Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/956988
Which part of London are you from? I'm not actually from London originally, but I've lived in South London for the last 3 years. I love it round here cos all my friends are within like a 20-minute radius and I'm a short drive from home! What was it like growing up where you did? Growing up back near Guildford was great – I have an amazing family and I loved my school and at the weekends me and my friends would go to our local shopping centre and sit in the food court flirting with boys (from 5 tables away). Good times. Did you get into a lot of trouble growing up? Ha not usually, I was a bit of a goody-two-shoes most of the time actually. I just talked too much all the time. Who got you into music? The Spice Girls… (laughs). I don't really know where my dream of being a singer originally came from, I just remember falling in love with Britney and Christina and the Spice Girls and Steps and N*Sync etc. and being like THIS is what I'm going to do when I'm older. The fact that I could sing (and liked being dramatic and putting on shows) helped too. And I was writing songs from like 5. About two-timing boys amongst other things – stuff I had loads of experience in obviously. At what moment did you realize that you could make this music thing work? I think a little while after uni… I started properly focusing on it and making connections with pro- ducers and people who could help me get to where I wanted to get. I put out my first proper single ('Looking At You') and it got New Music Friday global playlist on Spotify and I was like shiiiiit this is fun and I could actually do ok at it! What challenges have you faced in pursuit of your dreams? A lot. I've been working at this for a pretty long time, and at the start, I didn't have a fucking clue what I was doing. I didn't have any friends that were doing the same sort of thing, I didn't know anyone 'in the biz' and on my days off from my office job that I'd put aside to 'focus on music' I was staring at my bedroom wall with Logic open on my laptop and just thinking WTF am I doing here - I don't know how to write a proper produced song, I don't know how to put it out into the world, I don't know what sort of music I even wanna make… it took a lot of self- discovery and a lot of networking and self-promotion to get to a point where it felt like I was actu- ally getting anywhere. It's still pretty up and down, and you have to have a thick skin, cos there's a lot of rejection or worse, a lot of people never getting back to you at all to even reach the point of rejection! But the highs are now outweighing any lows by a longgg way, and I bloody love that I get to do music full time as my career now. Tell us about your newest single, 'Give n Take'? I wrote 'Give n Take' towards the end of my relationship with my ex. It's about reaching that point (which I know a lot of couples can relate to – I've had a few girls message me on Instagram since hearing it being like 'ok were you dating my ex cos this is literally him'). Where there's very little spontaneity and romance and thoughtfulness going on anymore and you're fed up of it so you're like 'hey, be romantic and do lovely things for me and I'll return the favour in other ways…' It's a bit of a tongue-in-cheek, playful cho- rus, but the verses are a bit more serious/pissed off/specific to my relationship! You've also had your first head- line show now, how was that? It was amazing! My first headline ever and we sold out like 3 weeks before! Was so happy. We played so many new songs so I was quite nervous before cos It was basi- cally a whole new set from any gig we'd done previously, but they all went down amazingly and I had the best time. The crowd was amazing and I just can't wait to do it all over again. You also toured with Jonas Blue in 2017 - any highlights? All of it! Can I say that? Every show was really different, and a great learning experience for me. I'd never played outside of the UK before, so I was just lapping it all up, loving every minute. It was weird moving from one country to another so quickly, but we man- aged to see a lil bit of each city that we played in! So, what makes you special? Hopefully lots of things! I dunno it's weird to write it out… I feel like maybe what sets my music apart is how honest and conversational and I think, British, my songwrit- ing is – my lyrics are always super specific which I think listeners appreciate cos you're really letting them into your world, no holds barred. I'm also a lot of fun… What is your life motto? What's bad for your heart is good for your art. (Basically to tell myself that if I'm having a shit time at least I'm gonna get some great songs out of it). What can we expect to see from you in 2018? More songs, gigs, festivals, fea- tures, tours… all of it <3 INTERVIEW LOOP 2018 / ISSUE 107 35 HIP HOP & RNB " WHAT'S BAD FOR YOUR HEART IS GOOD FOR YOUR ART. " LOOP is one of the biggest growing names in the scene right now and with lyrics that we can all relate to in some way or another, it is no surprise that LOOP just keeps getting better & better. We caught up with the songstress to talk new music, self-discovery, boys and touring with Jonas Blue. Grace Barnott | Guestlist follow @callmeloop