What makes the perfect summer song?
"It has to be up-tempo, and it usually has to be a love song, really. It has to make you feel good. It has to be optimistic!"
Considering you used to be a chef, what are some of your favorite things to eat on the road?
"I’m actually kosher, and kosher food can be hard to find on tour. I tend to eat salads that I make myself and things like that. I live on granola bars and soy milk, basically."
How did you hook up with Diplo for the record?
"My A&R man at Island Records [worked on] M.I.A.’s first record, and through that, he had the hookup with Diplo. And, Diplo loved it, so that was that!"
After working with Diplo and Switch, who else could you see producing your records?
"I’d really like to work with Rick Rubin, actually. A really dynamic producer — someone who generally has a vision and their finger in a lot of different pies, and gets music on a multidimensional level."
So what’s next for you this year?
"I’ll be touring until January, then I’ll start recording album two. I’m writing album two at the moment, but the recording won’t be able to start until the New Year ... too much touring booked between now then to record anything."