The Sit Down with Lily Fitts
After joining Myles Smith on his US tour, the allure of playing shows in the UK was never going to be far away for Lily Fitts and our first opportunity to see her play was at American Express presents BST Hyde Park as part of the bill headlined by Noah Kahan. The day before appearing at the festival, the Boston native not only played her first show in London but it was her first headline show where she got to perform a full set of songs from her recently released debut album “Getting By” which was amongst our topics of conversation when we hung out with Lily after her set at the festival.
Welcome to London, we’re very glad to have you and that looked fun out there earlier.
“Yeah, that was the time. I'm so grateful to be here, it was a blessing.”
How was the crowd and having that many people out there in front of you?
“I was shocked, I had a show last night which was my first headline show ever. I've only done festivals and opening slots so it was my first time having people there for me and then today, some of the same faces showed up. It was just crazy, seeing the phones and even in the back, I don't know, it's I'm just so grateful. Hearing people sing the words back, it's like, that's why I do this, that's why I'm here.”
I guess you haven't seen all of the site yet and you're probably just following feet and apart from your set, have spent most of your time back here but in comparison to festivals back home, what are your impressions of BST and festivals over here?
“I think the fans out here are just so in it, and they're so into it. They really care about the music, they take the time and you can feel the energy. As an artist, you know, I'm still new to the live side, I've done a few runs of shows, but I'm still pretty green in it. Obviously I get so nervous before and then it's a breath of fresh air, even seeing one person singing the words back to me, it make it all feel good.”
Was that something you'd heard from people back home, the fact that the UK fans do digest a lot more music and it's not just the case of this is the one song that has all the streams or the one that's had the radio play, but they take all of the songs in?
“It’s like, people actually care about the lyrics and my artist project, you know, I am such a lyrics person, I write poems, every day I'm going into my notes app, writing out my thoughts and I'm just such a lyric heavy person. I feel like the fans really understand, they get it, they take the time and they're not just there today, you know, they bop around, like they're actually in it and it's so lovely, it's amazing.”
Welcome to London, we’re very glad to have you and that looked fun out there earlier.
“Yeah, that was the time. I'm so grateful to be here, it was a blessing.”
How was the crowd and having that many people out there in front of you?
“I was shocked, I had a show last night which was my first headline show ever. I've only done festivals and opening slots so it was my first time having people there for me and then today, some of the same faces showed up. It was just crazy, seeing the phones and even in the back, I don't know, it's I'm just so grateful. Hearing people sing the words back, it's like, that's why I do this, that's why I'm here.”
I guess you haven't seen all of the site yet and you're probably just following feet and apart from your set, have spent most of your time back here but in comparison to festivals back home, what are your impressions of BST and festivals over here?
“I think the fans out here are just so in it, and they're so into it. They really care about the music, they take the time and you can feel the energy. As an artist, you know, I'm still new to the live side, I've done a few runs of shows, but I'm still pretty green in it. Obviously I get so nervous before and then it's a breath of fresh air, even seeing one person singing the words back to me, it make it all feel good.”
Was that something you'd heard from people back home, the fact that the UK fans do digest a lot more music and it's not just the case of this is the one song that has all the streams or the one that's had the radio play, but they take all of the songs in?
“It’s like, people actually care about the lyrics and my artist project, you know, I am such a lyrics person, I write poems, every day I'm going into my notes app, writing out my thoughts and I'm just such a lyric heavy person. I feel like the fans really understand, they get it, they take the time and they're not just there today, you know, they bop around, like they're actually in it and it's so lovely, it's amazing.”
This has been the first time you've really had the chance to play the new record after you put it out. Whilst it's really exciting to be putting music out as an artist, it's almost a relief too because you've been sat on it and it's like I wrote these songs in my bedroom so long ago then we cut them in the studio, sent them off for somebody to mix it and then just have to wait, even though you think I want to put this out tomorrow, but then someone else goes, no, you can't just do that.
“Right, there’s so many barriers to everything. You know, it's been so crazy, even yesterday, my album's only been out for a week and you try to do all the social media tactics teasing the songs and get people excited, but you never know until people are physically in front of you and are actually there to care about it. I have never released an EP or anything before, and I started releasing music two years ago, just doing singles so it felt like a moment that I was waiting for and then it was just a casual Friday where you're like, these ten songs, they're out there. I hope you like them and if you don't, that's okay too, because you're not gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but I think even just being an impact on one person, you know, messages in my DM’s or seeing them in real life is what makes it all worth it.”
As a first project, it's your introduction to people and your hi, this is who I am. What do you really hope that listeners take away when they hear the record on who you are and what you're all about?
“I think my whole thing is that I'm a very honest person and I've carried myself in that way my whole life, I'm a little brutally honest. I don't beat around the bush, that's how I am as a human and that's how I want to portray myself through my music too. I think just giving people courage to speak what's on their mind, not be afraid to let people go if it's not part of your path, just be who you are and don't take shit from anyone.”
When I listen to your record and saw you on stage, I’m like you're from Boston so how does a girl from New England end up playing country music? You write REAL country music too, it’s not the polished Nashville sound. What drew you to your style of artistry?
“Yeah I think I grew up listening to a ton of Fleetwood Mac who were a huge inspiration for and then obviously as I got older Noah Kahan has had such a massive impact, so I feel like I've always been in the folk scene. I think the way that I write kind of fits into that country world, I think is my lyricism and stuff like that. I love the country elements too but I'm not from the South, you know, I'm not going to say that I am a country singer because I'm not, but I love implementing country elements every once in while like pedal steel, a bando, a guitar, you know? I’m just so inspired by it and it lights me on fire, so it's what I want to do, it's what I want to put out there and I’m just so grateful that I get to do it.”
In terms of your sound, your lyrics, the way you talk between songs and even more so chatting with you now, I see a lot of Maggie Antone in you.
“I Love her, she’s one of my best friends.”
I met her back in March and I think she is one of the most wonderful human beings on the planet and I also think she can be a terrible influence so you should one hundred percent make sure she leads you astray and you follow everything that she does.
“Ha-ha I love it. She is so inspirational to me. I met her say over a year ago now, the first time we were supposed to write in Nashville, we ended up getting tacos and getting drunk on margaritas, then ever since then I text her all of the time.”
Let me guess, you still haven't written that song together?
“No, we did write a song. We started it then every so often we come back to it and we'll like randomly call each other and, you know, sing a lyric of it being like, we need to finish this. I love her so much and she's incredible. It’s just so nice to have, we’re similar in age too and as a female navigating this industry, she's so she's so open and incredible. I'm so lucky to have someone like her in my corner.”
Somebody else that you spent a bit of time with was Myles Smith so you got to learn more about us Brits, so how has it being on the road with him and what’s he like as a tour buddy?
“Oh, my God, that was the time of my life. He's so busy on tour with Ed Sheeran now, he's crushing it always, but I went on that tour and I literally went on their bus with them. The only girl on a bus with like ten guys and my guitar player, and I was like this would go one of two ways, you never know. It was their last leg of North America so they were getting ready to go home for a bit and it was the time of my life. Literally, Myles is the sweetest human, he's so inspirational, his stage presence and I'm like, I hope I can be half the performer he is one day. He's so incredible, so kind and I met so many of his crew on this tour, some of them came out to my show last night and Myles showed up which was a surprise and it was just so amazing, but I love him so much, I'm so grateful to have him as a friend too.”
Hopefully last night and today went very well for you, it looked like it did from the crowd so we would love to keep having you back. I guess the plan next is to bring a full band to keep growing. It’s a commitment in a lot of ways to come over here but I hope you have seen that it is worth it with how people actively listen at shows.
“It makes it all worth it, you know? I'm an independent artist, I'm unsigned, I've just been releasing music and you know, it's been so much fun. I'm just so grateful you know, it's like when I started my first show ever, I played acoustically by myself, then I added a guitar player and you slowly build, then you want to keep growing and evolving. I just want to keep writing damn good music that people can resonate with, that’s me and it's my truth.”
Well, keep doing that and fingers crossed we will see you again soon, this has been really fun so thank you for taking the time to hang.
“Getting By” is the debut album from Lily Fitts which is out now and available HERE. To Keep in touch with Lily, you can find details of her upcoming US tour on her WEBSITE and follow along and see all that she is up to socially over on INSTAGRAM & TIKTOK.
You can find more details about American Express presents BST Hyde Park on their WEBSITE and be the first to know about future events on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
“Oh, my God, that was the time of my life. He's so busy on tour with Ed Sheeran now, he's crushing it always, but I went on that tour and I literally went on their bus with them. The only girl on a bus with like ten guys and my guitar player, and I was like this would go one of two ways, you never know. It was their last leg of North America so they were getting ready to go home for a bit and it was the time of my life. Literally, Myles is the sweetest human, he's so inspirational, his stage presence and I'm like, I hope I can be half the performer he is one day. He's so incredible, so kind and I met so many of his crew on this tour, some of them came out to my show last night and Myles showed up which was a surprise and it was just so amazing, but I love him so much, I'm so grateful to have him as a friend too.”
Hopefully last night and today went very well for you, it looked like it did from the crowd so we would love to keep having you back. I guess the plan next is to bring a full band to keep growing. It’s a commitment in a lot of ways to come over here but I hope you have seen that it is worth it with how people actively listen at shows.
“It makes it all worth it, you know? I'm an independent artist, I'm unsigned, I've just been releasing music and you know, it's been so much fun. I'm just so grateful you know, it's like when I started my first show ever, I played acoustically by myself, then I added a guitar player and you slowly build, then you want to keep growing and evolving. I just want to keep writing damn good music that people can resonate with, that’s me and it's my truth.”
Well, keep doing that and fingers crossed we will see you again soon, this has been really fun so thank you for taking the time to hang.
“Getting By” is the debut album from Lily Fitts which is out now and available HERE. To Keep in touch with Lily, you can find details of her upcoming US tour on her WEBSITE and follow along and see all that she is up to socially over on INSTAGRAM & TIKTOK.
You can find more details about American Express presents BST Hyde Park on their WEBSITE and be the first to know about future events on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
