JULIA MICHAELS

I think artists are aware that talking gives a songwriter so much material. If they just tell us what's happening, it's so much easier for us to write a song that's specific to them.

An artist could have a really big relationship, and then they break up, and any song after that, people are automatically going to assume that that song is about that person.

If I get writer's block - this is going to sound funny - I take a shower. Something about the water feels like I'm cleaning my brain as well as my body.

People are going to assume whatever they want to assume.

When you start to have success, people look at you differently and expect more from you. With that comes a lot of pressure to perform, so it can be a little overwhelming.

I definitely always thought of myself as a songwriter before a singer.

It never feels like work. I get to go to the studio and be with my friends every day and write new things and experiment with new sounds. We just have a blast.

Working with new people can be really hard and nerve-wracking. When you don't know the person, it's like being on a blind date.

I just want to write fun, interesting music that pushes boundaries and is still true to myself. I want people to feel something.

I grew up in Davenport, Iowa, but I moved to Santa Clarita, California, when I was 6.

I just remember really loving words and writing about anything I could, and the way I'd remember things, like my library card number, was to make a melody.

The Weeknd's 'Can't Feel My Face' is very experimental. It's pop meets urban meets indie meets alternative.

My boyfriend and I like to fight a lot. I have a lot of problems. He has a lot of problems. Somehow, we always work them out and find a way back to each other.

Hula-hooping. It makes me feel free. My stepsister introduced me to it. I used to have panic attacks all the time, and she hula-hooped to cope with her own anxiety.

My favorite food is hot Cheetos. I could eat those every day.

I think that women are afraid to be vulnerable because they think it makes them look weak.

It's 2016. Men are more vulnerable than ever.

I'm very emotional and vulnerable.

It's ingrained in people's minds that it's a typecast and a stereotype that women are just emotional and crazy.

I do love all types of music. I could be in a session for eight hours, and when I leave, I'll instinctively go to the radio or put on my favourite songs.

My sister was the singer, and I always had the mentality there could only be one in the family.

For the first three years, when I was writing, I was doing sessions with a whole bunch of different people all the time every day until I met Lindy Robbins, who kind of mentored me. And then, once you find that, all the pieces come together.

I have, like, sensory overload problems.

Women often don't want to be typecast as the girl that's sad.

Once I heard how deep music could touch people and what it can make you feel and all of these emotions it could bring out, I was really fascinated with it all.