I started writing music when I was five, and music was very therapeutic for me. I grew up feeling like an outcast and not feeling like I was able to communicate my feelings or needs – so I would do that through songwriting.

I have a vivid memory of being in my garage - in my quote-unquote ‘music room’ - blasting “Yellow” and being so inspired by Chris Martin and his songwriting, the wall of sound and emotion that he would create, and I would sit in my garage and write music.

I always thought my music would go in more of the Coldplay direction. It didn't end up happening, but a lot of the times in the beginning of my career I wrote music on the piano, and Chris Martin was a huge inspiration for me. With this song specifically, I could envision myself being in an arena and playing my music, hoping to connect with people in the way that song connected with me.

“Yellow” is a great song and a marker in my life, because it inspired me to dream, to continue to write music, to communicate my feelings and communicate my stories.

I love this song because it's very pop but there's a sadness to it. I think for me in my songwriting I have a lot of pop instincts, but there's also this sad layer to a lot of my music. It really resonated with me, and I loved this era for her. I loved how high concept she was and how bold she was with her choices.

Growing up, being closeted, and feeling ‘other’, I was always inspired by people who really walked and talked with their head held high. That was something I always wanted to be like, I wanted to be able to walk around with my head held high being, ‘This is who I am, take me or leave me’, so Lady Gaga really inspired me in that sense.

The balance of this song is really interesting, like one of my songs on Panorama “flicker start,” the lyrics are really quite sad, but the production is progressive – it moves you forward and the juxtaposition of those two emotions into one record is something that I love.

I had a really challenging time finding love and being loved for who I was, so there is a deep sadness within all my records, even if there's moments of joy. That feeling, that push and pull, is something of a red thread through my work. I'm in a place in my life where I celebrate that sadness, where I see those really hard times and moments in my life that helped me become who I am and made me stronger as a person today.

It's about giving love and kindness to ourselves and cultivating that compassion. It's like watering a plant, right? It’s taking that huge moment of sadness, feeling different, society trying to invalidate you constantly, and watering that plant saying ‘No, you belong, you're okay, you should be here’, and continuing to honour that.

I remember when this song came out, I was like ‘This is me, this is my soul, this is it’. I remember leaving school early and waiting in line at 3pm to see Imogen Heap perform. She had these fake flowers and really intricate hair, and literally did everything live. She had her vocoder, she had all of these pedals, and I remember watching her and being so inspired by her as a performer and as a songwriter. I studied her, I would see her in concert and think ‘How does she do this?’.

I’ve always been a big fan of hers, but that song specifically is a great example of incredible lyrics, incredible melody, and simplicity, yet complexity, all at the same time. There's so much space for you to feel and I've kind of taken that influence into Panorama, learning where to leave space and creating that space for moments that a listener can expand on.

On “Panorama,” the last track on my album, it's my voice and one other thing, then there's an explosive wall of sound for the chorus. I love the simplicity of just hearing the melody, hearing the lyrics and letting that speak for itself. There's definitely some inspiration there.

My Dad loved this song, it was on heavy rotation on his playlist. He was always making cassettes at the time with fades, where he would be a DJ and remix bass on tape cassettes, and he loved music, he was always playing it. I think that was a big influence for me, chasing my dreams and loving music, as well as it being an escape or therapy.

The Wallflowers’ “One Headlight” was one of my favourite songs and I’d be screaming it at the top of my lungs in the car driving to school at seven in the morning. It's a very important song for my journey and my life – being able to share the passion of music with my Dad, and also the song is incredible. It’s a great driving song and when I look back at my music as well, a lot of my songs are really good driving songs. So I'm curious if there's a connection there as well.

That driving element and that pulsating feeling in the song definitely inspires my music to this day. It's fun to do this interview, because looking at the songs I’ve chosen there's feelings in each one that I think that I've always carried with me in my songwriting, of wanting to feel a similar way once I finish a song.

Gnarls Barkley are so cool. When this song came out, I instantly knew it was so cool, so pop, and I felt very validated, because growing up I always felt crazy. I made myself feel crazy a lot and invalidated my feelings. I didn't trust my gut, and I’d create all of these scenarios in my mind and say things weren't true, even though they were.

So lyrically I really connected to the song. I would play the song over and over again, and it would make me feel less crazy.

Sonically as well, the beat, the heavy kick, it's such a cool song. I play bass live on tour, I gravitate towards funky basslines and rhythms that lead the charge of a record, so I think that's influenced my music as well. It's honestly one of my favourites, and it’s such a timeless song. Every time it comes on, you love it.