Irish newcomer Ellie O’Neill has fast established herself as a truly compelling independent talent. As her debut album Time Of Fallow arrives, this star-in-waiting talks songwriting and her first impressions of the industry…
INTERVIEW: BEN HOMEWOOD
PHOTO: SAM KHOURY
You recorded Time Of Fallow way back in 2021 – can you put into words how you feel about it finally coming out?
“It has had a long life already, so I’m definitely excited for it to be out. I don’t see music as a product, so that’s partially why I was slow to get it released. For me, a song is out when I’ve written it and I’m like, ‘Perfect, I love that.’ Before, it felt like the songs were already released, because I had shared them with people at so many gigs... I’ve played a lot of gigs! But it was cool to have time to find the thread that connected the songs. The title encompasses the weight of their content, but also the fact that it was a downtime and an isolated experience for me to write them, a time of learning, of going inwards to then re-emerge afterwards.”
How would you define the music you make?
“The first record I ever loved was a Christy Moore album, and folk and country are definitely a part of what I make, but when I listen to songwriter music like Arthur Russell, I feel closer to that. But I don’t know where I fall and I don’t really care. In school, I was learning guitar, but I would never sing. Then I learned a KT Tunstall song or something and I was like, ‘Oh my God, cool, I can play and sing at the same time!’ [Laughs]. I would always be really shy and then when I’d sing on stage I would be totally chill. I just loved the feeling. It’s not about the hit that you get from being good at something in front of people. It’s more of a deepening or a grounding that you feel, because you actually can’t do anything else in that moment.”
As an independent act, how have you found the industry?
“It is definitely hard to survive and it can be an unbelievably elitist industry. Most people you meet have some kind of safety net. I really appreciate when well-known artists are transparent about the challenges for people coming up. Everything is weighed against you, so you have to be smart about how you manage that. I’m really lucky to have got to this point, to be talking to you about my songs. It’s pretty crazy. But when I tell my friends who aren’t in music how much things cost, they’re like, ‘What?!’ If you go into it not expecting that, then maybe you’d be more shocked, but I’m not in it for the money. If I was, I would be very, very upset all the time [laughs]!”
Do you think your stance on not viewing music as a product could ever change?
“I really hope not. I don’t know if I can make good things while thinking only about the audience. For me, music is private, a little safe thing I want to protect. That idea is really important to me. It’s not about what happens at the end, it’s about getting to know yourself or your instrument more and what you feel right now. I wrote most of the album in my bedroom in my parents’ house, with my brothers running around or while literally putting on my boots to play a [Gaelic] football match. It demythologised this whole ‘cabin in the woods’ idea of songwriting. The songwriting part of me is the thing I want to cultivate and keep alive, because it makes me feel so good. It makes me feel everything. If that can be a lifelong companion, as I hope it will be, then that will be a massive yes for me.”
KEY RELEASE: Time Of Fallow (March 20)
LABEL: St Itch
MANAGEMENT: Giant Artist Management
INSTAGRAM: @elliekatelily
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