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photo by Katherine Cardinale

London-based rising star Bea and Her Business recently headlined her first ever US shows in New York City and Los Angeles as part of her Red For Your Ex Tour. These shows occurred shortly after her European run, which included a sold-out night at KOKO, the venue in Bea’s hometown.

Since embarking on a music career, Bea has garnered over two million fans across social media, and her relatability, humor, and fresh sound are a testament to her success. In addition, Bea has been recognized through titles such as Instagram’s Next Generation Artist and Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Artist. We had the chance to speak with Bea and learn more about her artistry, accomplishments, and aspirations.

OnesToWatch: Hi Bea, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today! First, what is one thing you would like fans to know about you as an artist?

Bea and Her Business: There’s probably a few things! My favorite color’s red, I love songs, I have a low voice, and I’m quite sarcastic.

Where does your passion for music stem from?

I'm the youngest of four in my family. So as you can imagine, it all gets quite competitive. I think I always wanted to be really good at something, and I never really was at school. So one day, at nine years old, I woke up and decided music was going to be my thing. My sisters kind of strongly advised against it, but I was convinced. I told everyone that that's what I was going to do and no one would believe me. I mean, why would you believe a delusional nine year old? But it did leave me with no choice but to stand my ground and kind of follow through and try and make this whole music thing work.

Which song of yours do you recommend for a first-time listener?

I’d say start with “Born To Be Alive” and follow it up with “Smoking Lessons.” Get a bit of the anthem and then more of the, like, songwriter-y, sad lyrics.

With songs such as “Safety Net,” you’ve created tracks that resonate deeply with your fans. How do you decide which themes to explore in your songwriting?

I guess I don't really consciously decide. I write down concepts quite often in my notes and they're kind of these trains of thoughts that rhyme, and it's always those which dictate what I write about. You can write songs from so many different perspectives that it can get quite overwhelming. So I think being able to refer back to these condensed thoughts and comments that I've had on one random day makes it a bit easier.

If you could pick one lyric from “Safety Net” that resonates with you the most, which one would it be and why?

Probably “it's your turn to cry in bed and listen to Adele.” I think it kind of it's like, I've served my time in the world of, like, heartbreaking ballads, and now the tables have turned, and I'm taking the power back, and it's your turn to suffer.

What does preparing for a tour look like for you? What has the process of bringing your songs to a live audience been like this time around?

Um, well, I guess preparing for a tour is like preparing for an exam. I procrastinate until the very last minute. There are lots of last minute vocal warm ups and honey ginger tea and things that I should be doing every day. I'm not in good habits. Don't have good habits. I think lots of changes to the set the day before we go away. It's always due to lots of indecision, late night voice notes, banging on about last minute changes for intros, and things like that. I wouldn't be surprised if I'd given my MD multiple heart attacks. Yeah, I'm slightly chaotic and all over the place, and I just create unnecessary stress. But so far it's kind of worked out okay! So, yeah, that's what preparing for a tour looks like.

Coming from the U.K, how was your experience playing your first shows in the US?

Pretty, cool, surreal, bonkers. They were smaller rooms, so the shows felt pretty intimate, which I loved, and slightly more off-the-cuff and chaotic. I guess that kind of gives you more room to just, like, there's just less pressure all in all with smaller rooms, which, that's what I love about them. But it kind of, it really is mad that, like, people halfway across the world wanted to come see me in concert, having never met me or anything like that. I guess that's the power of social media. But it's just like, yeah, it's so cool that I've been able to play in America having come from the UK. It's just like, so far away. It's like, what! You know?

What has been your most memorable/favorite fan interaction so far?

There's been so many great ones. I’ve had fans give me, like, six page letters and photo albums, and signed cowboy hats. And one fan made me this embroidered personalized jacket, a denim jacket, which slightly blew my mind. She embroidered lyrics of my songs onto it, and embroidered bumble bees on it and things like that. It was just so cool. Another fan flew from Vienna to New York, and someone else flew from Germany to New York as well to come watch the New York show, which was also pretty sick, because that's a hell of a long way to come for a little show. But yeah, there's been a few. It's been so cool, so cool.

What career milestone do you feel most proud of and something that is on your bucket list?

I think I feel very proud to have headlined KOKO. I remember a friend saying to me a year ago that I should perform at KOKO, and I was like, no way, mate, not yet. I'm a hell of a way off, like it's gonna be a while ‘til that happens. And then a year later, I was headlining, and it was sick, and I remember she couldn't be there. She was in the audience, just like on a FaceTime all the way in, like Mexico or something. But yeah, I also feel very proud to have filmed my first music video riding a horse next to a tracking vehicle was probably a bit of a bucket list moment. It was kind of like, I felt like a proper movie star. And then, of course, doing like, two headline tours in Europe and one in one in America, slightly baffles me, I think. That whole thing, I don't know, it's just, it's just like, like crazy that you get to perform and meet people all around the world and, like, just go along in a van with your band. It's like, the weirdest thing, like, you're just, you're just riding along. It’s so sick.

Do you have any upcoming musical projects that fans can get excited about?

At the moment, I'm just knuckling down and writing more music. I think that's my main focus, really. But I think everyone can get excited for new songs, new shows… TBC… pending. But, yeah, there's a few exciting things. I feel like I can't reveal them at the moment, but all shall be revealed. All shall be revealed in 2025. God, we’re in 2025! I keep forgetting that.