Griff on sharing the stage with Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran

September 26, 2024 | 12:00am

Playing as the opening act for famous artists like Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and the like, was a “very surreal” moment for British singer-songwriter Griff.

“Yeah, it’s really amazing. I mean, I’m still a very new artist, so I feel very lucky that so many really big artists have wanted to bring me on tour and wanted to have me perform on that stage. So, yeah, it was very, very surreal,” she told The STAR in a one-on-one chat during Warner Music Philippines’ “We Play Here.”

Griff performed for Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia Tour in 2022; Ed Sheeran’s +–=÷× Tour in 2022; Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour in 2023 in some major cities in Europe; Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour in London; and Sabrina Carpenter’s US tour to be staged later this year.

The pop artist is an avid Taylor Swift fan herself and looks up to her all her life. She beamed, “She’s given me a lot of support over the years, and she’s posted about my songs every now and again. So, it’s very cool of her to be so supportive of my music. It’s really cool.”

“Dua Lipa’s amazing. She kind of gave me my first touring experience. I spent, I really started in the pandemic, and then once COVID was over, I went on tour with Dua for, like, two, three months, so I really feel lucky to have spent that time with Dua,” she continued.

Griff told this paper how “nice” Ed is. “He’s like, when you talk to Ed Sheeran, you forget he’s famous because he’s so kind and he’s so down-to-earth. So, yeah, I would say he’s, like, a real friend.”

Last July, she dropped her debut album called vertigo, including the single Astronaut, which she collaborated with Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin.

“This is my first-ever album. I’ve produced the whole thing and I think the songs are really just, like, about heartache, growing up, and all of that experience. So, yeah, they’re very, very, like, personal, heavy songs. And I really hope people are moved by them.”

All the songs on the album were written in Airbnbs in the United Kingdom, she shared. “If it wasn’t called ‘vertigo,’ I was going to call it Into the Walls. It was another song on the album and I really just loved that image.”

Griff is of Jamaican and Chinese descents and her upbringing has played a role in her music. “I think my dad (Jamaican) really influenced my music growing up. I think there’s a lot of, so much of, like, black culture and music (growing up). And I think he really passed on the passion for all of that. My mom was never so musical.”

Moreover, Warner Music Philippines’ “We Play Here” was in partnership with KDR Music House and UP Adcore, which was recently mounted at the University of the Philippines College of Science Amphitheater.

SB19’s Stell, Dilaw, Arthur Miguel, Kahel, Letters from June, Sugarcane, Paul Pablo, and PLAYERTWO were among the performers, alongside Griff.

The music gig was Griff’s first show in the Philippines. Prior to coming here, she had heard a lot of good stuff about the country through her Filipino best friend in London.

“We met when she had just moved over to London from the Philippines and she didn’t speak much English at all,” she recalled. “But now we’re super close. And she’s always telling me about (how) she comes back every so often and she’s always telling me about the beaches, and how beautiful it is, and all the food.”

During her first night in Manila, she went on karaoke with Lola Amour, Dilaw and Sugarcane members. “I haven’t had loads of time to go out and explore but everyone’s so loving. So, it’s been good,” she described her Manila experience.

She concluded the interview by expressing her gratitude to her Filipino fans. “I would say to my Filipino fans that thank you so much for all your support. Thank you so much for being here at the start of the journey. And I can’t wait to come back here and tour properly and sing these songs to you. So, yeah, love you all.”