Joy Mumford

Joy Mumford. Photo: Mark Hills

You just played to thousands of people, how was it?
Amazing. It was nice to see so many people, especially with the weather.

Did you prefer playing the main stage at Rock City or Splendour?
It’s weird because Rock City is so enclosed, and Splendour is so open. They were both equally awesome as places that I grew up going to. It was special to play both of them.

How did it feel when you won the Future Sound of Nottingham contest?
Mad. Ridiculous. Cool. At first it was a bit of shock, and then after that had worn off it was like, “Let’s start working and see what we can do.”

Was there a lot of support from the other FSN finalists?
They were all lovely. It proves how nice the music community is in Nottingham— especially doing a competition, you never know how people are going to be. The supportive feel backstage was really nice and chilled, everyone was talking to everybody, you could tell we were all in the same boat. That is definitely something I’ll remember.

How did it feel to play your own songs on Rock City’s main stage?
It was so much fun. I particularly enjoyed playing with other people instead of doing an acoustic set on my own, which I probably would have done a couple of years ago.

Who were you most looking forward to seeing at Splendour?
Tom Odell. I’m a big fan. Foxes as well, she’s incredible and absolutely beautiful. I love Scouting For Girls too. I’ve been told it’s not the coolest thing to like them, but I don’t care.

What do you prefer—smaller intimate gigs, or larger ones with a bigger audience?
When there are more people, it’s less scary. If you’re in a smaller room it’s a bit more pressured because you can actually see people’s reactions. Whereas when we played Rock City, it was nice just to let go and do whatever I felt like on stage.

You impressed both the judges and the audience…
With music, it’s quite personal and a lot of the time I’m just getting my feelings out. So for someone to enjoy what you’re singing about, or to even relate to it, is a big thing for me. Whether it’s one person or loads, it’s really cool.

You also run a blog and YouTube channel. Are you still going to pursue these as you get more successful?
Definitely. Although with blogging, I like to take the time to sit and do it. So I don’t always update it as regularly as I want. But with YouTube I try and do a video once or twice a week. I really enjoy the editing side.

I’ve got a really silly question to ask you…
Oh no, it’s not about Mumford & Sons is it? Everyone thinks I’m related to Marcus Mumford.

Ha, no. Your last EP was called Cake & Tea. If you could pick a cake to describe your music, what would it be?
Red velvet. That’s chocolate, isn’t it?

Is that a reference to your sweet-like-chocolate voice?
And something else, but I’m not gonna say it cos I don’t think you’ll be able to print it… But yeah, I really like chocolate. And red velvet is red but it tastes of chocolate, you don’t expect that. Kind of like me and my music – when people initially see me they expect a different kind of music – I’ve had quite a few people say “I was surprised when you opened your mouth and sang.”

Joy Mumford YouTube