Ealing-Irish singer-songwriter Etaoin told David Hennessy about her new single, why supporting Gavin James was full circle and returning to her Irish music roots having grown up with the Fleadhs.
Singer- songwriter Etaoin has been championed by Amazon, Hot Press and RTÉ among others.
Since she released her debut single Bedroom Walls in 2021, many have been won over by her style akin to that of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Dermot Kennedy.
But with her new single Golden, she has returned to the Irish traditional style that she grew up steeped in.
Etaoin grew up between England and Ireland with a mother coming from Kilmacthomas in Waterford and a dad from Roscarberry in West Cork and Killinick in Wexford.
Growing up in west London, Etaoin Rowe was a ‘Fleadh baby’ and, taught by the revered Brendan Mulkere, won many All-Ireland titles in many different categories.
She has headlined Whelan’s in Dublin, toured Ireland with Beoga and toured as far away as Italy and Germany.
She has also just supported Gavin James on the Bristol date of his recent UK tour and plays her own London headline show in May.
This was not her first time to share a stage with Gavin as they were both on the bill for the big Trafalgar Square St Patrick’s concert back in 2017.
And one of the songs she sang to the Trafalgar Square crowd that day was the new offering, Golden.
The Irish World chatted to Etaoin a little while back prior to both the release of Golden and her supporting Gavin James.
Etaoin told The Irish World: ““I wrote it (Golden) in Ireland a few years back.
“You can really hear the Irish influence.
“It just has such a close place in my heart.
“It’s a song that my mum and dad have been saying, ‘When is that coming out? When is that coming out?’
“I’m so excited for it to come out.”
A multi- instrumentalist, Etaoin’s main trad instrument was the flute.
Is there any flute on there?
“I thought about it.
“And because we’re recording other tracks for the rest of the year, I’m thinking about what I should put in it.
“I’m thinking about what to add because I feel like I want to really honour the Irish.
“I feel like that’s what makes me me as an artist: The fact that I grew up surrounded by Irish people and Irish music and being in Ireland every bank holiday and holiday that I could get over there.
“I’m very emotionally tied to the outdoors and I think that’s probably because when I was younger, we spent so much time up in the Comeragh Mountains and out in Waterford in the countryside and everything like that.”
You played in Trafalgar Square for the St Patrick’s party back in 2017..
“I sang the national anthem and it was absolutely wild.
“And I remember not being nervous in the slightest which is wild when I think about it because it felt kind of at home, you know?
“I felt like such a supportive environment.
“Now I look back and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, you didn’t even flinch. That’s so weird’.
“I just remember being so excited and happy.
“I also sang Ireland’s Call as well.
“The third one I did was Golden.
“I think I’d started writing it.
“I hadn’t finished it.
“And then I worked on it as the years went on.
“I think I did an early version of Golden on that stage.
“That’s crazy when I think about it.
“I’d love to play Trafalgar Square again.
“That would be amazing if that happened.
“Gavin James was playing that same day and I met him for two seconds.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh my God. That’s Gavin James’.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s such a cool, amazing artist’.
“Obviously the support act is crazy.
“It’s a bit wild.
“That was a really big crowd.
“I absolutely love St Patrick’s.”
Etaoin recently supported Gavin James on his UK tour.
“It feels full circle.
“I remember I asked him for advice.
“He said, ‘Just keep going. Keep gigging. Keep trying your best. Keep writing, writing, writing’.
“I did that and now I’m with Universal and I’m supporting him.
“I’m really, really excited.
“It’s gonna be fun.
“I feel like it’s my first big gig of the year and then the headline’s in May.
“I’m so excited for that.”
Etaoin has often written about heartbreaks and relationships in her work.
Golden follows the previous single Everblue which arrived earlier this year.
“Everblue was literally about a guy- You saw that coming- A guy that I am dating and he’s just really nice.
“It’s just about the feeling of being safe and feeling cared about.
“I feel like when I was younger, I was always quite scared of falling for someone because I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this looks like bad news. I’m gonna end up crying’.
“I decided, ‘You know what? I’m gonna write a happy song. I’m gonna write a nice song’.”
Because you’ve written a lot about a**eholes, right?
“Yeah, I’ve got a lot of material on the a**eholes.”
So if they get a song, he gets a song…
“Exactly. Good behaviour is rewarded.”
Is this EP without a heartbroken song in that case?
“No, because although Golden is a really nice song, there is a bit of heartbreak in it.
“It’s a bit of like a sad song and the words are like, ‘You’re the deepest colour Golden. You’re the rain in the drought but your heart is so frozen that I’m on my way out’.
“So it’s a sad one.
“I hate to say it but it’s also kind of nice because it reminds me of a nice time in my life.
“Yeah, it reminds me of like a good time.
“But no, it’s not free of heartbreak.
“I hate to say it.
“I feel like it’s my niche.
“I feel like it will really just build on the kind of Pale Damp Cheeks, Bedroom Walls, that kind of vibe of these is the kind of vibe of the EP I’m going for from like, the first EP, because that felt so honest and true to me.
“That’s the kind of vibe I’m going for which I’m really excited about, really keeping the acoustic guitar and my voice at the front so that it feels intimacy in music when it feels like you’re having a moment in your headphones with someone.
“I love that so much.”
Etaoin released her debut track Bedroom Walls in 2021.
“Bedroom Walls was the first song I ever released.
“I feel emotionally tied to Bedroom Walls and Pale Damp Cheeks.
“I remember the evening I wrote Pale Damp Cheeks and the heating had gone on our street and in the house and I remember my parents were out shopping or something.
“I remember being downstairs and I think some of the lights had stayed on upstairs and some of them had just gone downstairs. I don’t know.
“I think it was a storm.
“I think it was really, really bad weather.
“I had some portable lamps and stuff.
“I was sitting downstairs and just sitting in the cold with my back against the radiator.
“I am so emotional but when I think back to that because that was such a defining moment.
“That was such a defining moment that at the time, I feel like often defining moments at the time you don’t even know they’re going to be defining moments.
“And then you look back and you’re like, ‘Whoa’.
“That song is a song that started everything which is just insane to me.
“Everybody loves those two.”
You’ll play them in 20 years’ time, right?
“I’m never gonna get sick of them because I really love how people sing along, because people know them which is so nice and kind of fulfilling for my soul.
“I think being a songwriter is so deeply personal and you’re kind of sharing this really kind of precious experience or emotions.”
It would not be long before Etaoin would be touring Ireland with Beoga.
“The reason that connection happened was because on my second EP with Joe Ruble, the Ed Sheeran producer, he said to Beoga, ‘Oh, Etaoin likes your music.
“And then they said, ‘Well, does she want to support us?’
“And I was like, ‘Oh my God, yes’.
“Because obviously, growing up in the trad world, they’re a big name.
“It was insane, but that was so nice.
“And they’re such lovely people, kind people, and really felt like home because that was my first ever support tour.
“I’d never supported anyone so I kind of was like, ‘What do I do?’
“But they were really kind and sweet.”
Since then, Jimmy Rainsford from Kildare rock band Picture This reached out keen to get behind Etaoin’s music.
Etaoin has also been working with Nottingham indie band London Grammar.
She has also been approached by Cantus Domus, the choir who have worked with big acts such as Bon Iver and Damien Rice.
Someone else who has made a big impression is Clare singer- songwriter Susan O’Neill.
“Susan O’Neill actually had such a profound impact on me as an artist.
“I met her at a festival I did in Italy.
“She had such a profound impact on me as a human being, she has such a way with words.
“I think being an artist, you kind of have to accept that you’re kind of an emotional being.
“She has such a deep acceptance and understanding.
“We really bonded.
“We were like soul sisters.
“I feel like she’s one of the people who had the most influence on me as a human being ever.”
You sang Golden all those years ago on the Trafalgar Square stage. Tell us about these songs that won you awards at Fleadhs..
“When I wrote songs for the Fleadhs, I really wanted to focus on my ancestry and my heritage like when my granny came over.
“Nana came over when she was 16 to London, fresh out of Cork. And my grandad fresh out of Wexford.
“A lot of the songs I wrote were really about their experience.
“Then I think when you’re a teenager, you start writing about other things, heartbreak and everything else that comes along when you’re 16.
“I never entered them, but I think that’s really what started me writing music because the first one I ever wrote was an Irish trad song.”
You grew up around the London Irish Centre particularly for events like Return to Camden Town as it was then and also did stuff with the London Irish Pensioners Choir..
“I did the President’s visit in the Royal Albert Hall back in 2014.
“It was insane.
“I was singing. I remember all my family were watching me, like, ‘Oh, she’s at the front’.”
That must have been a proud moment sharing the stage with Glen Hansard, John Sheahan, Imelda May, Elvis Costello and many more..
“I love Glen Hansard and I remember meeting him.
“I remember just saying to him, ‘I love your music so much’.
“I was just sitting there talking to him, and then Lisa Hannigan, and then, Imelda May.
“I was nervous beforehand because obviously the Royal Albert Hall is crazy and I was 16.
“That was such an amazing moment.
“There are so many things that have happened from the Fleadh wins.
“I miss the Fleadh.
“I want to go back to the Fleadh, not to sing, not to compete. I would like to go for the music, for the good time.
“I remember playing the Gig Rig after Sharon Shannon.
“Growing up my whole family played Irish music, my grandparents, my parents, my brother, my cousins, my aunties.
“I used to play in the Waterford Seisiúns and everything, in the Park Hotel in Dungarvan.
“Every summer I would go back and sing in the seisiúns.
“I feel like that’s why it means so much to have support from the Irish side of things. I think it means so much more.
“Irish radio’s been playing me loads.
“I feel like because my roots and my inspiration is so strongly rooted in the Irish way and the Irish culture, it just feels so warming to my heart when good things happen to do with at home.
“I feel like it’s my spiritual home.”
If all her songwriting and performing wasn’t impressive enough, Etaoin has also been given her own imprint label by Universal Records.
Does the job of label bossing distract from your own stuff though?
“Right now I feel like I’m just dead laser focused on my own artist thing.
“I feel like this year probably has the most momentum that it’s ever had which is fun and cool.
“And I feel like this year is just so much momentum and I feel like it’s building so I’m excited.
“I feel like at the end of every year I say, ‘It’s gonna be my year’.
“But this year I actually believe, ‘You know what? I feel like this is gonna be my year’.
“The growth on Instagram has been unreal.
“I think last time we talked, I was on 3 or 4,000. Now it’s 14,000 (and since we chatted it has gone up to 18,000) so grown up a lot. I feel like I’m growing up.”
It is incredible to think that her career almost never happened. Etaoin was getting on with her university studies, and studying nothing music-related, when her talent was discovered.
I seem to remember you weren’t even ploughing ahead into music at one time. You weren’t sure you wanted to pursue it..
“I was doing anatomy and developmental Human Biology at Kings College.
“And I was thinking, ‘Oh, I’d love to be a singer-songwriter, but that’s never gonna happen. Realistically, that doesn’t happen’.
“Because I basically just thought it didn’t happen to normal people.
“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s kind of something you read about in magazines. Doesn’t really happen’.
“And then it happened to me and I was like, ‘Oh, okay, this is real’.
“And then I guess I just took the plunge which was, I think, the best decision I ever made.
“I’ve never felt more fulfilled in myself and it’s something that I look forward to doing every single day whether it’s going to the studio, whether it’s recording, whether it’s even admin. I even love admin.”
What is next?
“I think the plan is, after this EP, to potentially, potentially talk about an album.
““I’m an album fan.
“I love albums.
“I love listening to an album through in order.
“I’m the type to sit down, put my earphones in, have an hour and however long the album is to spare: The dog is asleep next to me and if the dog talks I go, ‘Sssh’.
“I feel like now a lot of the power is in the artists’ hands with social media.
“I feel like years back, maybe the power was not in the artists’ hands because they were waiting on this but now you don’t have to wait.
“You can just put your music out in the market which is amazing. It really empowers artists.
“I feel like there’s never been a better time to be an emerging artist in the music industry.
“It’s just like, Just do it. Just get it.
“Even people can go viral for singing songs in their bedroom which is amazing.
“I just want to focus on getting this EP out, getting the kind of the ones that really feel close to my heart, and then working towards the album.
“I’m just excited to make an album.
“I feel like I’ve been writing for so long since I was literally 12 or something when I hit 11 or something.
“I’ve been writing for so long that it just feels like a real moment, a thing that I wanted forever.
“I’m really excited.
“I feel like it’s a really good time. I feel excited.”
Golden is out now.
Etaoin plays The Green Room at 21 Soho on Thursday 15 May.
For more information, click here.
