Enfnts Terribles

We met with Abby in London on the day of her cover shoot with us. “It is such a lovely team, and everybody is so lovely to work with. I’m not just saying that,” she told us. “Everybody has such a good vibe. Otto (editor’s note: the photographer of our cover shoot) is amazing, the hairstylist Linus did such a good job: everybody is just very talented.” Also, good to know: Abby did her own makeup for this shoot.

Gracing our new cover in a full Diesel by Glenn Martens look, the upcoming music sensation tells us all about the responsibility of having a big following, living in London, touring with Halsey*, and more.

*Halsey goes by them/them and she/her pronouns; in this interview, we have opted to use they/them pronouns continuously to ensure continuity and clarity.

Your very first single, “Paramaniac”, has been out for a month now. Are you satisfied with how people interacted with the song?

It’s been pretty unexpected. I wasn’t sure what to expect when the song came out, to begin with, but the reactions were so positive. I honestly expected everyone to bully me because it seems to be that way for online people going into releasing music. There’s quite a stigma with that. I think people really connected to the lyrics and all the feedback I had has been lovely.

What made you pick “Paramaniac” as the perfect introduction to this new chapter?

“Paramaniac” was the last song I wrote for the EP. I felt like I was missing one thing that perfectly summarized the whole vibe of the EP and introduced me as a person rather than just telling specific stories. It’s a good one to kick off with and has a very fun vibe.

We were surprised by the subtle and intimate sound of the EP. Is this lo-fi pop the kind of music you listen to the most, or what kind of music is at the top of your Spotify playlist?

I listen to all sorts of different things, but lyrically, I definitely tend to gravitate to more emotional music. I’m a big fan of Lana Del Rey and Mazzy Star, so I take a lot of influences from these people. I incorporated that into my music and think it’s a blend of everything I grew up listening to. My mom and dad are big eighties fans, so we often listened to bands like Queen. Arctic Monkeys is a big influence as well as the whole indie rock scene.

You’re known for your immensely creative and inventive makeup looks. Does your music allow you to express yourself differently, or are there similarities between writing a song and composing a makeup look?

It’s a bit of both. I didn’t realize it when I started making music, but there are so many similarities in the way they approach grabbing new inspiration and taking references from certain artists you love and things from the past. It’s a similar creative process, but it’s also very different. I can only say so much with visuals and putting things on my face, but I feel like I can tell so much more of a story with music. It’s been very therapeutic to write about super personal experiences that maybe I couldn’t have shown with my makeup.

You’re a public personality, so a lot of people have an interest in your private life. Are you afraid that people will misunderstand the lyrics of your songs and see things that aren’t there?

A little bit, yeah. A lot of the songs can be interpreted in a lot of different ways, and I really let people do that if that has meaning for them in some sort of way and it helps them. I’m also very open to talking about the meaning behind my songs, and I’ll try to take people on that journey on social media. I want to tell them a bit more about what inspired me to start writing and what the story means to me. It can be taken in a few ways … (laughs)

You have seventeen million followers and inspire many young creatives, causing people to call you a role model. Are you comfortable with that assigned role?

I’m more comfortable than I used to be. I got thrust into the limelight of TikTok quite quickly because everything happened so rapidly in the beginning, and I was like, “That’s a lot of responsibility to take on overnight.” People expect you to speak out on certain things and talk about certain issues. That’s definitely something I’ve grown into and tried to learn and educate myself to speak up about things on social media.

I’ve kind of learned as well to be just more myself. People are not going to agree with everything you do or say. You kind of have to take it as it comes at the end of the day. I’m not going to change myself to make someone happy in the end. It’s always the people with no profile picture that have a lot to say; that’s all I’m going to say. (laughs)

How was it to move from Leeds to London, which is an international metropole with many amazing creative scenes?

It’s been hectic and a really big change, but also not a lot of change at the same time because I’ve been going back and forth to London for years now to work. I was literally living in hotel rooms five days a week, so it feels nice to be settled in my own place and not have to worry about taking the train for two hours all the time. There are so many last-minute things I can attend now, like my friends asking to hang out. I don’t live two hours away anymore, so it’s been really fun to move.

The biggest highlight of your year is coming up soon because you’re going on tour with Halsey. What was your first reaction when you were asked to open for a few shows in the US?

It was literally the first time I met Ash (editor’s note: aka Halsey), and we were just hanging out. I did their makeup for some TikToks—that people might have seen on my socials—and told them I was making music. They had no idea I was even making music, and I asked if I could play some songs to get their feedback because I really value their opinion since Halsey is such a talented artist. I played the music, and they were immediately in love with it and found it very refreshing. They were super into it and said, “I usually never do this a lot, but I want you to come on tour with me.” My first reaction was just: “SHUT THE FUCK UP! You’re joking?” (laughs) Halsey was very true to their words, and it’s actually happening. I still can’t believe it, so it’s a big thing to process. I’m very, very excited, and I’m still in utter disbelief.

How are you going to prepare for these shows? What will you focus on when it comes to live shows?

I was quite terrified when Halsey made the offer because I hadn’t done any live show at that point. I knew that I had to prepare myself over the months following. We now have a lot of gigs coming up, and there is some unannounced stuff coming soon. I’ve done three gigs so far and started to do some shows undercover under a different name so people couldn’t find me, but someone recorded me on my very first show, recognized me, and put it on TikTok. That blew up, so it didn’t last very long. (laughs) It’s going pretty well, and I really enjoy performing. I want to keep getting better, and my most recent show was really special; they were singing along in the crowd. That was just super cute.

Are you sometimes surprised by what you’re able to pull off?

That’s literally my whole life story right there. I never expected to end up in social media; never expected to end up in makeup or music. I just do what makes me happy in the moment, which is fun because I’m getting stressed by planning too much for the future.

Abby Roberts’ highly-anticipated debut EP will be out this spring. In the meantime, you can listen to Abby’s music here. 

Photography by Otto Masters
Creative direction and production by ENFNTS TERRIBLES Studio and Dries Vriesacker
Styling by Steven Huang
Makeup by Abby Roberts
Hair by Linus Johansson
Nails by Emma Catry
Set design by Kiara Gourlay

Photography assistant: Connor Egan
Styling assistant: Nathan Fox
Location: Mill Mead Studio

Interview by Maxim Meyer-Horn

Special thanks to Diesel and Evie Ranscombe (Edge Publicity)