Orla Gartland: You wouldn't choose to be a musician 

My first few years in music, I did a lot of writing sessions and recording with older male producers. A lot of those people, maybe they didn’t mean to, but they made me feel very small.

Orla Gartland. Picture: Karina Barberis

I grew up in Drumcondra, right beside Croke Park, the oldest of three. It was my mum, dad, and younger sister and brother, Niamh and Ciarán. My memory of my younger self is a bit more sweet than I think I actually was... I found a load of home tapes in the attic last year that I got digitized for Christmas. I was hoping to look back at them and find some sort of early prodigy music performances or something. But actually, I just found out that I was really annoying. Constantly stealing the spotlight, pushing my sister over anytime she was being filmed so I could get in the camera...

I've never really been able to trace where the music came from, though my parents both love music in their own way. My mum was always in choirs, and my dad doesn't play or sing or anything, but he always had music playing in the house. I have a couple of aunts and uncles that sing but there are no career musicians in the family.