When I walked into the studio, the chorus of ‘Nobody Love’ was already set. For me, the challenge was to make it have depth. – Tori Kelly
My first competition, I guess, singing-wise, I was six years old, and there’s a video of it, too. I’m just, like, stick straight. I’m not moving at all, and I’m just singing. – Tori Kelly
‘American Idol’ was fun; it was definitely an experience. I was 16 years old when I did it, and I was curious about how I would do on the show. – Tori Kelly
My style is understated because everything I wear, I want it to have an effortless feel to it. I always want to be comfortable in my clothes and feel like myself, but I like to usually throw in some edge in there somewhere, even just with a leather jacket. But overall, always gotta keep it classy! – Tori Kelly
My style is very laid back. I like to be comfortable, but with some kind of piece that pumps it up a little bit – something more high fashion. – Tori Kelly
I was actually signed at a very young age – I was 12 – and one thing led to another, and I ended up in a mutual split from the label. But it was probably the best thing that could have ever happened, because I was able to kind of leave the industry side of it for a minute and focus on the independent side. – Tori Kelly
I started writing music when I was 15 in my bedroom, and I’d post them on MySpace, and from there it shifted to doing covers on YouTube and building my Twitter. – Tori Kelly
I think, for me, the goal was never really for my EPs to go mainstream. I think the intention of them was to create a little bit of buzz and to show my musicality because I wrote and produced the EPs myself. The goal was to experiment, with no rules. – Tori Kelly
It’s so important to me to take care of my voice. I do a lot of vocal warms-ups right before I go on. – Tori Kelly
Nineties hip-hop was a big influence for me; it still is. I love ’90s everything. And it’s when I was born, too. I’m a ’90s kid for sure. – Tori Kelly
I think in 2016 I’m going to focus on performing a lot more and doing as many shows as I can. There’s plans to tour more, and that’s where my heart is – doing the live shows. – Tori Kelly
I really grew my own fan base. I started posting videos on YouTube with the help of my parents. – Tori Kelly
I remember growing up singing; even when I was just three years old, I was singing all the time in the house. My parents said I was singing before I could even talk properly. – Tori Kelly
Everything I write about either I have gone through or I know somebody has gone through, so it’s very close to me, but sometimes it’s about taking those feelings and exaggerating on them a little bit: being a bit more dramatic but still keeping them relatable. – Tori Kelly
I use this brand called Ouidad; they’re great. Not Your Mother’s is another one. Garnier Fructis. I use a bunch of stuff. Literally, I just throw a huge concoction of stuff in my hair after I get out of the shower, and then I diffuse it. – Tori Kelly
People will come up to me at shows and tell me that a song touched them in a completely different way than I wrote it. That’s fun. Fans translating it in their own way. – Tori Kelly
I feel really comfortable when it’s just me and a guitar. It’s special and more vulnerable to strip it down. It can be scary, but it’s also empowering. – Tori Kelly
‘Unbreakable Smile’ was based off one of the songs I wrote for the album – it was actually the first song I wrote for the album without realizing it yet. I think I wanted to name the album that because it seemed like that was just the theme of that chapter in my life and just the theme of all the songs put together. – Tori Kelly
All my life, I was even just wanted to attend the Grammys, like, just be there, so the fact that I’m nominated for Best New Artist, it feels like a dream. – Tori Kelly
When I’m on stage, I generally wear what I would wear every other day, but I think my hair is probably bigger on stage – it seems to be my accessory! – Tori Kelly
‘Funny’ is really cool live. You break it down into an acoustic set, and sometimes I’ll do that one unplugged and off the mic, depending on the venue. – Tori Kelly
Why do we even use hashtags? It’s just like a sub-thought. Who clicks on hashtags? Nobody. – Tori Kelly
