Written by Thea Martynska
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting up with Dido Wilson and chatting about her music, and most excitingly her upcoming EP!
Dido Wilson is a singer songwriter from Lewisham. She recently found a management team and is now working on some exciting stuff. Dido told us that when she was younger she was always singing and in a house full of creatives and was encouraged to follow her passion. She attended Brit school from year 10 and found that whilst in sixth form her love for performing and song writing grew. It also meant she could create a network and collaborate with people who would all be soon entering the music industry!
Dido’s musical journey began when she joined a school choir. Her talent was recognised so she then went on to have private lessons. She went on to do singing grades, which is when she realised she wanted to do Jazz. One evening in her mid-teens, she found herself bored whilst watching Strictly with her family, and wanting to do something to combat this feeling, she decided to teach herself the guitar. Not only was she successful with this, but Dido has also impressively self-taught herself to play piano. She began song writing in 2018 for her band and in 2020 started writing songs for herself.
Surprisingly, neither of Dido’s parents are musical, but they love listening to music. Her dad is really into Blues and her mum loves Carole King, Barbara Streisand and Joni Mitchell. She also had the influence of her ‘90s babies’ sisters and the music they grew up with. So, whilst none of her family play any musical instruments, they are all deeply passionate about it, which means she is surrounded by support for what she does! She loves to get their feedback as listeners whenever she has something new. Dido tells us her main influence is Amy Winehouse, especially when it comes to song writing. She also mentions influences from newer artists, such as Olivia Dean and Raye, due to their authenticity and inspiring backstories
Recently she performed at Mahalia presents, an event hosted in both London and New York by singer Mahalia. She’s also performed at Peckham audio, The Bedford and has even done a few Sofar sounds shows: a gig where the performers are kept a secret from the audience. She loves Sofar sounds gigs, but she is most proud of Mahalia presents which made her feel like ‘oh shit I’m the artist’, it was a ‘I can actually do this’ moment.
Her upcoming EP is full of emotion, it’s a breakup EP that follows feeling rather than facts. She wants it to help validate people’s feelings, as she’s always found that music helps us the most to get through shit. The songs she connects to most are usually the ones that just come straight to her without having to think too much about it, the songs that show exactly what she’s feeling. She describes the EP as a ‘Feelings based breakup EP’. Once the EP is released we can expect to see more live performances and lots more exciting things form Dido!
Dido’s advice for people who want to get into song writing, is that you have to just write, a lot of your first songs will be shit but eventually you’ll have songs which you realise are actually really good. Her advice for performing is to remind yourself that quite a lot of the nerves you are feeling are just excitement, and that the best thing you can do is just be yourself with the audience.
Whilst you patiently wait for the release of her EP you can check out some of what she’s been up to on her Instagram (@didowilson)
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