Allie X is one of those old-school popstars who operates in the “less is more” mode. She rarely takes off her sunglasses, doesn’t like talking about her past and managed to keep a healthy dose of enigma around her persona ever since she stepped on the scene with her fresh synthpop-driven music back in 2014. Our conversation stayed off the beaten path as we discussed dreams, insecurities and anonymity.

She Doesn’t Want You to Read Her Wikipedia Page

We first heard about Allie X back in 2014 when she released “Catch” and got everyone’s attention, including Katy Perry. She’s been working in the industry long before creating this new persona, yet she’d rather you not read her Wikipedia profile. “I prefer you didn’t reference the Wikipedia page”, she tells me right away. “I’m based in LA, but I’m originally from Toronto. I made my way to LA when I got the publishing deal almost three years ago. Then I released 'Catch,' and I’ve been spreading the word of X ever since. There’s nothing that I can do to ease people’s memories and what’s online. Maybe these things exist for a reason. I’m not looking for a way to dispose all of the records of my existence before now. So ultimately that’s an attitude you need to have within yourself.”

She Likes to Stay Anonymous

“I probably own 15-20 pairs of sunglasses. I’m always getting new ones but I’m always losing them, too. To answer the idea behind sunglasses I first have to explain the concept behind the X. Throughout history X’s had many cultural, mathematical and symbolical significances. For me X represents anonymity. The ability to wipe the slate clean. When an illiterate person signs X as their name it means that they can be anyone and I like that idea. When I adopted X into my own name it gave me the freedom to erase the past and be whoever I wanted to be. And sunglasses are just a part of that anonymity. If you’re a very sensitive person like me, then they provide protection.” Will we ever get to see her eyes? “Yeah, for sure. If you look online you’ll see a number of images of me without sunglasses. And on my Snapchat [@alliexxxxandra]. The more I got to know my fans and the more time I’ve spent as a public figure, the more comfortable I got with showing my eyes.”

Is it safe to assume that all of the artists using X’s in their names (Allie X, Richard X, X Ambassadors, etc) are just real-life X-Men? “Yeah, I’m actually secretly an X-man, ha!” What superpower would she like to possess in real life then? “To be calm and at peace at any time.”

She’s Inspired by Kubrick and Mariah Carey

Judging by Allie’s highly artistic music videos and constantly updated Tumblr page, she believes that music should come packed with striking visual. No wonder some of her biggest inspirations come from cinema. “I’m generally inspired by Kubrick and Brian De Palma. I’m also inspired by the writing of Haruki Murakami, by Bjork, Tom Petty and '80s and also, being the one who grew up in the '90s, these big pop singers like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.”

She’s a Dreamer

Her latest single is called “Too Much to Dream,” so it’s safe to assume Allie X spends quite some time dreaming. Do ideas come to her in her sleep? “I write in a very subconscious way and I think that plays directly into dreams. I’ve had instances where I’d woken up with a melody in my head and you just grab your voice recorder and memo it quickly. Sometimes I also see images in my dreams that I get inspired by.”

She’s a Tumblr Girl

Given that she prefers to communicate with her fans via the wonderful maze of Tumblr, we have to ask how many hours a day she spends going through all of these GIFs. “Not too many, maybe an hour a day. I just keep it up to date throughout the day.”

She Wrote That Troye Sivan Song You Like

Allie X was very much involved in the recording of Australia's latest teen phenomenon Troye Sivan’s debut record Blue Neighborhood, helping him write seven songs, including hit singles “Youth” and “Talk to Me.” Does she feel like a proud mama given all of his success? “I do feel like a proud mama for Troye. He was a total pleasure to work with and to get to know. He really had a vision for how he wanted his record to sound; we were guided by that. The whole process was very chill. We were never trying to write hits, which is usually what’s going on if you’re working on a session in LA. We ended up with a body of work that was very relatable to his fans and his generation”.

Having co-penned “Youth,” she probably had quite colorful teenage years herself. “I don’t usually talk about my past. I’ll say this: my teenage years were rather awkward and painful and I was never really considered popular or attractive. But I feel kinda grateful for that ‘cause it shaped who I am and made me stronger. I embraced my weirdness.”

More Music Coming Soon

Allie X’s first body of work CollXtion I(it’s pronounced “collection one”) came out in April 2015 and the fans are still waiting for the follow-up, although she did drop a couple of singles recently. “CollXtion II is going to be a full-length and the release day has not been announced yet. I have a group of songs that I’m choosing from, and I’ll be releasing them one by one and testing them with my fans (my Xs) and getting feedback. Based on that I’ll be deciding what makes CollXtion II and it will be released in the near future.”

She’s No Longer a Party Animal

The lyrics of “Too Much to Dream” sees Allie X “…singing ‘til I’m screaming, dancing ‘til I’m bleeding,” which leads us to assume she makes quite a fun companion on a night out. “I’m actually not a party animal. I was at one point in my life. Now these lyrics have different significance to me. It’s more to do with actual dreams that I have for my life and for my career. Sometimes I wonder if I’m just delusional and if it’s all just a dream that I’ve became inebriated on. It’s hard to tell the difference between a dream that’s good for you and a dream that’s bad for you.”

She’s a Body Ecology Diet Advocate

You don’t get to look as good as Allie X without a trick or two. Allie’s secret is body ecology. “Paleo diet is super trendy right now and body ecology is sorta like that, just takes a step further. It’s no grains, no dairy, no gluten, no sugar (that’s the most important part), not even sugary fruits. It makes me feel very balanced. I’ve been doing that for three years now.” Did she get Troye Sivan on that diet? “Haha, no! Did anyone say that I did that?! I think Troye Sivan is young, healthy and a very skinny boy, so I wouldn’t wanna make him change his diet.”

She’s a Self-Proclaimed Bitch

One of her earliest songs was called “Bitch.” Does she respond well if someone’s calling her the B word? “It depends on who’s calling me this. If it’s a gay friend calling me bitch, then I’m totally down. But if it’s some old executive I’m working with, then I’d be extremely offended. It all depends on the context. I’m really offended when women become authority figures and get called bitches. That’s not fair or appropriate. Sometimes I call myself a bitch and feel totally fine about it.”