“Stay Wild, Have Fun” feels like a soft little manifesto. When did that phrase first land for you and why did it stick?
‘Stay Wild, Have Fun’ is like a playful saying, having an open heart, getting out in nature, living life to the fullest and seeing joy in the small parts of life. I think some of Lana Del Rey’s music and lyrics influence my writing style for sure.
You made the track at home with your dad, which is rare these days. What does creating music in a family space bring out in you that a studio might not?
I do feel that when the music is grown and recorded from your own space this can have both pros and cons to it. Myself and my dad can be very honest and open when it comes to our ideas or changes we want to see while in the process. With that being said, sometimes when it comes to the timing of the project itself, if we don’t have a deadline in place this can take many months to complete. I think it’s important to have some sort of finish line at times. I enjoy working with my dad as he has a good understanding of how I want the songs to sound. He’s very talented at mixing and has a great ear ( as well as a very talented drummer)
Your brother’s artwork gives the single its visual identity. Did the drawing change how you saw the song or did it already feel connected?
So this artwork was actually done many many years ago when my brother was a teenager. This artwork hangs framed on our kitchen wall and it was my mam’s idea to possibly use it for the cover art. I had a think about it and thought it really did fit so well with the song, so really it was an accident! Aaron’s very talented and some of his artwork is very detailed. He has done some artwork previously for other songs I have written in the past.
You’ve talked about Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” being a spark for this one. What part of that song lit the fuse?
I really wanted to write something beautiful and simple. To me ‘Video Games’ is such a well written love song. I absolutely adored the strings on the track and wanted to have something similar for ‘Stay Wild, Have Fun’. Similarly enough, the lyrics really captured what I wanted to say in the song. The song explains how the simple things in life can bring us joy, there’s also a playfulness in the song that I love to explore in my own songs.
Your sound swings between jazz roots, retro-pop and diary-like storytelling. How do you keep all those worlds feeling natural instead of chaotic?
When I sit down at the piano to write a song I try to create as naturally as I can, not having any forced genre or style set in my head. This helps to just bring freedom to the writing and not thinking about what is “Radio Friendly” but to just simply write and play what I am feeling in that moment. As soon as I have the chords and some sort of vocal melody in my head, it’s then I can really think about it stylistically. Blending genres has always been something I love to create simply because it’s fun.
You’ve played some strong Dublin venues already. Has performing these songs live shifted how you think about them when you record?
I think once I enjoy what I am hearing in the studio, playing them live can come naturally. I love to play my songs acoustically and just stripped back because I feel if a song sounds good with just me and the piano then it has the potential of being a great song, especially live.
