Her’s digital cover star for November 2021 is rising Irish artist Aimée Fitzpatrick.
Aimée talks empowerment through music, lockdown, and plans for the future.
Aimée Fitzpatrick has always had her sights set on becoming a singer. Since the age of three, her dream never changed, and she never backed down.
She’s taken the Irish music industry by storm in recent years, releasing huge hits like Don’t Call Me Pretty and Bulletproof – the latter of which led to an intense battle with Billie Eilish for the number one spot on the iTunes chart.
“When teachers would ask, ‘what do you want do be when you grow up?’ My answer was always a singer. It just never changed,” she tells Her.
Raised on a strict diet of pop music, with an unwavering devotion to ’90s goddesses Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, Aimée taught herself how to sing by listening to her idols.
“I studied every breath, every note, every riff, everything that Christina did on my Discman,” she says. “I would play for a second, pause, and I’d try to sing it. Play the next song, pause, try to sing it. She doesn’t even know who I am and she taught me how to sing.”
Her deep-rooted love for all things ’90s no doubt shaped the sexy, uplifting, nostalgic sound she creates today. Coupled with her edgy look and badass attitude, it’s no surprise she’s made a massive mark on the scene.
But Aimée says it wasn’t always easy to find the confidence to sing in front of others and was something she struggled with as a teen.
“I literally would only sing in my room with my door locked. It was too much, I was just too embarrassed,” she says.
“It got to the stage where I was like – if I want to be a singer, I’m going to have to get over this fear of singing in front of people or it’s just not gonna happen.
“So I started doing YouTube videos. I felt like – this is easy, I’m just in my room, no one’s watching. Little did I know that would be the first step to my career taking off.”
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Aimée recalls how one of her videos went viral overnight. Since then, she has never underestimated the power of social media in making a name for oneself.
“TikTok is a new thing now but it controls the charts. A song won’t do well if it’s not doing well on TikTok. I’m really still trying to get the hang of it. My little sister is my best critic for it. So before I upload anything, I run it by her,” she laughs.
“She’ll be like: ‘That’s cringe, that’s cool.’ She’s 18 and apparently, I’m just not the cool age anymore!”
With her latest release, the ultra-catchy dance anthem ‘just a phase‘, the 26-year-old taps into an area she hasn’t explored much before.
“I just wanted to write something fun. A lot of my other music is… almost tackling something that was important to me like feminism, mental health, grief, different things like that.
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“But I just feel like over the past few years with everybody being in a pandemic, people just want to have fun, they don’t wanna have to think too much. I just wanted people to enjoy the song.
“At the start of the pandemic, I was writing a lot of ballads, just kind of heavy stuff. But I realised I wasn’t really having as much fun writing so I switched it all up.”
Lockdown put a halt to live gigs, massively impacting those with careers in the arts, but Aimée says she tried to look on the bright side.
“I just had to keep myself grounded. I was able to take that time to write, I was blessed that I was still able to do some kind of work.
“I just don’t like complaining about it, there’s people that were far worse off than me. There was people literally dying, so I’m not gonna be like ‘Boohoo I can’t stand on stage.'”
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During the pandemic, Aimée joined the Irish Women in Harmony collective, who raised almost a quarter of a million euro for SAFE Ireland with their cover of Dreams by The Cranberries.
“It’s easy for me to say it was so sh*t, but if I look back on it, I really did get to do a lot of cool stuff during that time,” she says.
One of the things that makes Aimée so alluring is her refusal to blend in with the crowd. For her, self-confidence is crucial and she hopes to empower fans through her music by inspiring them to embrace all things that make them unique.
“The message I’m trying to put out, with this new song and everything, is for people to just love themselves. Coming out of lockdown, there was such pressure on people to get super fit and start looking after themselves and all.
“I don’t look like what people would say is a typical popstar. I don’t look like the size zero Britney Spears, but I’m still gonna wear a f**king latex suit anyway, y’know?
“I want people to go: “She looks great in that, I could do that.’
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“It’s so easy to give in to the norm. I want people to feel confident as they are and not feel this constant pressure to look a certain way.”
Looking to the future, the star looks set to rise even further, with an upcoming tour planned and tons of new music on the cards.
“I’m currently working on a project that’s coming out in February. The way it works is you’re always like eight months ahead. I’m just bashing out singles.
“Singles and shows is what next year’s gonna be. Hopefully it will be hectic. I wanna be stressed up to my eyeballs.”
Aimée embarks on a nationwide tour in February 2022. Tickets can be found here.
