Saturday with Allie Sherlock: You never know what's going to happen on Grafton St
Allie Sherlock: I am not a morning person even though I really want to be
I get up at 7am on Saturdays. It pains me to get up at this time, even after doing it for years. I started busking in Cork but now I have lots of friends in Dublin and my dad has too — we’ve a nice little community in Dublin.
I’ll get up as late as I can before I have to leave the house. Usually I bring my makeup bag in the car. I am not a morning person even though I really want to be. I’ll have some breakfast and run out the door to the car at about 8am — we aim to get to Dublin by 10.30am. If I wasn’t busking, I’d work out on either Saturday or Sunday. I’d head to the gym and do a mix of cardio and strength training. During the week I set myself the challenge of learning four or five new songs every week. I’ll be working on social media content, doing correspondence and doing the accounts for my company. I always dedicate a day to going out with my friends too.
When we’re in the car I’ll often make a set list although sometimes when I’m busking on the street or playing on stage I like to diverge from the list and mix it up a bit. You never know what’s going to happen on Grafton Street — it can be a wild place! I love to perform, there’s an excitement with busking in that you have to bring the audience in in a way that you don’t at a concert. You’re doing your best to win people over who are just walking down the street or shopping.
There are five spots on Grafton Street where people are allowed to busk and there’s a queuing system – I like the spots at Bewleys and at Brown Thomas. I’ll do an hour in the morning and then later I’ll play again. I’m always with friends so the day goes by really fast between gigs. There’s a huge difference between playing covers and playing your own material. People already know the covers, whether they like them or not, but I love playing my own material. I’ve always been super critical of any of the songs I’ve written and I’ll be nervous playing them in public for the first time. If I’ve just written a song and I perform it I’ll always be keen to see people’s reactions. There were really good reactions to ‘How Love Works’ and ‘Ex-Friend’ so we released them.
When I’m playing to my audience, it’s always such a buzz. You never know what’s going to happen though. It’s not that common, but sometimes people, especially guys, can be too familiar.
When you’re busking you always have to be aware that anything can happen — on the street people can do unexpected things. It’s great to have my dad chaperoning me, I know other buskers my age who’ve been harassed and had their stuff robbed because they were unaccompanied.
I’m really looking forward to my upcoming tour — I had such a great time in my last run of shows and can’t wait to do it again. I always love to have a chat with the crowd — they’ll shout stuff up and I’ll answer back. I’m looking forward to heading back to the UK — I am playing Glasgow, Manchester and London this time as well as venues across Europe and the US.
We love to go for dinner when I’m finished performing. I love Thai food in particular. We love to try new places but if we can’t decide where to go we’ll often end up in Nando’s.
We might go out after we’ve eaten, but usually we’ll be back in our hotel by 10pm. We’ll go through the content that we’ve recorded that day and do some editing. I buzz off the energy of the crowd and performing is so much fun for me — I’m always full of adrenaline after every performance. If it’s been a stressful day, with the shops complaining or another busker arguing then I’ll be drained, but we steer clear of those spots, do what we know best and it’s always great.
I usually go to bed around 10.30pm. I never bring my phone into the bedroom at night because it’s so addictive and I know that I won’t be able to stop scrolling. I’ll usually read a book or watch an episode of whatever series I’m following. Once I’m asleep nothing can wake me. I have to set about 20 alarms to wake up in the morning. I always have the best intentions to go to the gym on a Sunday morning, but I usually wake up too late.
- Allie Sherlock has amassed a global fan base of over 14.5 million followers. The 19-year-old Cork native regularly performs on Grafton Street in Dublin and has just announced a headline tour starting in March and taking in venues in the UK, Europe and the US. Her new single ’Ex-Friend’, written with her collaborator Ollie Green, is out now. alliesherlock.com
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