Hetta Falzon: From Glastonbury Stages to Going Viral with ‘Sobering’—Her Journey So Far

Hetta Falzon- Credit: Liam Maxwell

“You can’t really follow all of the rules if you want to make something new and unique,” singer/songwriter Hetta Falzon shares her secret behind the making of her upcoming EP ‘Sobering’ with a Manchester Metropolitan student journalist over coffee. She’s taken the world by storm, the song going viral before its release. The 20-year-old has plenty of experience when it comes to creating music that is one-of-a-kind. In 2021, she won the Song Academy Young Songwriting competition judged by the likes of Callum Scott and Tom Odell. The following year, Hetta’s career got all the more exciting when she became the youngest person ever to win the Pilton Stage worldwide competition!

She arrives fashionably early at the small coffee shop on Deansgate. She's dressed perfectly for winter, wearing a vintage wool jumper, her hair in two braids, and a beanie. She looks effortlessly cool. Despite her red flushed cheeks from the cold weather, accompanied by slight nerves, her smile beams with eagerness to talk about all things music. Touching on her daily routine as an emerging artist, she says, “Every day is different, from writing, recording in the studio, going to university, working a part-time job, and performing.” She keeps it real, her tone changing: “Honestly, there isn't a lot of structure. So many things in music are pulled last minute or offered last minute. I recently recorded with Sebastian Schub in Berlin, doing vocals and keys." Hetta’s “new thing” is collaborative sessions, in which she is aiming to “explore new ways of writing.”

Hetta Falzon’s unique sound is a blend of genres venturing into the realms of pop, jazz, and classical music. Not hesitant to embrace her truth, she says, “I really don't like writing from a perspective that isn't my own.” She stands out among this generation's upcoming artists, with influences from Olivia Dean and Randy Newman; her music is incomparable. At the heart of her creations is vulnerability, giving listeners a strong glimpse into the clockworks of her mind. Her emotive storytelling and melancholic melodies have caught the attention of many music lovers around the world. Through lyricism, she explores how she “functions and reacts to things.” With slight embarrassment coming over her, she chuckles, “a lot of those things being boys. Boys are the pit of my life at the moment.”

When it comes to her achievements, the list is endless, though Hetta remains humble, reminding us that despite having played Glastonbury three times, she's still just a girl living out her life. The artist’s proudest moment was when she passed her driving test on the third attempt. The music side of things comes “a lot more naturally” to her; a lot of her successes have evolved from “living with no regrets.” Every “small decision or feeling” she has is embodied in her music. One day she crashed her car, then went to the studio to write “Sobering,” her upcoming EP. “Now I’m like, thank God I crashed my car because it evoked so many emotions,” she says with confidence. The song has been “career-changing.” It has blown up on TikTok, gaining her a devoted fanbase who resonate with her lyrics. Hundreds have taken to the platform to post covers of “Sobering,” along with another song of hers called “Freckles.”

But how did Hetta’s musical journey begin? Growing up in Somerset, Hetta was constantly faced with competition. As the youngest sibling, she always felt like she was facing a “constant battle” with her older siblings. She made it her mission to achieve just as much as they did, so when they started music lessons, it only made sense that Hetta did too. Whilst many typically credit their inspiration to a specific person, event, or perhaps song, Hetta's experience is different. Looking back, it paid off as she says, “FOMO is what got me into music.” Although having attended Wells Cathedral School, “a local classical music school,” she gained abilities that would benefit her later in her career. “It really informed me about harmony and melody, which really come through in my music,” she explains. Her time there really persuaded her to discover the realm of pop music because it made her realize she “really didn't enjoy practicing classical music.”

Deciding what career path you want to take at such a young age can be overwhelming. She touches on this:

“When I was around the ages of ten to thirteen, I wanted to be a school photographer. I thought it was the coolest job ever! Then, from thirteen to sixteen, I wanted to be a lawyer because I wanted to be rich. Around sixteen, when I actually started thinking about university, I realized I had my heart set on one thing: I really did not want to do anything that wasn't music-related. That's when I knew I was going to be a pop star.”

Hetta Falzon performing at the Night and Day Cafe. CREDIT: Liam Maxwell

Now based in Manchester, where she attends the Royal Northern College of Music, she works hard to achieve her dreams. On the rise, she is nonstop gigging in venues from Manchester to London. So early on in her career, she's performed at “bucket list venues,” Glastonbury's Rum Shack Stage and Pilton Stage, as well as Manchester's O2 Apollo. When performing, she says, “I still get really nervous. I like to feel prepared; I always go over the chords last minute. I worry about forgetting. I really like trying to channel my nerves into excitement.”

Over the past year or so, Hetta’s confidence in her artistry has grown massively. She says, “The reaction to 'Sobering' has been insane. It wasn't meant to be my debut, but it feels so right. It’s sonically and compositionally bang on in terms of what I want to be creating. My EP is coming out soon; I love it, though it's two years old. I was stuck because I felt like it wasn't me, because I've changed in that time, but adding ‘Sobering’ to it has made this project feel like a personal journey.”