Born and raised in Västerås, Sweden, Tilda Allie moved to Brighton to carve out her music career. Once in this city, it didn’t take long for her talent to be recognized by local record label QM Records. Tilda’s first home, Sweden have recently shown their support from being awarded with a Swedish Music and Culture grant for her work.
The follow up to her debut single “Time Frame” is the soulful-pop charm “Further Than You”, which is about seeing the good in the bad. It teaches how to accept being alone and how to truly enjoy it, that you are powerful in your vulnerability.
We interviewed Tilda about her single and the big change in her life. Check out her answers below!
Wow! Congratulations on releasing your new single! Please, tell us about this song!
“Big thanks, it feels amazing! “Further Than You” is a song about empowerment and finding your own feet. Learning how to be alone and loving it. It is about having the courage to be absolutely honest with your feelings. I have come to realize that, really, vulnerability is power. It is what makes us beautiful as humans. I wanted to capture that in a song and that became “Further Than You”. I feel like the song is even more relevant to me now than when I first wrote it, as it has sort of kick-started a lot of things with my music. It has helped me to continue growing.”
“Further Than You” was produced by Benjamin James. How did you find the work with him?
“Ben is the former member of Bitter Ruin and I was introduced to him by my mentor and vocal coach Georgia Train. We started working on tracks in 2015 but didn’t finalize anything until last year, when I dropped my first single. Ben is an incredible multi-instrumentalist, and I have learned a lot regarding arrangement and production through working with him. We have an interesting way of working together as he is based in Vietnam. Most communication is via email. Ben is an incredible guy and he’s great with painting the full picture and helping me to finalize ideas regarding sound and instrumentation. In this particular case, we actually got the chance to meet and record “Further Than You” in person just outside of Brighton. I like working with Ben as he allows me to pick the production apart if I am not happy with it. I think we ended up with 15 different versions for “Further Than You” before I was completely happy.”
Oh, seems like you’ve worked a lot on this song, so has the reaction been as expected so far?
“The response has been amazing so far, and I couldn’t have dreamed how much interest others have in me and my music. Being interviewed and having the chance to share my thoughts about music feels like such a big thing. Finally, people really want to hear what I have to say. I hadn’t expected such a positive reaction and I am honestly so grateful for all the support and love so far! So thank you! The most beautiful thing is that people also really listen to the lyrics and already understand the concept of the song. Hearing the audience sing your tune back at you is actually mad!”
Speaking of which, we would like to know more about what’s behind the song. How do you see the good in the bad?
“Seeing the good in the bad means learning from your experiences and having the courage to see that even in the darkest of times you’re actually gaining something. Life is not about always being happy, we can’t be scared of feeling low sometimes. It’s our body and mind trying to tell us something and I think it’s important to stop and really listen to that. That’s what I did with this song! I really started to listen to myself and turn the negatives into positives. The title is very straightforward and it is taken from the chorus line “I have been walking so much further than you“. This can be both related to a person or a phase in your life that you needed to move forward from. The song tries to capture the pain of finding comfort and strength within yourself and at the same time allowing yourself to be vulnerable and scared, free from judgement. “I have been walking so much further than you” is me helping myself to realize that if I look back I have already come so far. I have also chosen to use a few subtle references to some of my favorite songs in each line of the first verse as an honour to the bands and artists that really help me through some tricky times in life… I wonder if people will be able to spot the lines.”
https://soundcloud.com/tildaallie/further-than-you
You’ve had a phase like that in your life – moving can be hard sometimes. What was it like for you to move to England from Sweden?
“Moving to England felt like my only solution in 2013. I needed to grow as a person and a musician. I was escaping my old hometown and in a way, myself. It’s always been a dream of mine to move to the UK as I’ve been highly influenced by a lot of musicians and artist from here. It hasn’t always been easy and going off on your own to a new country is pretty scary, but I think I have come to learn that fear is a beautiful thing and I keep on putting myself in situations where I have to challenge myself, I want to feel like I’m alive. I experience everything to be a little bit harder over here. You need to work for less money and for longer hours. I have definitely become more focused because of this, but would probably never have had the courage to branch out from my home country without the secure foundation to stand on. This all affects my songwriting of course, and I take inspiration both from the music scene over here, but mostly the mentality. The UK is such a melting pot of cultures and I have had the opportunity to meet people that have really inspired me in the way that they look at music and culture.”
Was it a big change in your life?
“It has been the most important change in my life so far. Not because I have had a good time throughout all my years here, but because I really feel like I have come to define who I am as a person here. Brighton is so open and accepting, I felt like I could finally breathe and be myself here. Moving to the UK has made me see who I am as a person and a musician more clearly. My roots have in a strange way become stronger and I almost feel more Swedish now than I did before. There are more opportunities over here and I feel like my singing and songwriting style has become more exotic and interesting here. I think travelling is such a great way to grow and you really learn to be at peace with yourself.”
So, you learned to enjoy being alone, right?
“I’m still learning if I’m being completely honest with you. I think learning to accept yourself and love yourself truly takes a lifetime but I’m on the right track. More than anything, I have learned to believe in myself no matter what and to stop judging myself. I love people and always will so, for me, being alone is worse than anything. I gain energy and inspiration from others, and I want to share my creativity. This is why I’m an artist I guess! But at the same time, I’m my own best friend in a way and it feels good not being dependent on anyone else.”
What do you like the best in Brighton?
“The best thing about Brighton is that I feel truly accepted and at home here. It’s so open and free from judgement. I feel like it’s easy to explore and experiment with music here because of that. The mix of cultures, sexualities, and ages makes it such a special place. The music scene is really growing down here as well and it’s like Brighton is boiling and brewing some really special acts at the moment. It’s a true music mecca with styles and people from every corner of the world. I believe I’ve heard that the amount of venues per capita in Brighton is the biggest in the UK. I feel as people here want to share music and join in!”
And is there anything you miss about your home country?
“I miss my family the most. It’s really hard to be away from the people who truly care about you.”
Would you tell us about your musical influences?
“I think I find the most inspiration in strong females. Females that have the courage to be different like Grace Jones or Erykha Badu. This particular song draws influences from the UK artist NAO, I love her mix of electronic pop and jazz. But throughout writing the current material, I have been constantly listening to Amy Winehouse, Björk and Hiatus Kaiyote. I often get compared to Janis Joplin and David Bowie. I think this is because of the way I perform and incorporate art and fashion into my music. I think that when I was younger I was very influenced by the ‘60s artists as I grew up listening to The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Funkadelic, Janis Joplin, The Who and The Beatles. I have always been a big fan of Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground so it’s a mixture of art and music.”
Do you have any huge plans right now?
“I’m currently in the process of releasing my first EP, and I’ve already started writing new material for an upcoming album! My dream is to go to Vietnam and continue to write and record over there.”
We can’t wait to hear more about that! Is there anything you’d like to share with CelebMix’s readers?
“I would like to send out my love and care to those who struggle. Use music as a release and stop comparing yourself. What people really want is something new so have the courage to be different, even though is hard. Trust me, I know! But I’m so happy that I didn’t let anyone change me. Also, a big thank you for having me, it’s a pleasure to get this much room and space.”