Nina Nesbitt is slowly but surely carving her way up the pop ladder with her clever and heartfelt lyrics. Over the past years, she’s come into her own as an artist and her latest single Chewing Gum strays her away from the bubblegum girl with an acoustic guitar that we’ve gotten used to. Ahead of her latest EP release entitled Modern Love, we caught up with Nina on growing up, switching gears and relationships in the public eye.

 

You’ve only just released your latest EP Modern Love. How did you put this one together?

I’ve been writing for about two years, changing things here and there until I found the right sound. I wanted to get as many songs in as possible, cause it’s been a while since I last released something. So it took a little time until I found the right combination to put on the record. But yeah, that’s pretty much how Modern Love came about.

You’ve switched gears a bit and strayed away from that image of a ‘girl with a guitar’ that you first put out there. Did you feel that your career needed a bit of rebranding or was that merely your natural reaction to growing up?

I wasn’t really thinking about it as a brand, I was just like really bored of the music I was making. I just needed to do something different cause I didn’t love what I was doing anymore. So I was a bit like ‘Alright, do I stop doing what I’m doing and stop writing songs overall? Or should I just completely reinvent myself?”. I decided on the latter. I think that the most fun part for me was discovering what kind of artist I am.

How do you feel your style and music have evolved over the past years?

I think I’ve just learned how to write songs more. I mean I continued doing what I was doing before; picking up the guitar and the songs would just come out. I’ve worked with quite a lot of writers now and it was interesting to see how they write. I also feel more experienced than before, cause I’ve seen what’s worked and what hasn’t. I got a bit more of an insight into writing music. I’ve just been more open and not stuck on an acoustic guitar. I’ve been experimenting; I’ve got my own home studio and that has been really helpful. I learned how to do production myself and I’ve been a lot freer.

So you’ve been a lot more hands-on with this EP?

Yeah, it’s not that I wasn’t hands on before, it’s just that I had a lot more options with this one.

Where do you see your music going, since you’ve experimented so much lately?

I have literally no idea. I don’t even know what the next album is going to be like. I just try and focus on the current stuff. I’ll probably change things up again, but this album is going to be loud and energetic, a mixture of all of that.

Let’s talk about Modern Love a bit, both metaphorically and literally. Is this an EP that you’ve drawn from personal experience?

Yeah, it’s definitely drawn from personal experience. There’s a track on there that I’ve written after watching a film and it’s kind of like the idea of what it would be like to be in love with someone. And there’s another track that I’ve produced myself, so I’m really excited about that one.

There are a lot of songs out there about casual relationships from a male-driven perspective. You’ve put out Chewing Gum that’s kind of related to that, but from your own point of view. Since this isn’t a topic that you’ve written about in the past, what’s changed that made you want to tackle the subject?

It’s just something that I’ve experienced over the past few years. You know, all the songs come from personal experience. So I just wanted to talk about this. Some women are ashamed about having casual relationships or doing something that they want to do, what they like and what they don’t. I don’t think it’s something that should be shied away from. And I just wanted to write a song about it.

What are your thoughts on the way that this generation deals with Modern Love – mind the pun?

You know what, I called the EP Modern Love because I thought that the way this generation acts in relationships is very different. Especially in London, everyone is going to put themselves first. So, the women aren’t going to go out and find a man to look after them. Everyone is doing their own thing and the whole Internet thing just leaves things more open. I find the subject really interesting.

What about yourself, as an artist? Do you find relationships harder to build because of your career choice?

I would say that they are difficult for me because when I’m in a relationship, I’ll just write all these songs about it at first. And then, I’ll just try to somehow get out of it, even if I’m happy. I don’t know, I need things to write songs about. It’s kind of a catch 22. I’m trying to think more about myself at the moment.

You’ve already done some shows at the end of January. What else do you have lined up for 2016?

The shows in January were amazing; they were the first Modern Love shows. It was a bit scary going back on the road cause I’ve been writing for so long. As for the rest of 2016, hopefully recording an album, doing festivals and so on.

What’s your FAULT?

I don’t really allow myself to be happy because of my creative nature.

 

Words: Adina Ilie

Photography: Miles Holder
Stylist: Rachel Gold @ LHA Represents
Hair and Makeup: Charlotte Gaskill @ LHA Represents
Styling assistant: Alexx Dougherty