Lena Fayre may not necessarily be allowed to enter the venues she's been playing, but don't let this 19-year-old singer-songwriter's youth fool you. She's a wise soul. Hailing from Los Angeles, Lena already has two EPs, including her recently released Is There Only One?, and an album under her belt that has garnered millions of plays on YouTube and Spotify. Despite what she's already accomplished, Lena has no intention of stopping now and is currently working on new music. She is also set to play at SXSW again and do a residency at Los Angeles' Bootleg in February. We recently chatted with her about the art of songwriting, playing festivals, and who she'd gladly make a coffee run for.

Hometown/Homebase: Los Angeles, CA

You've played a little bit of the festival circuit, namely CMJ and SXSW. How did you deal with the hectic atmosphere?

CMJ was pretty chill. I mean we did SXSW this year so I got to know the climate of this kind of thing and know what to expect to some degree. But I have people here with me who are helping me out like my manager and management team. So it's been amazing. But we always have to consider how we're going to get from place to place, where all the shit is and that it works; so we just prepare for that. It's just team work really.

From the time you started writing songs and posting them on YouTube to running from stage to stage now, how does it feel getting to this point?

It's nice because everything I'm doing now is what I've been doing two or three years ago but on a much bigger scale. Now I'm playing festivals where I'm playing two or three shows a day. I'm prepped for it because I've been playing shows for a long time. It's nice and feels rewarding. It's always nice to get in front of people. I'm the kind of artist who loves to get onstage and sing in front of people, and I love live shows. Performing is particularly rewarding in a different way compared to just being in the studio and making a record.

What's your favorite song to perform live?

I released an EP in July called Is There Only One?, and it's sonicly different from my first record, Oko. It's a bit more lively. They're still slow jams, but it's more dreamlike and fun to perform live. So right now, I'm digging "Serenity." I've been closing my set with that song. It's just fun and a nice song to sing.

You're very thoughtful about your lyrics. What inspires this?

I think my songs are just a reflection of my personality and are things I like to think about. I grew up pretty fast, and I always had leaned towards self-reflection. When it comes to music, there's a place for more surface level things and a surface level lyricism that I do employ. In this EP, I do employ that. But songwriting is a craft, and it's an art. That means I'm not fucking around and sing about shit that doesn't matter to me. But the songwriting process -- I really like studio writing. So having two or three months or how ever long in the studio to write songs with the people I'm collaborating with then and there. I'm not the kind of artist who's slaving over my journal or making sure everything is perfect. I like improvisational songwriting.

Since you like collaborating, who would you want to work with?

Brian Eno. No question, Brian Eno. He is super influential to me and the artist I would like to be like if that's even remotely possible. Also, I don't know if I would like to collaborate with her. But I would like to Bjork work and just be behind the scenes. I would even get her coffee. I would die for Bjork.

If you weren't doing music, what do you think you'd be doing right now?

I've never really had any other goals besides doing music. I haven't had a facet of my identity that I've latched onto like music -- ever. I don't relate to anything else besides music, like in a personal way. But I guess I would be doing something in the entertainment field. If I weren't doing music music full-time right now, I would want to start a DIY space and collaborate with my friends in the art world or do something like that. I also really like animals. It's a problem like I horde them. I have so many animals -- something with animals, something compassionate and loving.

What's next for you?

I'm just working on my new record and preparing for a residency in LA. That's happening at a place called The Bootleg that I've played a lot. I've been focusing on incorporating more visuals into my live set and expanding my live show and making it into a more full experience.