It's a powerful thing to be able to write a song. Even the least powerful feeling - like insecurity - that makes you feel weak when you experience it, when you write about it, you are powerful.

I have a memory of listening to Tracy Chapman and just being intrigued by her voice. Even as a young girl, I wanted to know more about her and her story. I felt I was learning about her through her music. That was a revelation to me.

I have a really feminine voice, but I also feel quite powerful when I write. So my songs feel heavy, and that's how Banks sounds. It's a really short, powerful sound. It almost sounds masculine, and I like having that dichotomy.

I found music because I felt different.

James Blake, Jai Paul, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Sohn, Kwabs, Sampha, Lil Silva, and Brandy, always. They all have soul. Deep soul.

Femininity can be a powerful thing.

I found music when I was very dark. I felt unheard, with inner dialogues that I didn't know how to express.

My approach to beauty is all about moods. If you want to feel sexy, if you want to feel feminine or, I don't know, boyish - it's all about how you feel at that point in time. My mood changes.

I definitely drink lots of water. I use this Decleor Neroli Oil to moisturize - no matter what the climate is, it always makes my skin really moist.

I like a kind of dark, bronze-y brown smoky eye with maybe some mascara, some contouring and stuff, but I don't like wearing black or pinks. I like it more tonal.

On tour, there's dry shampoo - I use the one by Bed Head.

I think doing things that scare you a little is a good thing. A little bit of fear is never a bad thing. A healthy amount of fear makes everything taste better.

I listened to pretty much anything that I could really feel, where I felt like the artist had to write those songs, where you can feel their soul and the pain and the happiness and love and everything.

My music is 100-percent me, so it's just who I developed into as a woman. I feel really grateful that I waited until I did because I feel like I really found who I was by doing that.

Social media overwhelms me.

My identity started developing through the songs I was writing.

I feel like my dream animal would be a mermaid that could fly and also live in the trees. She has a nest, almost like a bird. She feeds her babies like a bird, like, chews the food first and then feeds it to them through her mouth.

I like wearing oils. Perfume makes me nauseous sometimes. It's too strong.

I like Australia, but every time I'm there, I feel like everybody's being sarcastic because everyone's so nice.

L.A. is a really good home base. I've grown up here, and so sometimes I have wanderlust even though I tour. You think it would be cured by touring, but sometimes I feel like I want to be somewhere else.

The song 'Stick'? That needed to be chunky and sexy. It's human. It's human to be the girl in 'Stick' and feel spicy as heck.

There's no separation between electronic music and acoustic music. It's all one thing. Each song has its own heartbeat. Each song has its own soul.

Fashion is a huge part of music and of who you are. It really sets the mood for a show, and it's fun to play around with it. You can get really creative in photo shoots as well. You know, just having fun with it.

I think social media is an interesting beast - you can't get too caught up in it. People can get caught up in it sometimes, but I think it's important to live in the present and not on the computer screen.