Onher WAY
Her debut EP hit No. 1 in the Irish iTunes charts– a head of Ed Sheeran and Arcade Fire. There’s just onequestion… Who on Earth is Caroline Kay?
Caroline Kay surprised many when her debut EP went straight in at No.1 in the Irish iTunes charts last week. Notes overtook Ed Sheeran and Arcade Fire’s albums in the process. Many also asked: Who? But not her legions of followers on Snapchat and Facebook who propelled the Dublin singer-songwriter and her excellent five song calling-card to the top slot.
The 28-year-old is based in London where she is also pursuing an acting career.
A degree from NCI Maynooth in music and English, and her studies at the prestigious Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, have equipped her with the tools to achieve her goals.
She is sanguine about her recent success but readily admits that it comes after years of hard work and says the process is ongoing and relentless.
‘I have been grafting for many a year at this stage. I graduated from Mountview in 2012,’ she says.
‘I’ve been gigging, performing in plays and auditioning, and putting up videos of my songs online.
‘I started Snapchatting in January, and my fanbase grew really quickly after that. I think Snapchatting aspects of my day-to-day existence – the ups and downs of trying to make it – allowed people to get to know me and then they began to check out my music as a result.
‘That groundswell encouraged me to make the EP. With the help of my parents, I bit the bullet, booked the studio, took the plunge and came out with an EP.’
She is a singersongwriter in the classic mode – her vocal style is reminiscent of Regina Spektor on the moving She Was, while a playful style all of her own is at work in On My Way.
‘The song She Was is an ode to my two aunts who both died of cancer, I’m afraid,’ she says.
‘I think, though, when life gets tough we Irish are at our best. Whether it was the Famine, fighting for independence or personal tragedies, we write songs and poems, and just make art of all kinds.’
The song is also part of a musical drama that Caroline has authored called Daisy – which she would love to stage one day but originally started just to keep her artistic faculties sharpened during the lean times in London.
‘You can endure weeks without a gig, a performance even an audition to focus on and you can go a bit mad, so I’ve focused my downtime on Daisy,’ she says.
‘It’s about a girl who loses her memory after an accident and, through the play, her life up to the accident is revealed.’
But as the play develops, we find that not all of those lost memories are good.
‘Her mother, we learn, has cancer,’ she says.
‘As I’ve said, my family has been touched by cancer but it is again a celebration of the resilience that I really think is in our DNA. Daisy is about a family dealing with a negative issue in a really positive way.’
It’s a theme she returns to in another song from the EP, Museum Of Collections.
‘Tell me all my flaws and imperfections and I’ll add to my museum of collections’ she says, quoting the chorus of the song.
‘It’s just saying that all experiences, even the most negative,
are fuel for art of all kinds.’
She doesn’t always write from her own experiences. Another song she composed that proved extremely popular was A Quiet Love.
The song is inspired by the story of Rebecca Flynn, of Body Positive Ireland, who related her feelings after she miscarried.
‘I haven’t been pregnant but I read Rebecca’s story and she was so candid about it. I just tried to feel that emotion and the song came from there,’ she says.
‘I was worried that she would think I was trying to sum up her feelings in one little song, which of course is impossible to do, but I’m am so grateful and humbled that other women who have gone through that tragedy have related to the song.’
Caroline is set to announce a concert in Dublin soon for her many local fans but meanwhile she will continue to pursue her other goal as an actor with more wind in her sails than ever before – and with the unwavering support of her parents.
‘They know that I’ve not taken the easy option with my life. They see just how hard I’m working to be successful.
‘My dad is one of 10 and my mum is one of eight. I would say, arguably, they are the least musical in their respective families.
‘The fact that I am so passionate about music is a bit of a running joke in their families because of that. No matter how many knockbacks I’ve taken they’ve never said, “When are you going get a quote-unquote real job?”’
Caroline Kay’s Notes is available to download now.
‘I started Snapchat in January and my fanbase grew really quickly’