INTRODUCING MITZI IRISH
A BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD
Talented singer and songwriter Mitzi Irish in Form 5 (Yr 11) has had an exciting year so far, having released her debut single, ‘Trivial’ on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and iTunes in March - along with a music video! This is an absolutely incredible achievement for a 16 year old and we are all extremely proud of her. We spoke to Mitzi about her love of music, how she got this far and her plans for the future.
When did your interest in music start? I’ve always been passionate about music but my interest was significantly developed by a music teacher I had in primary school, who encouraged me to write and sing more contemporary music. He encouraged me to stand up and sing in school concerts and gave me a basic but fundamental understanding of chords, which helped my songwriting greatly. How did you get into singing and songwriting and how long have you been writing songs? I’ve been singing for as long as I’ve been able to, although my family maintain that I was (and this is a direct quote) “frankly appalling” until the age of about seven. I got really into singing towards the end of primary school, and I did my first public gig when I was thirteen. In terms of songwriting, I wrote my first “proper” song when I was about nine and have just kept going since then. I find that it’s really cathartic and even if I end up having a different career, I can’t imagine that I’ll ever stop songwriting. You worked with Andy Gilbert on Trivial - who is he and what work have you done with him? Andy Gilbert is a London-based producer and writer who teaches a number of music classes and predominantly works with teens/young adults. He and Haydn Williams (a Londonbased manager) have really helped me in the last six months or so; I was put in contact with them by my Aunt, and since then, we’ve completed three songs (the other two will be released shortly).
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THE SHEBBEARIAN 2021
Talk us through the process of writing Trivial during lockdown. Writing Trivial was a really strange but wonderful experience. It was the second song on which Andy and I worked and we completed it really quickly. I had a voice memo on my phone of the hook, which I’d written months prior, and I sent it over to him along with a playlist of songs I wanted the production to sound like. When we went on Zoom a few days later to write the rest, he’d already constructed essentially the entire instrumental! We finished the song that afternoon, and then I recorded all my vocals from home and sent them up to London! Trivial was a song that I’d been wanting to write for years — it’s about the realisation that you’re not where you’re supposed to be and you’re not proud of your own choices, and the regret you feel as a result of that. I knew I wanted the song to be catchy and upbeat, and Andy really brought it to life. Do you have singing/piano lessons? I’ve been taking singing lessons with Val Skull since Form 1 at Shebbear, which I think has really helped my technique and strengthened my voice. As for piano lessons, I took a few when I was really small but I’m largely self-taught on the keyboard — I’ve taken the “wing it and hope something sounds good” approach, really. How long do you spend on your music and how do you juggle this with studying for GCSEs? I spend a lot of time working on music — whether I’m songwriting or just singing covers, I definitely play every day. It’s not something that’s timetabled though, I just play when I feel like it, and that’s pretty much all the time. It’s obviously important to find a balance with GCSEs (etc.), so I don’t do as many songwriting sessions with Andy (or anyone else) during the school term, and if I do, it has to be at a weekend. In terms of playing casually, usually if I have loads of homework or a really important test the next day, I’ll make sure I study first and then pick up the guitar. Music is a brilliant way to procrastinate though… How would you describe your style of music? I would say that my style of music is somewhere between acoustic and pop — Trivial definitely leans more towards the latter, but most of my old songs are acoustic/very soft pop. There will definitely be some slower, more acoustic songs to come, as I think it’s really important not to lose the original, more vulnerable quality that there was when I first started playing gigs. Essentially, I think my style will be a real mix, because it’s important to both preserve the original sound and have more fun, upbeat songs.
