Meath woman Katie Phelan is firmly wedged into the heart of the Irish music scene’s current “ones to watch.” With an as yet untitled debut EP due later this year, and only a small handful of singles out to date, the emotional heft and lyrical honesty of the delicate singer-songwriter is turning heads.
“I probably have about ten tracks to date,” Phelan tells us. “I usually start from something that happens to me, or something in my life. I’m not thinking about the song at the time, it’s more of an afterthought. If people know me, though, they definitely listen and think they know who it’s about. At one of my first gigs, with a lot of my friends there and playing one of my first songs, people were shouting out ‘who is this about?’”
Phelan’s career, while in its early days, is already meticulously planned. “I always pitch my songs to Spotify six weeks in advance,” she says. “I met two of the editors in 2022 and that definitely helps. I would say some of the success on the platform is luck, and some of it is planning.” Phelan is notably present on a range of playlists even after only a few singles.
Early opportunities have included a trip to Canada to play a KeyChange, an important industry event, which Phelan describes as “amazing. I can’t believe that I got to go across the world through music. I played two showcase festivals, small shows, but everyone was very into music and recording, and it was a really nice experience.”
“I did songwriting at BIMM,” Phelan explains of her background. “Before that I picked up the guitar because I was doing music for the leaving cert and I didn’t want to sing unaccompanied. I was always into storytelling, writing poetry… writing in different ways. I still do those, too, but I started writing over music.”
“There’s definitely a crossover. I let the other stuff go a bit, English was my favourite at school, and music has meant I’ve forgotten about some of the other writing stuff, but I’ve tried to do more of it.”
“I don’t know if I’d be playing music if I hadn’t done the course at BIMM, because I didn’t know anyone who made music or wanted to play live until I got to college. All of my connections come from that, and have grown from it. I also met my boyfriend there, who helps me produce things. The EP will be the first time I’ve released something he didn’t produce.”
“The songs that I’ve released so far have all been about other people, love songs, I guess. The EP is going to be more about me and changes in my life. That’s more where I am now as a musician.”
“I like that having my boyfriend on production and in the songs at times gives this intimacy to the music, and makes me comfortable with something that’s still very new to me. The EP process, with a new producer, has been good but a bit of an adjustment, too.”
“The plan now is to produce a debut body of work, a collection of songs that make sense together. Then I’ll just keep doing more shows, and try and do a proper tour. I’ve done some support tours, but I’d like to do my own group of shows. I can be quite an anxious performer beforehand, though I’m told you can’t tell. I think sometimes it’s easier to play for someone else’s crowd than my own shows. Then, if you can bring a handful of people to your next show, job done.”
