First of all, tell us about yourself, who are you and what do you do?

I’m Robyn, and I sing in a couple of bands – most notably Picnic. We’re a seven piece funk-pop band from Sunderland, and have been playing together for around three and a half years. I also have another project that’s almost up and running too, so keeping very busy.

Why did you choose to become a musician/songwriter?

The whole “I was never any good at anything else” craic is really cliched, but it is true to some extent. I never massively struggled academically, but I also never massively excelled. Music is the one thing I’m 100% confident in my efforts about; everyone has days where they question and second guess themselves, and I’m no different, but I’ve never done anything else where I feel so sure that it’s what I’m meant to do. Having such a strong sense of self-purpose is really addictive.

As a young musician/songwriter, who were some of your biggest inspirations?

My all time idol is Hayley Williams from Paramore. Listening to Picnic’s music you wouldn’t necessarily think it, but it’s more of a performance and energy thing than sonically. Monica Martin from Phox (if you haven’t heard of them pleaseeee give them a go) was a really important musical figure in my mid-teens too, so again another totally different end of the spectrum. Although as I’ve gotten older my core inspirations haven’t changed, I’m inspired by more artists and more things every day.

What do you feel is your biggest achievement in music so far?

In terms of a tangible achievement, opening up for Dave Stewart’s birthday show at the Sunderland Empire was a ridiculous experience, which I still actually don’t really believe was totally real. Playing for Prince William and Princess Kate is another one of those “did that really happen?” moments, too. But in terms of what I’m most proud of personally, I’d say persisting even when I felt like no one really was listening or particularly cared. It’s a really, really hard thing to do, but had I thrown it all away when things started to get difficult, none of these opportunities would exist. I’m dead proud of that. 

What are your biggest aspirations within the music industry?

Making a living from original music is the dream really, isn’t it? That’s want I want. To be a touring artist, having the time of my life every single night.

You recently organised a music festival named ‘WMN’, can you tell us a little bit about what it was and how it came about?

I did do that! What a silly day that was. WMN stands for We <3️ Music, Newcastle, and it started off as a project for University which spiralled out of control a little bit. I wanted to showcase the best music the North-East has to offer, so I asked my mate Rhys from Rhyme Events and Promotions to give me a hand, and we did exactly that. It was one of the proudest days of my whole life, organising any show is stressful, but pulling off a ten strong lineup was no small feat!

Why do you feel it was important to have an event that focused on women in music?

Let’s just cut to it: “WMN” also quite obviously has a likeness to “women”, which was definitely intentional – the festival was entirely female inclusive, BUT did not rely on it as a gimmick. There was no mention of it whatsoever in any of the promo material. The reason I wanted to do this was because a lot of promoters use the excuse of there just being more men in music – which, admittedly, is completely true – as an excuse not to book women to play. But WMN existing was proving the point that we do exist, you can book us and we are absolutely mint, we just happen to also be girls.

If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as a young musician/songwriter, what would it be and why?

Do it sooner. 100%. It doesn’t matter that there aren’t many girls doing original music, stop being intimidated by the boys, and join in. Speak to more people, go to more local shows, make friends. Look after your voice, you’re going to need that a lot. Do everything sooner, there’s no use in waiting Make your own opportunities, and your own luck.

Why is music education so important? 

I could write a whole book about why music education is so important. I think having been through it makes it easier to understand, but the entire reason I’m so passionate about live music comes from my college lecturers. I was taught at Bede College by primarily John Reed, Tony Wilson and Janek Podhajecki, and without having such a positive music education there’s no way I’d be actively making anything anymore, let alone wanting to do it forever. I know how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to benefit from it, and it have such a profound impact on me. Having a music education is absolutely vital in nurturing the next generation of musicians – the next generation of potential greats. We’d be completely stupid to let them go to waste.