She was championed by Ed Sheeran – when she approached him after a gig and he asked her to play to him on the spot. Impressed, he invited her on tour with him at just 16-years-old and she has been steadily building a devoted fan base.
Not only does Nina have over 130,000 followers on Twitter but her youtube views have topped 20 million with single ‘Stay out’ her most popular song charting at number 21.
Still relatively unknown by the public, Nina’s loyal fans – who include Fearne Cotton - have dubbed themselves ‘Nesbians’ in support of the singer.
Of her growing profile, Nina says: ‘I started posting covers of songs on the internet when I was 14, then started touring my own tours, then it was just one thing after another.’
Not one to judge how other artists find their voice, the singer revealed that had she not successfully built her own fan base online, she would have been open to auditioning for a talent show like The X Factor.
‘I probably would have (auditioned), especially coming from Edinburgh- the music scene isn’t amazing…’
Though Nina is now based in London, it was coming from a small community that inspired the subject of her songwriting.
‘I write about honest experiences, I don’t come from a rich background, I come from a very normal background, I don’t come from that world.’
Nina's mum (Swedish social worker) and dad (defence industry manager from Scotland) are supportive of her career despite having no ties to the music industry themselves- Nina is truly a self-made artist.
She refers to her experiences from school in many of her songs. In her track ‘Two Worlds Away’ she sings about staying out late with her mates and losing a friend that betrayed her.
‘I sing about normal teenage things, hanging out with people who you think are your friends but they’re not really. They have the good parties, they seem cool… Then you realize, ‘Oh these people aren’t actually very nice to me.’
Discussing her track ‘The Hardest Part{
The song tells the story the struggle to accept the end of a relationship with lyrics like ‘please don’t love another like you loved me, cause time doesn’t heal, it just leaves me asking why.’
Nina said: ‘It’s the most personal song on the album. I got home and I was just really upset. It just came out and I don’t know where it came from. I was crying when I wrote it, it was so sad.'
‘Now I’ve written it I can move on from the situation. I was just in the relationship for what it was…’
Though Nina has been romantically linked to other artists such as Ed Sheeran and Mike Duce from British rock band Lower Than Atlantis, she says she is currently happily single, living in London, telling us: ‘I’m not looking for a boyfriend I’m pretty happy on my own.’
Nina admitted that she worries about the intentions of potential dates and getting into another relationship as she becomes more recognizable.
She said ‘I do worry that if it takes off that are they going to be with me for the right reasons or if it’s because of who I am.’
This has affected the way the young singer approaches meeting people when she’s out with her friends.
‘I do worry about meeting guys when I’m out… Sometimes you just kiss somebody when you’re in a club!’
But she won’t be signing up to any dating websites any time soon, especially not Tinder!
‘A lot of my friends have gone on Tinder. I feel like single people now just rely on that for dates and no one talks to each other. It really annoys me…’
Nina longs for more traditional approaches to dating: ‘I wish people met in real life like in the old days.’
The singer wrote her single ‘Selfies{
‘I wanted to write about how you can live through this fake persona online… you can be a completely different person through a couple of photos. I can say I’m on holiday in Greece and people would believe me. You can literally do anything.’
Nina wanted the track to be ‘a modern day break up song about how when you’ve broken up with somebody and you take pictures to make yourself feel better.’
She’s not immune to taking the odd selfie with a celebrity, recently sharing a snap with Taylor Swift, of who she is a massive fan: ‘I pretty much launched myself at her at the Brits last year.’
When it comes to onstage style, Nina looks to ‘strong’ women like Debbie Harry, who are ‘not too provocative but still sexy.’
A former model, the singer says that she doesn’t feel pressure to lose weight or go on any crazy diets.
‘Sometimes I think I should tone up a bit but I’m too lazy… but I do ballet on tour sometimes…. Its very relaxing.’
Nina’s single ‘Selfies’ is out February 10 and her album ‘Peroxide’ is available on February 17.