Terrianne Interview at Y Not Festival

The Gryphon sits down with singer-songwriter Terrianne, an upcoming artist with powerhouse pop.

Gabe: Terrianne, you are a new and upcoming artist. Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself and your sound? 

Terrianne: Yeah, so my music is gritty powerhouse pop. I’ve got an all-female band, and we were so excited today to play the BBC Introducing Stage. 

Gabe: Sweet. Just on that all-female band, you played Matchstick Festival last year, right? How was that? 

Terrianne: It was amazing. Yeah. I love Under the Radar who put on those events. They’re incredible. Really good promoter, yeah. 

Gabe: Obviously, you won the Hotbox New Blood competition. What was that moment like for you as an artist? 

Terrianne: That was amazing. That was like my first festival. Winning that enabled us to play the Isle of Wight Festival. Then I feel like from that, that’s been me getting on the festival circuit. Festivals are my favourite thing to play, like over any gig. I just feel like my music really suits there. I have loads of energy on stage, so festival audiences match that.

Gabe: You crowdfunded your EP, Independent and Free (2023). Was raising the funds for that a challenge, and do you think that it’s becoming an increasingly tough thing for independent artists such as yourself to sort of break through to be able to do that? 

Terrianne: Yeah, I do think like as an independent artist, finances are always a struggle, and I don’t know why recently it does feel like it’s a bit harder. There’s not much money coming back from live or streams. There’s no money coming from that, so you’ve always got to be thinking about how much things are going to cost, and sometimes that gets in the way of the creativity. It’s an increasing struggle, but I would say crowdfunding for me has been a game-changer. There are people who want to support you. I think as artists, we always feel awkward to also ask for money and sell our merch, and really be like, you can buy my merch. But actually, when you put yourself out there, there are fans and people who really want to help you make that music. So I would say do it, set up a crowd fund, set up a Patreon, set up a Bandcamp. 

Gabe: Speaking of breaking into the industry, it does feel like so many artists these days are not only having to make music that people want to hear but also have to play the role of social media manager in order to gain traction. Is that exhausting, or do you like to embrace it? 

Terrianne: I embrace it, but it’s exhausting. It’s both at the same time. I set myself a challenge last year to post on TikTok every single day for a year because I needed to, I needed to do it. We have to do it as artists. So I was like, you know what, I’m just gonna, I’m kind of an all or nothing person. I’m gonna go all in. And it helped me, because it helped me not overthink it so much, you know, just one take, film it, put it out. I mean, that’s my way anyway, because otherwise, I will just overthink it and overthink it and then end up not posting. So yeah, I think it’s just part of the game. 

Gabe: Your latest single Daffodils is obviously focused on remembering your loved ones. You said that you weren’t initially going to include it in the set. What was the tipping point for you to include that? 

Terrianne: I actually had an interview at BBC Nottingham with Dean and James when the song was just released, and they knew I was going to be playing this stage. They were like, ‘Are you going to play it?’ And I was like, I’m not sure, because I don’t know whether to just keep it all upbeat. And they were kind of like, it could be a moment, like you have to do it. So I was like, ‘Oh, do you think?’ And again, I was overthinking it. And I also thought, actually, I want that moment for me. I want to be on that big stage and sing that song for me. So I did, and actually, it was a moment and after the set few people came over to me, so that was really nice. 

Gabe: How has the reception to the new single been? 

Terrianne: It’s been really good, and I was a little bit nervous because it’s the first sad song I’ve put out. It’s the first like, sort of, you know, piano ballad vibe. And actually, it’s been really like therapeutic for me to be so honest in a song and to have such a good reception from it. 

Gabe: Speaking of honesty, you don’t only make music, you’re also the founder of Singing for Sanity, which are music lessons focused on alleviating anxiety. Would you just mind telling us a little bit about that, how that came about? 

Terrianne: So I set up Singing for Sanity in lockdown because I felt like everyone needed it. And I was just giving free singing lessons to anyone who wanted them. But it’s singing lessons that are, there’s no pressure, there’s no, it’s not like we’re aiming for you to sound amazing. It’s more about singing it out. But you know that feeling when you’re in your car, you like turn up the music on max, you just belt it out. That’s what I wanted my lessons to do for people. And it just grew from there. I got invited on BBC Radio to talk about it, and it’s still going. And now I run the business, I have a studio in London where I do in-person lessons and also still do online as well, so that I can keep it accessible to everyone.

Interview by Gabe Morrissey-Limb