

All my friends are usually at festivals... I just have so much adrenaline running, I literally could run a marathon after my shows.

When 'Hide Away' first started gaining a bit of momentum, I was visiting at least two radio stations per day - sometimes in different cities - to spread the word about the song. It was a hustle, but so worth it.

Coldplay's 'Mylo Xyloto' tour was incredible.

I'm always working on new projects.

I think the first concert I attended was Coldplay with my dad when I was around eight years old.

I flew home to Pittsburgh, and my management called me to ask if I wanted to perform on 'Dancing With the Stars' with Charlie Puth. I'm like, 'What? I grew up watching the show!'

I was in an Uber in Vegas with some friends, and 'Don't Let Me Down' came on. My driver didn't recognize me but started to talk about how much he loved Daya and how he had a crush on her.

I listened to a lot of Amy Winehouse: her albums 'Frank' and 'Back to Black'. She was such an incredible artist. She was just so raw and had her unique sound; she paired jazz with pop and was so soulful at the same time. So I pulled from her a lot in the beginning.

I think in order to accomplish anything in life, you have to visualize yourself there - accepting the award, hearing your song on the radio, whatever it is - or you lose the willpower and the drive.

I think 'Interscope' always puts the artist first, and they're focusing on these artists' development. I felt like that was a part of my career that I kind of needed to focus on after having come from the radio and getting exposure that way. I wanted to grow my brand and grow my fanbase, and they have proven to be the best fit for that.

My dad was the one who took me to concerts and introduced me to new artists. One time, he drove me from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., on a school night to see 'U2' - he was a pretty dedicated Bono fan.

We're all humans; we all go through phases.

Music was always a huge part of me, but I always did it on the side. I didn't even take any music classes in high school... it was more of an extracurricular thing.

I have a lot of creative control, so I can decide what I want to wear, what I want my brand to look like, what I want my songs to sound like, so I don't sound like some fake artist that people can't relate to.

It was so much fun to work with the cast on 'School of Rock'. I was a little nervous because it was my first acting gig, but it was such a great experience.