The career of Scottish singer-songwriter Jodi Findlay, who works under the name Silvi, has followed an impressively rapid upward trajectory since she went solo with her project in 2021. Her Spotify profile describes how she has headlined such well-known venues as King Tuts in Glasgow, been featured in a BBC documentary, performed at UK music festivals including Stockton Calling, and played for an eponymous BBC Introducing session.
But none of this has gone to her head. Silvi is one of a fantastic bunch of young, grounded, artists who are willing to work hard towards their goals, drawing on the support of other like-minded individuals, and giving support to others, too. I've met many of those artists on social media since starting the Music Observer blog, and I'm gradually finding opportunities to meet or speak with them directly to find out more about what makes them tick.
Last week our stars finally aligned. Shortly before Silvi departs for Sweden where she'll represent Scotland at the Future Echoes music festival and conference, and as she prepares to release her debut EP, we sat down over Zoom to discuss her approach to finding success as an indie musician.
You're based in Livingston, West Lothian. What's the local music scene like for you there?
There's not a single venue in Livingston – it's just got pubs and bars and stuff that you can play in, so I've not actually played here since before the pandemic. I used to do cover sets and stuff. I'd love to play here again but I'm not sure where... There's a theatre, but that's a way higher capacity than what I'd be comfortable doing just now. I kind of need to wait until I'm sort of at a higher level, and then I could move to the theatre.
I guess that situation - where you're having to travel in order to perform - brings challenges in terms of building your reputation and becoming more well-known. What's your approach to expanding your reach?
I would say I go through phases of trying to focus on different things at different times. For example, if I recognise that I've got a month or a couple of months with clusters of gigs, then I'll prioritise that. So rather than bring out a new song, or bring out something to do with it being online, I'll put that on the back burner. I'm quite conscious of not wanting to post so much on social media like Instagram or Facebook, so it doesn't clog it up to the point where people just become desensitised to posts. I want to be quite intentional with what I'm posting, so that when people see my name they really actually read it and look at it. So, if I've got a lot of gigs to promote, I'll not really do anything else that month. Sometimes that doesn't work – you've got a new song to bring out, all the press from the song to share, and you've got shows and everything, and that can't be helped. But if I can help it, I'll try to spread it throughout the year.
I'm not gigging so much at the moment, so I've tried to do the CDs, do a new song, share as much as possible about the song – try to keep the momentum going as much as possible. So I'm not focusing that heavily on live stuff this year, especially the first half of the year, whereas in 2023 I think I had something like at least two gigs a month and some of them were quite prominent ones. I had to do quite a lot of posts about them, the sort of pre-gig, present gig, post-gig stuff – I like to be quite mindful of that. But this year, because I'd done so much live stuff last year, I thought to myself that in order to level up, in terms of getting on better bills, I need to step back from live and put in more work behind the scenes to get my music up to a better standard and therefore to get more highly considered and on better bills.
I almost feel like it's a bit of a pull and a push: last year I was pushing very much with the live stuff, and this year I want to kind of pull back, build it up, have a few different accolades under my belt, so that by 2025 I've got a higher resumé so to speak. So I want to bring out way more songs this year...make it more release-focused this year.
What I get from what you've said is that it's hard work and needs a lot of patience! The temptation must be just to go out and try to do everything, but it sounds like you're taking a very structured approach. I know you also have a 'day job', so is the dream to do music full time?
Yes ... well, the dream world is just to have enough money from it to pay the bills. I don't want a Lamborghini, and actually if you put a Lamborghini in a line-up I don't think I'd be able to tell you what it was! It's not the monetary aspect of it, it's having the luxury to, five days a week, decide to put your all into music, rather than go to an office, basically. That's where I'd like to get to.
In terms of how you approach your music career, and your strategy, do you have any support in terms of mentoring?
It's just trial and error! I do have people who support me in an emotional sense, but there's not anyone in my family who's ever attempted this, or anything close to this to be honest! I'm a Virgo, and I'm also an only child. So I'm quite hyper-independent. I've been told by producers that I have quite a lot of autonomy over what I do, and not to lose that – especially as a woman. I think people who value that really want to let you know, and that's nice.
I think, despite not having all the training (I didn't train to be a musician or anything, and I've never done a song-writing course) it's all very intuitive and I'd say my approach is also intuitive in the sense that I want to always feel like my gut is leading me; and in that sense I don't think I'll ever look back and have regrets because I'll always say, 'Well it was what I needed at the time.'
For example, I went through a hard period in 2022 with stage fright – it was literally debilitating, it was horrific...but I was still, every single weekend, going and doing the gigs I had booked because I knew that I needed almost "exposure therapy", to the point where I was forcing myself, and I hated it, and I was so miserable. But I knew that if you don't push through this wall, you'll not be able to live eventually in harmony with it. I've got to the point now where I'm not completely immune from nerves but I'm nowhere near where I used to be. I don't think that could have happened without me being hard on myself and being stubborn. I think that reflects in quite a lot of what I do. I'm never going to do something just because someone's advised me to: I'm always going to consider my own feelings about it first.
I don't have a team or anything, it's just me, so far. I'd like one!
I can identify with some of that as an only child myself. Does that approach also follow through into your song-writing? How do you go about that?
I wish I was someone who could sit down and intentionally write a song, and I wish I was also someone who was constantly writing, even it wasn't going anywhere; but actually a lot of the songs I write just come really randomly at a time often where I feel there's been an injustice. I'll feel compelled to write something about it. So as a result, I kind of need to wait until those things happen before I can write something!
I started last year trying to be a bit more intentional, and I wrote one called 'Don't Want To Love Again' because people said, 'You're constantly writing about horrible things that have happened to you - why don't you try to write something good, or a love song?' I'd never written a love song, so I thought I'd try. It's not quite your typical love song, it's sort of my version of one.
I like that because it reminds me that if I really do put my mind to it, I can do it. Typically with all of my songs I'll maybe write three in one day about the same situation, but they'll come out over the course of a year and a half. People will think they're about different people or whatever, but it's actually been the same thing but maybe from different points of view. It's sort of like a binge!
I can't remember when I last wrote a song – probably a couple of months ago – but I imagine when I come back from Sweden I'll have a bit of life experience here there and everywhere...and someone's maybe said something that's been a stimulus of some sort and I'll come back and write about that.
So when the time is right, and when it hits you, then it comes out. Then I guess you have the material ready for when you're in a different phase, as you talked about earlier...
Yes, and sometimes they'll sit as a voice note for ages. The next song that's coming out I wrote in 2019 and it's sat as a voice note on my phone. I always thought it would just be a filler song on an EP or album or something, but then I took it into the studio and as it progressed and evolved I really like it so I'm actually bringing it out as a single.
That must give you an interesting perspective, now, on what you were thinking or feeling back then?
Exactly, and it takes on a different meaning sometimes. I don't feel the same as I did in 2019, but I can almost relate it to new things now, which is pretty cool.
I'd like to get a sense of your current influences! What's top on your playlist at the moment?
I've been listening to Reef - that's like a childhood band, so I've got back in to them recently. I really love Noah Kahan at the moment, all of his songs. I love this random song called 'High No More' by Hajaj, that new one by Teddy Swims called 'Lose Control', and I'm obsessed with a singer called Reneé Rapp just now as well.
Who do you dream of collaborating with?
A blues artist called Two Feet, because a lot of people compare some of what I do with his music, and I think our voices would go quite well together and the styles would merge. He does quite a lot of collabs, so I feel like he'd say yes!
It's worth asking! And how about a dream live venue - where are your sights ultimately set?
It would be really cool to play at the Grand Ole Opry, or the Bluebird Café [both in Nashville], I think that would be cool as well. I need to be big in America first though...
What's been your high point of the year so far?
Probably the feature I did with The Skinny magazine (you can read it here). I didn't expect it at all, it just came out of nowhere, so that was really cool.
Thank you so much, Silvi, and I really hope this will be the year that we finally get to meet in person!