MY name is Marina and my surname is Diamonds in Greek, explains the 24-year-old Welsh-born Marina Diamondis. "I named myself Marina and The Diamonds because at the time I couldn't think of anything else.

"Nowadays I think of the fans as the diamonds as it then transforms the whole thing into a collective project and collective effort. So if I do well, it's like the fans are doing well too."

Both Marina and her fans, therefore, are feeling pretty chuffed, as tickets for her first UK tour are selling well.

Her fans – sorry, diamonds – are clearly eager to hear tracks from her forthcoming debut album, The Family Jewels, due out next week.

"I'm really excited," she says of the album's release. "It's the execution of everything I've been working towards."

The album was four years in the making. Well, getting signed was, at least. Up until Warners welcomed her to their fold two years ago, the songstress did anything and everything to garner industry attention, even auditioning for a reggae boy band. Some websites have also said she tried and failed to join the cast of the stage musical The Lion King.

"What is that rubbish?" she laughs. "Who put that? Now everybody's going to be thinking of me as this musical theatre person, which is absolutely not true."

Although she did audition.

"For a laugh," she insists. "I hadn't 1/100th of the talent you need. I was totally untrained."

Despite the knocks, Marina says she never considered abandoning her pop star dreams.

"Even when I was in the depths of despair, I refused to have a Plan B. My parents and my sister would be like 'you have to pick something else' and I just refused. I wasn't prepared to do that."

On her new single, Hollywood, the dark-haired beauty sings about being compared to two of the world's most beautiful women ("Oh My God, you look just like Shakira… No, no, you're Catherine Zeta Jones"). Musically, however, the list is a lot longer – and not always as flattering – as Marina's "alternative pop" has seen her compared to everyone from Katy Perry to Tori Amos and Kate Bush.

"I'm not hugely influenced by their music. Journalists think I'm lying by saying that I'm not inspired by Kate Bush – but I really wasn't. I love Dolly Parton, I love Daniel Johnston and Fiona Apple – people who are excellent at songwriting and who have really open lyrics. I don't like the 'hey baby, baby, I love you' kind of stuff."

The album showcases Marina's own songwriting talents.

Much is made of Marina's dual heritage and she believes that growing up in a Welsh village with a Greek father and Welsh mother has greatly influenced her music.

"I think from the Welsh side I've definitely been inspired by nature, by having not very much growing up and having a very simple upbringing. I focus on that side of life rather than the flashy, glammy industry that I'm in because I don't care about that – I think that's boring.

"From the Greek side, melodically, I was influenced by my dad playing a lot of classic Greek music. And also, characteristically, I am quite stubborn and have a hot temper."

It is Marina's love of her family rather than her fiery temper that is the inspiration behind the cheeky title of her album.

"It ties in with the theme of family on the album and my parents are really inspiring people. For me, they are my idols – I don't really idolise famous people – so I wanted to make them feel important.

After a moment, she adds: "I also wanted to name it The Family Jewels because it was funny."

It is this eccentricity and playfulness – along with Marina's voice and unique style – that has converted the likes of Kanye West and Jo Whiley into some of her biggest celebrity fans. And undoubtedly Marina & The Diamonds are set to add many, many more jewels to her crown.