1) What was the inspiration behind the opening track of your debut EP 'Peace of Mind'?

 

The theme throughout is really following my ongoing attempt to find peace of mind through relationships, friendships, cities, experiences. It’s really a mix of inspirations drawn from my life for example ‘Manta Ray’, uses the rays as metaphor for a rather bitter view of the music industry. I also like the thought that they look like they have wings and really just ‘want to fly’. That thought has stuck with me for 10 years so about time I wrote a song about it.  

 

2) To someone who had never heard your music, how would you describe your sound in 5 words? 

 

Indie driven melodic vocal explosion. 

 

3) Who were your favourite musicians growing up, and has their music had an influence on your songwriting today? 

 

It wasn’t till i hit about 14 that I actually started listening to anything decent. Little bits that my dad would play to me in the car but i find my influences still stem from the early 2000’s obscure indie like Modest Mouse, Built to Spill mixed with the classic singer songwriter stylings of Jeff Buckley, Matt Corby and even a little bit of motown vocally.

 

4) If you could go back, what advice would you give to your 18 year old self as you were trying to break into the music industry? 

 

Start now, everything is less stressful when you’re young. I released my first single at 22 and didn’t want to share my music online or engage with social media before that. Doing so really changed a lot for me, gave me a lot of opportunities where I would have otherwise gone unnoticed which makes me wish I'd done it at 18, I'd be 3 years ahead.  

 

5) Finally, in keeping with the theme of our most recent zine - Tacky - what's the tackiest possession you own and why do you own it? 

 

Ok well firstly i have to say I don’t know if I really own this but it was a present to me so i suppose. My sister gave me a huge framed picture of me singing but its made up out of a thousand different pictures of me. Its 100% tacky and garish, I hate it but it still hangs in my parents front room. I cringe every time I go back!