“Song writing is like therapy”, says Twinnie when talking about her chart-busting debut album Hollywood Gypsy. “There are 12 songs on the album that are all kind of a piece of me, a piece of my heart for what I’ve been through.”
It sums up the personal and honest nature of rising star Twinnie’s songwriting. Across the record’s tracklist, the York native wears her heart on her sleeve as she delves into her own world.
Anthemic single I Love You, Now Change is a raw insight into the pressures she’s faced as an emerging talent in the music industry, the album’s title track is a snapshot of her heritage and the free-spirited Type of Girl personifies Twinnie’s steadfast vision of who she is. “It’s not anybody else’s job to tell me”.
The album hit number two in the UK country charts and its singles have enjoyed airplay on Radio 2 – marking Twinnie’s incredible journey from North Yorkshire to Nashville where she’s teamed up with Grammy Award-winning writers and producers Dave Barns and Nathan Chapman.
It’s a pivotal moment in her career that she’s waited 15 years for, she tells us.
She enjoyed a landmark 2019, which saw her headline a sold out show at London’s new music mecca The Lexington, perform at Country2Country, support Jack Savoretti and win the Best Breakthrough Act at the BCMA Awards.
Hollywood Gypsy takes inspiration from country music but Twinnie says she has an eclectic taste, taking inspiration from icons like Jonny Cash and Gilbert O’Sullivan but also rap music.
The coronavirus pandemic may have pushed her scheduled tour back to November but it’s not stopped her keeping connected with her fans online as she spends lockdown with her mum.
Daily Star Online caught up with Twinnie to talk about Hollywood Gypsy’s success, how she got into music and her influences, her evolution as an artist, and her hopes for the rest of the year
Hi Twinnie, how are you keeping in lockdown? Has it kept you busy?
“It’s been so busy - there are so many Zoom calls. I should have been in Nashville right now starting on my American EP but that’s on hold as I can’t travel there.
“I have been doing a lot on Zoom. That’s been great. It’s probably something I will keep on doing. After this I don’t actually need to be there if I can’t be there for schedule. I’ve been managing to stay creative. That’s been an important thing for me to do.
“It’s nice to be home with my mum because I never get to see her as I live in London. I don’t think I’m going to move out. I’m getting a bit too used to these home cooked meals! I feel like I’m a teenager again.”
You been taking part in a variety of live streams during lockdown - how important is it that you stay connected to your fans?
“I’m quite active on social media anyway. For the first week I was like I’m not going to do anything. It was a bit of a bummer for me to be honest because the album came out and I was meant to be playing O2 arena, then doing my first headline tour, going on tour with Rick Astley for a bit and then Jools Holland, and then suddenly everything’s gone. Those things help massively when you’re a new artist to promote a your debut album that you’ve waited so long to get out.
“It was a tough pill to swallow but people have been amazing about it. It can only be a good thing because people at home are listening more.
“I’ve done a few live streams because everybody was doing it at first, I was compelled to do a couple. I am now trying to do it every so often so people don’t get sick of my face.”
You’ve just released your album Hollywood Gypsy. What was the writing process like? How long were you working on it?
“It was very long for various reasons. it took me a long time to find my right team and get a record deal. I was signed for three years before we put anything out.
“One of the songs Lie to Me is seven years old. It’s been very challenging in all the best ways. I’m an honest person and I feel like I’m an honest writer.
“Most of the songs on the album are everything that’s happened to me in the last five years. I really wanted to be authentic rather than put on a show.
“It has been received really well. A lot of people an relate to some of the songs, especially the latest single I Love You Now Change.
“They’re all different sides of my personality. I tried to make it a mix of stuff. Things that people think but don’t necessarily say. I love You Now Change is about a relationship and I really wanted to empower people to not change who they are if you’re pressed to be someone. They’re perfect the way they are.
“I feel like I’ve educated myself about myself during the writing process. I always say that songs are the best therapy.
“It’s been amazing for me. I’m from York and I went over to Nashville and made an incredible network of people over there. I’m doing an EP in America which is very rare.
“I just feel very grateful to actually do the job I really do love and to tell my story. Hollywood Gypsy is being part of two worlds, being in Nashville and being here. That song is about my life and reflects my childhood, my mum and my dad being from different cultures.”
It’s varied with songs like I Love You Now Change being pop orientated, Hollywood Gypsy bringing an Americana element and Superhero is a ballad. Was this it your intention to cover a number of styles?
“I generally did want to keep the album up. I used to be a backing artist for artists like Robin Thicke, Pharrell, Michael Buble, the beat was always very important to me.
“I either wanted to make people dance or cry, and I don’t like crying myself, so I didn’t want to do that. I wanted a feel good album. I feel like the sound was done creating this album over the past four years. There were four producers on it, I was executive producer on all of it. I really wanted the songs to speak for themselves.
“It’s like a painting. You shade it different colours. I know artists who pick songs and write songs like ‘this is going to be orange, this is going to be pink’. I didn’t do that.
“The lyric dictated the production. Daddy Issues is kind of like Johnny Cash. I heard Kesha’s record and she had done a similar thing. I didn’t want to copy anyone else.
“It’s easy as a new artist to follow a trend and I didn’t want to do that. I wanted the lyrics to speak for themselves. It’s a very collaborative effort form me and my production team.”
The result is it’s got to number two on the UK country album chart - you must be really proud of that?
“I am massively proud of that! I feel like I haven’t been able to promote it the way I want. A lot of people are discovering me and feel like nobody knows who I am still.
“I’m so proud of it and people are still discovering it, which is amazing. It’s exceeded my expectation because of the pandemic as well.”
When did you first get into music?
“I have been on stage since I was four. I did youth theatre and acting. My first proper gig was with Brian May in a musical theatre production of We Will Rock You. I went to a music and drama college and got my first job with him. He gave me a shot doing eight shows a week.
“It kind of led me to writing sessions. Before that I was writing myself and doing gigs at the weekend after shows. I’ve been a backing dancer. I have been brought up on Hollywood movie musicals. It’s part of my heritage, the gypsy bit, and I was growing up with the discipline that you have to be good at all three.
“I’ve got such respect for dancing, acting and singing and songwriting. Music has always been my passion but the dots didn’t align until later, which is a good thing.
“You’ve got more experience and you know what you’re talking about, I know what I want to write about, I know who I am. It’s all gone the way it has meant to have gone.”
You’re from York, how has it shaped you as an artist? How was the music scene for you?
“Yep, there was Fibbers. It was mainly indie and emo. I wasn’t in to that.
“I spent a lot of time by myself crafting what I wanted to say. Coming into that industry and having to work with other people was a lesson in itself.
“York and its people, maybe this is being from up north, I find they say it how it is. My family do. It made me really strong to find the truth. When I went to London it was really alien to me, especially at a young age. It’s friendlier up here. I feel like i connect with my friends so much because it’s a small big town.
“I’m such a family oriented person anyway. The record was all about my experience. Hollywood Gypsy is about my life and is dedicated to the people of the town that made me. I’m very grateful for that.”
Who were you influenced by growing up?
“My first concert was Gilbert O’Sullivan. I was quite a weird child. I remember wanting to copy Judy Garland and the Rat Pack. Gilbert O’Sullivan, Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton...a lot of my family listened to country music, folk music and great storytellers.
“There’s a misconception with country music in this country that it’s all cowboy boots and hats. It’s not, it goes deeper than that. One of the biggest songs last year was Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus. That’s fantastic for me.
“Nashville has a lot of respect for the art of songwriting. I feel like I was heavily influenced by people that were honest and didn’t say things that were deemed as cool.
“Shania Twain was massive and Taylor Swift. I listen to a lot of rap too, like Tupac. I feel like they’re the best lyricists.”
Quite a varied taste then!
“Yep, it’s an eclectic taste. You should always keep listening to music and watching films you love because that’s where you find the best inspiration.”
How have you evolved as an artist?
“I only released a 3 track EP last March and then my album came out. It’s been a 15 year wait for me.
“All my life I’ve waited for this moment. I feel like I’ve grown even from Better When I’m Drunk to I Love You Now Go there’s this kind of natural progression of maturing.
“Maybe that’s the look of it in the videos. I started out like I love to make fun of myself and make fun of my flaws because I feel like that’s interesting. I knew from the first EP that people liked what I was doing.
“I made sure that musically I saw what was working and took out a few of the songs and made it more organic in some parts. Song writing is like therapy. There are 12 songs on the album that are all kind of a piece of me, a piece of my heart for what I’ve been through.”
Do you think the reaction you’ve had will help you work on the next material you work on?
“Definitely - all you can do is hope for the best. Put out an album and hope people like it. I would rather die by the sword and put out the album I wanted to make. I can then hold my head up high. It did give me so much confidence to trust my own intuition as a baby artist to make the right decisions.”
What are your hopes for the year ahead and how do you think the music industry will recover from the pandemic’s impact?
“I feel like it will recover pretty quickly. People will have missed going out to gigs and going to the cinema, the little things that make you feel good.
“We’re scheduled to do my tour in November. I hope that comes off. I hope that I can play the album out live preferably before the end of the year.
“It’s really brought people that don’t necessarily work together closer. The gap’s got smaller. That’s one thing that I hope can continue, to write with the people I love that are on the other side of the ocean.
“I hope that the project grows and people are able to discover me. Everything is online now and my incredible team is putting content out every week to reinforce the tracks.
“I want to be able to keep doing the job I love and hopefully make enough money to do it! I love the writing process. I’m not really missing the studio too much but I’m really missing the fans, that live feeling you get with them singing your songs back at you. That was happening to me a little bit doing odd gigs. At least everyone will know the words to the songs by November!
“I can’t wait to get back to America and do the EP. It’s tough as an artist but you have to keep on going. You have to be persistent. If you don’t get on one playlist you try and get on another.
“Lizzo is a fine example. In 2016 she wrote Truth Hurts but it wasn’t until 2019 that it actually became a hit. I feel like that gives me so much encouragement as an artist releasing my debut album in a pandemic.
“I feel like it’s there forever and people will continue to find it. I just want to grow as an artist, meet people and putting out good music that people like!”
Hollywood Gypsy is out now via BMG
