Brooke Scullion told David Hennessy about her new music, making her breakthrough on The Voice UK and the highs and lows of representing Ireland at Eurovision.
Brooke Scullion has released her new single Proximity.
It is the first release from her forthcoming debut album.
Brooke Scullion, from Bellaghy in Derry, came to prominence on the 2020 series of The Voice going all the way to the final and eventually finishing third.
She would then represent Ireland at the 2022 Eurovision with her self- penned track, That’s Rich. Although she was devastated not to progress to the final in Turin, the song was well received and took Brooke around the world.
Since then she has featured in RTE’s Dancing with the Stars and been presenting Ireland AM on Virgin Media.
More recently she supported Ella Henderson at Ebrington Square in her native Derry. This was more surreal for the fact that it brought such a high profile end to a performing hiatus of more than two years.
The Irish World caught up with Brooke recently in London where she is now based to chat about her new music.
What was it like to support Ella Henderson?
“Completely overwhelming.
“I’ve been writing music for two years, I haven’t been performing.
“Me and Ali, my manager, were chatting and we were like, ‘This feels like we’re running before we can walk here’.
“I was like, ‘What am I doing? This is a big massive gig to just jump back into performing’.
“If you don’t perform at that magnitude, you can really lose your confidence.
“I definitely felt that.
“I was faking it as I was walking on stage.
“My whole family was there.
“But no, we had done loads of rehearsals beforehand and I felt so comfortable.
“It was just knowing everyone in the crowd is never going to be easy.
“But I jumped at the chance and then thought, ‘Oh sh*t’.
“It was really, really special.
“The stage was looking out over the whole of Derry City.
“It was quite mesmerising actually and a brilliant location.
“But the thing that felt different was everything I released up until this point, I felt like I had been cosplaying a pop star.
“This music that I’ve made over the past two years, it’s been such a journey and all the songs have changed massively from the beginning to now as I’ve grown up, as I’ve moved away and moved to London.
“I feel like I’ve got a lot more knowledge under my belt about writing and stuff.”
You have just released the single Proximity, where did that song come from?
“I was in this mad love bubble and I was like, ‘This is crazy. I’m so inspired by this’.
“And I had met these producers and they were like, ‘Come on, just jump in and write’.
“And we all just kind of like, ‘Right, okay, what’s that feeling like at the start of the relationship that comes upon you and it’s like you can’t be close enough to the person?’
“The whole thing was this whole idea of proximity and you would wear their skin essentially if you could.
“It’s intense and scary but that’s where the idea came from.
“It was initially written as a real up tempo pop song.
“It wasn’t special.
“I toyed with the idea of releasing it like that and I was like, ‘Right, this is quite a generic song’ but the words were cool.
“I liked what I’d said but I didn’t like the arrangement that we had done.
“I went to Nashville and I sat down with (musician) Justin Ostrander.
“I was like, ‘Justin, I don’t know what we’re gonna do here because I like the words of this song but I just don’t feel like it has an impact in the way that I want it to’.
“And he said, ‘Okay, we’ll just slow it down and we’ll see what way it feels and stuff’.
“And the tempo just completely shifted and the song nearly gained a different meaning.”
Was Nashville inspiring to you? I just wonder because you’re not a country singer at all..
“This is so funny.
“My dad raised me solely on country music.
“I literally was listening to Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson, Daris Rucker, Philomena Begley- I fully thought she was Britney Spears he played her that much.
“The country influence was there and the love for country music was there.
“When I did The Voice UK, I did a lot of my auditions or song suggestions as country suggestions and they kind of steer which route you’re going to go down.
“We went to Nashville.
“I was like, ‘I want to rip these tracks apart and create them with a country band’.
“They’re not country songs because they’re not written with that blueprint in mind but the country band kind of just gave them a crazy new life.”
How does it feel to be putting out your debut album?
“My dad goes to me, ‘Are you happy with what you’ve done?’
“And I’m like, ‘I’m really happy with what I’ve done but I don’t feel like I’ve achieved a body of work that I’d be proud of. I want to leave something behind’.
“It’s kind of an experimental piece of work as well because there’s rock influences as well, a lot of country, a lot of rock and mixed in with pop melodies.”
Did you always know you wanted to sing?
“I was always singing and I actually supported Nathan Carter once when I was 12 in Bellaghy.
“It was the first time I was ever starstruck.
“I couldn’t actually couldn’t speak to him.
“I was just smiling at him.
“My dad was like, ‘What the hell?’
“I had never been shy in front of anyone, ever.
“I don’t know what happened but I got to sing three songs before he came on in the community hall and that was the first performance I’d ever done.
“When I went to uni in Derry, I was doing drama. I wasn’t doing music.
“I didn’t think I had a special voice at all.
“I was like, ‘Right, I would love to do that but it’s not achievable’.”
What changed from there then? What inspired you to go for The Voice?
“This is where I think fate comes into it because one of my best friends Niamh goes, ‘You can sing, can’t you?’
“And I was like, ‘Aye but I don’t really do it anymore’.
“There were emails from the uni campus sent to everyone and it was like, ‘The Voice UK will be coming to do auditions’.
“And she was like, ‘I’m going to submit the form for you’.
“I was raging.
“I was like, ‘Niamh, that is not funny and it’s a waste of your time because there’s no way I’m going’.
“We woke up the next day and she goes, ‘They have just replied, you’ve got an audition at two o’clock’.
“I was like, ‘This is not happening’.
“I was like, ‘Well, funny that I’ve got a class at two o’clock so I’m not going’.
“But the auditions were held in the arts building so it was held in the room next door to my class.
“We were all waiting outside the classroom and so they goes, ‘Is there a Brooke Scullion?’
“Everyone pushed me.
“I was like, ‘No, no’.
“And I walked in the room and I was like, ‘Guys, I’m so sorry. I’m not comfortable doing this’.
“They goes, ‘Come on. We’ve come all this way’.
“And they guilted me.
“They were like, ‘We just want to hear something. Sing something you would sing at a family party’.
“Hotel California was my favourite song at the time and I ended up doing an acapella version of that.
“It was a weird twist of fate and changed everything for me.
“It’s hilarious.”
Brooke took part in further auditions including one on zoom and one in person and it was decided she would sing pop tracks rather than country. Then it was her time to sing for the four judges; Meghan Trainor, Will.I.Am, Tom Jones and Olly Murs.
“It was weird being in the green room before the blind audition.
“I was like, ‘No matter what happens, I’m gonna work my ass off for this one song and then I’ll be proud of that forever’.
“But in the green room, there was loads of people who were backing singers for famous people. They were already accredited musicians in their own right and I was just this wee girl from Derry.
“And they were like, ‘What have you done?’
“I was like, ‘Very little’.
“I totally felt like I was out of my depth from the get go.”
Meghan and Will would turn as soon as Brooke started singing and by the end of the song, all four judges had turned.
“I couldn’t decide because I hadn’t a clue who to go for.
“I hadn’t pre-empted that anyone was going to turn around so I had no idea what I was going to do and when I walked off stage I was like, ‘Who did I pick?’
“I was like, ‘Wait a second, who did I actually pick there in the end?’
“It was just so surreal, so surreal.”
Why did you choose Meghan as your mentor?
“She was the only girl and also, the way she was talking was the way I would want someone to talk to me.
“I made the right decision too because we still would be contacting a wee bit.
“She really cared.”
What about your Voice journey from there?
“The second round was the toughest, the battle.
“I was like, ‘I think this is actually hell’, because you’re singing to stay in the competition, just not normal at all.
“I had a wee bit of a cry after that.
“That one really kind of affected me.
“And also you were seeing people go home then and there was no love lost.
“It was like, ‘Bye, here’s your shoes’.
“I had never seen that before so it was kind of so alien to me.
“It was like a real life emotional roller coaster playing out in real time.
“Getting past the battle was the hard part for me because then I knew that Meghan wanted me there.
“But the knockouts, I was up against two other incredible singers who I felt were just better than me and I was like, ‘I don’t care if I go out at this stage. It’s all grand’.
“But I ended up getting through that and I was like, ‘What is going on here? This is not normal’.
“It was such a good experience.”
Coming third, it didn’t go too badly for something you didn’t even want to audition for in the first place..
“It was amazing.
“I literally had the best time.
“It was such a learning curve.
“I wouldn’t change any of it to be honest.”
It was in 2022 that you were Ireland’s entry for Eurovision with the song, That’s Rich..
“I wrote that song as a joke.
“It was one of the first songs I wrote.
“We made this song kind of joking about relationships and then I ended up really liking it.
“And then we put it in for the selection for the Eurovision.
“I had the best time.
“I really did.”
Like this album it was something of you rather than singing other people’s songs, wasn’t it?
“Totally, it felt like my child literally.”
What was it like representing Ireland?
“Irish fans about everything- football, whatever- we just back our own so heavily.
“I just think that I had one of the best times ever in terms of people supporting me.
“We went out to Turin two weeks before the actual competition started but there was just always Irish flags flying and it was what made it for me.
“Irish fans really made that whole experience for me.”
Unfortunately you didn’t progress to the final, was that disappointing?
“I’m not gonna lie: I was devastated because everyone was like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna do it. You’re gonna do it’, and that was the hype.
“I was just worried when I came off the stage that I had done a bad job.
“Walking offstage and knowing that I didn’t get through I was like, ‘Have I let people down?’ That’s where my mind went to so I was having a really big cry about it.
“And then I was like, ‘Can I just watch it please?’
“And then I watched it back and I was like, ‘Oh, thank God’.
“I was like, ‘Thank God it’s not bad’.
“That’s all I wanted to make sure of and then I was so proud of it that I wasn’t upset anymore.
“I could do nothing more at that point.”
As you have said this forthcoming album is very personal, isn’t it actually taken from your own diary?
“I actually kept a diary.
“I’ve never done that before but I was so in love that I just documented every encounter that I had with this person and it actually just created a pattern then of when I was dealing with the breakup and everything.
“The whole thing has been documented.
“It was my way of getting through everything because whenever I write stuff down, I feel like I’ve channelled it into something, art.
“It’s kind of chronological so it starts off I’ve met someone, I’m so in love.
“It’s like a real spectrum so there’s the joyful, there’s the unsure and then the heartbreak and anger. All the different emotions.
“I wrote the whole thing here (London).
“That was my first time being in the lights of London and everything.
“Whenever things are so good in London, they’re so good, and when they’re so bad, they’re horrendous.
“Everything’s heightened to the point of extremes.
“London’s the best place ever and also can be the worst.”
You were studying drama before, did you get to do much acting?
“I did loads of extra work.
“I had lines in different BBC dramas.
“I had a line in Derry Girls and did Game of Thrones for eight months.”
What was your line in Derry Girls?
“I said, ‘Protestants love cleaning’.
“That was my line in the cross community scene.”
And you said you were also on Game of Thrones..
“I was a wildling so I was walking besides John Snow and Tormund.
“I’ve never been colder in my life.
“I loved it.
“I really, really loved it.”
You played a lot of camogie when you were younger, didn’t you?
“I played so much camogie.
“That sport nearly killed me.
“My mammy was always my coach ever since I was like four.
“My late grandfather Patsy- I never met him- but he was on the 1958 Derry winning all Ireland team.
“But I was always playing county level and school level but I’ve done my cruciate, medial meniscus, broke my collarbone, my fingers, toes, kneecap, broke everything.
“I actually did.
“I was made of glass but I loved it.
“I love competitive sports but I couldn’t do it now.”
You wouldn’t be tempted to find a club in London?
“I don’t know any of them.
“I suppose that’s maybe where I went wrong, not immersing myself and finding a camogie team over in London.
“I was obsessed with Brian Cody when I was younger.
“I was obsessed with The Cats.
“Also, I played half-time at the All- Ireland hurling final in 2009 Kilkenny versus Waterford.
“I got selected from my primary school.
“This was when I was like 10.”
Wouldn’t it be great to make it back to Croke Park in your singing career?
“That would be the dream.”
Proximity is out now.
Brooke Scullion’s album is coming.
For more information, click here.
