Nell Davies
... is an indie singer, songwriter and guitarist, based in rural west Cornwall. She began making music in 2020, when reading Viv Albertine’s autobiography inspired her to buy a guitar and write her first song. She records in a converted pigsty on her smallholding in Cornwall and produces her songs herself.
Nell Davies is ..?
… a songwriter, singer and guitarist (in that order), who makes DIY indie pop/rock songs.
How did you get into music?
I bought a guitar as a teenager because I wanted to start a riot grrrl band, but I got discouraged really quickly because I decided I didn’t have any talent for the guitar, didn’t know how to write songs and definitely couldn’t sing. Then, during the first lockdown, I happened to read Viv Albertine’s brilliant autobiography, in which she talks about starting to sing for the first time and how terrifying it was because she really wasn’t a natural singer. I found that hugely inspiring. I thought if she could get past all her nervousness and shame then maybe I could too. I also started thinking about the political side of it – how some people are so confident about using their voice while others allow ourselves to be silenced.
So I bought a guitar and found an online course called “How to write your first song”, then once I’d written the first one the songs started pouring out of me.
It turned out I just had loads of stuff I wanted to say. There’s an old pigsty in our garden, so I started going out there to sing so that nobody would hear me, and now that’s my very makeshift recording studio. I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials on music production and gradually I figured stuff out.
"Everything and nothing" sounds great, what's the story behind it, what was your inspiration?
It’s a super-ambivalent love song. I liked the idea of having verses that were so over-the-top about being completely besotted with someone and thinking everything about them was wonderful, then a chorus that goes, “Er, hang on, this is stupid – have I completely deluded myself?”
Social Media, is it fun or is it more a “necessary evil” that has to be done?
I quite like it. I like interacting with people I’d be too shy to talk to in real life.
What was the last song where you turned up the volume?
I’ve just got back from a run where I was listening to the new Helen Love album. I think she’s amazing – a massive inspiration.
You are from Penzance, how would you describe the music scene there?
West Cornwall is full of creative people and there’s a big DIY ethos, I guess because we’re so far from any major city. There’s so many people setting up their own little niche businesses, and making brilliant music, art, literature, food etc etc.
There’s loads of folk music in Penzance, and lots of interesting, inventive people, dotted around doing their own thing.
Do your fans have the chance to see you somewhere live on stage?
Nooo! I don’t perform live.
What’s next for you?
My next single, What the Heart Wants, will be out at the end of July if I can ever finish messing about with it. I’ve got 21 “final” versions on my laptop so far.
