Starting out as a budding songwriter in Noise Singapore's Music Mentorship Programme just last year, Theodora has grown into a confident performer whose penchant for intimacy is greatly refined with each gig. The Baybeats finalist’s gentle playing and sincere girl-next-door vocals feel warmly personal. Along with fellow Baybeats artist Linying, she has already had her originals 'Rabbit Hole', 'Too' and 'Stay' played on 987FM. Along with performing at Baybeats, she's also working on an EP to release this year, something fans of sincere folk tunes should definitely keep a look out for.

So how does it feel to be playing Baybeats this year!

It’s so surreal and it hasn’t hit me yet because things have just been so crazy on my end.

What were the Baybeats auditions like for you, and what made you try out this year?

The audition process was mostly surprise and disbelief at each step, haha. I kind of played the whole process down because I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

Someone flippantly said “you should try for Baybeats this year” and it was 3am so I was feeling extra audacious and submitted my name without really expecting to hear back from them positively.

Are you keeping to a solo acoustic set for the performance, or planning anything bigger?

We’re working on fine-tuning the arrangements with the band so we’re definitely going for something bigger this show.

What’s next after Baybeats? How has recording your debut EP been for you?

I’ll continue work on the EP. Preparing it is definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done but I got really lucky with the team I’m working with. While I relish the learning process, the learning curve is amazingly steep.

Releasing an EP is something I didn’t plan to do but after I finished the Noise Mentorship Programme last year in 2014, I was left with these songs I’d written. As things fell into place, assembling an EP felt like the next step.

What are your influences as a musician?

My circumstances, figurative and literal places, concepts, etc. influence my writing. I’m influenced a lot by the conversations I have with my friends, actually. The things we talk about often end up expressing themselves in my songs.

My mind likes to break things down and pull situations, experiences and ideas apart so I think that process inspires me to write. 

Catch Theodora on Sunday 28th June 2015, 6.30pm at the Arena stage.