April is a singer songwriter hailing from Ireland who doesn't want to keep her music in one box. April and I had the chance to talk about how she started her career, her upcoming EP New Conditions, being from Ireland and so much more.
Hi April! Thank you for taking the time out to answer my questions! How have you been doing? Hey, of course! Thanks for asking me questions. I've been doing okay—trying to keep busy but also giving myself a break. You grew up in a musical household, with your dad writing songs and playing in a Johnny Cash cover band. Did this spark your interest in being a singer-songwriter? Yeah. I guess growing up listening to music and watching my dad play piano and guitar just kinda ingrained it in my head. Playing with his band always did give me that feeling after being onstage that I wanted to always to do it (even if it was in a pub for fifty people!) Does being from Ireland inspire your music at all? I've never really written about being from Ireland or anything like that. When I think about it, I guess I've lived here my whole life so all of my memories and experiences have been here, which all are inspiration for lyrics. Were you ever involved in the Irish music scene? When I first started posting songs on Soundcloud, other Irish artists and creatives immediately showed support and shared my work and reached out with advice. I feel like the Irish creative scene is one of the most welcoming and accepting. It was obviously a huge step for me to have people with bigger followings to share my music. Without that, it would have been really difficult to start out. I have a lot of love for many Irish creatives.
You thought that being from Ireland, you wouldn’t be able to get into the music industry. What would you tell someone who feels the same way now that you know it's 300% possible? Yeah, when I was younger, I used to think being Irish and a girl I wouldn't ever make it in the music industry. I can't believe I believed this for so long. I still hear people saying these kind of things. I would like to let someone know that it's absolute bullshit and you can make it into the music industry, no matter where you're from or who you are. If you push yourself, believe in your work and talent, and keep trying without letting the failures break you, [you can make it]. My best advice is always to just post everything. If you've just finished a song and you love it, POST THAT SHIT. You might hate it in a week and nobody might listen, but the complete opposite could also happen. When you started posting your music on Soundcloud, how did it feel knowing you were gaining an audience? It was a very new, exciting feeling. I got kind of obsessed with checking my listens on Soundcloud every morning, haha. It was really cool to think people were listening to stuff I made in my room in, like, an hour and loving it. What was it like going from uploading your music to Soundcloud, to going on a European tour with Alec Benjamin? Going on tour with Alec Benjamin was the craziest step ever. I was very nervous, but I had been playing gigs for around eight months beforehand with my friends in a band we had pulled together, which were actually the best times ever. On tour, [it was] only myself and one of my friends Caoimhe. She usually played bass in the band, but now she was playing guitar for the tour & working an SPD sample pad and playing bass, synth and keyboard. It was crazy and amazing and one of the most memorable times in my life. What was your creative process like recording and writing your new EP New Conditions? For the EP, I worked with the producer Fred MacPherson and my friend Luke. We wrote "What I'd Do For You" together in Fred's studio. Luke sent me music he wrote himself at home, which ended up turning into New Conditions. I remember listening to it in my room and immediately writing all the lyrics down in a notebook.
I wrote "The Impossible Task Of Feeling Complete" myself and brought the demo to Fred. We fleshed it out and made it sound cooler. I wrote "Mean It In The Morning'"when I was in Berlin at Melt Festival in a tent. I felt like shit and was having a really bad time, but writing this song came so naturally. It feels very special to me. I brought a demo to Fred months later and we did the same thing...made it sound cool. Who are some of your musical influences? A few musical influences would be Lana Del Rey, Gus Dapperton, Frank Ocean, and Tyler The Creator. How did you figure out what your sound would be? I still haven't figured out what my sound will be. I don't really want to stick to one genre. This EP is pretty lo-fi which I love; I don't know what to call it. If you could tour with any band or artist, who would it be?
Damn, tough question. Maybe Tame Impala or Harry Styles. When writing lyrics do you have a certain audience you want to reach?
When writing lyrics, I try not think too much [about them.] It's usually always about love. I like to keep it natural and vague. Do you start with music, or lyrics when creating a song?
I like to start with music, but I have written lyrics first. I don't really stick to any form or structure when it comes to this stuff. What kind of music did you listen to growing up and does that have any effect on the music you play?
I listened to my dad's music: Elvis, Elvis, and more Elvis! Then, the Beatles, Queen, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elton John, Billy Joel, Bowie...all very good stuff that I still listen to today. I also have to give a shoutout to Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga, two icons in my childhood. I feel like, subconsciously, maybe these artists influenced how I write,. I'm sure they all have but I don't really think about their styles of music when writing. When writing songs, are your lyrics more inspired by interpersonal relationships, or life in general?
My lyrics are always personal. I've sometimes told people that they aren't—to try save myself the embarrassment—but I have gotten over that. I find it difficult to write about something I'm not experiencing and feeling at that moment. “The Impossible Feeling Of Being Complete” is a very relatable song. How did the song/lyrics come into fruition?
I wrote "The Impossible" kind of as a poem. I wrote it on my laptop notes, just sitting in bed. I guess it's just something I've always struggled with most, and nearly everyone can relate. It's pretty straight forward, "I don't feel the same in my skin"—I was kinda picturing myself as a child compared to myself when I was a teenager and now at twenty one. It's a song about finding it hard to love yourself, I guess, and questioning why you think these things. One of my favorite things you’ve said is that you don’t want to box yourself into one sound. Could fans of your music expect different genres when you release more music?
I do want to explore different genres in the future. I listen to so many different artists, I can't imagine only ever making one style. Have you thought of making a full album in the near future? A tour?
I am constantly writing songs; I have so many. I will release another EP before I do an album. The way everything is going feels right, and I don't feel a rush to release albums or do tours. Making an album feels like a pretty big thing to me. I want to be perfect and create a world for it. I also, of course, can't wait until the day I can do a tour for myself. That will be surreal. Last question—we’re really into discovering new music and it’s the best time now to support other artists and bands! Who would you recommend?
I recommend Uly, an Irish artist (so chill, good vibes), Kojaque (an Irish rapper and one of my faves ever), Kean Kavanagh (another Irish artist, who is extremely talented), Choker, HNNY & Yenkee.
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Words by Melody.
