Lyra comes home to Cork: 'You are always replaceable — I struggle with that'
Lyra. Picture: Christian Tierney
As she was about to step onto Croke Park to perform in front of over 74,000 NFL fans, nothing could have stopped Lyra from singing her heart out — not even a faulty earpiece.
In a dress covered in glitter, with shoulder pads adorned with green and gold, she made Amhrán na bhFiann her own.
“I don’t do anything in halves. I got the custom nails, outfit, mic,” she says as we grab tea in the Maryborough Hotel in Douglas.
“I just love a bit of drama. It’s obviously massively an American audience, so I thought it was a good time for us to show off a bit and be like: ‘We are Irish, and look what we can do.’
“I’m a very proud Irish woman. I’m very proud to be an Irish artist. I couldn’t be more Cork if you kicked me in the face,” she smiles.
As she experienced technical issues before her performance, she asked herself: “Are you going to crumble because your ears aren’t working? You’ve rehearsed it, you know this. Take this moment and bloody shine.”
Her performance received a glowing response from Irish and American fans alike. Former NFL star Jason Kelce, soon to be brother-in-law to superstar Taylor Swift, said she “brought the house down”.
It’s something she intends to keep on doing as she embarks on her tour across Ireland.
The Bandon popstar is known for her honey-like yet strong vocals, as well as her detailed and sparkly outfits.
“I actually had my first fitting in yesterday. I think the outfits are getting smaller. It’s getting a bit scary,” she laughs.
“Sometimes you think of an outfit in your head and you’re like, ‘Is someone gonna get my vision?’”
Usually, Liza Brennan — who owns Cork business Phoenix V — gets that vision.
“We come together and collaborate to get them sketched up,” Lyra explains. “I’m very lucky that I’ve worked with Liza for years, my last tour was all Phoenix.”
Over the last six months, she has been prepping for her tour. She teases an album, which “fingers crossed” should be out next year. Fans can expect a “song or two” from that album to get their first outing on tour.
She says: “It’s always great to see people’s instant reaction to something. Whether they’re moving along, start chatting or use it to go to the loo. You’re like ‘I need to reconsider something here’.”
She may perform an unreleased song then and there, but would always make sure her public can “enjoy the songs they’ve fallen in love with”.
“I went to Lana Del Rey, she sang some new songs, and I found it really hard to connect with them because I hadn’t heard them before. I did enjoy them, but you’re still only getting one,” she says.
“When she went back to Video Games, which is years old, I was in awe, and so was the rest of the crowd.
On stage, she invites her fans to join her weird club and to be their unique selves. By remaining authentic, Lyra has become a role model for some.
She often receives messages from thankful parents. She remembers one in particular from a father who saw his bullied little girl get “her spark back” after attending a show.
“That means a lot to me,” she says. “There are these little kids coming that are being bullied in school and they leave there feeling empowered. What more do you want?
“When I come off stage, I’d be bawling up in the hotel room, and then I’d read them to my sister. She’d be bawling, then we’d all be bawling because she has kids, so she relates to the parents.”
At the start, she was nervous to be perceived as a role model.
“I was like, ‘Jesus, am I okay to be a role model?’ I love going out on the lash on a Saturday night. What if somebody saw me like absolutely off, drunk on love,” she says.
“I don’t think they’re looking for me to be a pioneer. I think they’re just looking for somebody in the spotlight who’s just saying it how it is. And that’s what I do.
“I’m the testament that hard work does pay off and that being yourself is worth it.”
The messages she receives on social media are not always the nicest. And being in the public eye, she says she has come to expect comments on her body.
“I got a message the other day saying how I had gotten skinny and how all my curves have gone down. It was so disappointing to see.
“I was kind of like, I agree with you. I miss my arse and I miss my legs, but I’m under so much stress
getting ready for tour, trying to write my second album. I haven’t planned on losing this weight.
“I’m in the gym because I’m getting tour ready. I’m dancing on stage for an hour and 15 minutes. It’s not easy, I’m not going to roll out of bed and be able to do that. I was a little bit disheartened. I was like, ‘I hope people aren’t going to think that I’m just getting on the skinny train’.
“I prefer it to sound good on stage than look how people want me to look. And I’ll always get my ass back because I love food, I’m just stressed out,” she laughs.
For Lyra, as no doubt it is for many of us, her relationship with social media is love/hate.
“How do I just spend a day doing a reel? But then if you don’t do it, how do people find you? How do people engage with you?” she says.
She returns to her earlier point of the importance of empowering her younger fans: “I see my little niece, she’s only six and certain things she says… How do you even think like that? Not liking her freckles or her hair’s too dark, or somebody in school said her skin’s too squidgy or too white.
“I don’t think the younger generation are looked after enough and that’s why we do have a lot of mental health issues.
“I’m gonna sing it from fucking rooftops, go into one of their schools and be like, ‘Bullying is not cool’. You need to spread love. Everyone’s different, everyone’s unique. It’d be so boring if we were all the same.”
Sometimes, she feels people might see a “polished” version of herself on TV or in magazines. But on her days off, she says you can find her at home cleaning, eating ice cream, or watching murder documentaries.
“I feel like people would be surprised to know how low-maintenance I actually am,” she says. “People have this perception of me that I am high-end glam, the lifestyle of a pop star, always going places. But I’m a very basic bitch.”
In a fast-moving industry, she never takes her success for granted. The one thing she finds hard to grapple with is how “disposable” artists are.
“You’re only as good as your last record,” she says. “There are so many singers, songwriters, and performers in the world, that you are always replaceable. I could be out the door, and I find I really struggle with that.”
The trick to not ruminating on such anxieties? Savouring every moment.
“Getting the album to number one... I never thought I’d get number one. I was up against Beyoncé,” she says.
“I was almost living my life feeling like a failure when I wasn’t. I’d set myself too high expectations. If I get those bits along the way, extra bonus. And if I don’t, I’m not gonna go home crying about it.”
Lyra does not shy away from writing about her pain. From the grief of losing her nan to a tough breakup, there is not much she would not write about.
She almost named her ex-boyfriend in a song once — but decided against naming and shaming and eventually renamed the song The Ending.
“It ends with ‘I just want to have someone to have an intellectual conversation with’. And that’s what he said to me when we were breaking up. I met a few of his friends after and they said I was cutthroat.
“But that’s what he said. So why am I being cutthroat? You did something shitty. You hurt someone. They’re calling you out.”
Looking back, she says she has sacrificed a lot to get where she is today. A future partner will have to share the vision.
“I knew from a very young age that this is what I wanted to do. So why should someone stop [my] dream?” she says.
“It’s the right person, they take that dream and they help you to get there. They don’t try and quench it or they don’t try and pull you back from it.”
“We deserve to live our lives for ourselves. We only get one.”
- Lyra performs at Cork City Hall on Friday, November 14
