In this interview spotlight, I chat with Lisa Gorry about the latest music, challenges, adapting during a pandemic and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
I’m from Kildare, in Ireland, which is about 45 outside of Dublin. I’ve always struggled describing my style of music – singer-songwriter, while appropriate doens’t seem to cut it in the true music circles, so I’ve settled for a mash of pop-folk.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
I’ve always been into music; it’s always been big in my family, which feels cliche to say but is the truest thing. I listened to a lot of Irish artists when I was young – Bell X1, Mick Flannery, Lisa Hannigan, Cathy Davey – and was in awe of the lyricism in their music. I suppose because they were local, I wanted to emulate what they were doing at the start, and that’s what got me in. In terms of getting into the music ‘biz’ I still feel very much on the periphery, but I wanted to be able to look back in years to come and be able to say I gave it a go and this is what I have to show for it.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
My first EP, ‘Is It Me?’ was written during a time of outsider-ism; it felt like everyone was moving on with their lives and I was stuck not knowing where to go or who with, or what I was doing wrong. It was very self-doubting and questioning in it’s themes. In contrast, ‘It Was You (and Me)’ is much more about finding your inner calm, to the point where it enables you to create meaningful relationships. It very much has a self-awareness about it that ‘Is It Me?’ did not have – it’s more upbeat, more positive as a whole, and the aim was that it would close out what the first EP started: it closes the book on this particular chapter of my life.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
I massively struggled with writing during the beginning of the lockdown. I had released my first EP in October 2020 to small success, and was really struggling with whether I wanted to continue with my music. I started a songwriting workshop in January of 2021 and that’s really what spurred on ‘It Was You (and Me)’: I learned a lot about songwriting from some of the people on the workshop and about how to structure a song, and that in turn helped me structure my thoughts. I’m a very structured person so it really brought out the best in my writing and helped me adapt to the chaos.
What was the last song you listened to?
‘Hooked on a Feeling’, Blue Suede
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
I’m a Spotify gal – the one stop shop for all my music and podcasts. I’ve recently started collecting vinyl though too!
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
Instagram is the best place: @lisagorrymusic. It’s what I do most of my sharing!
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
Not a bit, just thanks for having me!
