Interview: TWINNIE, C2C Country 2 Country 2019, London

I really enjoyed watching Twinnie's set at C2C 2019 (you can read my thoughts about it here) so of course jumped at the chance to have an interview with her. Read on to find out her thoughts on the festival, performing with Bryan Adams, plans for 2019, and who she'd most like to duet with (you might be suprised!)

Ciara’s Country (CC): Hi Twinnie! We’re catching up after C2C – how was your experience of the festival?

Twinnie (T): It was amazing! I love C2C simply because you get to meet so many new people there. You’re introduced to lots of new music, it’s a great way to find out who’s up and coming and see people who’ll be big in a few years. People like Abby Anderson, I know she’s going to be a superstar; and Lainey Wilson. It was really cool to see all of them. I also enjoyed playing the different stages this year. It was the first year I’d played the BBC Radio 2 stage which was awesome. It was very early though, half past ten in the morning, but it was great. It’s always nice to be around country music and country artists and fans for the weekend.

CC: Well, even though your set was early, it had a really good reception.

T: Yeah, it did. The venue was quite full actually. Being first on, you do worry about people going out the night before and getting absolutely smashed and whether there’ll be anyone turning up, but there was. It was great.

CC: What was it like performing your music to people who hadn’t heard it before?

T: Here’s the thing: when people don’t know your songs, it’s great to see their reaction because you can kind of judge how good the song is. If it gets people immediately or it takes a couple of times. People in the front row were singing my songs back which was cool. That’s never happened before. Well, it happened in Berlin the week before which was even more crazy because the EP had just come out! And on the same day people were singing the lyrics. It’s amazing.

CC: It shows just how far country music can travel.

T: For sure. I think country music fans are the same everywhere, they’re very lovely and very attentive to the music. They listen. Especially to new artists, that’s so important.

CC: You’ve had quite a varied career up to this point too?

T: I’ve always done what I’m doing now, it just so happens that I’ve done other jobs in between to pay my mortgage! I’ve been in the entertainment industry since I was four. I can’t remember when I didn’t do music. It just so happens that everything has a time and a place and it falls where it falls. My career in general, there’s been a lot of hills I’ve had to climb up and then nearly got there and then fell back down. There’s been a lot of detours. You talk to some of my close friends, I was doing this when I was in primary school, so it wasn’t a conscious decision of ‘now I’ll do music’. It took me ten years to get signed and back then, I was doing country music and nobody knew what it was. It wasn’t as popular – people knew what it was but it wasn’t what it is now. It just makes me think that everything happens for a reason when it does.

CC: What’s been a real highlight during those ten years?

T: Gosh, there’s so many. I’ve got to sing with Queen, I’ve got to sing with Bryan Adams too. He saw me in a festival in Cornbury two years ago when I was playing this Café Nero tent. There was hardly anyone in there but he came and watched my performance. He came back later and asked if I wanted to sing on the main stage with him. That was unbelievable. Most recently, the fact Better When I’m Drunk went to number one on the iTunes country chart was awesome.

CC: You don’t seem afraid to push the boundaries with your music – just looking at the titles of some of your songs suggests that you’re a bit different than other artists who like to stay within the lines. What made you want to head in that direction?

T: I don’t think I’ve done it on purpose. I like telling the truth, so I have no problem showing my flaws to people. In the world that we live in, now especially with social media, there’s not enough empathy or truth sometimes. The women that I look up to are independent, strong, empowered females who don’t really pander to being fake or what anybody else wants them to be, they’re just themselves. It’s taken me a long time to get my deal, so I chose very carefully who my team was because I didn’t want to be put in a box which is something I fight with quite a lot. In life and in music, I think everybody should be who they want to be. I come from up North, people telling it how it is and I’d rather quite honestly meet people who like me for me rather than like me for something that I’m not.

I’ve a song called Daddy Issues, but that song was a very hard song for me to write, but it came about because I realised what pattern I was doing, learning how I was and how it was shaping me because of my childhood. I recognised it in a lot of my friends as well, we talked about it. Music for me is about self-expression, and it’s art at the end of the day. If I can raise up a topic that people think but don’t necessarily say, if it helps someone in some way, then I feel like, even if it’s just one person, I’ve done something as an artist. With pushing the boundaries, you do get some push-back. Luckily nowadays we have things like Spotify and Apple Music where the fans are finding out what they want to listen to. They’ll stream it if the radio’s not playing it.

CC: Much of the appeal of country music is that it does have that reality and self-expression within it, so that probably works in your favour.

T: To me, that’s all country music is. It’s not about cowboy hats and boots. For some people, it’s a way of life, but for me it’s very much about telling a story which I think every country song has. People like Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, they’re a new generation of country music artists who have that pop sensibility which I love because I think it connects fans on a global scale.

CC: Even within our conversation we’ve spoken about country ranging from the UK to Germany to Australia!

T: Exactly.

CC: What plans do you have for the rest of 2019?

T: I’m going out to Nashville shortly, then New York; then I’m coming back to do my headline show which I’m really excited about. There’s a few things coming up – it’s all very boring because I’m not allowed to announce it yet.

CC: At least we know about your headline show at The Lexington on April 17th!

T: I’m so excited, because I get to play longer than thirty minutes, talk a bit more and explain some of the songs.

CC: Good stuff! Final question for you: what’s one question you’ve never been asked in an interview but would love to be?

T: Oh, that’s a really good question! That’s awesome! I want them to ask if I’m free to do a duet with Beyonce.

CC: I have actually met Beyonce.

T: Really?

CC: Indeed, a brief run-in in New Orleans! But unfortunately I don’t have her contact details on file. But fingers crossed that you’ll get asked that question someday.

T: I hope so.

CC: Thanks for answering my question!

T: You too, lovely to speak with you! 

I hope you enjoyed my interview with Twinnie! If you did, make sure to drop me a message in the comments below and follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry to stay up to date on future interviews and reviews - thanks for reading!