Grace VanderWaal

Growing up so close to New York City, I always loved going to the city, but I'd be disappointed because songs about New York always made it seem so magical and perfect, and when I was younger, I just thought it was busy and dirty.

It's always been a dream to audition for 'American Idol.' But you have to be 15 or older.

Record labels and producers are not looking to change you: they are looking to make a star. And what they might think is a star may not be you.

'So Much More Than This' is about just getting tangled up in all of the drama and stuff that really does not matter and probably won't matter in, like, three months.

I like to make little movies or fake stories about something that happened in my life. I will make a movie in my mind that would translate the same feeling or emotion that I had in whatever just happened.

I always say that you can be polite and nice and still know what you want and still can see your path.

I'm obsessed with Lorde. Oh my gosh. I'm always listening to Lorde. Her music is so powerful.

Whenever I'm traveling, it's a switch of, like, adult, mature Grace VanderWaal answering questions. Sometimes it's hard to get that balance of old, normal me as well.

If you will forever remember me as the girl from 'America's Got Talent,' that's cool, 'cause I am. If you wanna look into me and what I've done recently, that's cool, too.

Regular school is one bajillion times easier than online school. I want friends; I want a social life. I want that experience in my life.

I would love to sit down and do only the ukulele with a very small crowd. I would also like to sing the super poppy songs and all the background stuff. I think both would be an interesting path.

I love everything Katy Perry does.

Not so much the sound but as a person, I would say Katy Perry inspires me because you can always see that she's being true to herself. She focuses on her music and even turns down big producers. Her whole career and music is about her being herself. I want to be more like that.

I want to thank everyone who supported me on 'AGT.' Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today, and I really can't thank you enough.

I think it's so important for women and girls to feel like they have a voice and to come together and support each other.

I think there's a misconception about the industry, that you have to change who you are to look 'cool' in order to succeed, and that's just not true.

What I think is cool about Fender, and what originally drew me to them, was the Fender electric guitar headstock, which I've never seen on another ukulele. I feel like a rock star when I'm tuning it.

I think everyone has music inside them, and my hope is that I can help them find it.

The crowd really controls how I am onstage. One show, it might be a lot of young people, super-high-energy dancing. I mirror that. Other shows, it's much more calm.

My fans should always be ready for new music.

'Famous' is a very weird word. I feel like - I feel like that's definitely not me.

I want my music to evolve to become more me.

Every time I do something or release something or announce a new project, there's always that fear that it won't go well.

I feel like it's just so important for child and teenage development to have music in your life, honestly. And I just think it's really, really, really rewarding to me, personally, just emotionally, to know that I might have brought that into someone's life. And that just means a lot to me, because I know how important it can be.

My advice for someone just learning the ukulele would be to have fun with it and not take anything too seriously. Some songs that I think are great for beginners would be, 'House of Gold,' 'Riptide,' and 'I Don't Know My Name.'