Interview: Terrianne

A recent recipient of a YNot festival Musicians’ Next Level award, I sat down with the London and Derby based pop singer Terrianne after her electrifying set at Beat The Streets to discuss the realities of being a woman in the music industry, the development of a distinct visual and performance style, and her business of offering free singing lessons to those struggling with anxiety.

How would you describe yourself and your musical style?

I make gritty, powerhouse, pop, a lot of which is about being a woman in the music industry. But then, I do also have some slower tracks, and in that sense I like to take the listener on a journey with me through different things that I’ve experienced. My writing process is similar in that I generally start with an idea or something that happens, and then it just develops from there: sometimes, there’s a whole song at once, sometimes it’s a lot slower.

Your band sounded great today, including the use of backing vocalists. How and when did you all meet?

I met the backing vocalists at uni, so we’ve been together since day one. They’re really my best friends, so getting to perform with them is just amazing. The rest of the band, I met last year, as well as my performance manager Alex who I was able to meet with through performing at YNot and receiving the Musicians’ Next Level award.

How did you find performing at such a huge festival as YNot?

I absolutely loved it, such good vibes and good energy. It was the BBC Introducing stage, which was itself always a dream. Honestly the best day ever. But when it comes to dreams, today [At Beat the Streets] was one too. When they told me I was performing on the Rescue Rooms main stage it was just …what?! I’m based between London and Derby, but I’m from Derby, so whenever I’m back in the East Midlands it’s truly unique.

I get that so much, especially because we’re both from the East Midlands, Rescue Rooms is one of those places you just grow up going to.

Yes, it’s a homecoming gig really! All my family and all my friends were there today, it was fantastic. Next on the list is obviously performing on the main stage at Rock City, it’s so iconic and I went to so many gigs there growing up.

I’ve recently learnt that you offer free singing lessons to people who are struggling with their mental health and with anxiety in particular. How did that come about?

It started in lockdown, because obviously all gigs were cancelled. But it’s kind of built into a business now: I have my own studio, I teach, and the emphasis is on how singing feels, and how good it is for the soul.

We live in such weird times, everybody needs an outlet in some form or another.

Yes, exactly! And it’s not about singing perfectly, but about the release it gives you. Especially throughout lockdown, it was special and felt like I was giving something back to the community. We also had an online zoom choir!

I can imagine there was quite a bit of buffering…

Oh, yeah, it was hilarious! Everybody was on mute! But we made it work and that was what mattered.

You mentioned a second ago that this whole project was all about how singing makes you feel: how does singing make you feel?

When I sing, I feel like I’m fully me, and fully in the moment. I’m not thinking about anything else. Being able to give that back to somebody else is what it’s really about.

I feel like even something like today is giving back to the community as well, since Beat The Streets is ultimately all about charity.

Yes, it’s such a good cause! And like I said before, it’s always so good to be back in the Midlands. I like all of the festivals here, I always go to Splendour and YNot. I also did a busking tour last year and the Nottingham slot coincided with Dot to Dot, so we busked and then went to see loads of different artists afterwards, a lot of fun.

That’s a crazy coincidence: where else did you go on the busking tour?

Myself and another East Midlands artist, Dorothy Ella, went to London, Birmingham, Manchester, Burton, Derby and Nottingham on this tour, and the reception was really good, a lot of people seemed to enjoy it. Dorothy actually played Dot to Dot in the evening after we performed, and I got up for a song with her, good vibes all around. There's such an unstoppable atmosphere to the industry in the Midlands I think and it really is like a family.

You have quite a distinct look on stage: today you wore a bright pink top and trousers and had glitter in your hair, and now you’re wearing [a STUNNING] shiny magenta coat as well. Is this look always how you’ve presented yourself or did it develop other time?

Definitely developed it over time. You’re not going to believe this: I used to perform wearing all black and HEELS! You will never catch me wearing heels to perform again. But when I got into the music industry, everybody was always telling me what to wear.

Correct me if I'm wrong but by everybody, I can imagine you possibly mean “men”?

Well, yep! But then I met a stylist who’s just incredible and still with me now, who really helped me to understand what I actually wanted to wear on stage. We went shopping and she kept picking things out for me, and asking if I liked them, to which I said yes, but I could never wear it! She helped me to figure out what I wanted to say, and how to express that visually. My first EP is pretty much all about this, as I began to realise that I don’t actually have to listen to men’s opinions of me. I know who I am and that should be enough. My song People Pleaser is pretty much about this: if you’re going to be made mad by me being myself, that’s on you really.

Do you have a particular song or album by another artist that really or inspired impacted you?

Ice Cream Man by RAYE. I can really relate and look up to her, given that she’s independent and releasing music entirely on her own terms, and doesn’t seem to be somebody who is willing to take anything from anybody who wants to control her life or her output. That she spoke up about something so horrible that happened to her through that song, whilst being so massively in the public eye, speaks volumes about her. Equally, I saw her live and it was the best gig I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been to a lot of gigs.

Terriane plays in Derby on the 8th of March for International Women’s Day: tickets available from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/derby/the-victoria-inn/terrianne-headlining-international-womens-day/e-loaqmj

Liz Clarke

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Edited by Liz Clarke

Photographs courtesy of Luke Brennan