From the theatre to its very own residents, Billericay is chock-full of creatives from talented singers and artists, to actors and dancers; you can find it all in our neck of the woods.
One such talented singer/performed is 21-year-old Tilly Brown, from Billericay, who has been gigging around Essex since leaving college in 2018 after studying Musical Theatre for two years.
We caught up with Tilly, who also runs a Beauty business called Billericay Beauty Therapy, to find out a little more about her inspirations and experiences within the music industry and how that shaped her career early on.
Starting from a young age, Tilly Brown first began to sing in primary school with encouragement from her Great Nan, who was also a singer, and not long after her passing Tilly discovered her voice and decided to audition for the school talent show.
“Many people have helped and inspired me with singing/performing throughout my life and encouraged me to keep going with my music career,” explained Tilly.
“My singer teacher in secondary school really helped me begin to find my voice. I was taught to choose my songs wisely to suit my tone. In my later teens my singing teacher Maggie Roberts really helped me gain confidence and discover my stage presence. My music teacher throughout school, Mr Healey, showed me more of the history of music and got me interested into the musical theatre world when he showed me ‘Something’s Coming’ from West Side Story.
“Finally, my musical theatre teachers Richard and Neil, taught me so much about my voice and how it is so much more than just singing. It is how you stand, how you relax your body, how you breathe etc. They also taught me to feel the songs I sing instead of just singing lyrics, this helps engage the audience.”
Tilly showcases the wonderful and long-lasting impact great teachers who spend the time to nurture talent can have on you later in life.
Not only did the teachers see Tilly’s potential, The Mayor of Chelmsford asked if she could join them at Hylands House in Chelmsford to sing for the Mayors at a private event after a school assembly performance, as well as a scout for the X Factor prompting the 16-year-old at the time to audition after an open mic night.
All of these instances, plus many others, helped take Tilly from a shy singer to a confident performer.
For readers who might not have heard you before, is there a genre of music you usually play?
“My voice is rather jazzy/soulful but I am also very versatile and sing to suit the crowd! I can go from jazz to indie rock to pop etc! I love all kinds of music.
“Some of my favourite musicians to cover and show off my style would be Etta James, Amy Winehouse and Duffy.
“In the past I have written a couple of songs. Whilst I was in secondary school for GCSE, we had to compose some musical pieces and I got good grades for them so I will definitely consider writing some of my own content in the near future! The way I do this is through first writing my lyrics and then on a programme Logic Pro or GarageBand on a Mac computer, I will use a keyboard to create the music.”
Who are some of your greatest inspirations?
“I would say and plenty would agree with me on this one that Amy Winehouse would be one of the artists who inspired me and I would have loved to collaborate with her. Another would be Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, their music really stuck with me in my teenage years.”
What is the best advice you’ve been given and would pass on to any budding musicians?
“Keep going… Even if you are shy or scared to begin with don’t stop, the more you perform in public the more you will grow as a performer and gain a stage presence. Don’t just sing, tell the story and feel the lyrics. Don’t listen to any hate, everyone has different tastes in music, some people will love you and some may not, but believe in yourself!”
What are your 3 Desert Island Discs?
“The Smiths – ‘Hatful of Hollow’;
The Carpenters – ‘A Song for You’;
And the Mamma Mia soundtrack!”