After rock-star turn on ‘Daisy Jones & The Six,’ Suki Waterhouse is doing her own songs live

With a background that includes modeling, TV and film, you may already know of Suki Waterhouse — even if you haven’t heard her music.

She was an international fashion model before starring in indie films like “Séance” and “Assassination Nation.” She’s also made headlines for her friendships (Taylor Swift) and romances (longtime beau Robert Pattinson). Earlier this year, she starred in the hit Amazon series “Daisy Jones & the Six,” in which she plays career-minded keyboardist Karen.

But since releasing her debut album “I Can’t Let Go” on the Sub Pop record label in 2022, as well as follow-up EP “Milk Teeth,” Waterhouse has wowed audiences with her blend of intimate songwriting, expansive production, and a modern take on the classic pop sound (think Portishead recording with Phil Spector).

Fresh from international festivals, the 31-year-old London native plays The Amp Ballantyne on Friday night. She spoke to The Charlotte Observer last week about making the jump into music, finding her sound, and what to expect from her next album.

Q. After working on music somewhat privately for years, what made it the right time to release a full album?

I’d been writing for the last 10 years and spending so much of my time making music. (When someone like me releases an album) sometimes it seems like you just got into it or you just started doing it. There are many little failures and diversions to find the moment that you end up with an actual album. I was really lucky to find a label to release it with. I’d been working toward that. It felt unexpected when it happened. I was very comfortable with self-releasing new music. I had a small group of listeners. That felt very rich for me as it was. It was a big jump to release an album. I felt like in those 10 years I’d done so much, there’d been so many songs written and so much work done. You never really feel done, but you get to that point (where) “if I don’t do this now — it’s now or never.” That realization suddenly came to me.

Q. When did you first start writing?

I was at school. I remember watching older girls at school performing a song they’d written. I went home and wrote a song. I thought these girls were the coolest girls ever. I wrote my first song about crying with a bottle of wine. It wasn’t any kind of reality I was living. I was like 13 or 14 years old. Writing was about magical thinking, romanticizing and fantasizing.

Q. Did — or does — anything drive your writing?

Whenever I’ve written a song that comes from a seismic moment or a feeling I can’t get away from — writing a song is the last resort. Or it’s the first resort when you’ve gotten to a point where you can’t keep talking about something with your friends. It’s become strange to keep revisiting it. It’s embarrassing. When something is so large or unfathomable like that, I think I can keep singing it on stage every night. It takes a long time. It’s still about something I can feel for many years on.

Q. Compared to acting, do you feel like music is more revealing or vulnerable since you aren’t necessarily hiding behind a character?

With acting, you’re in the part, but you’ve got to figure out where a character sits within yourself. You hide in a part, but you also have to find out where you stand within that part. It’s always very confronting, acting. It’s a very spiritual practice. It completely enlivens your senses. It’s transformative. That experience of being on a set. And making something. I think the two, for me, really play into each other. The two kind of help each other. Whether I’m taking an acting class or researching character or trying to understand somebody else. It’s always a way of confronting yourself. For me, they feel intertwined.

Q. You released a song — “To Love” — this summer. Is that a precursor to the next album?

I’m not sure if it will be on the next record. That’s been what I’ve been focusing on this year. I feel like it’s coming together. It’s difficult — that sophomore album. That shock of “I just had the baby, I’m going to have another one!” I’m taking my time with it. I decided I’ll probably release it next year.

Q. There’s this big classic feel to the music. How did you find your sound?

I really wanted to have a pop sound, like a ’60s girl band. I’m definitely referencing the Beatles quite a lot, and the British bands I grew up with. It’s a mishmash of my favorite bands. Beatles and Oasis and old ’60s girl bands. There’s a lot of American inspiration. Lucinda Williams and Fiona Apple. I love country music as well.

Q. What can you share about what to expect from the next record?

I feel like it’s a reflection of where I’ve been sitting in life. It’s very different to where I was as a person when I was making the first one. That’s been an interesting experience. It’s a different kind of vulnerability I’m tapping into. I am in my early 30s now. In my 20s I was much more volatile and angry and destructive. There’s a more sensitive vulnerability now. I guess I have much more of a focus inward, looking at myself and discovering this new and wiser — (Waterhouse pauses) ... there’s a little more of a contentedness. But there’s bigger questions. It feels confronting. There’s a lot of joy as well in leaving behind your 20s.

If you go: Suki Waterhouse

When: 7 p.m. Friday.

Where: The Amp Ballantyne, 11115 Upper Ave.

Tickets: $23.

Details: www.ampballantyne.com.