Interview - Smashby
Smashby, welcome to Spill the Tea my darling!
Hey, thank you so much for having me babes!!
For anyone who hasn’t listened to your music before give us a brief introduction.
Well my name’s Smashby, I’m a 22 year old pop singer-songwriter/performer from Leeds, UK!! I would describe my sound as camp commercial pop, imagine Britney Spears and Justin Bieber’s lovechild...that’s me!
When did you first discover you wanted to make music?
I’ve always loved music since I was a kid and would sing every disney song at the top of my lungs in the car, in the middle of class, even math class. I had no shame when I was 5, kinda how I am now to be honest. But it wasn’t till I was about 13 I knew I wanted to do pop music seriously.
“ I always wished I had someone just like me to follow and give me hope that everything would be okay. ”
Who were your music inspirations growing up?
Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Lady GaGa and Kesha were the ones who made me obsessed with pop music. I’ve always been fascinated by controversial, over the top performers. Then as I got older I discovered Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, Prince, George Michael and I thought “Why are there no male artists pushing the boundaries like that now?” it inspired me to bring that energy back, all the male artists I was seeing then were hella vanilla and I wanted to shake it up a bit.
Some people may recognise you from MTV’s Love Squad, what made you want to appear on the show?
That was so random, reality TV is my guilty pleasure and I was approached to be on the show so I thought why not? I’d definitely do more in the future, I have a pretty fun personality and would love my own show one day.
You are an anti-bullying ambassador, why did you decide to make a stand against bullying?
I was heavily bullied growing up and I always wished I had someone just like me to follow and give me hope that everything would be okay. So I did an Anti Bullying Schools tour which was super scary but I thought even if 1 person feels encouraged to be themselves after seeing me perform and share my experiences then its worth it and the reaction was honestly so surreal. I’d love to do it again.
Your track ‘Independent B**ch’ features Drag Queen Aja from RuPaul’s Drag Race, how did that collaboration come about?
That was crazy! I had the track all finished but I knew I wanted a feature to give it that extra flavour that I couldn’t deliver. I was a fan of Aja from Drag Race and was in awe of their talent and how dedicated they were to their music so I just reached out and got a reply super quick. They said they loved the track and 2 weeks later it was all recorded, I couldn’t believe it. We shot some of the video together and honestly they couldn’t have been lovelier.
Your latest single ‘Make a Scene’ was released this year, what is the story behind the track?
I wrote Make a Scene because I felt like I needed a song that sounded as confident as I was on stage, a sound that really captured that energy. It was literally written to be performed live so it feels pretty lacklustre that it didn’t get it’s time to shine this year...thanks Ms Rona.
Pick 3 emojis to describe the track.
😈💃🏻🎬
Where you happy with your fans response?
The reaction was super positive but I didn’t feel satisfied just because I really made it to see them living their best lives to it at Pride or any of my shows. So yeah it was a weird one for me.
When can fans next expect a release from you?
Actually really soon, when the pandemic struck I kinda decided I wasn’t going to release any of my new music because I’d always toured it. That’s always been the way I’ve promoted my music since I started so I thought “I’ll just play it by ear and wait till things go back to normal” but the longer it’s been going on the more disconnected I’ve felt from my fans and I hate it. My mental health has actually been the worst it has been in years. The only way I can really find happiness right now is to connect with them via my music. So yeah y’all will be hearing my new stuff real soon.
Any last shout outs?
Thanks to my momma for raising such a bad bitch.
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