Indiana

July 2012

I CAME to this area to be with the love of my life. I know that sounds cringey but it’s true. I moved earlier this year from Loughborough.

My mum isn’t very musical, she’s a hairdresser. She taught hairdressing for a number of years and is now the assistant director of Bedford College.

My dad died when I was 17. He was really into his music and played guitar. I was heavily influenced by his tastes growing up. I miss him a lot, I wish he was here to see what I have accomplished so far.

He and I were huge Oasis fans and he used to borrow my Eminem albums. He also liked Rod Stewart. My mum really loved Simply Red and I remember my dad saying it sounded like sick sliding down a wall.

I have two older sisters. Jo is the eldest and also a musician. She was classically trained and also plays piano. She writes too. I remember me and my friends singing her songs when we were at school.

My other sister Nic was always the sporty one and she plays hockey.

I was heavily into Oasis thanks to my dad. They were the first band I ever saw live. But I also loved NOFX and Less Than Jake, and I listened to Slipknot, Korn, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine and Marilyn Manson. I was a little greb.

When I was about 10 I started having violin lessons. After about three months my teacher told me to stop coming because I wasn’t picking it up. I was pretty rubbish.

I didn’t start creating my own music until my sister used my house as storage for her old Yamaha upright piano. I kept sitting down and playing about and started teaching myself piano. Then I started writing.

At first it was poppy and sounded all right but once I started delving deeper in to my emotions and the things I’ve been through, like losing my dad, I noticed my voice changing.

It was like I was chanelling this raw emotion. My voice is completely different to how it sounded two years ago.

I think I always wanted to be a singer but I didn’t really take it seriously until about a year ago when my voice started changing. It was then I had a realisation that this was what I should be doing.

My first gig was in April, in the Old Market Square as part of the Future Sound of Nottingham competition, to see who would open the main stage at Splendour.

A lot has happened since then. I was a guest at the final at Rock City and I was a nervous wreck before it but it was unbelievably awesome. I will never forget it.

I have a manager who works for Simon Fuller’s artist management company. I met him for the first time the other day, which was bizarre.

I’m in talks with a lot of record labels and I’m down in London every week meeting with them.

And I’ve a gig in September with Natalie Duncan and Nina Smith at the Theatre Royal, where I’ll be accompanied by an orchestra. I can’t wait!

Nina is cool. She’s such a talent. Her voice is so crisp and sweet. Beautiful.

I’ve recorded about eight songs so far. I’ve been writing with John Beck, who wrote Tasmin Archer’s No. 1 Sleeping Satellite and Corinne Bailey Rae’s Put Your Record On. He’s been Grammy nominated.

I know him through YouTube. My boyfriend, James, played me a song John had written called Gabriel. I fell in love with it – I even named my cat Gabriel – and recorded an acoustic version which I posted on YouTube. John saw it and got in touch.

And I’m lucky to have a keyboard player who has performed at the X Factor final at Wembley and also with One Direction.

I’d describe my music as progressive, emotional, dark and disturbing electronica.

So far I’ve played gigs at Rock City, The Bodega, ALEA casino and the Rescue Rooms. To be playing Splendour today is surreal and I’m pretty nervous.

Indiana will be on the Courtyard Stage at Splendour today in Wollaton Park from 2.30pm. You can follow her on Twitter @i_am_indiana and listen to her music on Facebook, Soundcloud and YouTube.