The CelebMix Twitter Fandom Awards 2018 wrapped up a few weeks ago, and since then we’ve moved into the interview stages where we interview each of the winners on their big win. We had the absolute pleasure to chat with Lauren aka the beautiful mind behind @HeyVioletUK, on her massive win in the Best Hey Violet Fan Account category.
Read on to find out what she had to say about winning big and what life is like being an Ultraviolet!
Q: When did you start @HeyVioletUK and what compelled you to make a fan account?
A: I started HeyVioletUK when Hey Violet made their video about 3 years ago now, when they announced that they changed their name from Cherri Bomb to Hey Violet. I was a Cherri Bomb fan account beforehand and felt like I needed to update it to fit with the band’s new style.
Q: How has owning a fan account impacted your life?
A: Owning a fan account has impacted my life because it feels nice that if I see them in concert and stuff, that some fans there have heard of me so they strike up a conversation in lines. It’s also made me feel excited about things happening in life and it’s nice to be excited to see what Hey Violet have planned next.
Q: What does being a fan account mean to you?
A: Being a fan account to me means that you support the band/artist no matter how long you’ve been apart of the fandom, and again that you’re just excited to see what they have in store. Kinda off topic but I don’t think there’s a thing as a “fake fan” or “real fan”.
Q: What do you enjoy most about @HeyVioletUK?
A: What I enjoy most about HeyVioletUK is being able to connect to other Hey Violet fans and sometimes even the band themselves. It’s great to talk to people that have the same interest as you, especially since there isn’t a lot of Hey Violet fans where I live.
Q: Give us a quick break down on the daily life of being a fan account?
A: The day in life of being a fan account is basically checking Hey Violet’s twitter accounts to see if I missed anything important while I was asleep, then see what fans have to say about certain things. If any of Hey Violet interacted with another band member (that’s not in HV) and I dont know who they are, then I’d give them a quick Google search and find out who they are and what they do. I check Youtube to see if there’s any new Hey Violet videos out, whether that be interviews, music videos, studio/tour diaries and tweet the video out to my followers to also enjoy.
Q: What do you love most about Hey Violet?
A: The thing that I love most about Hey Violet is just the fact that they’ve always been themselves, and haven’t changed for anyone over the time they’ve been a band. They’re still the same people I looked up to when I first found out about them. I also love the fact that they aren’t afraid to change the band’s sound like their first EP was a bit more rock than their album, but they’re still able to make it work for them and I applaud them for that.
Q: When did you become a fan? How did you hear about Hey Violet?
A: I became a fan back in 2012 when they were Cherri Bomb and I heard about them through one of their songs, which was on a trailer for a book; I loved the sound of it all so I gave them a search on Youtube and just fell in love with them. I was really impressed when I found out that they were all around the same age as me too, because they’re all super talented and it’s obvious that they love what they do.
Q: Do you like collaborating with other accounts or have you ever collaborated with other accounts? Would you consider it if you haven’t?
A: I have never collaborated with other accounts before, but I think it’d be awesome to do it someday for like a giveaway for something.
Q: Was there ever a point down the road where you wanted to delete @HeyVioletUK? If so, what made you want to keep the account instead of deleting it?
A: There’s been multiple times when I’ve wanted to delete my twitter account, a lot of it because of other fandoms randomly bashing Hey Violet because of “proof” they found on Tumblr about them being horrible or whatever. They’re all great people but people nowadays take anyone’s word as the truth and it sucks. I’ve had someone tell me there was an exposing HV Tumblr account and I was on there. That made me look like a terrible person too because they were taken out of context, and I had a lot of people coming for me in my mentions and weren’t willing to hear me out. I hate the mob mentality of Twitter nowadays. My Twitter friends convinced me not to delete my account. They’re really awesome people and I don’t know where I’d be without them (they know who they are).
Q: What was your first reaction when you found out you had been nominated for a CelebMix Twitter Fandom Award, and what was your reaction when you found out you won?
A: I literally had no idea I had been nominated to be honest, and it’s such an honour to have been.
Q: Where do you see @HeyVioletUK in the upcoming years? Do you think you’ll still be interacting with others through your account?
A: I feel like I’ll be on twitter for a few more years but I’m 20 years old, and I don’t expect to run a fan account until I die, it’s just not realistic. I’ll probably hand it down to another HV account that I trust to take care of it. I can see myself running it for maybe another 2 or 3 years but I’m not sure about anything after that.
Q: This is your official acceptance speech for the 2018 CelebMix Twitter Fandom Awards: do you have anything to say to the people who nominated and voted for you, to your loyal supporters, or Hey Violet?
A: I want to thank everyone that nominated and voted for me. It’s a shock and an honour to even have been nominated, nevermind win it. I want to also thank Hey Violet – Nia, Rena, Casey, Iain and Miranda (even though she isn’t in the band anymore). Thank you guys for helping me through hard times with your music, and with your kind words through Twitter and in person. You guys are the sweetest, kindest group of humans I’ve ever met in my life. Thanks to the Ultraviolets for making me feel not so alone in the fandom and being so supportive; you guys rock. Thanks to everyone that’s been kind to me and even tweeted nice things to me; even a little thing means a lot. Here’s to whatever Hey Violet have planned in 2018!
We want to wish Lauren a massive congratulations on the CelebMix Twitter Fandom Award, and also thank them for the support they’ve shown the 2018 Twitter Fandom Awards!
What are some of your thoughts on this year’s CelebMix Twitter Fandom Awards? Let us know your thoughts over on our Twitter (@CelebMix).