Each month, we invite artists to Greeny’s rehearsal space to lay down a stripped-back live session. One take. No do-overs. This month, we welcome Inzy – a Sheffield singer-songwriter and long-time Tracks member who, despite being just 15-years-old, already carries herself with the assurance of a seasoned performer.
Alongside her Red Light Session, Inzy is also preparing for another major hometown moment, joining the Leadmill Orchestra and Tracks on the Tramlines Main Stage for the second year running. Ahead of that milestone, Inzy sat down with us to talk songwriting, confidence, Tracks and what comes next.
When asked before the recording how she would describe herself, her answer is simple: “Yeah, I’m a singer.”
That straightforward confidence runs throughout the conversation. Quick with a joke and comfortable in her own skin, Inzy speaks about performing and songwriting with the sort of ease that comes from years of experience.
It never comes off as obnoxious either. It’s actually rather endearing, and being behind the camera being asked questions seems to come quite naturally to her.
Despite this confidence and her undoubted raw talent (check out the Red Light session video for the proof), she’s still at a stage where every new opportunity offers a chance to learn. Reflecting on the session itself, she says hearing her songs performed by a live band gave her a different perspective on the material.
“It was honestly fun hearing the way that they played my song and also the other song I sang, Killing Me Softly,” she says. “Seeing how it sounded live with a band was very different.”
Her original track, Liar Liar, particularly benefited from the experience.
“I would say it’s a bit overwhelming sometimes when you listen to the backing track itself, but listening to it fully arranged, it sounded really good.”
The session has already influenced how she thinks about writing and recording. “I feel like it’s helped me to open up the way I would do music. I’ve been going down one direction but listening to that made me broaden it.”
For her cover choice, Inzy opted for Killing Me Softly, not because it was easy, but because she genuinely loves the song. “It’s on my playlist, and I listen to it over and over and over. I thought doing my own rendition would be a fun thing to try out.”
Rather than attempting a straight imitation, she consciously made the song her own. “I didn’t do it exactly like the way Lauryn did it. I feel like her level and my level, I’m slowly getting there, but for now you have to be realistic.”
Instead, she focused on finding a personal connection to the song. “I turned the song into something I would sing, something I would make. When I perform it, it could feel more like, she’s not trying to copy, she’s doing a cover, she’s doing her own version of it.”
Music has been a major part of Inzy’s life for years, much of that thanks to Tracks. Originally enrolled by her mum, who thought she needed something to channel her seemingly endless energy into, she quickly found her place.
“My mum thought I wasn’t doing enough in the house,” she laughs. “She thought I was being a bit lazy. So off I go.”
What started with piano lessons eventually led to singing and a growing confidence as a performer. “I didn’t actually sing at first, because I was a bit shy and nervous. I’d say now I’m definitely more confident. Tracks has given me so many opportunities to express with music. To actually learn so much about it but also learn how they can truly be more confident through it, have a bit of fun and make friends.”
She is particularly passionate about the difference between Tracks and more traditional music education.
“Tracks was more like, ‘express-yourself’,” she explains. “You can do whatever, and you had more leeway and a broader scope of music that you were exposed to.”
“It has definitely opened my eyes to see that if I decided to go into music, I could definitely do it,” she says. “I’d have the support, I’d have the experience as well, and I basically know what I need to do.”
That doesn’t mean she’s mapped everything out just yet. “I don’t know, to be honest,” she says when asked about future plans. “I feel like there’s so much I could go into.”
With time on her side, she’s likely to figure it out while she’s on the bus, as she tells us some of her best ideas arrive on public transport. “I really like to write when I’m on the bus,” she says. “I don’t know what’s up with the bus, it just gives me ideas.”
“I always think of the chorus first because that’s the easiest thing to think of. Give yourself a word or a topic that you could easily write about. Think of a chorus, then you can branch out.”
Inzy recently released her single Stand Tall, a song written, not on the bus, but in church, when she maybe should have been paying attention. Recording it marked her first experience inside a professional studio.
And as for future releases, there’s clearly more on the horizon.
“Definitely,” she says when asked if more music is coming. “I can’t say much though.” For now, her attention is firmly on Tramlines, where she’ll once again join the Leadmill Orchestra and fellow Tracks performers on the festival’s biggest stage.
“I’m very excited for it. I thought doing it last time was very fun. To do that again on such a big stage, at a festival, with a bunch of people, is a good opportunity.”
Check out the full performance on the Red Light Session Patreon.
