Lorde 101 – Top Five Things You Should Know

Are you loving 'Royals' as much as I am? Lorde is the voice behind the song, and the creator of the odd video for the tune, and she's been covered by Selena Gomez, but who is Lorde?

1. She's 16 years old

2. She's from Aukland, New Zealand

3. She released her first EP in March, The Love Club.

4. Her debut album Pure Heroine drops on September 30th

5. She was discovered by Universal at a school talent show at age 13

Mysterious new artist, Lorde, has left a lot to our imaginations. In a world of over-sharing
via Instagram, twitter and facebook. Lorde, or Ella Yelich-O'Connor has kept a lot to
herself. In an a Q&A from Interview magazine she describes 'Lorde' as a character that
she created for the stage.

" My name is Ella, that's who I am at school, hanging out with friends, while I'm doing
homework. But when I'm up on stage, Lorde is a character. My friends actually find
that really difficult to digest, separating me from the theatrical character they see on
stage [laughs]; but they're getting used to it. When I was trying to come up with a
stage name, I thought ‘Lord' was super rad, but really masculine—ever since I was a
little kid, I have been really into royals and aristocracy. So to make Lord more feminine,
I just put an ‘e' on the end! Some people think it's religious, but it's not."

The song 'Royals' is enchanting. Lorde possesses an incredible alternative sound with a
catchy pop hook that transcends genres, but that doesn't mean she'll be dancing to
her own tunes anytime soon. When asked by Interview what it was like hearing her own song, she laughed.

" I was at a friend's birthday party recently and Royals came on, and everyone looked
at me. But I could not groove to my own song! "

When asked about why she created the name Lorde, she talks not only about
aristocrats of the past, but also our modern version, the celebrity.

"I’ve always been into that stuff since I was a little kid. I used to write out all their family
trees and everything! Now, though, I’m obsessed with really high profile celebrities
who get really f***ed up; I think you know who I’m talking about! I find it all so
interesting, such tragedies that stem from being put on a pedestal"

'Teeny Bopper' she is not, although you can expect to hear her music on pop radio. So just how did she end up in music, when questioned by Interview she responded:

" As a young teen, I went to a lot of David Lynch films, I read a lot of strange books, I
loved to go to the museum all day. I was that kid. I liked to hang out with people older
than me, I didn't really know what I wanted to do—writing and singing was just a
hobby. But sometime in the last 18 months, working on The Love Club with Universal, I
was just like, "This is what I want to do." Now I'm travelling to New York because of it!
I've watched so many movies [about New York], but I've never really travelled, I've
never even been on a plane, so I'm very excited."

And when it comes to dealing with fame and success, she maintains her cool. Expect
to see Lorde challenging herself and blazing her own trail.

"It’s weird, though, because I feel like if you chase something super hard, it doesn’t
always work. Instead of expecting success, it’s better to improve upon your own
terms."