EvieB - Irish Artist Of The Week

0:00EVB, first off, I suppose tell us a little bit about you. I am originally from Dublin, living in Wicklow now. I'm a singer-songwriter. Yeah, I've just been doing a few gigs, trying to, you know, make a start music. And how did you get into music growing up? Was there someone, was there an artist that inspired you or was it somebody within your family? I grew up in a family of musicians. A lot of family on my dad's side are musicians. Pretty much sucks from players. And then my other grandad as well was also a piano player. So I definitely grew up on the side of the stage watching them play, which definitely inspired me. And, you know, them playing with other artists as well. Like singers, definitely, I wanted to be on the stage as well as soon as I saw them. So, yeah. And who do you look up to now when writing and performing your own music? I would very much listen to a lot of Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks. I love their lyric writing. I think it's incredible. And the melodies as well, it's so personal. And a lot of Van Morrison as well, I would have grown up with them. And how would you describe your style of music now? My style of music would definitely be contemporary ballad.

1:03It's very personal. I take a lot of time in the melody writing as well. And I think both melody and lyrics are very important to me. And they kind of have to coincide with each other. And your track, Living in a Stansel, is the reason we're chatting. I suppose tell us a little bit about it. And is there a personal story behind it for you? Yeah, so I wrote this song in 2024. And I was definitely in a rush with songwriting and definitely creativity as well. And I was thinking how much pressure as creatives we put on ourselves and to kind of keep the creative flow going and always having something. And I just find the pressure can be quite overwhelming and you can get really burnt out. I definitely think that a lot of people in general resonate with that as well. It doesn't have to be in the creative world. And I just thought it's a song worth writing about. You've formed with and supported the likes of Monde and Mary Black and huge names in the Irish scene.

2:04But what has been a career highlight for you so far? Oh, so many. I've been so lucky to support them. And they're amazing artists to look up to as well. And to ask for advice, like they're very open with their careers as well. So I would say maybe performing at the Olympia with Mary Black. Wow. Yeah, that was amazing. I just sang, I got up and sang on Katie with her and that was really, it was so special. And the audience were so nice as well. Yeah, and maybe like singing my original songs for the first time, that was supporting Mary Black as well in the Pavilion in Donnery. I was so, I remember being so nervous because I'd never played my own music really before. That was really, really special. And it was so nice and you know, my family were there as well. And it was a really special moment for me. And the Olympia, going back to some of my other Irish editors, like that's kind of like a key place that a lot of people want to play. How was that experience for you? Oh, it was amazing. It was amazing. You know, I grew up going there to like see other artists as well.

3:04And I just think it's such a beautiful venue as well. Like the whole structure is just absolutely stunning. Someone else on the stage, I was like, Oh, this is the setting place. And I'd prefer to be on the stage. You're planning your debut album for release later on this year. Tell us a little bit about it. And why was this year the year for you to release your debut album? We spent the bulk of 2025 recording it. I recorded it with producer called John Reynolds. And I'd kind of written a few of the songs. There's 11 songs on the album. I'd written kind of a quarter of them and then written the rest to write 2025. Just thought this year would be a good year. You know, the year of the horse, you know? Yeah, so I think, yeah, it'll be release later this year. And I'm just really excited about it. And the songs are really personal. And hopefully they'll resonate with other people as well. That's kind of what I want to do. Other than the album coming out, have you got anything else exciting coming up over the next couple of months that we can look forward to any gigs? Actually, I'm supporting Mary Black, again,

4:05in Portlish as a part of a Sloan tour, which is really, really special. And I was really honored to be asked to do that gig. And then hopefully, yeah, little pop up here in there. But yeah, that's kind of my next one. And I suppose finally, where can people find you on social media if they're looking to stay up to date, maybe with the album release or some other gigs that are on the way? Yeah, I'm on Instagram under EVB and then Spotify as well and TikTok. That's Instagram and Spotify would kind of be my main ones.