Welsh popstar Twst is using her music to highlight the misogyny faced by female artists
By ITV Wales journalist Caitlin Bryant
Clwb Ifor Bach is one of Wales’ cultural hotspots and the beating heart of Cardiff’s music scene.
Over the years ‘Clwb’, as it is often referred to, has showcased some of the world’s most successful musicians early on in their career.
From the likes of The Killers, The Manic Street Preachers and Self Esteem. It is probably worth mentioning the global powerhouse that is Coldplay, who came through Clwb Ifor Bach’s doors to play their first-ever set in Wales.
Last month, the venue hosted Swn Festival’s Winter Warmers gig which had a homecoming set from up-and-coming Welsh musician, Twst.
She is currently making a name for herself in the ‘Hyperpop’ scene, a sub-division of pop music which is growing in popularity with the likes of Charli XCX, Rina Sawayama and Caroline Polachek leading its charge.
When I sat down with Twst (her real name being Chloé Davis) before her headline set, you couldn’t help but fall for her charm and genuine excitement to be doing what she loves the most, which is making music and performing to her fans.
You sometimes hear about those unbelievable stories that led young artists on their path into the music industry, well Twst’s story is one of them.
It all started with her decision to move out of her childhood home in Barry at the age of 14, to live in an abandoned recording studio in Blackwood, and learn her craft.
Twst (her real name being Chloé Davis) said: "There was this old abandoned recording studio. I mean, it's a long story, but essentially the guy who owned it wanted to make his son the next Justin Bieber.
"And he really believed that he was going to be that. So I sort of just bummed around the studio while he was trying to become the next Justin Bieber. And I just lived there for a while. It was crazy.”
Twst also spoke about how this period in her life has influenced the music she makes today.
She said: “I always create from that period. I think I create from that space that I created for myself when I was that age."
"I feel I was very much exploring these worlds inside my head because I was very isolated there as well. It was a lot of imagination and educating myself through the internet and teaching myself all the things that I wanted to know.”
Twst says it is important for her to use her music as a form of self-expression and to highlight the injustices that exist today. A lot of her music refers to the misogyny that women face in society and the music industry in particular.
“I think that my music is like looking at the social landscape and sort of how I relate to that. And being a woman in the music industry is very difficult. These structures are very much still in place and I've been in so many scenarios where that is so highlighted that I just feel like what else do I write about when I feel so strongly about this.”
The recent ‘Misogyny in Music’ report from the Women And Equalities Commission found misogyny in the music industry ‘endemic’ and described it as a “boys’ club.”
That's something that Twst often refers to in her songwriting - the complexities of the modern-day and having to exist in both the digital world and the real world.
She described the struggles she has faced in navigating these two different worlds as a young female.
“Obviously, I'm just constantly overwhelmed, like the whole world is and it's like we're not built as humans to be able to keep up with the pace of it. I mean, it's challenging, right?”
However, Twst has tried to find the positive that comes with the internet and social media.
“I think there's so many good things about it that it's important to highlight like the sense of community that I found through the internet and it has been incredible, steering into like the positive side of things and how it's become so community driven and how you can connect with so many people and build communities is amazing.”
It is not often you get to witness an artist who is on the cusp of huge success in such a venue as Clwb Ifor Bach. Twst’s live performance is not something to be missed, with her impressive vocal range and high energy stage presence in such an intimate venue confirming this is only the beginning for the local girl from Barry.
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