Tamsyn Miller, as Chess Countess is on the road to seeing her dreams of being a singer become a reality. Photo/Lisa Gilby
There is a very evident artfulness to both the music and presentation of Chess Countess. She is an amalgamation of pop and classical - her thick blue dreadlocks and her Elizabethan style clothing, for some might seem like a jarring match, but for her it works.
It has been 10 years in the making for the Hawke's Bay born Tamsyn Miller, having performed for some of the greats and already released an EP, but now she is knocking on the door of stardom.
The 29-year-old recently returned from London, where she spent two years playing regular gigs not far from Buckingham Palace and honing her musical skills.
But with the "missing piece to her puzzle" found in London-based music video director Alexander Miguel, Miller plans to go back and record the music videos for her two yet to be released singles; Court Jester, and Say it's Over, later this year.
"He discovered me on Instagram and for a long time I couldn't work with him because I didn't have the money to fund the recording of my songs and we met a couple months before I was due to leave and I realised he is the one for me. His vision is so on my level it's crazy, and his creative is so exciting, I have never clicked with someone as much as I click with him.
"It is going to be quite a big deal which is why we are trying to get as much funding as absolutely possible and once we've filmed those it is all about getting into the editing stages and sorting out promotion and doing our best to release these tracks."
However, the road hasn't been an easy one. She had her talent visa, which would allow her to stay in the UK and pursue her dream, denied and now is having to stay in New Zealand longer than planned.
"I want to be somewhere where there is a bit more vibrancy and opportunity and Melbourne seems like a good choice, but I won't be far from New Zealand for a while. I definitely want to build my reputation as an artist; do lots of gigs around the country and focus on radio and television here. My primary focus is to make music, so I will go wherever it takes me."
She has been experimenting since she was 10, but it was at the age of 17 when music took over her life. She went to Auckland to study a Bachelor of Music at the University of Auckland, majoring in pop music. It was during the course that Miller developed a talent for songwriting and the love of pop music displaced her former classical pop style.
"I really wanted to be a pop artist but I didn't know how to create that sound with the beautiful classical influence that I had.
"But then I ended up pushing my music too far to the other end of the spectrum and going super pop and losing a little bit of who I was and it felt like I was trying too hard and being fake."
During her time, Miller supported artists such as Eric Clapton, Tom Jones and Jimmy Barnes at the Mission Winery Concerts as well as sung in Andrea Bocelli's backing choir and performed as a backing vocalist for George Benson on his NZ Tour in 2010. She performed at the 2012 Auckland Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park event, alongside the likes of Guy Sebastian, Jamie McDell and Ria. In 2015, Chess Countess toured New Zealand as Jamie McDell's backing singer.
Miller says much of her success can be credited to her parents.
"Mum and Dad's flavours definitely cross over. They meet in the middle with a love of musical theatre. Mum taught me piano from a really young age and brought me up listening to all the classical greats, while my dad brought me up on 70s pop music."
She plays violin and drums and began singing at church as a teenager.
"I had a really great musical grounding. It has unintentionally had a massive influence on who I am now as an artist and I have definitely blended both of those worlds together and created something theatrical and unique I think."
Her EP titled Who is the Chess Countess? featured six tracks; three heavily pop, and the others classical.
"The comments I got from it were that it was very disjointed and it didn't make sense, which I totally get now because it was like to complete opposite worlds."
Now, with her album in the works, with the tentative title of 'This is chess Countess', the songstress feels like she has found who she is.
"I know who I am and I am ready to release that sound to the world now."
She has 12 completed songs, and many half-written.
"In the past, I was excited about the music I was creating but I was really apprehensive about how people would take it and I was very apologetic when I put it out because I knew that some people would not like it and I didn't even know if I was fully proud of it."
But now, with the expertise of Auckland-based producer Will Henderson, she is proud of her next step. "We have created something that I am just so excited and proud of and I can't wait for people to hear about it."
Both tracks are loosely based on experiences she has had, but are added to.
But who is Chess Countess? And why the name Chess Countess? Well Miller describes it as an extension of herself.
"I love expressing myself in loads of different ways and I feel that having this persona allows me to do that. I can bring it all together in this board game themed way."
Her middle name is Francesca and after years of sifting through different stage names, she landed on 'Chess'.
"That is who I am, it is my name but it also has this imagery attached to it, but I was worried people would think it was a band or not understand, so I had to add the royal title to it like Lady Gaga or Queen Latifah and Countess was the obvious choice - it begins with c and it rhymes and it adds that extra element of fantasy.
"I really enjoy getting into character with costume and I love being quirky with my songwriting, a lot of that comes back to the name with the whole game-playing vibe.''
On Sunday, Chess Countess will be performing her singles at the Common Room to raise funds for the creation of her music videos. She will also be performing a gig in Auckland on September 9 - the day she jets out to London as a tourist to film. Spoken word artist Lilly Coles, singer Rhianna Griffiths and MC Will Atkins will warm the crowd up for the main event.
"I look back and see all the things that I have done already, but I am just not stopping there. I just want to keep going until I reach the top.
"It is definitely not for the light hearted, there are way more challenges and rejections than there are golden moments. All these things keep coming in your way and you feel like they are stopping you from doing what you love.
"There are so many times I feel like maybe I'm not meant to be doing this, maybe I should give up - I have been trying for 10 years and I haven't gotten anywhere but then I look back on those few amazing moments I have had and think well actually I have gotten somewhere. I want to create more moments like that and that's what motivates me to keep going."
Chess Countess will be performing this Sunday from 8pm at the Common Room, Hastings, to raise funds for the filming of two music videos in London.