Réylta: If you believe things will go your way, they will
Réylta: Galway singer
I grew up on a dairy farm in Galway, I’m a culchie through and through. I grew up singing loudly to the cows - it ups milk production.
Everybody in my family plays music. My granny was a violinist so there’s always been music around. Nobody does it as a career, I’ve broken the mould.
I think I was born to be the person that I am now and my mam will back that up. She says she’s never been able to control me since I was five years old. I’ve always known who I am. I thought for a couple of years that I’d be a teacher because when I said I wanted to be a singer, people said ‘you can’t do that.’
When I got to secondary school, I had this English teacher who got us to write a letter to our future selves - I was only 14 at the time. It said ‘if you haven’t at least tried to be a musician in ten years, you’ll have failed me.’ That really stuck with me. I get mad at my young self sometimes - I’m like ‘you could have been an accountant and it would have been so much easier' but I’m really grateful I didn't go down that route.
I went to an ex-hedge school. It was 200 years old and it had about 50 students in it. It was a mixed primary school - they crammed in as many as they could. There was a lot of emphasis placed on music and on Irish - there were a couple of words that you wouldn't know in English because we’d just say them in Irish. Glantóir is the word I always think of - you know, like a board cleaner - I don’t know what the word for that is in English.
One time, my principal brought in some people to see the school and they brought me down to the staff room to sing for them. I was about five and I sang ‘You're My Best Friend’ by Don Williams. It was my mam and dad’s song - they used to have it on in the car all the time.
I have a good lot of mental health problems so it’s probably one of those things I explore through my music. I come across as a very optimistic person and somebody who's quite full of life, but I'm not - I have pretty bad depression. My music has really dark messages and the people who go looking for it can hear it but if you’re just looking for a happy song, you can hear a happy song.
I don’t tend to keep things to myself. I wouldn't say I'm a mental health advocate, because what I do is not healthy. But, if anyone was to ask me a question about it, I'll be open and truthful. I wait for people to open that conversation because I don't want to bring the mood down.
This whole journey has been extremely scary and that's okay. This album has been my greatest achievement. It has 15 songs on it - for no reason!
I’m just back in Dublin since January and I’ve started with An Góilín, a group of traditional Camáille singers in the Teachers Club. I'm getting really into Irish rebel music and Irish folk music.
I was living in England between October and December. I was kind of a nomad running around. Now I'm living in Dublin and I just love the bus. If I am waiting for someone, I can hop on a Dublin Bus and go anywhere in the city. It's warm, it's got chargers, it's got WiFi and you can just see the city.
There are seven buses in Galway city but they have nothing to do with me. There are two buses that go through my town four times a day. That’s it.
Songwriting is my greatest skill. I've doubted my vocals a bit. I always felt that because my friends were all musical theatre singers and choir singers and I just have a bit too much tone for that. I have never doubted my songwriting ability, it's something that I find really, really easy. It doesn't take me long at all and I enjoy doing it. It's one of my favourite things to do in the world and I can't believe I get paid to do this job.
It surprises me how if you believe things will go your way, they will. If you just go for it, not think about it and dive head-in, things usually work out. Yes, there are some pitfalls and downfalls but if you just let those things go and know that what’s for you won’t pass you by. I just can't get over how the life I'm living right now is completely different to the life I was living last year.
Just because I decided I wanted to, I went to Amsterdam. I had 20 quid in my bank account, and a month's rent. That year, I decided to write an album. Now, the Irish government gives me a monthly wage.
If I took a different fork in the road, I would have become a pilot. Me and my friends joke about that all the time. I went down to Cork for a talk and I was fully ready to go into piloting because they need more women pilots.
- Réylta plays An Taibhdhearc in Galway with Sinéad Ann, May 20 at 8pm.
