Last year Toronto-area singer Alessia Cara shared the stage with Taylor Swift, released a Top 10 single, “Here,” and became an artist to watch in 2016. Myspace caught up with Canada’s newest pop star on the cusp of her first North American headlining tour to talk about the whirlwind of success and her debut album, Know-It-All.

What’s the last six months been like for you? 

The last six months have been very busy. A lot of stuff happening and a lot of cool things, a lot of surreal things too but it’s been a lot of fun mainly. 

What might have been the most eye-opening experience? 

I think when I went on stage with Taylor Swift, that was a big thing. That was a big one for me. It was so memorable and amazing and that really felt the most surreal I think. 

What was the biggest challenge about making Know-It-All? 

The biggest challenge would probably be finding the direction that I wanted to go or what I wanted to say. And sonically just making every song feel like a body of work rather than just a bunch of songs put together. I really wanted to make sure they went together and that they fit. I got to talk about a bunch of things I wanted to talk about and all from (the perspective of) a teenager. So I think those things made it fall into the same vein and made it feel like a body of work. 

Do you have a hard time letting go of a song? 

There’s always something to add. I think songs are never really done, they’re just left there because of the time limit. I mean, there’s always something that you could tweak but I think there’s definitely a point where you feel satisfied enough where you can just let it go. 

You have a headlining tour coming up. Do you have any butterflies? 

Yeah, for sure. I’m so excited! I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s so cool that people are willing to come out and pay to watch me sing to them. It’s really, really amazing. All the shows I’ve done so far, the people have known all the words and they’re singing. I’m nervous obviously but it’s going to be exciting.

What can fans expect? 

Well, I think the set list already got out yesterday [laughs], so as far as the set list I think everybody knows it. What they can expect is they’re not going to hear just the album. They’re not going to hear an identical thing to the record—it’s a lot bigger and a lot more animated. I just don’t want to play to people what they could just hear on the CD; it’s a lot bigger and more of a show. 

You’re confirmed for Coachella. Will you be able to take in any of the festival?  

I think I’m doing both weekends, so I hope I have some time to watch the other performers. There are some amazing performers and some of my favorites on the bill. So I hope I get to watch. 

You performed at Abbey Road Studios in London recently. What was that like?  

That was really cool, you just really feel the history when you go in there. It was awesome and there’s pictures on the walls of other people who were there and recorded there. There are some really great artists like Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse, two of my favorites. It was cool to be recording in the same place. 

You covered Drake’s “Hotline Bling.” Is there something you look for in a song before you decide to cover it? 

Not really, I just like to cover songs that I like first off because that always helps me feel it more I guess. We just had to turn it into my own thing and make it my own. But it really just starts with a song that I like that I feel I could cover well. 

Have you started thinking about the next album?

I have; I know I shouldn’t. I try and take things one day at a time and really focus on now. We haven’t even really started the tour yet, but I guess my brain is always moving. I’m definitely thinking of new songs and new concepts. 

You tweeted about the passing of David Bowie. If there was one song of his you could cover which one would it be? 

Oh my goodness! Which one would I cover by David Bowie? That’s really hard! None of them. I couldn’t cover any of them. He’s amazing. Maybe “Space Oddity” if I could make it my own. Probably “Space Oddity,” that would be a sick one!