Purely Provocative: FAYYE Shares Some of the Inner Musings that Inspired Her Latest EP

As a London-based Greek-Irish singer-songwriter, FAYYE is paving her own path as an independent artist in the pop music scene. Drawing on her experience as a classical concert pianist and showcasing bewitching vocals, distinctive melodies and shimmering overtones within her compositions, FAYYE fearlessly explores themes of vulnerability, frailty and resilience in her music, capturing the flicker of a moment that all too often passes by too quickly.

Having recently released a new single, “Different Today,” the chill-pop artist simultaneously debuted her EP Rise, which explores themes of rediscovered self-worth and conviction following a period of change and growth she experienced in her early twenties. With this in mind and serving as her inspiration, the London songstress sat down to share some of her inner thoughts and musings for our latest Purely Provocative series!

What’s the question you wish people would ask you when they met you for the first time?

FAYYE: “‘Would you like to write the theme tune for my film?’ would be pretty fantastic.”

When was the last time you tried something new?

“I try to do something new (even if it’s tiny) every day. Creating change in small ways on a regular basis, so I can see new sights and meet new people, helps me develop ideas for songs and lyrics. It could be as small as taking an unfamiliar route on my run. Or striking up conversation with a stranger.”

Do you have a personal mantra? What is it?

“‘The joy is all in the getting there.’ I have to remind myself of this constantly, when I’m obsessing over achieving something or reaching a certain goal. When we reach our goals, a new one always emerges. And achieving things doesn’t feel good without the trying. So, I just try to remind myself that ‘getting there’ is the hard part, but also the fun part.”

What is your ideal form of happiness? Should you ever have it?

“I don’t know what it would look like, but I know what it would feel like. Happiness is a combination of peace, fulfillment, love and excitement.”

FAYYE

What do you love most about yourself?

“I don’t often reflect on this. I think it would be the fact that I can create. Creating things – like songs or poems or stories – has always given me a sense of self-assurance and pride, probably because I know it’s something I will always have, no matter what.”

What do you hate most about yourself?

“I find it hard to stop! I’m always doing things. On the move. I am hideously enslaved to my to-do-list.”

What’s the hardest you’ve ever laughed?

“This happens a lot. The last time was with friends, over something stupid and completely nonsensical. It was one of those laughs where, halfway through the laughing fit, you forget why you’re laughing. But by this point you’re too far gone, tears are streaming down cheeks, stomach muscles are cramping, and there’s mascara everywhere.”

Cover art for ‘Rise’ by FAYYE

If you had a time machine, would you rather have one that only goes back in time or only goes forward?

“I’m an old soul. I think I’d want to go backwards so I could see and meet the people we came from. To find out how we were made and how our cultures developed.”

What is something you’re terrible at but wish you could do well?

“I’ve been playing classical piano since I was four, and it’s a huge part of my life. But I’m not nearly as good at reading music as I would like to be. I sit there for hours, learning the notes. But if I could sight-read music better, I would be able to sit down, open the book and play all those beautiful piano pieces without the hours spent squinting at the music!”

If everything is possible, what’s important?

“Caring for each other. We’re all we have, living here on what Carl Sagan called our ‘pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.’”

What single event do you think affected you the most?

“I had a tough time with mental health in my early twenties. But, now that I’m out the other side, while it was hard, I don’t regret it. It made me realise I was vulnerable, which also made me a lot more open, self-aware and forgiving of frailty. My new EP, ‘Rise,’ tells the story of coming out of that moment in my life, feeling a renewed sense of optimism and hope.”