Tessa Hills, AKA Messie, was just another DJ on the Welly/NZ circuit a mere month ago. But now, after playing for Fred Again in Coroglen and in front of 35k people at Perth, she hopped in the studio with George Drive to tell us what's next for her.
"Not much has changed about me, but there was this whole Fred Again thing,” she said, humbly.
LISTEN TO SIN & BROOK's FULL CHAT WITH MESSIE BELOW:
The tales of her Coroglen set are well-known by now. She killed it. Fred loved it. Invited her to Aussie. She didn’t have a passport. Fred successfully pleaded to the NZ government to suss her one. She played in front of the massive Perth crowd.
"This was always the plan but I never expected it to be like this and just happen this fast," she said. " [Now] it’s just making sure I make good steps, good decisions on who I’m working with. Just keeping up the growth. I definitely don’t wanna let this opportunity slide.”
And it seems the British DJ is keen to keep their budding partnership going.
“Fred brought up London a few times. I don’t know if he means catch up for coffee or go on a tour - I’m not really sure.”
“I’m definitely gonna go to London. I’ve always wanted to travel - later this year, that was always the plan. It kind of lines up when he’s also in Europe so we’ll see what happens.’”
She's a bajillion times more famous now than she was before. With that, comes a lot more attention on her as she follows her dreams.
“I always wanted to be a DJ - a touring musician in any capacity really, just travelling and doing music," she explained. "But I guess the fame aspect of it is something that I never really thought about."
"Obviously, I've always known that if I’m gonna be a DJ I’ll need people that are supporting me, but I was prepared to be a little niche, micro Instagram celebrity.”
“But it’s honestly been really nice. Anybody that’s come up to me has been really sweet, just saying they’ve been following the journey.”
“98% of the DMs have been so, so lovely," she added. "Everyone having my back has just been so sweet."
"I try to reply to as many as I can but there’s just so many. But I try not to think about it. It is a bit freaky.”
You can listen to Messie’s full chat with Sin & Brook above. They also cover what it was like going b2b with Joy Anonymous in a Welly club, how she was in a kebab shop when Fred first hit her up, and how she kept calm at the Perth show. It really is a cracking chat.
