If you ever ran into Derry on the street you wouldn’t
even look twice. Without her stage-presence and glamorous outfits she is a
regular 18 year old teenager. Her poise and grace certainly allows her to carry
herself like a lady. Emily Derry is an extremely talented diamond in the rough,
not caring about what anyone thinks or even wants.
“I’m not into the whole Hollywood stuff,” she explained,
“I’ve actually turned down a few record deals before I got here, when I was
looking over the contracts they were asking for my permission to control me - and
no one can ever control me.” she declares, with the most casual attitude ever.
“Yeah I was scared, of course I was,” she responded as I asked her about how
she had the courage to turn down record deals, “I honestly didn’t want anyone
but me to have the satisfaction of owning me, no one should ever have that privilege
over anyone, it’s just not right.”
This level-headed, suburban teen came from no-where.
Writing songs from a young age for fun and a way of coping with the challenges
of everyday life she faced, as she tells me “I never could fit in to any crowd,
I had a few friends, but it was enough. As long as a person is happy, numbers,
popularity and material wealth shouldn’t come into it, at any age - let alone
as a teenager.”
It’s hard to believe that an award winning, global phenomenon
such as Derry is so down-to-earth, especially
After signing a £1.7 million record deal, “I still
can’t quite believe how it’s happened,” she claims as she makes us both a cup
of tea in her very spacious kitchen of her amazing home.
Derry was very clear about how she wanted this interview
to be a calm and relaxing environment where she feels comfortable and ‘at home’
- where better?
As I ask her about her success after turning down so
many record deals she excitedly tells me “I know, it was a massive risk saying
no the first time, let alone the third time. I still don’t believe I’m actually
signed. The record deal I’m signed to asked me about my previous record offers
and I told them straight what I didn’t want and why I had said no so many
times, it’s important for people to know that it is okay to say no, if it’s not
what you want then you shouldn’t settle.”
“For an 18 year old you’re very wise aren’t you?” I
follow up from that very interesting statement from Emily. “Well I still have
fun and enjoy my life, but my professional career will be what takes me through
my years after being a teenager. I want to make sure that I don’t just drown
myself in financial security yet, I don’t even have access to all of my money,
I don’t want to. I’m only 18 years old, what would I do with it? I would rather
keep it and use it for my adult life, to create a comfortable lifestyle; after
all you never know what tomorrow can bring.”
I’m fascinated by this interview and how Derry’s
perspective on life is so different to others of her age. “That desperate,
I-need-a-man, lonely act is something I definitely don’t want to be a part of.
It kind of demolishes the idea of women being independent and I’m not into that
at all. I don’t want to promote, sing or sell anything I don’t believe in. I’m
not a sell-out!” Her world turn-around from her debut album has been one in the
making for a long time. Her father joins us for a brief moment as he calls
around her house, “she’s been writing for years, her song collection is crazy!
She has a lot of beautiful lyrics up her sleeve and I’m sure they will all make
an appearance at some point in her career, she’ll know when it’s time. She’s
very smart.” The refreshing confidence her father has in her ability to not
only survive in the career controlling industry makes it more understandable on
Derry’s lifestyle and her opinions and outlook on life.
“My music is very intimate, without exposing a lot. It
does take me a long time to write a song that means something to me,” she says
as she enters the room carrying a big box stuffed to the brim with paper and
music sheets. “I love playing the piano, the guitar and the drums occasionally;
it’s why it takes me so long to write, because I’m a musician before I am a
singer or performer. I compose every inch of my music, and it’s something I
couldn’t be more passionate about, it’s kind of therapeutic.”
As Emily opens the stuffed box of secrets she says, “of
course I have a more secure form of all of these songs, but I really enjoy the
raw reality of writing it myself, the pencil marks, rubbing notes out, changing
things a little or entirely. I was definitely born in the wrong era.” I
question her on her declaration of the ‘wrong era.’ “Well, I’m very old
fashioned with my music, and I will never expose everything. I’m not technology
swamped when it comes to my voice and music, it’s me, it’s my style, and it’s
real.”
It is clear that this superstar knows exactly what she
wants and when she wants it. There’s no changing her, and it’s ridiculously
refreshing.
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