Interview with Rosa Nutty

Interview with Rosa Nutty

If you happen to be around the Dublin area this coming Friday (5th Feb), at a loose end and with €6 to spare, I strongly urge you to go see Rosa Nutty at Bello Bar in Portobello.

With her EP 'Bunny' released in August of last year, I can say with my hand on my heart that it is one of my favourite Irish releases in the last 6 months. I recently caught up with Nutty to talk about her gig, her EP, her pre-stage rituals and much much more besides!

"Friday's gig will be the first gig we will have done since we launched the EP last year so it is kind of our first chance to play our music live. It also has given us more time to work on our music and getting a more concrete set. August was basically a month where we launched the EP but now we really are looking to launch our live set and show everyone where we are headed."


Rosa and her band would have had a trial run so to speak on the 28th of January when they supported Paddy Hanna in Whelan's and she feels as though support slots like that will be of great benefit when it comes to her own headline gigs.

"The more you play, the better you get, so the experience has been amazing. But also, from seeing other artists perform and working with them, you get a lot of ideas and inspiration for your own performance which is great too!"

"I'm a super nervy performer so for Friday's gig I'm a mixture of nervous and excited but once I play a couple of tracks, I'm usually fine!" I then asked her about her rituals before performing - "Oh, God, mine is so lame! I always have a glass of red wine and bring it on stage with me, it's kind of like my comfort blanket!" 

As I mentioned in my intro, I truly hold this EP in the highest regard and I was interested to know where the inspiration behind the music came from. Nutty says her material is a mixture.

"Most of the stuff I wrote before the EP is very personal to me. 'Fine Print' especially is completely personal, but I am trying to branch out because I think that is important. Too much 'boohoo me' can be a bit exhausting at times. So that's the reason I'm trying to expand my music, my most recent song is about an artist called Frida Kahlo and I'm trying to look into other things too."

One question I always pose to artists embarking on a solo career is whether or not they find the promotion side of things difficult but the Dublin based singer-songwriter believes that you just have to grab every opportunity with both hands.



"One thing I learned is that you just have to be bold and put yourself out there. Us Irish people tend to not want the attention on ourselves but eventually you learn that you're going to get nowhere like that! I think the Dublin music scene in particular is very well documented, like there are so many people blogging and doing other stuff so if you send emails around, you can get included in a lot of things."

Friday's gig will certainly be her most anticipated yet but she remains humble and knows that there is quite a bit of work to be done once the gig is over!

"We actually have a good few more gigs coming up over the next couple of months with a couple of support slots starting on the Tuesday after the gig so we won't have much time to rest but I love performing so it's a good complaint to have!"

The future is certainly looking bright for Rosa Nutty and I'm excited to see what she can bring to the table. If her debut EP is anything to go by, we're in for a treat!

Don't forget the gig - Friday 5th February, Bello Bar, Dublin.

You can follow Rosa's journey in the following ways:

Website: www.rosanutty.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosa.nutty/
Twitter: @RosaNutty
Bandcamp: https://rosanutty.bandcamp.com

EOIN!