Just ahead of this weekend’s Dansk Melodi Grand Prix final, we caught up with Stella, who’ll be attempting to win her country’s ticket to Malmö with Sign Here, written by Stella Søren Christiensen and Tim Schou. In this interview, topics we discussed included the origin of her stage name, the personal meaning behind the song, and how her dad’s school run music choices have inspired her career.

You can remind yourself of the song here:

Hi Stella – thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat to ESCBubble! How have preparations for Dansk MGP been going?

There is a lot going on a the moment but I’m enjoying every minute of it.

Your off-stage name is Sophie. Where did the stage name Stella come from, and why was important for you to perform under this name?

Stella came from the label of a drink I was having the night I started performing and I just went with it. I saw the name “Stella Artois” on a bottle and I thought it was great. So that went really fast. In the beginning I personally didn’t care about what I was going to call myself as a stage name. The most important thing for me was to separate my private life with my public life. I’m an introvert so it gives me a feeling that I can take a break sometimes and just be Sophie.

What, and who, inspired you to become a musician, and what most influences the music you write?

I always had a feeling inside that music was something that I wanted to do but I didn’t know how. When I was younger my dad always played Green Day, Linkin Park or something similar in the car for school. And I always thought that Billie Joe Armstrong was so cool, so maybe that’s one of the reasons. When I’m writing songs it’s always something about me or someone I know, it’s always real and that’s the key for the stories that I’m writing.

Much of your music, including your DMGP song and debut effort, Modern Poetry Girl, were written in collaboration with Søren Christansen and Tim Schou, the latter of whom won DMGP with A Friend In London in 2011. How did this relationship come to be?

Tim, Søren and I meet years ago. My old teacher was playing in a rock band with Søren, so they put us together and the first song we made was Listen Now. And later on Tim was working on a song and needed a female vocal so Søren put us together. And after that we have been hanging out ever since.

Now let’s talk about your song, Sign Here. For a song that constantly repeats the line “All you gotta do is sign here”, for me, when I listen to it, it puts Amazon package delivery in mind. What is the song about, and what do we have to sign?

The chorus is catchy so I think it’s difficult not wanting to stand up to sing along. But I don’t judge, if you want to sit in your own silence listening to my story and maybe compare your story with it, that’s also something to appreciate.

DMGP is something of a unique Eurovision national final given competitors have to perform with a live orchestra. What have they added to the song?

I think it’s so cool, I’m actually going to perform my song with my band on the stage. It gives me more energy and the songs as well.

Have you had the chance to listen to any of the other seven songs competing at DMGP this year? Which ones are your favourites and why?

I think all of the other songs are good, I don’t have a favourite. All of our songs are different from each others so it’s hard to tell.

Looking ahead to the Eurovision Song Contest itself, to what extent would you consider yourself a Eurofan? What are your favourite memories from watching the Contest in the past?

I’m not a super Eurofan. But I love watching the show because it’s all about getting my family together and we’re having a great time.

Finally, what would it mean for you to represent Denmark in front of millions of people just over the Øresund Crossing in Malmö?

It would mean a lot. It would be an honour to sing my song and tell my story to so many people.

Now for some bonus questions so our fans can get to know you a bit better…

Outside of performing, what is your favourite pastime?

Being with my friends or visiting my parents. I love being with my dog, long walks and stuff like that. That’s my way of getting my batteries reloaded.

Do you, or have you ever had, any pets?

Yes – at my parents’ home we have a Golden Retriever. In my family we always had one dog, Coco is our third one.

What’s the best holiday you’ve ever been on and why?

Thank you so much to Stella and team for organising this interview, and best of luck at DMGP! You can find her at @stellamusicdk on Instagram. Also, remember to follow ESCBubble across social media and YouTube for more exclusive Eurovision content, including interviews, reviews, predictions and more!