Sienna Spiro has revealed that she struggled with deep insecurities about her body while growing up and often wore baggy clothing to cover herself when she began sharing her music.
The Die on this Hill singer says her father introduced her to legendary stars such as Barbra Streisand and Ava Gardner, whose glamorous style inspired her to picture a more confident side of herself.
She said trying out her now recognizable hairstyle became a major moment for her, explaining to Variety: “The first time I experimented with the hair, I felt like a more polished and powerful version of myself.” Her stage look helps her feel confident, particularly when she is tired or experiencing period pain. “There are days when changing my hair from how I normally wear it, or putting on my boots, helps me enter a different mindset and feel more self assured.”
The 20 year old artist also shared that she has experienced vocal nodules since she was young, describing them as both a positive and a negative because they create her signature raspy sound while also placing considerable pressure on her voice.
She remembered: “I did not receive an official diagnosis until two years ago, but my voice has always been incredibly raspy. I believe I may have had them for most of my life, or at least since I was very young.”
She admitted: “They can be both a gift and a struggle. I really like the character they bring to my voice, and sometimes they prevent me from reaching certain sounds, which can actually create something interesting. However, I was almost unable to speak for an entire year. The year before last, I barely talked at all. It was extremely difficult and made me feel very alone.”
Away from the stage, Sienna looks completely different without her dramatic hairstyle and high heels. She explained that adopting her performance persona often helps create some space between herself and the feelings that inspired her songs.
She said: “I do not really censor myself, which can be helpful but can also create problems. Still, honesty is the only way I know how to write, and being myself is the only way I can show up.”
“I am simply a 20 year old woman, and there are mornings when I wake up on my period and still have to get onstage and perform. Changing my everyday hairstyle or slipping into my boots allows me to become someone slightly different, giving me more confidence and some emotional distance from how I felt when those songs were written.”
She added: “High heels are not something I would ever choose to wear in my normal life.”
NEWS
James Acaster has officially introduced his new band, The Wow! Scenario, alongside their debut song, ‘Zacuti’, featuring BC Camplight. More information about the project can be found below.
The Wow! Scenario began two decades ago and has now been brought to life by Acaster with his friend Graeme Wicks, BC Camplight and Emma Daman.
Their first album, ‘Stand in the Star. A Verse and a Chorus’, will arrive through Bella Union on October 23. Preorders are available here.
Listeners have also been given an early preview of the album through the jazz inspired lead single ‘Zacuti’, which is available to hear below.
Acaster and Wicks formed the group in Kettering in 2004. According to a press statement, they had already chosen to end the band by the time they recorded their full collection of songs with producer Chris Hamilton in December 2007.
The statement also revealed that the group’s name was inspired by an intoxicated audience member who tried to say they lacked “the X factor”. However, the person repeatedly used the wrong phrase and told them: “You don’t have the wow scenario, guys. You need to get the wow scenario”.
The musicians revisited the recordings with Hamilton in 2018, removing the original singing and replacing the vocal melodies with saxophone, clarinet and fiddle. At that stage, they planned to release the material as an instrumental record.
After deciding they were not satisfied with that version, the group returned to the studio for a third attempt in March 2023. BC Camplight and Emma Daman provided vocals for the new sessions, while the album was eventually mixed and finished in March 2025.
1. ‘Diving!’
2. ‘Once More!’
3. ‘Golf Socks!’
4. ‘Alpaca Spinner!’
5. ‘Reality!’
6. ‘Instructions!’
7. ‘Zacuti!’
8. ‘The Curse!’
Acaster previously created the music project Temps, which brought together a collective of 40 performers, including Quelle Chris, Xenia Rubinos, Shamir, NNAMDÏ and Seb Rochford.
When the collective was first revealed, the comedian and Off Menu podcast host discussed its origins during NME’s ‘In Conversation’ interview series.
“I was doing bands when I was a teenager into my early 20s, and I was like, ‘This is gonna be my entire life, all I’m gonna do is music,’” Acaster said. “When the band split up I started doing stand-up as a placeholder, and then I fell in love with stand-up and got really obsessed with that.
“I’d never made an album from scratch that didn’t exist yet – recording it and writing it at the same time – and I’d never produced anything before, or mixed something as intensely as this one. There’s a lot of new things – if I had been doing it on my own, I don’t know how long I would have lasted.”
