'Lights' sensation Ellie Goulding has opened up about how she discovered her own voice.

She took part in Rolling Stone's Women Who Rock interview sessions and explained that growing up in isolated surroundings helped drive her passion for music and she often tried to "emulate" the vocals of the singers she admired:

"I used to try and emulate Björk all the time. I was into pop bands and pop singers and me and my mum used to listen to the radio, [BBC] Radio 1, all the time because we'd have to drive like half an hour to an hour to get anywhere. We lived in the middle of nowhere."

When asked which other acts she liked, Goulding added: "Everyone loved the Spice Girls - me and all my friends. We used to imitate the Spice Girls and dress up as them and whatever, and then I discovered Lauryn Hill."

She also explained that she loved dance music and grew up listening to Chaka Khan and Candi Staton, whose sounds influenced her greatly and helped her to develop her own style:

"It was only, I guess when I got to college that I for some reason started developing my own voice. Then I just kind of had my own voice, and I guess it's just like a mixture of everything I've ever listened to. It just happens."