Nicola De Sensi’s parents reckon they first heard her sing in tune at three — nursery rhymes, pitch-perfect. By eight she was on a stage for the first time, frozen stiff, singing ‘Go Your Own Way’ from High School Musical at a concert her singing school put on. ‘I stood completely still. I was so scared,’ she says. ‘But I still enjoyed it enough to keep doing it every month — and eventually I just fell in love with it.’

Busking after school, then cafes, bars and weddings

Singing was never a maybe. Her parents put her into performance and dance lessons ‘just for fun’, and she never wanted to stop — choirs, vocal groups, the lot. ‘I’d choose singing over everything,’ she says. ‘Give up my lunchtime, give up anything.’ When school finished and she wasn’t sure what came next, she started busking as a teenager. ‘That gives you exposure — people come up and say, come sing at my cafe.’ Cafes became restaurants, restaurants became bars, and bars became corporate events and weddings. The last few years, the focus has shifted to her own original music.

Nicola De Sensi — Sydney-raised, now in London.

The Voice, a Conservatorium, and a first headline show

Alongside the gigging she studied music education at the Conservatorium of Sydney — on pause for now, but invaluable for the network and for pushing her writing. In 2022, at twenty, she sang on The Voice Australia (season 11). ‘That was my biggest performance,’ she says. ‘I was nervous, but I’d put in the work, so by the audition I knew exactly what I had to do.’ The thing she took away wasn’t the cameras — it was the confidence to take herself seriously.

Just before leaving Sydney she played her first-ever solo headline show. ‘It was the most amazing experience ever,’ she says. ‘I caught the bug from that.’

Why London, why now

A week before this conversation, Nicola landed in London for the next year or two with, by her own account, no network and nothing to lose. ‘I’ve just moved countries, I’ve got no responsibilities — I may as well go for every opportunity,’ she says. ‘I’ve really got nothing to lose.’

Ask Nicola what she sounds like and she’ll tell you, honestly, that she only recently decided she had a sound at all. ‘I can’t hear myself in anybody else,’ she says. ‘I don’t really think about genre when I’m doing it. It just kind of happens.’

Songs she only writes when they’re true

She doesn’t sit down to write an indie-pop song. She writes when she’s feeling something she needs to get out. ‘I’ve never written about something that hasn’t happened to me,’ she says. ‘It’s more of a therapeutic thing in the moment.’ The best ones arrive almost on their own — ‘an hour or two goes by, you listen back the next day, and you’re like, wait, that was kind of amazing. It’s like you’re not even part of it.’

In full voice.

Finding the producers who get it

Production took longer to click. ‘A guitar-and-vocal demo in your bedroom is very different to a whole producer in a studio — it can be overwhelming,’ she says. For years she’d defer: ‘I’d just say, yeah, that sounds good, and it didn’t really sound like me.’ Only in the last year or two has she found producers she gels with — people who get her vision. Now she calls the shots: change the guitar, add this, replicate that reference. ‘I know exactly what I want now. I’m loving stepping into this phase.’

Live, she leads with the voice and accompanies herself on guitar and piano — pop, R&B and indie pop on the original side, with a deep covers book built over years of function and wedding work.

The writing comes in waves, not on a schedule. ‘Sometimes you write heaps — a song every few weeks — and sometimes you don’t write for a year or two,’ she says. ‘The stars just align and it happens.’ She’s unflashy about the mechanics, too: the guitar, she reckons, is ‘just good enough to accompany myself — there’s no shredding going on.’ That’s the point — the voice leads, and the song does the rest.

In London, Nicola does it all — originals, opening sets, weddings and pub gigs alike — a road-tested performer any room is lucky to have on the bill.

Originals, opening sets, and the wedding circuit

The bigger picture for the next year or two is more original shows. A solo headline is a stretch without a local network, so she’s after opening sets first — ‘I’ve got all the tracks; I’d love to do a bunch of opening sets for other people’s shows.’ Alongside that she wants to rebuild the wedding and corporate work she did at home, and keep the pub and bar gigs ticking. ‘A bit of both.’

Built for the room — pubs, weddings and garden sets.

She’ll travel for it. Without a car it’s public transport, ‘but if it’s compensated, I’m willing — that’s what I do at home, go all over the place.’

A clean slate, and nothing to lose

She’s landed in London with no local network — and, the way she sees it, that’s exactly the freedom. ‘I’ve just moved countries, I’ve got no responsibilities — I may as well go for every opportunity,’ she says. ‘I’ve really got nothing to lose.’ The plan for the year is deliberately wide: as many gigs as she can take, writing sessions with other artists, and a run of opening sets to get into the room. ‘I’m just going to take all the shots.’

Booking Nicola is straightforward, and her rates are honest about the work.

What it costs

Her rates, carried across from Sydney: around £250 for a three-hour pub set, and from £500 for weddings and corporate events, depending on distance. Most of the time she performs solo — guitar and piano, with her own PA — and can scale up to a duo or trio on request.

Available across London and beyond.

Booking is easy — send an enquiry through her profile, where her media, availability and rates all live in one place, so you can picture the night and book with confidence. The polish is the point: when the photos, video and presentation show exactly what you’re getting, the booking is a sure thing. As she puts it, ‘they’re paying for the trust that you’ll do a good job.’

Every quote is built around the event — the set length, the line-up, the travel — so the rate matches what the day actually involves. For weddings and corporate bookings she’ll shape a package around the occasion, not just the hour on stage.