Delilah Interview

Parisian-born London girl Delilah is just one of the many talented beauties that has spread her wings this year to grace the world with her enchanting vocals on a solo debut album. ‘From The Roots Up’ is a heartfelt documentation of the joys of love, and pain of loss and heartache she’s experienced in her lifetime, and after drawing in adoring crowds in the UK Festival circuit this year, Delilah is relishing in her successful transition out of her cherished Chase N’ Status days. Ally MacLeod talks to her about standing out, ingrained feminism, and the baffling taste sensation of Phily and Marmite on toast.

Hey Delilah! Where about are you in the world right now?
I am in a car driving up from London towards Norwich. It’s been a whole summer of travelling on the road for me, but I enjoy it, it’s exciting!

You performed at several festivals this year as a solo artist, how has the season been for you?
It’s been amazing, I’ve obviously been doing the festival circuit for a couple of years with Chase N’ Status, but to do it on my own this year has been really exciting. The weather’s been good.

What was like for you starting out in the Drum n’ Bass circuit with the Chase N’ Status boys?
We travelled for two years non-stop, and I kind of watched them go from a fairly underground band to a huge commercial collective I guess, and you know it was amazing we travelled all over the UK, Europe, and The Americas, and I learnt so much from being on that tour.

What did you take and learn from it all?
Well mostly I got to come out and learn the ropes while all the pressure was on them. I didn’t have any of that pressure for a couple of years, so I just got to understand what it was like to travel everyday, and how to develop stage presence. And you know things like using microphones, it looks easy but it isn’t, you’ve got to learn it all!

Do you feel much more comfortable on stage as a solo artist as a result?
Definitely, I don’t feel nervous anymore! I can just get on stage and have a good time.

How has your career as Delilah developed from when you first came forward as a solo artist?
Once I found a record deal, my objective was to make a record and be a solo artist, even though Chase N’ Status was an amazing opportunity. I always knew I wanted to make the kind of records that I have made now, but it did take a while to figure out what kind of artist I was going to be, I think it’s hard to know from the beginning because you’re always changing as an artist, you know, you’re always growing and I don’t think I’ve even become the artist I’m supposed to be yet.

What inspired you as a youngster, does it play a big part in the type of musician you are today?
I grew up listening to an eclectic group of music, and was exposed to tonnes of different genres but I think the biggest inspiration when it comes to writing is Life, and everything that comes with it, you know make ups and break ups and all those things. Those things influence me more so than just other music.

What life experiences came through in your first album, was it very much a personal journey for you?
It was written in chunks, much was taken from the time of my dad’s death and dealing with that, and then second half was about a relationship and the sort of break down of it, and how it was my first real experience of being in love. So it was all the emotions that come with that.

Do you feel much stronger as a person from expressing these events through your music?
I think you learn a lot no matter how you get through it, but my way of dealing with it was my music.

Is there a message in your album ‘From The Roots Up’ that people can take something from?
I think it’s more like my diary, I look at it very much of a diary of the last 10 years of my life. It wasn’t a conceptual album, it wasn’t an album that was meant to send a message to the world. It was a girl growing into a woman, and my journey.

There are an abundance of hugely successful female solo artists out there, do you feel like there’s a lot of pressure to be remembered amongst the competition?
I mean there’s always pressure there to stand out just in general, because you don’t then you can easily be overlooked, but I’m more about pushing myself to be the best that I can be. I’m competitive and I think most women are by nature, so there’s always that friendly competition, but I’m happy that there’s a group of women that are coming through together, especially from the UK and representing for the female.

Would you admit to being a little bit of feminist?
Probably! Somewhere there probably, you have to be!

What’s the future looking like for you right now?
I’m going on a UK Headline tour in October, so that’s exciting. It’ll be nice to be back on the road! It’ll be better this time too because the album’s out. Before it was all new but hopefully this time I won’t have to prove myself so much, and maybe the audience will do some of the singing! Next year hopefully I’ll be doing some overseas tours and will definitely try and get back out too Australia, maybe to enjoy some of the weather there too! And I’m starting on my second album, which is good so far. It’s nice to have a fresh start. It’s always good to create and write.

What can we expect from you second album, will it have similar vibes to your debut?
I definitely think it’ll sound very different from the first album, you know with first one I didn’t really know how to make an album, and you learn from your mistakes. I think it’ll be more fun, a little less serious, with much more energy and a bit of dancing.

By Alexandra Macleod

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