Where are you from originally?
Kansas City.

When did you move and where did you move to?
I moved in 1998 to London.

Why did you decide to move there? Was the decision related to your music?
The UK was appealing because I don't really speak any other languages (a tiny bit of Spanish, a tiny bit of French, but I'm comfortable with English - I wish I was better with languages...) but since I've been here London has felt like home and I haven't really wanted to move anywhere else, it's been almost 10 years now.

The decision to come here in the first place was related to music in that after my senior recital my opera teachers said I'd be better suited for chamber music or baroque and I wanted to sing Mozart and Verdi in big opera houses in big dresses not Schubert to a room of 20 people. I didn't know what to do with my life upon

accepting this critique and so I got a work visa to come to the UK for 6 months, it was a soul-searching expedition I guess. I worked in a cocktail bar and then in a bookstore just making ends meet; then I started doing pop music in about 2000, before that it was classical and church music. London gave me the gift of rock 'n' roll, it was really exciting and changed my life.

In what ways is your new home country different from your old one?
I love how culturally vibrant London is, there's something for everyone. Every night of the week you are spoiled for choice for something cool to do, I get so inspired by a creative environment. London is full of people that do stuff and it's so exciting to be a part of that. Kansas City is a great place to be from, but once you leave Mid-Town it's a series of mini-malls and multi-plex cinemas. Mid-Town is great, but it's only so big. I love how it's easy just to blend in and be anonymous in London. It's hard to do that in Kansas City.

Did you have any particular difficulties when you first arrived?
Yeah, I didn't have any money and I didn't know anyone. That was tough.

Has moving to a new country

influenced your music?
Definitely, I was a classical musician and now I make experimental pop. I don't know if that's London's fault, but it's certainly nurtured that change in me.

What tips would you give to a band/artist considering moving to a new country?
Oh my god, I don't know. It's just really hard, be prepared for that fact and stick it out I guess. It takes a long time to get on top of this city.

Interview & photograph by Paul Madden
www.pineygir.com

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