By Hilary Porter.
She sang at every school concert growing up in Somerset, wrote songs, danced, acted, played drums, piano – and dreamed of being a recording star.
Now aged 21, India Lillie Davies has released her first single and is tipped for great success.
The self-penned single Tissues was released on 11 March and is attracting thousands of listeners and fans. India calls it a “breakup song”, but it is upbeat and highly catchy.
From her days at Castle Cary Primary School and then Bruton School for Girls, India loved performing but admits, “It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind recently!”
She told NBVM: “At primary school I always wanted to do music, singing and acting as a career. I auditioned for a music and drama scholarship at Bruton School and was awarded both so was very lucky.
“Being at this school also gave me the opportunity to audition for the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, where I managed to secure a place!”
This experience was “invaluable” but eventually she decided to concentrate on being a solo vocalist:
“When you are in a choir you lose your own tone because you must blend with everyone else. So, I stopped that and decided to try and get my own sound back.”
Apart from her musical talent, India’s striking good looks led to her being scouted by a fashion photographer.
“I was 16 and ended up signed to First Model Management in London.
I wanted to do a performing arts course, which I did at The SPACE (The Somerset Performing Arts Centre of Education). I learnt a lot and did a lot of modelling at the same time.”
It was at the modelling agency that India met a talent scout who casually asked her to sing one day. From there was introduced to producer Lloyd Hinshelwood, who’s is responsible for all the production on India’s single.
India wrote all the lyrics with songwriter Tori Cross and now has lots of other songs recorded too, which she can’t wait to release.
India is grateful to everyone who has helped her – not least her mum and dad. “They took me everywhere when I was young. I did so many singing lessons and exams up to Grade 8, and I was coached to sing classically.”
Tissues has been released on Distrokid – a company that distributes your music everywhere, including on Amazon, Apple Music and Spotify. Her music style has been described as ‘agile’ and fluctuates between pop/RnB/funk and dance while maintaining a lyrical and soulful feel.
So, has India any goals for the future?
“Yes, my big goal being from Somerset would be to sing at Glastonbury – that would be huge!”
www.indiadavies.com