Quotes from Shura

I'm massively inspired by Janet Jackson, and I adore Whitney Houston and Madonna.

A lot of people start by learning other people's songs, but the idea of singing someone else's music didn't excite me. I just wanted to write my own. It was really bad to begin with. It's improved slightly since.

It was never like I had to go, 'I am gay.' Slowly, almost by osmosis, by the way I was behaving, it became obvious and accepted.

I love PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Pixies, Portishead, and Massive Attack: a lot of what I would describe as alternative and indie music.

I'd love to sing with so many people, but my biggest dream would be to sing on a record with The National.

After putting out songs with 26 million views on YouTube, your life changes a little bit. Suddenly everyone's like, 'Where's the album?'

When I wasn't working, I was learning how to use production software on YouTube and making music.

I found my own voice slowly. I don't do big tricks like Mariah Carey, so I've found this weird way of singing that works for me.

You have to make sure you love what you do more than anything.

I'm a lesbian. That's how I identify myself, but I think there's a massive spectrum for everyone.

The first time I shared music was on Myspace. Then SoundCloud came along. The difference with SoundCloud is that people can comment on stuff, which was more frightening but also way more fun - especially if they liked it.

Being part of a crowd and not standing out is way more frightening than being the person that stands out.

'What's It Gonna Be?' is about having a massive crush on someone, so it made sense to go back where - to school, where it all began. But it was important for us to explore those archetypal characters - The Jock, The Nerd, The Dork, The Popular Kid - and then flip expectations.

My dad used to do a lot of music when he was young, so he had an 8-track MiniDisc recorder, and when he realized that I was getting on with it, he brought it upstairs to my room and showed me how to record and how, once you finished eight tracks, you can cut it down to two and have another six tracks to play with.

I love camping, everything about it - tents, the camping stove, sleeping bags. I'm obsessed with technology, be it synthesizers and speakers or tents and Gore-Tex.

It's strange: I love pop music, and I really can enjoy it, but I didn't feel like the characters within pop music - like when Madonna sings 'Crazy For You', for instance, I don't feel like I would ever be the character she takes on in that song. I would never feel... I don't have that confidence in me.

I didn't fit in on my football team; I was always the odd one out.

I'm not one of those artists that can go away for six months and tour America and have 20 producers back in London or L.A. doing everything for me and I just come home and sing on it. It would be really useful, in terms of speed, to work like that. I just wouldn't find it creatively satisfying. I have to have my hand on the remote control.

There's a part of me that's ambitious.

To go from someone who would put something on SoundCloud and maybe get 15,000 plays in a year to getting 100,000 plays in one day felt very weird. I thought I was dying.

It is important that you're out, and it is important that you're visible.

The best thing you can do is having to say no to putting out something that's good, because everything else is better.

I don't care about how many records I sell, but the main thing is people like it.