Music Promotions is excited to interview country singer Twinnie, who spoke about releasing her new album Hollywood Gypsy, touring plans and much more.
Hollywood Gypsy is out now, Could you tell us a little bit more about the album?
It came out in April and I got signed 3 years ago to BMG so the album’s been in process for about six years. One of the songs on it is about seven years old called ’Lie To Me’ it’s just kind of an introduction to who I am and ’Hollywood Gypsy’ the title track of the album is about these two worlds colliding. I was very much brought upon Hollywood movie musicals, that kind of stuff as well as the likes of Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Gilbert O’Sullivan and Bob Dylan. All these great songwriters… that’s what I kind of love about old Hollywood, movie musicals… they all love to tell a story and the Gypsy is very much part of who I am, my heritage. So I just added the two together and the 12 songs on the album is an introduction to who I am. The title track Hollywood Gypsy pays homage to the people in the town that kind of brought me up and made, I would say it’s very honest and true account of who I am as a person and as an artist and what I stand for.
I don’t take myself too seriously I don’t think and I like to have a laugh for example I’ve got a song on there called ’Daddy Issues’. I like to say things that people are thinking but don’t necessarily say all the time, that’s what art is about. I just tried to give an honest account of my intoduction to the world, to be honest, who I am as an artist.
How excited was you to see your album out there on all the streaming sites?
Well, I mean, it’s a double edged sword because obviously I’m really happy that it’s out but I’m not happy in the fact that I don’t feel like I’ve got a real chance to promote it as a new artist. It’s been really tough. You know, I haven’t had my headline tour and all the promo, which all of which helps sell and promote albums. I really haven’t had a chance to see my album poster anywhere or I haven’t seen my CD in the supermarket, so anything that I imagined what it would be like, we had to cancel arena shows and live dates obviously with this pandemic. It’s bittersweet, really, for me, so I’m kind of a bit sad about it coming out in this key time but also equally happy because I worked on it for such a long time and I knew people we re looking forward to it. I needed something to look forward to as well but now people are streaming it and it’s out forever. I’m really proud of it and people are continuing to discover me through word of mouth with different releases that we’ve been putting out that is really lovely to see and also see it grow but it’s just not like how I imagined as I’m sure you can appreciate that, but there’s a lot of positives that have come out of it as well.
I filmed two music videos in lockdown and one of them was for ‘Whiplash’ that we ended up filming that in central London and it was just quiet streets, which really we would have never got, you know, there was nobody in town and in the busiest capital or one of the busiest capitals in the world. So I feel like situations like that’s it’s quite a surreal experience. There are lot of pros because I just think good music will continue to be released and I’m still so proud of my songs and album. So more people now know that it’s out, can continue to discover me rather than it not being out and waiting another year.
Did you come up with the concept of the ‘Whiplash’ music video?
No I didn’t actually and its very unlike me so props to Taylor who did come up with it, I mean I kind of directed it in the fact of my dance moves or where we shot and stuff like that but he came up with the concept and gave it the aesthetic touch that it has, that’s all him nothing to do with me but the next video that’s coming for out for ‘Feeling of Falling’ I directed and I’m really super proud of that one, I’m proud of them all but that one in particular because I directed it.
When you was recording the album did you already have an idea of the singles to be released?
I did yeah, I definitely saw ‘I love You Now Change’ and ‘Type Of Girl’ and I still think ‘Feeling of Falling’ should be another single. There are lots of songs on my album quite frustratingly that you want to take and add them all to radio but you can’t do that. ‘Chasing’ in particular is performing really well on DSPs as it’s got nearly a million streams which is cool! I don’t know I just I think it’s the ones that stick in your head and you can’t get away from, each song to me has a different message that I wanted to send out, ‘Hollywood Gypsy’ was basically about my life, ‘Daddy Issues’ is a part of me repeating the same patterns when it comes to bad relationships, ‘Chasing’ is also similar, ‘Whiplash’ was the last song to go on the album that I really wanted to go on the album, ‘Lie To Me’ has been one of my favourites since I wrote it around seven years ago. They all mean a lot to me in a different way, it was quite easy to choose to be honest.
What’s it like to songwrite in Nashville compared to anywhere else?
It’s definitely more disciplined in the sense that it’s very much like a job you work from 11 to 3 and then you’ll have a break and then you’ll go back five to eight. I’ve been going over there several years now so it’s my home away from home and I’ve got some of my favourite writers that I work with all the time on this record. And, my next record, we’re doing an EP with my American label to take to country radio in the US, that’s really exciting. I was due to go out there after C2C but obviously with the lockdown that didn’t happen so that’s something that I’ve got to look forward to in terms of new music and it’s reminds me of home to be honest because it’s quite small town and everybody knows each other. There’s some of the best writers in the world there so I feel very inspired whenever I go over and probably a lot more than I do in the UK.
Which songs are you most excited to play live? Um, well, all of them really, I was due to do my headline show and planning the album so I’m really excited as to which ones are gonna go down the best or what, now that people have been time to digest what songs they want me to play, you know, what are the favourites? So that will be interesting. It’ll be a whole new experience for me as well as the audience.
Will you be doing any live streams?
At the minute, I feel like I don’t know about you, but COVID has had everybody doing that and it just became saturated. For me, I do like connecting with my fan, I’m on social media quite a lot anyway but I don’t get a buzz from the online live streams so much. I really miss performing for an audience that I can see. It makes me feel quitesoulless. I prefer not to do it to be honest, unless I’m like talking with someone on the other side, I just did a show with Haley and Michaels which was streamed on Cross Country radio and a few other platforms, that was fun! I’ve got a gig coming up on the 19th of September my first one, where Baylen Leonard will be DJing and it’s a bottomless brunch which will be cool and I think you can still get tickets but it’s nearly sold out. So that’ll be my first show in six months I’m excited about that.
Having stared in Hollyoaks, would you go back if the storyline was right? I always get asked this question. I know that people like to ask it, but it’s so far away, I wasn’t really on it for very long. And it’s so far in my past. I still act as well, in November I go off to film in Europe because I’ve just got a lead in a film. I think a lot of people think I did acting and then I suddenly decided to do music but that’s not true at all. I’ve been on stage since I was four years old. They’ve all kind of been very much part of my life and journey, if you know what I mean. But I understand a certain demographic knows me as that but music has my total focus.
Who inspire you musically? Billy Joel, Dolly Parton I’m a massive fan of Kacey Musgraves, Sting and Bob Dylan. There are too many to mention to be honest. I also grew up on a lot of rappers as well like Tu Pac, just a very eclectic bunch of people, Ella Fitzgerald… I love her whole album and Queen!
Is there anyone that you’d like to perhaps collaborate with in the future? Well, yeah (Laughs) LOTS of people for many different reasons, some of the older people that I really, really respect would be amazing.Once in a lifetime opportunities, so obviously everyone’s gonna say Dolly, but I really love Billy Joel, I think he’s a legend.
Touring plans? Yeah, my headline tour is meant to be in November but we’re still up in the air whether that’s going ahead yet as we don’t know with the social distancing and government regulations so we just have to play it by ear. All updates will be on my website, https://www.twinnieofficial.com/
