Nieve Ella Interview: "Just let it all out and don't be scared"

The indie singer-songwriter on her confessional style

Not many of us emerge unscathed from the tumultuous growing pains of teenagedom. Navigating the surrounding world while trying to figure out who you are and find your place in the world is frankly, pretty traumatic, and yet, so much of the teenage experience is universal.

Since debuting just last year, Nieve has bottled all of that angst into two EPs, ‘Young & Naive’ and ‘Lifetime of Wanting’; gut-punching indie confessionals teeming with anthemic hooks and relatable storylines that speak to our memories of youth.

So rapid has been Nieve’s rise that her debut UK headline tour sold out within mere minutes. On the first date of her two-night run at London’s OMEARA, dedicated fans queued all day in the rain outside the venue to ensure they secured a spot near the fast-rising star.

Now, Nieve is back with a new single, ‘The Things We Say’, another slice of dramatic indie-pop that just begs to be sung at the top of your lungs.

‘The Things We Say’ was written during a session when you didn’t think you would even be able to write a verse, let alone a whole song. What do you do when you need to overcome a mental or creative block?

Well I didn't think I'd be telling this person I've just met, the person I was writing with, the story of what happened to me on the weekend. We were just chatting, and I just realised that talking about random stuff with somebody right from the heart really helps. Just let it all out and don't be scared. Because you're there to pour your heart out to somebody. It's a learning thing though. I'm still learning how to do that.

The track is about having an argument with a best friend and how the depth of that friendship means that you know exactly which words will cut the deepest. Can songwriting help heal wounds?

Yes. Oh my gosh, for sure. So in this situation, I wrote the song about my best friend who's also a musician. So he knows how it feels. And he knows what I actually mean by these things. It's kind of like a little sign to somebody. You don't have to actually confront it, you get to listen to it in an art form. It's like therapy for me; for a lot of people.

Are a lot of your mates musicians?

Yeah, especially recently I’ve gained a lot of friends - everybody in my life is a musician, so we just get each other very well.

Do you collab with each other? Lend a few backing vocals?

‘The Things We Say’, the person I wrote it about actually sings on the track in the backing vocals! I always have my friends singing on my songs, I just don’t say anything about it because it’s a really special thing. For this next thing I'm working on, I'd love for them to come on a track.

What’s your advice for making up with a friend?

Just tell them exactly how you feel. Let them speak first. Let them tell you exactly how they feel. Take it all in. You tell them exactly how you feel. They take it all in and then you find a compromise and figure out why you hurt them. For me, I like talking to people in the car. If there's something that I want to air out, I'm like, let's get in the car. Let's drive around for a bit and park up then just sit there for hours in the dark. Talking. Crying. Laughing. I love it. It's like our little safe space. Nobody can hear you.

Maintaining friendships are so rooted in our love languages, I think. What would you say yours are?

I think for me, it's words of affirmation. I love telling somebody how deeply I feel. I've always been like that and I love when people tell me exactly how they feel about me.

That’s so fitting as a songwriter. You said that writing something so raw and honest without holding back your emotions has only made you feel more empowered. How have you been able to embrace that vulnerability and wear it proudly in your music?

I think, for me, it's always been possible. I've always been a fan girl and I used to have crushes on musicians that didn't even know me and I was writing songs about them. It was this fantasy. Knowing they're not going to hear it made me feel so confident. I can say whatever I bloody want! And then when I found myself in an actual romantic relationship, and I started writing about that, I found it quite romantic that I was writing music and writing songs for him. I was like, I'm going to show the world that I love you, and maybe we don't get along so well all the time but that's cool and sometimes not everything is beautiful and perfect. And I find that so empowering, being able to have the platform to show people that life isn't always amazing.

While your songs are very confessional, they are also incredibly relatable. What impact have you seen your music have on people?

The main thing I’ve seen is people making friends from my music - people creating their own communities out of the community that I built. As a teenager, that's what I wanted was to have friends that understood me and listened to the same music as me, were the same age.

Which movie or TV show would ‘The Things We Say’ sync perfectly with?

That's a good question. I think 'The Vampire Diaries' because literally, I'm the biggest vampire girl ever. I'll be on the train listening to my demos and I'm picturing like, oh my god, this is where Stefan and Damon have an argument or something! [laughs]

You’ve got one shot at getting someone hooked on your music - which Nieve Ella song are you playing them?

I think 'Car Park'. That is one of my favourite songs. Everything about it, everything that I put into that is me. I remember recording it and me and my producer were like, this is it. This is exactly what we've been looking for.

Lastly, you’ve got a debut EP and a sold out headline show under your belt… what’s next?

More music, more shows, more than everything that I've already been doing, I don't want to stop!

'The Things We Say' is out now.

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