Arlo Parks wishes people didn’t know her real name

The 20-year-old singer was born Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho and she admitted she wanted to keep her career “separate” to her everyday life - but online resource Wikipedia meant her real moniker quickly became public knowledge.

She said: "I did have that desire to keep things separate at first, but then Wikipedia.”

Asked if she’d rather her name wasn’t available, she said: “I think in a way, yeah, because I'm already putting so much of myself into my songs and so much of my life and my story. I definitely have that desire to kind of filter some detail.”

Check out our Music News exclusive interview below:



The ‘Black Dog’ singer started writing music as a private unweaning of all the "difficult, complicated knots in my head” but she won’t share songs that feel too personal.

She said: “I definitely have spoken to people who feel the need to mine those difficult parts of themselves to create something that's worth thinking about, but I don't think that is something that anybody needs to do, or should feel obliged to.

“I think the reason why I do it is because that's what inspires me most. I'm most inspired by memory, and by the things that I've lived.

“If something hurts, I don’t [share it].

“I'm blessed that people do find my work kind of useful in a way, but I think that it's important not to destroy yourself for the sake of being useful.”

However, Arlo admitted people have an “expectation” for her to seem vulnerable.

She said: “I definitely think that there is an expectation, but because that’s the way that I project myself as well. And that’s what I think people think I am all the time.”

In the early days of her career, Arlo would respond to fans seeking advice about their worries and secrets but admitted the letters took their toll on her own mood.

She added to Britain's The Telegraph newspaper: “I found it quite draining, and I found myself quite low. So, I think it was important to set that balance again.”