Emily Dimes is a pop singer-songwriter and K-Pop cover artist from Suffolk, England. She is best known for her online renditions of K-Pop tracks, where her 35K+ followers go to listen to her ‘English ballad’ versions of Korean songs. Through her feature in Glamour magazine’s ‘You Sang My Song’ series, her cover of Heartbreak Hotel has been praised by Girls’ Generation singer Tiffany Young; she also won AILEE’s ‘Sweater’ Cover Contest in 2019. Check out the exclusive Interview below:
1. Your roots can often shape your journey. Can you share a story or moment from your early life that had a significant impact on your path into music?
Emily Dimes: When I was really young, maybe 5, I was on holiday and there was a talent show at the holiday resort. I remember convincing my sister and a couple of friends we’d made there to get together and perform a song with choreography. It’s a bit cloudy now, but I think one of the people forgot the lyrics and one of the others refused to go on. I was so mortified that my big moment didn’t go as planned that I stormed off the stage. I got in trouble afterwards with my parents because my sister had to carry the performance that she hadn’t even wanted to do!
I still think about that day sometimes. I’m less of a diva nowadays! I’m more forgiving and I realise that different people have different experiences of stage fright. I’ve also learned how to cope with mix ups and mistakes in live shows and have started to find the fun in adjusting. But even back then, I knew that I felt the most at home on stage.
2. Did your musical journey begin with formal training, or was it more of a personal exploration? How has that shaped your unique approach to your craft?
Emily Dimes: I had piano and vocal lessons from an early age, which helped me hone my creativity. I wasn’t the best piano student initially, actually – which is weird because at school I was practically a model student – I rarely practised my scales and just wanted to take the techniques I learned and put them into my own compositions. But with time I took it more seriously and discovered how much I could learn from centuries of other musicians and their work.
I also went to a songwriting masterclass as a teen that stuck with me. They said writing on instruments you know less well can make you more open to the creative process. If you make a mistake, you might find something unexpected that sounds really cool. Be open and stop trying to be the best at everything.
I think I found that really helpful, especially as a pianist. So, when I write, I usually start on the piano and improvise, and any ‘mistakes’ that create a different, more interesting feeling stay in the final version.
3. Who were some of the most influential figures in your early musical life, and how did they inspire your sound? Also, what’s the story behind choosing the name ‘Emily Dimes’?
Emily Dimes: I listened to a lot of Spice Girls, S Club 7 and Blue growing up. Those early British group sounds were so fun to me and I think that instigated my joy of really fun, sing-a-long pop. I then discovered Jesse McCartney and fell in love with his harmonies. When I found Taylor Swift I also started to see how lyrics could also be important in shaping the story of a song, which is an aspect I’d neglected until then. I’m very melody-oriented, but now I love lyric writing just as much. When the two pair together, it’s magic.
As for my name, Dimes is our family surname and I wanted to keep something that connected to them, since they’re so important to me and have helped shape who I am. It has a nice ring to it, too, which is a bonus.
4. What do you believe sets your music apart? How would you describe your sound to someone discovering you for the first time, and what emotions or experiences do you hope to evoke in your listeners?
Emily Dimes: I like to describe my music as edgy alt-pop, but like if a Disney star tried to be edgy. It’s got quirks, a bit of darkness lurking underneath, and some unexpected moments, but at the end of the day, it’s a collection of catchy and powerful pop songs that you can enjoy regardless of the lyrical meaning. I write a lot of piano ballads, mostly upbeat but a little experimental and angry at times.
I think the combination of my influences across mainstream pop, classical music, K-pop, pop-punk and musical theatre create a really interesting intersection of sounds and vocal styles that you’re unlikely to find anywhere else. Mostly, I’m writing for people like me to feel seen and comforted – people who are scared to step outside the perception of them that everyone else has.
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as POP?
Emily Dimes: There has been a lot of imitation for me! I started off in musical theatre, playing Sharpay in a youth production of High School Musical aged 9, and since then I was playing a different character every year. I also sang in every choir at school, and when I sang along to pop music, I would try and copy the singer’s vocal style. I’d say the pop style has always been at the core for me. I developed my own tone with my original songs, but my voice was higher and squeakier as an early teen so it’s definitely shifted since then.
When I started listening to K-pop, that’s when I started to properly hone my own style. I posted covers online, where I’d sing my own English-translated lyrics on a piano arrangement I wrote, and it was so far removed from the original song that it was difficult for me to imitate the original style too much. I got more comfortable belting and even trying new styles like quirky adlibs and rapping. I was also really inspired by the production techniques, especially percussion, and the way that different genres could be fused together into one track. I basically got comfortable experimenting until I found my sound.
6. Music often transcends entertainment. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
Emily Dimes: My personal narratives are interwoven with my societal and cultural experiences, so although I don’t usually try and actively put forward a political message in my songs, they’re often underpinned by themes of feminism and mental health – in particular, I talk about self-esteem, body image and dealing with perception, which are issues that have affected me personally and have shaped my experience as a woman. I am also in an intercultural relationship, which is something I’d like to explore more in my future songs. I hope my music will help people feel seen but also make them think critically about the world around them.
My songwriting process usually involves me deeply analysing myself and the reasons why I feel the way I do, so if it gives a listener pause for thought in the same way, then I think I’m doing something right.
7. Do you feel the rewards of your musical career match the energy and passion you invest in it, or are there different kinds of fulfillment you’re still seeking?
Emily Dimes: I’m really grateful for all the successes and attention my music has gained so far, but there’s still a lot that I want to work on and achieve. I have many more songs to put out, shows to perform, places to travel to and people to write with. We’re just getting started! But honestly, my main goal is just that somebody hears my voice or my songs and their day gets a little bit better. It might seem small, but I know how impactful those moments have been for me. If I can be that person for someone else, that’s the ultimate fulfilment.
8. Can you walk us through your creative process? From the first spark of an idea to the finished track, what’s the most essential part of your process, and how do collaboration or external influences shape your work?
Emily Dimes: I tend to write when I’m experiencing an
extreme emotion, even if it’s something I can’t identify in the moment. I’ll sit at the piano and improvise chords, melodies and random words until it starts to form something that feels like what I need to hear. I know it sounds wishy washy but it’s the only way I know how to describe it. It’s kind of an experience that comes from outside of itself. Then, as the melody and lyrics start to take shape, I figure out what I’m feeling and what exactly I’m writing about.
After the raw song is done, I’ll find a producer and give some ideas of the genre and similar artists, so that they can try and hear what I hear in my head. I love collaboration because you get exposed to ideas that you never would have had on your own. That being said, I am quite picky about the final sound – each song is a piece of my soul and I want the arrangement to support the story I’m trying to tell. Thankfully I’ve been working with some amazingly talented people on my debut EP songs and beyond, who fully support my vision, and it’s been such a fun experience seeing each song get better as all the instruments are added.
9. What’s been the most challenging hurdle in either your personal life or music career, and how has it shaped you as an artist?
Emily Dimes: The most pivotal time for me was as a teen, when I had some struggles with my mental health and started to look more introspectively at who I was and who I wanted to be. I became very existential and thought a lot about finding purpose. It was around then that I found artists like Avril Lavigne and MARINA who had more anger and edge within their pop sound, which was exactly what I needed to hear to feel heard. Avril’s music is outspoken and iconic, while MARINA has a lot of social commentary in her songs that I find really refreshing – she even has music about being successful but still being angry and depressed inside. Their music also really inspired what my sound is now. I started to write a lot at that time about self-worth. I realised that work success doesn’t mean everything and that I need to search deeper inside me to feel okay.
10. On the flip side, what moment or achievement in your career so far has made you feel the proudest, and why? And let’s talk about your latest release and future plans.
Emily Dimes: Maybe it’s cliché given the wording, but I have to say my proudest moment has been releasing my last single, Make You Proud, and seeing it start to gain attention from fans, playlist curators, indie radio stations and even writers, like how I’m now discussing my music with you. Releasing a new song makes me remember that, strange as it sounds, none of this is hard. It can be so easy to get caught up in the idea of perfectionism and hold yourself back from doing something new in case it fails. But I love writing and singing and now people are seeing me for me, not just my covers or my characters, and they like it and want to hear more. That’s the biggest boost in the world.
I’m currently working towards an EP that should be out early summer, where I’ll be sharing a collection of songs – including my first two releases Till It Fades Away and Make You Proud – about finding stability within turbulence, while everyone looking on thinks you’re doing fine. It’s a commentary on perception and also fear and hope. I’m a very positive person, but that’s because I do it actively. I hope when you listen to it, you’ll take from it that even when things feel difficult and unstable, you can choose optimism.
11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
Emily Dimes: Especially as a content creator, social media is a massive part of my life and I actually see it as a positive when I get a new hater. They think I’m worthy of their attention, which means I’m going places, right?! I think I’m quite good at knowing my own strengths and weaknesses, so when someone criticises something I know I’m good at, I brush it off, and when someone points out a flaw that I’m aware of, I work on it. If the critique is baseless, I just feel bad for them. They’re genuinely wasting their own time.
That being said, commenters on social media can be relentless, and if you feel it weighing you down and the voices get too loud, you just need to disconnect and turn to something more concrete. Go talk to a friend, walk outside, play with a cat, read a book, play a board game, cook something, do anything to remind yourself how much life there is to live outside of the internet. That helps me a lot.
12. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
Emily Dimes: Every time I perform one of my songs, it reinvents itself. I hope it always sparks hope and/or comfort, because it’s important to me to have a positive impact. But having the flexibility for interpretation, and letting people hear what they need to hear within that, is so much more powerful than sticking to one meaning that’s frozen in time. Have you heard the concept of Death of the Author? Once a song is out there, I can’t control how other people see or understand it. But I hope the underlying emotion connects and that they find in it the message they’re looking for.
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