IT’S been a whirlwind start to 2023 for Mimi Webb.
She’s in the running for the Best New Artist at tomorrow’s Brit Awards and is set for stardom when her debut album is released early next month.
The record, called Amelia after her full name, includes songs about love and heartbreak.
“You could say I’m two different people,” says Mimi. “And this album deals with both sides — the pop star and me when I’m out of the spotlight.
“There’s a song called Amelia on the album that is a message to my younger self. It’s what I would say to myself when I was young.
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“So much has happened in the past year and so to be able to write it down fully was such a big moment for me. It’s been so amazing to really take those moments and let them have their minute.
“To have a body of work that speaks as me in so many different ways then people are going to get to know me as a person as well as an artist. Amelia tells the story of my journey so far and I’m so excited to put it out.”
There have been many standout moments for “Mimi the pop star” in the last few years.
She says: “I’ve toured America, Australia and finishing the album was also a moment.
“Performing at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee was also a ‘pinch me moment’ and then kickstarting the year with a nomination at the Brits is a massive highlight.”
‘Dealing with anxiety made me stronger’
But it has been just as important for Mimi to look after herself and switch off from work.
She reveals: “When I signed my record deal at 18 — four years ago — all I cared about was making sure everyone was happy. But now the main concern is me. I’ve grown as a person.
“At the end of last year, I had a bit of a situation where everything got on top of me.
“I get bad anxiety and I’d just finished my American tour and been away from home for a long, long time. When I got back to London I was straight back to work and it got too much.
“So, I started mindset coaching and learned how to control my thoughts more. Learning how powerful the brain is and having the strength to control it and dictate what goes on, helps.
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“Your mind can conjure up thoughts and then you react to them. Dealing with anxiety and processing and learning from it is what’s made me stronger with every day.”
Mimi says her good friend and fellow Brit nominee Tom Grennan helped her through some of her difficult times.
“Tom is like a brother to me,” she says. “We are so supportive of one another and he’s been such a light. He’s really helped me when I started to suffer with anxiety. He’s given me great advice — he’s amazing.”
As well as Tom, Mimi says her closest friend in the music industry is singer Tate McRae who Mimi toured with last year. “Tate is an American artist, and we are very similar in age,” she says. “Whenever we’re close or in the same country, we try to meet up for a catch-up.
“She’s an absolute legend and I feel very protective of her as well.”
And if there was a famous person she could meet?
“Probably Harry Styles,” she says with a smile. “I’ve seen him at an event, but I’ve never spoken to him. I love the sound he’s created — I’m such a big fan.”
Mimi’s openness and honesty is evident — both as she chats and in her songs — and it’s this that has struck a chord with fans.
‘These songs are about my life’
She says: “I love opening up and being vulnerable and have people connect with my music. My fans speak to me about how my songs have helped them and their experiences and some of their stories are really emotional.
“I’ve always loved when you get goosebumps after listening to a singer like Adele and she’s really inspired me.
“I’d love to affect people in the same way. These songs are about my life and that means it’s not the best times, but many sad moments. But looking back makes me feel everything happened for a reason.”
Working on the album with big names has pushed Mimi’s confidence. These include Stuart Price (Madonna and The Killers producer) plus songwriters Pablo Bowman, Charlie Martin; David Stewart and Jessica Agombar (Shania Twain, BTS); Phil Plested and Digital Farm Animals aka Nick Gale (Dua Lipa and Charli XCX).
She says: “There area a lot of amazing people on the album. It’s nice because they’re all friends of mine that I’ve worked with now for years.”
One of the best songs on Amelia is Last Train To London, a gorgeous piano ballad that really shows off Mimi’s power vocals.
“That is one of the most emotional songs on the album,” she says proudly.
“It’s a story of what I went through. I went back to somewhere, to someone and it didn’t feel like home any more. And that person was not my friend, they didn’t care about me.
“It’s about a really bittersweet situation and, yeah, I really go for it vocally. It’s going to just feel so good to sing it live at my shows.”
Mimi says her confessional storytelling lyrics are not about one specific relationship but from different ones.
She says: “I’ve had three relationships. My first was when I was very young and breaking up has always been hard.
“When you go from being so close to someone who knows everything about you to being complete strangers, it’s tough.
"Both Of Us is about the moment you realise the love you have for someone isn’t the same amount of love they have for you.”
‘My dreams are getting bigger’
The 22-year-old decided to go by her nickname, Mimi, when she moved from her home city of Canterbury in Kent to Brighton for college.
And she has come a long way since she was a student at BIMM Institute music college, where she realised making it wasn’t just about talent — she’d need to work hard too.
“At BIMM I was surrounded by music,” she says. “It was 24/7 music and everyone there is so talented. Even walking to have some lunch and everyone’s playing their guitars and all their instruments. Seeing how driven everyone was there helped push me.”
As well as singing, Mimi plays the piano and guitar and started writing music when she was just 13.
She had wanted to be a singer from an early age and says: “If Mum and Dad had a dinner party, then I’d be performing. My parents said they always knew I was going to be doing this.
“They always pushed me but in a good way. They’ve supported me and believed in me from day one.” Meeting her manager Rob Ronaldson got things moving for the singer.
She signed a record deal with Sony Music in LA in 2018 and her debut single Before I Go was released in April 2020 — notching up more than 85 MILLION views on TikTok.
She says: “Finding new artists mainly comes from TikTok these days — the music industry has done a 360-degree turn. I tease a song on TikTok and it’s part of the process of letting go for me.”
And as the pandemic took hold Mimi’s career began to really lift off. Mimi, who is now also looked after by the same people behind Billie Eilish, explains: “It was during the first lockdown when I started to thrive.
“The world had paused which gave me a breathing space, and that space for oxygen. I could focus on my own journey and how I was going to do it.”
And “her way” was writing the heartbreak songs she is best known and loved for.
Her latest single Red Flags is all over the radio and last weekend she performed it live on Graham Norton’s BBC1 chatshow.
“It’s honestly been mental,” she laughs. “It never gets old hearing your record on the radio. When my friends hear it I always get a video sent from them. It’s been so exciting.
“I have my UK tour next month and things are just getting bigger.
“And my dreams are also getting bigger. I really want a number one single. A number one album and to keep smashing it in America.”
- Amelia is out on March 3.
