Interview: Cortney Dixon

South Shields artist Cortney Dixon returns with Hazard A Guess, a six-track EP that draws on her post-industrial roots and recent live momentum—three sets at Glastonbury and nine shows at SXSW in Austin. Blending punky DIY grit with polished pop ambition, the release spans themes of body confidence, grief, and working-class defiance, with tracks shaped by personal experience and playful collaboration. From the moving tribute Big Little Sister to the Glastonbury-inspired Love Love Love, Cortney continues to carve out a sound that’s bold, varied and unmistakably her own.

We caught up with Cortney to find out more…

Hazard A Guess brings together a range of themes and sounds—how did the EP begin to take shape, and what guided its direction?
If You Love Somebody, Don’t Fuck It Up had been part of my live set for a while and always felt like a highlight. At the time, I was releasing other music, so was just writing for the sake of it with the sound of ‘Fuck It Up’ in my head. I realised I was getting tired of the single-after-single mindset and wanted to make something that lived in its own world — something with grit, context and heart. I threw all my ideas into one folder, picked the six that belonged together, and that became Hazard A Guess. I wanted it to sound raw and Northern, DIY, live and guitar-driven. The guitar reference sounds were Blondie, The Clash and The Strokes. 

How do you feel your sound or songwriting has evolved since your last release?
Music’s always been an escape for me, so for a long time I avoided writing about the things I was actually escaping from. Then I realised you can turn pain into power by singing about it and dressing it up in big beats, fuzzy guitars and sing-a-long choruses. This EP has more heart than anything I’ve done before if you look beneath the surface. 

You’ve spoken about drawing inspiration from personal experiences, including family and work. How did those stories find their way into the writing?
They weren’t forced. You can only really write from what you know, and my family, friends and work are a huge part of my life — so naturally, they ended up in the songs.

The EP was produced and recorded in your own studio. What was that process like and how important was that DIY control in making something that was completely you?
Working with producers in the past taught me loads, but I reached a point where I wanted to take full control. I’d already demoed everything on my laptop — I just wanted the feel of the demos but with live drums and better guitar sounds. I was working from a studio in John Marley Centre and it has a massive live room, so I got Rob Irish to bring all his fancy mics along and engineer it whilst I produced it. It was great working from my own studio because you didn’t feel the pressure of a ticking clock racking up studio bills. Having that freedom was huge; we could chase the exact sounds I’d been hearing in my head.

You’ve collaborated with artists like Jonny “Itch” Fox and Sophie Bokor-Ingram on Love Love Love—how did that track come together, and how did your Glastonbury experience inspire it?
Itch, Sophie and Tom are a very cool songwriting collective who are all extremely talented in their own right. I have done a few fun writing sessions with them whilst being in London and we always have such a fun time. I remember I was going through a bit of a difficult time in my life and I hadn’t been to London for ages and was getting cabin fever in South Shields. I went to London for the day to see them. We decided to write the most over-the-top love song possible, basically saying “love” as many times as we could. I actually wrote it before Glastonbury, but after having the best time there, it’s kind of become my love letter to Glasto.

You’ve had a busy year. How have your live experiences at Glastonbury, SXSW, etc shaped your approach to performing or writing?
Honestly, playing SXSW in Austin (my favourite city) and then Glastonbury was insane! At the start of the year, I had no manager, no agent, no plan, just this EP I really believed in. Then things just started falling into place. It’s been a reminder that if you put the music first and stay authentic, good things will follow. I don’t know if I’ll be lucky enough to hit SXSW and Glasto again, but I’m in the process of writing the next EP and that’s now my main focus, so we’ll see where the next batch of songs take me.