Laufey

TikTok gives an artist a voice. I'm very careful to be very authentic on there - everything I do comes from me, nobody ever tells me to make TikToks. I do everything on my own, and all the language is my own. And I wouldn't do it if someone was telling me to do it! It has to come from the heart, but I think it can give artists their own voice.

I went to Berklee for college: a good musical training ground, but there's no direct line between that and the music industry.

What TikTok and social media did for me was give me an even chance to pitch myself to the world. And for that, I can't take it for granted.

I have to live to write. But I try to discipline myself into writing on the spot as well. I think it's a misconception that you just have to wait for inspiration to strike you. I think musicians and writers can train themselves to see inspiration on the spot. And that's one of the greatest tools you can develop as a songwriter.

I took classical music very seriously as a kid.

As a kid, I was running around the conservatory, playing with my grandparents' students who were like babysitters, taking cello and piano lessons, eating good food, and making sure I didn't completely forget my Chinese every summer.