The garden is symbolic of the vagina and womanhood. The use of “untouched” screams virginity or purity – an odd attraction for men. She seduces him into being with her, however for her own needs and is willing to trade sex for pleasure and wealth to rid her life of dismal.

This song can be directed at the listener as the album itself is her garden:

It was titled “My Garden” because I felt like I invited people into my garden…Every flower has a different scent, evokes a different emotion and each song does the same thing. – with Style Blazer

How chasing her love life to New York upstarted her career:

I was going to move back to Miami actually because I was like, ‘Fuck it, New York didn’t work for me either. Let me pick up a job here for the summer, because summer time there’s no money to be made in Miami.’ I was going to work for the summer, make some paper, come back, and then figure it out from there.‘ But I ended up meeting different characters that were artists.

I was still partying and drinking and having a good ass time while I was doing it. But I was being productive and I was doing what I like to do, making music in the studio. I was working my ass off, working two weeks straight just to pay for a freaking music video.

Living under a stringent household (“my mom was strict”) and making the decision to move out at eighteen:

I moved out of my mom’s house with my brother when I was 18 after my mother told us we were going to move back in with my grandmother in a one bedroom. I’m like, ‘Yo, we can’t be doing this anymore.

Living with her promiscuous brother (“My brother was going in, fucking everything in sight. Every night there was a different bitch in our apartment.”) and cocktail waitressing in Miami:

I was working as a cocktail waitress, after taking the semester off of school. I would wake up in the morning, go to the beach, chill, work, party. I go to sleep at six o’clock in the morning and do it all over again. Between those six or seven months, I got fired for drinking on the job twice in a row. That’s kind of when I was like, ‘Alright, I’m not doing anything [with this lifestyle].’ It got repetitive and draining.

The surface of Miami is so sunny. But when you get into the lifestyle—especially when you’re in the restaurant industry—there’s this underlying, depressing factor. It has this real darkness to it. A lot of people go down there to try and rebuild their life but they end up moving back to where they came from. The lifestyle can suck you in. You end up waking up like, ‘What have I done with myself?’

Growing up singing, mimicking Christina Aguilera and writing love songs at eight-years old.

Influences (Pretty much everything): Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, ‘N Sync.

As I got older, my older brother introduced me to classic rock and I started getting into Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Sex Pistols, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, and The Beatles. That’s what opened the door for me to start exploring what I like to listen to.

I was always drawn to jazz and blues too. So I started listening to Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, It’s All Good, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, and Elvis Presley. I was really into Elvis. And then obviously Bob Marley, that was always kind of around growing up no matter what because I was in Miami.

I listen to everything though. Like, A Tribe Called Quest, DMX, 2Pac, and Trick Daddy. I listened to a lot of Sublime growing up. That’s my shit! I love Sublime, they’re big in Miami. I actually saw them at a 311 concert. I was shrooming, it was really fun.”

Talks growing up in Miami:

My mom was a single mother of four. [My real name is Katriana Huguet because] my grandparents on my dad’s side are Lebanese. That’s why my last name is Huguet, it’s French. My dad had like six kids. He was around but he liked to party, he was living the Miami lifestyle.

She also talks about skipping school and smoking weed on the golf course, hating choir, getting wasted before singing The National Anthem, and discovering she wanted to do music in college:

I went to college for a couple years at Miami Dade College. I didn’t do any music there either. I was just taking general classes, so I was like, I don’t know what I want to do.‘ Once that happened I was like, 'I want to do music, I just don’t know how to do it down there.’

Why she tips 15%-20% for good and bad service while sometimes offering feedback:

If it’s really terrible service, I’ll still do 15%. Honestly, I can’t even remember the last time I tipped someone 15%. I always get terrible service at this place, I just love the food, and I never tip 15%. [Laughs.]

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But sometimes it’s really bad, I will let the server know. I will let him know with my attitude that you’re doing a bad job. Like, “I’m going to give you this tip but I just want to let you know that you don’t deserve it…Because it makes them feel worse. I’m giving you my money and I’m also letting you know that you don’t deserve it. That’s actually worse than not giving them money at all.

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If you don’t give them money at all, then they’re just going to be mad and then they’re not going to get any better at their job. So tip them, and you tell them what a crappy job they did, so they are a little bit more inclined to feel bad and try and step their game up. I’m just helping them in the long run. At the end of the day, even if it was okay service, I was going to end up tipping them 20% anyways, so what does it matter?

It’s good to know she has fun with her ban.
https://twitter.com/Verite/status/620810793819320320/photo/1

On her two EPs:

Sentiment, to me, is an extension of Echo. It was produced more in the box but with a similar writing process.

On working with Zach Nicita:

Serendipity. The track for ‘Colors’ was sent over to me and I wrote the chorus within five minutes of hearing it. From there we worked on finalizing structure, sounds, etcetera.

Working towards independent artists:

I like to work. I worked as a waitress (I literally just quit in March!!!) for ten years and have solely funded this project thus far. It’s allowed me to remain independent up to this point and given me full creative freedom in all aspects. For me, it’s less about relying on people or labels to swoop in, fund or take control and more about viewing yourself as a creative entrepreneur starting a small business. I keep my eyes down, hustle and let the results of that be what they are. Free clothes are nice though. No arguments here.