In a perfect world, nobody would ever hear a Griff song. “I hate the idea of playing music to people,” says the 23-year-old, curled up in pink patterned socks on a banquette in a west London members club, diamante-festooned crocs abandoned under the table. “I’ve never been in love with the idea of writing songs for other people to hear.”
Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world, which is why one Saturday in June, Griff – AKA the Hertfordshire-born Sarah Griffiths – found herself supporting Taylor Swift at Wembley stadium, playing to a crowd of 89,000. “Horrendously nervous” for even her own smaller headline gigs, she employed the coping mechanism of “trying not to think about it too much” – a strategy hobbled by her phone. “I almost felt like I was getting married. The amount of people that were texting me going: ‘Are you OK?’ and ‘Good luck for your big day!’ I’m like: all these texts are making me more nervous!”
