Rebecca Claire Hill, or as everyone knows the talented dance-edm/pop artist, Becky Hill (28) sat down with MUSICDAILY to give her very first interview for a Hungarian publication. Hill was born in a small town in England with only 9000 inhabitants and rose to fame just about 10 years ago when she competed in the first season of The Voice UK, where she reached the semi-finals. Since then, she tried to show us her real self and her love for dance music. Happily, the hard work paid off and her debut album Only Honest on the Weekend dropped last August. Becky even got awarded with her very first Brit Award in the dance category earlier this year.
Balaton Sound marks her very first festival concert this year, so it was extra special for us to have a chat with her. In her first and only Hungarian interview, Becky told us about the struggles she had to face to become an acclaimed artist, talked about how it felt to not be able to appear in her songs’ music videos, and even talked us through what has she learned over the years being in the music industry. Obviously, we wanted to teach her some Hungarian words as we always do during our interviews, but surprisingly Becky knew more than anyone ever before – exclusive interview with Becky Hill from Balaton Sound festival, Zamárdi.
It’s so nice to see you. How are you today?
I’m good, thank you. How are you?
I’m fine, just a bit nervous, you know.
Aren’t we all?
Yeah! I’ve seen on your Instagram that you were already in Budapest yesterday, so did you get a chance to explore the city a bit?
Yep, we did!
We went to the spa, we checked out the Castle District, we had some amazing food, so yeah, I’ve really enjoyed my time here.
I wish I would have had more, actually.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. We’re really excited that you’re performing here in our country, so let’s talk about concerts a bit. Which one is your favourite song to perform live?
I love singing „Overdrive„. It’s usually the one that gets everybody going, and the transition into the next song is always a favourite of mine, so yeah, definitely „Overdrive„.
Do you have any pre-show rituals that you always do before every concert of yours?
Obviously makeup, I can’t get away with going barefaced. I do a great, wide vocal warmup, as well, to make sure my vocals are ready for stage.
What’s one thing that you just can’t leave at home when you’re travelling on tour?
I have to take my contact lenses everywhere.
Yeah, same!
Otherwise, I’m incredibly blind.
Yeah, same, I feel you.
It’s quite stressed to get contact lenses in different places so I make sure I’ve always got a surplus of them.
Your debut album „Only Honest on the Weekend” came out almost a year ago and you worked on it for quite a long time. Can you tell me about how the album changed over the years and how it became the album we can listen to today?
It kind of started off as a bit of a pop album and then over the years I kind of admitted my love for dance music. It’s always been there but I think there was so much focus on being a pop artist when I first started. Then it kind of grew into this dance project and, you know, I was doing features with dance producers and I really took that on for my own album, which was a really big turning point for me.
What is the most important thing that you learned during the creation process of the record?
I learned that making an album takes a really long time but you have to make music for yourself.
The moment you start writing music for the audience is when the art suffers. So, I always try and make music for me and be kind of self-indulgent.
And which song was the hardest to create on it?
It would have to probably be „Through the Night” because it was lockdown, I wasn’t in the studio physically to write it. Me and MNEK wrote it on FaceTime together and 220 KID sent me the instrumental on Instagram. We kind of did the whole song remotely but I’d never done that before so that was definitely quite the challenge.
Which song of yours would you show to a person that doesn’t know you yet?
I would probably show them „Remember” because everybody knows David Guetta. You know, so I would probably show them „Remember” because it kind of shows off my singing, and you know, be like „look, he’s famous”! So yeah, probably „Remember„.
Now, earlier this year, you won your very first Brit Award. Congratulations on it, you deserve it so, so much.
Thank you so much! Thanks!
How did it feel to win such a prestigious award?
Oh, amazing. I think every artist dreams of getting accolades and recognition for their work. I think my fans really turned up for me that day, as well. You know, there were two weeks of voting on TikTok and my fans really came out and made sure they used their 10 votes every day to help me win that award. Really, I owe it to them. It’s beautiful to see people come out and support me.
Alright, so you’ve been in this industry for 10 years now.
Yes!
What was the biggest challenge that you had to face during this time?
It was definitely trying to make a name for myself without the featured artists or being a featured artist.
You know, I was always secondary to producers on their records even though I’d written the song and I was singing the song and I never really felt like I got much credit for them. I also really wanted to be in the music videos for a lot of these songs and I wasn’t allowed. So, definitely trying to get my face out there and trying to show people who I was and what I could do myself.
If you had a time machine and you could go back to 2012 right before your very first Voice audition, and give your 18-year-old self just one piece of advice, what would it be?
Trust the process and try to worry less.
And where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I would like to think I am a working mother with some kids running about. Happily married and with a few albums under my belt. Still working and still loving my job.
Finally, is there a message that you would like to share with your Hungarian fans?
Hi, I’m here! It is an absolute joy to be in Hungary and I can’t wait to gain more Hungarian fans! So thank you for having me.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us.
Thank you!
Before we let you go, I would like to teach you something, so you can take aways something from this interview, as well.
Please!
So, do you know any Hungarian words?
I know „jó napot”.
Jó napot, right, okay!
I know „köszönöm”. I know „bocsi”?
Which one? I didn’t quite get that.
Bocsi? Sorry?
Oh, bocsi, oh, okay, yeah! Do you know how to say „I love you”?
No!
Okay, so it goes like this: „szeretlek”.
Okay, say it slower for me.
Sze-ret-lek.
Sze-ret-le.
With a „k” at the end.
Sze-ret-lek.
Yes! So maybe you can say that on the stage.
Cool. I bought my fiancée with me today so I’ll test it out on him.
Okay. Becky, thank you so much, have a great time on stage. I know you’re going to kill it!
Thank you so much. I hope so. It’s very hot!
