At the age of 11 I did my first open mic show, and it was one of those lightning-bolt moments where I suddenly found what I wanted to do. Freya Ridings More Quotes by Freya Ridings More Quotes From Freya Ridings Sometimes, when we're on tour, I'll find an empty room or a corner and I'll just sing. It heals something in me, be it some kind of isolation or loneliness. It's really quite beautiful that singing can do that. Freya Ridings me singing loneliness beautiful Selfies are one of those things I generally take but never post. It's more to remember the moment or what I'm doing. Freya Ridings doing never moment remember I realised, however, that you can't sing when you're playing the violin - or at least I can't - and as that aspect of performing is important to me I shifted to the piano. Freya Ridings me you violin important Songwriting really anchored me. Freya Ridings anchored really me songwriting When I first started, I'd play to a few people. My mum would invite everyone she knew and the venue was filled. Freya Ridings she everyone play people Every time I do something new, it makes me a bit stronger. Playing huge shows, being invited to play with Nile Rodgers after the Brits - all are mindblowing and I have a great team around me who are empowering. It makes all the difference. Freya Ridings great me team time I followed my gut and my subconscious told me the kind of music I wanted to create. But it wasn't easy. Freya Ridings create me music easy I remember in 2016 when I got signed to my record label Good Soldier, which is a very small indie label. They took a big risk on me because ballads were the furthest thing from cool at the time. Freya Ridings good cool me time That's the best thing about being with an indie label, it feels like a family. If it's a major label, they put so much pressure on every single. Freya Ridings best single family pressure I've been writing since I was 11. But I don't write with a pen, I just sing at the piano with one eye shut like a pirate. Freya Ridings pen like eye writing I heard that your subconscious is on the right side. I always shut my right eye when I play, or both eyes. I feel like you go to a deeper place in your subconscious, and you tell the stories that are more deeply within you. Freya Ridings eyes feel place you Growing up, I promised myself that if I was every lucky enough to have a hit and also a hit that I had written myself, I would never get tired of performing it. I would always be grateful for that. Freya Ridings never myself tired grateful There was an open mic night when I was about 11 years old and I went and I played the songs that I'd written in my bedroom and it was the first night where I felt like I was myself at school. Freya Ridings myself bedroom night school I find an apple before singing really, really helps... It's like there's something in the pectin in the apple that helps get rid of vocal clicks. Freya Ridings apple find something singing When I first started writing songs, I was almost quite embarrassed that I couldn't read music and I still to this day don't really know what chords I'm playing, I don't know the name of them. Freya Ridings name day music writing Going to school, sort of not realising that caring about things was going to make me stand out and make me weird, and I think also being a redhead and being tall, bigger than the other kids... Anything that makes you different at school makes you a target. Freya Ridings me you caring school You know the way you tell your life story to a friend? I just told mine to a piano. Freya Ridings friend you life way So when you're sat there and you're looking at a platinum disc on your wall, for a song you wrote on your own, it's like this is getting crazy, man. It's all crazy. Freya Ridings you man crazy song I was brought up in a bohemian household where my dad plays guitar and my mom plays piano just because they love it. Freya Ridings guitar dad mom love All of my music teachers gave up on me one by one because I couldn't read music. Freya Ridings teachers because me music
