Nina Nesbitt Talks Taylor Swift, Touring, and Women Writing Songs

Although Philthy was supposed to spend 4/20 with Scottish singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt, when she opened for Clean Bandit at the Trocadero, when that tour was cancelled the dates that...

Although Philthy was supposed to spend 4/20 with Scottish singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt, when she opened for Clean Bandit at the Trocadero, when that tour was cancelled the dates that ensued allow us an even better opportunity to experience the self-described soul pop artist.  Nina Nesbitt is wrapping up about three weeks of headlining dates tonight, downstairs at World Café Live.  These dates came on the heels of a number of dates supporting Jake Bugg.  In addition, Nesbitt has already released two major singles in 2018, including super sexy R&B jam “Somebody Special,” whose video already has over a million views on YouTube, and “Psychopath,” the first of Spotify’s collaborative single program, Louder Together, which has the songstress working with fellow-songwriters Sasha Sloan and Charlotte Lawrence.

https://youtu.be/Ft3BXAgrOEA

Although only 23 years old, it’s already been more than four years since Nina Nesbitt’s last (and first) LP, 2014’s Peroxide, which featured hit singles “Don’t Stop” and “Selfies.”  However, she’s released a handful of singles in the time since to both popular and critical acclaim, and her follow-up LP is set to be released this summer.  I recently got a chance to chat with Nina, just before this batch of dates.  I ask her about how her upcoming album compares to Peroxide and she tells me it feels like a pretty drastically different experience.

“I was on a label and I’m not anymore…  I wrote most of it and I have a lot more control.  I think the first one I wrote when I was 14 and I feel like this one definitely has the sound of an album.  It’s very cohesive.”

I also I ask her about some of her highlights of the past four years, and she tells me that pretty much all of the touring and feedback she’s received has been pretty great.

“I couldn’t really pick a highlight.  Just really getting to do it as a job is really cool. And getting to travel as well has been so great.  Touring America has been great.  I’ve never been to so many of these places… A lot of my music friends love the song ‘The Best You Had,’ which ended up on Taylor Swift’s year-end list, which was like the highlight of my life [laughs].”

I ask Nina about her most significant influences and she tells me that she does have a massive appreciation for a plethora of female songwriters, but that her own, personal life experiences also play a huge role: “I would say my biggest influences are any female singer/songwriters that write their own songs, like Alanis Morrissette was a big influence, and Debbie Harry, and I love Taylor Swift. I have a massive respect for artists and singer/songwriters who make their own music, but also daily life and things I see on my travels are a huge influence.”  This would seem to resonate with her fanbase.  When I ask her of the people who tend to best get her, she tells me: “Usually young girls, especially in the US, it’s 80% young girls and I think it’s because I sing songs about guys and people relate to the lyrics.  I try to write songs as honest as possible.”

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During the day Izzy Cihak teaches transgression, subversion, and revolution at Temple University. At night he haunts Philthy's best venues to cover worthwhile acts for Philthy Mag. Morrissey is everything to him and, in their own heads, all of his friends see themselves as Zooey Deschanel.

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