In Conversation with LYVIA

Talking to LYVIA, one thing becomes clear straight away: she is not stumbling through this. She knows what works, she listens to her people, and she builds from there.

Honey, I’m Home! sits in that space. No big stunt, no forced concept, just songs that grew out of real life: voice notes, scribbled hooks, late-night ideas recorded wherever she was, and a street corner that turned into a stage. The more she trusted that process, the more people showed up.

What she is building is not just momentum, it is a world listeners feel part of. A place where a rough hotel-room demo can matter as much as a finished record, where fans meet each other as much as they meet her, and where she does not need to pretend. She just has to show up as herself.

Even as things grow, with more rooms, more opportunities and more eyes on her, the core stays the same. The girl with the mic and the mug is not running after the spotlight. She is focused on the music and the people who show up for it.

I came across your music fairly recently, around “Bumblebee” and some of the earlier songs, and I remember just having them on repeat like, how has she made this so addictive? Take it back a bit, where did all of this actually start for you?

To be honest, it started on the streets. I was a street musician for a long time. Before that, I was at this community recording studio in Nottingham, people from all different walks of life would go there in the evenings. Sometimes I would not go to school, I would go there instead.

That is what really sparked it, because I was getting validation from musicians and rappers I looked up to. They would be like, “That is hard,” and I would be like, “Okay… maybe I can do this.”

Then I went to uni. While I was at uni, I started busking with my friends in Nottingham, Leeds, London, Manchester. That is when I started TikTok too, I used to post busking videos. My first ever million views was literally just me busking.

While I was at uni I got approached to go on The Voice, so I did that. I ended up on Team Anne-Marie, which was really nice, she has been an inspiration for me for a long time. Then I finished uni and carried on busking.

My mum gave me six months. She was like, “I believe in you, but you need to start earning properly.” So she gave me a six month deadline, and I just knew I had to put my foot down.

I rang my friend like, “I need you to come and film me singing everywhere in town until something sticks.” We would meet up every week, film like twenty videos at a time. Eventually we found “my” corner. That is the one I still use.

And the funny thing is, the video that went viral, I did not even want to film it. My friend was like, “Let’s film in the evening,” and I was like, “Bro, I am going to bed.” He convinced me, and that is the one that took off. I had to call him like, “Yeah… I am really sorry. We need to go and film twelve more of those.”

Of all the things you filmed, why do you think that one was the one that blew up?

I think it was the combination of the song and the video. People were convinced it was green screen or AI, that was the whole conversation in the comments. But it is literally just a corner in town.

And the song, Trippin, is really addictive. It is catchy. So every time that video does well, the song does well with it. It was just the right mix.

Thinking back to the busking days, I do not know how you did it. Were you nervous in the beginning, or did you just have that “I am doing it anyway” mindset?

At the very beginning, yeah, I was nervous. But I used to busk with my friends, so it did not feel that scary. There is comfort in numbers.

Then it got to the point where we were like, “Okay, we actually need to make money,” so sometimes we would go to different cities and split up. That is when it was scary, being on your own in a new city with your little amp.

It got easier the more I did it, but even then, if I did not busk for a week, the next time I went out I would be nervous again. It is like a muscle you gotta keep training.

I was in central London recently and there were buskers out sounding really good, and all I could think was, “I want to go buy them gloves.” It is such a good time for busking because it is festive and busy, Christmas markets, late night shoppers, but it just looks freezing.

Winter is actually one of the best times because the streets are packed, but it is so cold. I used to get up at 6 a.m., drive to places like Chesterfield or York, and just stand there for hours. So now, when social media stresses me out, when nothing seems to be working, I am like, you know what, it is still better than getting up at 5 a.m. to busk in the freezing cold.

With everything you are doing now, how do you deal with those days where you have put time and energy into a piece of content and it just does not do what you wanted it to do?

I’m not going to lie and be like, “Oh, it does not bother me.” It does. It is hard.

But someone said this thing to me once, I cannot even remember who, and it stuck. There is this quote: “No one cares. Work harder.”

As harsh as it is, that is kind of my mindset now. This is my life. There is no Plan B. I am not going to suddenly go and do something else. I am either going to do this, or I am going to die trying, basically.

So I do not really have that much sympathy for myself. I am like, “Cool, that did not work. No one cares. Try harder.” No one cares about your excuses. I want this more than anything else.

If that means I post 15 times a day on TikTok and nothing is hitting, I will post 20 times a day. I would still rather be doing this than anything else. And you have to believe in yourself, because if you do not, it is just going to be a horrible time.

This year especially, I have become my own biggest cheerleader. Before, my team believed in me more than I believed in me. My mum believed in me more than I believed in me. Now I am like, “No, I believe in myself the most.” You have to get there, otherwise this will just chew you up.

Let’s talk about the project. Honey, I am Home rolled out in three parts instead of one big drop. Why did you choose to do it like that?

It was definitely on purpose. I believed in the music so much, and I could not imagine just dropping it all at once and expecting people to take it in properly.

So we split it into three, and each part had its own little mini story. We bundled the songs so there was a bit of everything in each one, something poppier, something sad, something a bit raw.

Also, people’s attention spans right now… yeah. It just felt more realistic to give them smaller pieces to really live with.

And visually, you went into this hyper feminine, 70s leaning world. Where did that come from?

We had a big brainstorm on a group call. I wanted to make a bit of a statement and I like to shock people a little. I love a good juxtaposition, the way something looks versus how it sounds.

We pulled a load of reference images and thought it would be cool to recreate some of them. And I wanted to tap into that side of myself because in the street corner videos I am always in a tracksuit with my hair back. That is the vibe there, but that is not how I am every day.

I dress based on how I feel. Some days I am in my masculine, some days I just want to wear heels and play dress up. I wanted people to see that side of me too.

We actually shot the visuals in my auntie’s house. She bought this place they are renovating and let us use it before they ripped it apart. We literally squeezed the last bit out of the rooms before they got knocked down.

Your lyrics feel like you are talking directly to whoever is listening. Did you come from spoken word?

Yeah, I was a rapper and a poet before I was a singer. I grew up around rappers in Nottingham and poets and just people who were obsessed with words.

It was never “songs” at the beginning. It was poems, spoken word pieces, going back to back with rappers. It has always been words first for me. I started out as a spoken word artist. I never really thought I would be a singer, I was way too shy. Anytime someone asked me to sing, I would be so nervous. I still get nervous now.

The only time I would sing in the studio at first was when they needed a hook. There were not many singers, everyone was a rapper, and they knew I could sing a bit, so they would be like, “Liv, can you lay a hook?” One of the guys was like, “You should actually do this. You should write a song.” That is how it started.

Let’s talk about Nottingham as well. I have never been, but I imagine there is a lot of talent there. Do you feel like it gets the attention it deserves?

I think the talent will do what it needs to do. I do not want to sit here like, “People need to respect our scene more.” There are a lot of talented people in Nottingham working really hard, a lot of them are my friends and people I came up with.

I just have a feeling that they are all going to break through in their own time. Then people will be like, “You are from Nottingham? You are from Nottingham too?” There is a lot bubbling. I am excited for people to see what we have been sitting on.

Okay, we need to talk about the mug. Is it actually tea or…?

(laughs) It is tea. Definitely tea.

Before the corner videos, I used to do these videos called Cup of Tea Diaries back in the day. If anyone remembers those, they have been here a long time. I would sit on the step in my garden and rap with my tea.

During lockdown I did them in the garden, and when lockdown lifted and I started filming outside, I brought the mug and asked Jamal, “Shall I use it?” He was like, “Yeah, it looks sick when you use it outside.” So I kept it, and it became a thing.

People always comment on it, especially Americans like, “These Brits are serious about tea.” So yeah, now it is my little comfort mug.

Sometimes I take a flask out and then pour into the mug for the videos. In the summer it is usually water because it is too hot for tea. At my shows, though, it is tequila in there.

Something I love about your content is that, even with millions of views, it still feels really personal. How do you keep that sense of intimacy?

I want the music to feel intimate. I do not really sugarcoat my stories, everything I write is from first hand experience. So it makes sense for the videos to match that.

Singing directly into the camera is the easiest, most honest way for me to present the songs. Because they are so personal, it does not always make sense to blow them up into some huge, detached visual concept. That one to one feeling is important.

At shows, the songs can feel bigger and more pop, but at the core it is still about people hearing the words.

On the tour, did you get to speak to your fans one to one? Do you feel a sense of responsibility towards them?

Definitely. I have had those messages like, “Your music helped me through this,” or “Your song got me through that.” It is an honour and it feels like a responsibility.

I am nothing without the community I have built. The only reason I get to do this is because of the people who listen and support me. So at the shows, it is really important for me to see them face to face, hug them, and talk to them.

We have got a group chat with some of the day ones and new fans. It is an ever growing little community. This tour, they all made friendships with each other, they went for drinks before the shows, then came to soundcheck. We did a sort of mini meet and greet during soundcheck where I answered questions, played some unreleased songs, did covers, took photos.

I did that at every show and it was honestly a big highlight. Now they hang out without me too, they go for dinner, go to each other’s houses. It is like, okay, this is bigger than me now. That is my favourite part.

You said something really powerful: “Fangirls are the future.” What does that mean to you?

Fangirls have been the reason the music industry moves the way it does for a long time. They are the ones buying the records, buying the tickets, telling their friends, making edits, using your songs in their videos.

Now, with TikTok and everything being so word of mouth, they are basically acting like a label, but without a label cut. They push the music more than anyone else.

I value my fangirls, and guys and theys and everyone, so highly because I know they are doing the work. They are the reason this is working.

A lot of your songs started life as demos online. Talk to me about that.

I write so many demos in my bedroom, like, a ridiculous amount. Recently I have been posting more of them on TikTok like, “Wrote this yesterday, what do you think?”

They are so rough. Some of them I have recorded in hotel rooms with no headphones, out of tune guitar, metronome clicking away in the background. I will post 15 seconds of it and people are like, “PUT THIS OUT NOW.”

And I am there like, “Guys, I promise you, this is not a song yet.” But then I end up having to turn them into songs because I am being held hostage in the comments.

That is literally what happened with Thesis. Same with Trippin. There are a few like that. They were never supposed to be “proper” tracks, but the fans decided otherwise.

Next year, what is on your mind? Tours, festivals, collaborations, travel?

All of the above. I would like a summer full of festivals. I want to do a lot of collaboration especially with artists I love and already have connections with.

I want to do more fan meet-ups and events too. We have done things like painting mugs together, listening sessions where I play them the project before it comes out. Stuff like that is really important to me.

And I want to travel and reset a bit, be by the water. I would love to do a writing camp somewhere like that with my best friends. That would be the dream.

Any specific collaborations you really want to happen?

I really want a song with my friend Sissy, Sissy Ford. We definitely need to get in and make something.

I was with the NSG boys the other day, we did a show together and we said we would get in for a session and see what happens.

Most of my friends are musicians, so I just want to tap into that more. My friend Alfie Sharp from Nottingham is incredible, I would love to write with him, and my friend Courtney too. Just pulling from the circle I already have and seeing what we can make.

To close this off, is there anything you want to say to your fans?

Just… thank you.

To the people who have listened to my music, to the new friends, to my day ones, thank you for continuing to rock with me and for making this possible. I cannot do any of this without you, and I am very, very grateful for you all.

What stands out about LYVIA is not just the corner videos or the streams, but how seriously she takes the people around her. The way she talks about paying her mum back, her sister coming home, or fans who started in a group chat and ended up forming real life friendships says so much about her as a person and an artist.