Elektro Exclusive Q&A: The Voice of EDM, Polina: “to be successful at anything it has to come naturally”

Polina Goudieva is the vocalist you've heard on the anthems of countless EDM stars such as, Steve Aoki, Tiësto, Felix Cartal, Kaskade and Avicii, just to name a few.

She took time out of her busy singing schedule to lend her voice to ElektroDaily.com for this exclusive interview. Find out the story behind the woman in front of the beats.

At what age did you start singing? As long as I can remember. I was always putting on my mom's costumes (who is a Russian pop singer of the late 80's-90's named Anka) and singing. At first thought I was on a career path of a classical pianist. So I didn't start singing seriously until I got into writing and producing when I was 15.

Where did you grow up? Moscow (Russia) - New York

How did where you grow up shape you as an artist today? Spending a part of my childhood in Europe (before coming to the US) during the electronic/dance music explosion that was happening there at that time definitely didn't leave me untouched. I'm very big on real songs but have always gravitated towards dance/electronic sound. I feel like what I do today is a marriage of the two worlds.

Who have you worked with? I have collaborated with Kaskade, Avicii, Steve Aoki, Tiësto, Alex Gaudino, Felix Cartal, David Morales, Moguai and many others. And have written for Sean Kingston.

How did the Sean Kingston song come about? I was in a writing session with a NY writer, Duane Harden, one day and he played me 16 bars of a Sandy Vee track that later became Sean's single 'Sleep All Day (Party All Night)." The hook was written on the spot. A few months later my publisher (Ultra) called me to say that production team Stargate got attached and Sean Kingston was cutting the song. It went on to become No 8 in the UK.

The girls from Nervo went from behind the scenes to DJing. Would you ever consider becoming a DJ or just stick to singing? If my live show calls for DJing at some point I'll be open to it. I think to be successful at anything though it has to come naturally.

Your latest track with Felix Cartal is getting some great reviews from around the net. How did this collaboration come about? Steve Aoki sent me Felix's track (who is an artist on Dim Mak). I went into the studio next day, wrote and cut vocals for "Don't Turn On The Lights" and it was done!

Who are some artists that you would like to collaborate with? I would love to work with Calvin Harris.

What can we expect from you in 2012? A few guest vocal collabs with the likes of Tiësto & Steve Aoki, Angger Dimas, PDT, The Kinetics, Moguai and my own release, which I'm very excited about!

Favorite drink?  Tea.

What was your scariest groupie moment? During a live show in France, someone grabbed me and tried to pull me off stage. I was wearing 6-inch heels on top of my 5'11" frame and barely missed a long flight to the floor.

If you can have one superhero power, what would it be? In my mind I am supergirl.

 What DJ would you like to:

Hug? Afrojack. He's so tall and very huggable.
Party With? Swedish House Mafia.
Sing with over a track? Running out of DJ's whose tracks to sing over LOL. My own track.

What was the first job you ever had? As a kid... singing on a jingle for a yogurt commercial that received an award for most TV plays ever and haunted me for years.

Check out Polina on YouTube.

Polina on Facebook.

Follow Polina on Twitter.

Photograph by David Walters/dreamclay.com.