Music Q&A:
Violetta Zironi

What informs your music and songwriting?
My songwriting is highly influenced by my personal experience. I travel a lot and I have to deal with lots of different situations and people in my everyday life, so when I write my songs I either talk about episodes of my life but I also like to make up stories and characters in my head.

How have you evolved as an artist over the years?
Over the years I evolved a lot. Obviously my songwriting skills have developed, I would say especially on the musical side of it. My aim is to write songs that are not musically obvious but a bit more thought out, melody wise and chords wise. Also the idea of myself as an artist has changed a lot.

What are you up to at the moment artistically?
At the moment I just released my song One More Goodbye, and I’m about to release two more singles in the next two months. In the meanwhile I’m constantly writing new material. I’m going into the studio in a few months to record something really special that I can’t reveal just yet.

What’s on your rider?
On my rider there’s fruit, veg, beer and sweets.

Tell us your most embarrassing or surreal experience.
One time I turned up to a venue where I was supposed to play a solo show and when I asked the promoter where the PA was he turned round to me and said back: “Oh I thought you would bring it!” And I just arrived from the airport on my own with my guitar. The guy expected me to carry speakers, mixer, stage, monitors… haha.

What song do you wish you’d written?
I wish I’d written Blackbird by The Beatles.

What’s your worst lyric?
I think the worst line I have ever written is in my song Muddy Fields, where in the bridge I compare the pain to the rain – “stop the rain, stop the pain”. I mean, I wouldn’t say that’s bad – I liked it at the moment – but I could have definitely thought about it more and found something a little cleverer.