Growing up with Becky Hill

After working on her debut album for a whopping 6 years (and collaborating with Wilkinson, Rudimental, Pete Tong and MK along the way) Becky Hill has learned a few things. We caught up with her for some life lessons…

Credit: Eko / Polydor

Becky on… forging your own career

I had a friend who went out of The Voice a few weeks before me, and she told me that nobody helps you when you leave. She told me to keep every number and contact I had, so I went around gathering as many contacts as I could. The main lesson I learned was that no one’s going to help you; you always have to help yourself.

Becky on… being signed to a major label

With every record deal you grow up a little bit. Once I got let go from my last record deal I started my own record label and started putting my own money into it and I realised, wow, this is quite difficult.

When Polydor saw the work I was doing and the interest from Radio 1 that I was getting on my own, they came towards me with a level playing field attitude. I wasn’t a kid anymore. I’d been through a record deal so they knew what I was expecting, and they really have treated me like I’m an equal. It’s so nice to be part of a family situation; they see me as a business partner.

Becky on…  going with the flow

Originally I’d wanted the music video (for ‘Sunrise in the East’) to be filmed in Tokyo because I love it there, and I love Japan in general. The video was then going to be shot in Beijing. I was there at an event with my boyfriend already, and I got an email through saying “we’re not shooting it in Beijing anymore, you’re going to have to get on a flight to Vietnam, we’re shooting the video over there.” Everything had changed; the styling, the location, and I just went with it.

Credit: Eko / Polydor

Becky on… the power of travel

I love Vietnam and I’d been there before on my travels on the first big holiday me and my boyfriend took together, and so for me it ended in a full circle. This is where my love started, off adventuring round the world, and now I’m back here with a song I’ve written about him and a music video that kind of represents our little journey over there.

Becky on… breaking free as a solo artist

I’ve always been, in my head, a solo artist and I’d always felt that everything else came second. I’ve been writing music since I was 13 and professionally since I was 18. So now I’m 24 I’ve written about 500-600 songs, originally meant to be for my own solo projects. A lot of people were listening to my repertoire and going “I love that song, I want it for me”. And that’s how ‘False Alarm’ (with Matoma) and  ‘Piece of Me’ (with MK) happened.

All these things are just adding experience and strings to my bow, and I think it’s nice to be able to step out and sing my own songs that I’ve written for myself. But it’s also really nice to have the other side of it, where I’m going away with other people and being on their shows, and having the practice to make my own shows better.

Credit: Eko / Polydor 

Becky on… her debut album

I’ve been working on this album for six years, which I probably will never get to do again in my career. That six years was spent finding out what kind of sound I wanted to make, who the right people were to achieve that sound, and really cracking an album.

Becky on… staying true to her sound

From quite early my influences were Robyn, Passion Pit... in terms of songwriting, Ben Howard, Bon Iver and Ellie Goulding’s first album. I’d say my sound is Electropop and it’s very eclectic because obviously it's written over the years, but there’s a solid thread throughout the album, which is my voice and my songwriting.

Credit: Eko / Polydor

Becky on... her autumn solo tour

This will be my second tour and the first one was only three dates, so it’s going to be the most I’ve ever done under my own name. I’ve really tried hard to take it to the next level. I’m really looking forward to being on stage and letting my personality come through. A lot of the  time I go on stage and I’m there to sing a song and then leave, which I love doing, but now I’ve got an hour to sing all my own stuff - really just build a connection with the audience; that’s what people can expect.

Becky on… pre-tour nerves

I’ve done a lot of training and had a lot of practice being on tour with a lot of other artists. I used to go out on stage with Rudimental and Pete Tong and the audience is just huge, totally engaged, really up for a party, and I realised this is what I want for myself. It almost feels like a bit of a long time coming and I feel super ready for it, now more than ever. I’m super excited, I really can’t wait.

Becky on… taking risks

When I was on The Voice there was a girl that I thought was super talented, but she was too frightened to leave her home town and go to London. When I first moved to London I thought that there was no other option; I had to keep going and it was a massive risk. There was a chance that I could end up back at my mum’s house working behind the bar, but I thought, let’s keep going with it, keep pushing on with my own vision - and that hasn’t gone.  

Becky on… achieving success

People only fail if they give up, and I feel like the people that carry on going will succeed at some point.

Becky’s new single “Back and Forth” with MK and Jonas Blue is out now.

This article was originally published in our Freshers 2018 print magazine. You can read the magazine here.