Venbee: Messy in Heaven singer talks making music with dyslexia

Venbee was nominated for the Rising Star award at the Ivor Novellos

If you're a fan of Venbee's music, you'll know her songs deal with issues like addiction and mental health.

They're also chart-topping. Her recent hit Messy in Heaven has spent over 34 weeks in the UK Top 40.

But what you might not know is that the 22-year-old struggles with both reading and writing.

"My mum will say to me, 'it's wild that you can write a song but you still can't read or write that well', but that's just the way my brain works."

It's why when writing music, she never puts pen to paper.

"Songs always makes sense in my brain, but when it's on paper, I can't make sense," explains the songwriter.

Venbee, real name Erin Doyle, has dyslexia, a learning difficulty that causes problems with reading, writing and spelling.

About three in 10 people with the condition also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Venbee is one of them.

If you're unfamiliar, ADHD is a condition affecting people's behaviour, resulting in symptoms like restlessness and trouble concentrating.

Unlike other areas of her life, though, Venbee never struggles to focus on her music. She tells Newsbeat she can "hyper focus" on writing songs, often in the early hours.

Take Messy in Heaven, the chart-topping anthem that came to her at 3am.

"The idea started in my bedroom and took around 20 minutes. It was just me and my guitar."

Once the concept was in her head, she got help from friends Dan and Tao to bring it to life.

The artist has worked with Rudimental and music producer Goddard

For Venbee, it's important her lyrics reflect what's happening in her life and Messy in Heaven was no exception.

The song opens with the memorable line: "I heard Jesus did cocaine on a night out. Eyes wide open, dilated, but he's fine now."

She explains: "Messy in Heaven is about someone I know, that was really struggling with drug addiction.

"To me, she's the greatest thing in the world, so that's why I use Jesus as a metaphor."

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Venbee believes her ADHD fuels her creativity.

"It definitely helps me think outside of the box because my brain works in a different way than everyone else's."

She admits there are "dark times", but encourages anyone else with the condition not to let it hinder them.

"To anyone that's struggling, I'd say it will only hold you back, if you let it."

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