Interview: LDYA

Rooted in Nottingham, LDYA pours her personal stories into heartfelt soul music that moves both heart and feet, creating an atmosphere that pulls you in on and off stage. We had the pleasure of seeing LDYA live at JamCafé during Nottingham’s Hockley Hustle this October, where her soulful energy lit up the room. The atmosphere was electric, a true sense of community ran through the crowd as she wove heartfelt stories between songs, drawing everyone in. Her rich, personal lyrics and warm stage presence made the performance feel both intimate and powerful, leaving the audience completely immersed in her world. The Mic's Sarah Hendy reports.

[The Mic committee stood out in the rain with an Iphone in hand as LYDA joined our group in her rain-proof hoodie. We introduced our team, and Dani began inquiring about one of the covers LYDA had just performed]

Dani: You covered Lauryn Hill, what are some of your creative influences? What prompted you to become a musician?

LYDA: Yeah, I mean I grew up in the early noughties so I was used to a lot of pop music, and those early influences were not the cool ones, okay, it was like S club 7, Brittany, it was Destiny’s child, you know, just great vocals. But then my music taste matured, and Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, those like 90’s neo-soul artists really spoke to me, and I think you can hear a lot of those influences in my music.

Dani: You mentioned excellent vocalists, but what has your process been with your lyricism?

LYDA: It is very much my story, I think about what I’m going through, what I’m experiencing. I do find that even if you write about personal stuff people connect with it and they can think about their own situation. It’s definitely me just trying to process and put words to my own emotions and feelings.

Dani: I was also really intrigued by your personal connection with the audience about your experience moving away from the corporate world, could you talk a bit about that? We're students so we appeal to the younger generation trying to break through, what’s the greatest advice you have?

LYDA: I think, not everyone can take the risk, but if you can take the risk just go for it because you’ll figure it out but you’ll regret not going for it. So, you’ll never regret having failed at something in 10 years’ time, but you will regret not doing it at all so I think that is my advice.

Dani: Absolutely sound advice. What is your plan for the future? Are you interested in particular genres?

LYDA: I think a person who’s probably got a similar career trajectory to what I would love is someone like Lianne La Havas. She’s not necessarily gone down the super commercial route. She’s got such a strong fan base, I love her music. People will show up to her gigs and invest in her, and they care about her story, and so I’d love to build a career like that. It's maybe a little bit under the radar, a bit low-key, but she's sold out. There’s still people there for her and I really want to build my community, find my people and run together.

Dani: What is your opinion on building that fan base like its familial rather than commercially viable? Transitioning from a corporate world to this very artistic space, how have you learned to create those connections with people?

LYDA: I think in one sense it's really helpful because when you're in a corporate setting, especially in book publishing, you do learn how you monetise art. It takes a marketing team, a publicity team, a brand strategy, momentum. You learn all of these jargon-y things which have really helped me when I have my business hat on, but then it also means that when I come to my gigs, I do just love having a conversation with the audience. Hopefully things will scale up, you know, but even if they don’t, I always want it to be that personal thing, whether it’s a hundred people in the room, ten thousand people in the room I want to feel like I can share my story, there’s a conversation happening, and that we're sharing an experience together and it’s not just me projecting and hoping that people are dazzled by it. That’s really important to me. That it feels like a shared moment and a shared experience.

Dani: You’ve mentioned that you’ve released an EP, and you released a single a couple of weeks ago. In terms of the next processes, are you currently writing anything, working on projects?

LYDA: Yes, so the new releases will be in 2026, but I’ve got a healthy handful of demos that I’m eyeing up. Which ones going to make it? Who knows! But I just love being in that developmental phase, throwing ideas out there, seeing what stays with me, what connects with me, so I always find it to be a really exciting time.

Dani: In the developmental phase, when you’re choosing demos, do you look at it from an entrepreneurial mindset or an artistic one?

LYDA: That’s a good question, and I think there has to be a bit of both because I think ultimately I want to feel like I’m proud of the song and that the song is good. I try not to think too much about Is this goung to work for Radio, are the streamers going to like this? because if you compromise and you make something that you don’t love so much and it doesn’t do well then it's lose-lose. You’ve got no recognition and you hate the song as well, so you might as well be proud of it and think do I appreciate this? I think often the two will coalesce, like, if something's really vulnerable, honest, and interesting I think people will pay attention to that and they’ll respond to that. And maybe it isn't Spotify but there will be someone that appreciates. So, that’s more my guiding principle.

Dani: I can really feel that in your music by the way. I can feel that it's interpersonal.

LYDA: Thank you!

Dani: Thank you for the interview it's been great.

LYDA: Aw, thank you.

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Edited by Daniela Roux

Interview courtesy of Daniela Roux

Photo courtesy of LYDA