Orla Gartland

Photography by Karina Barberis. Interview by Heather Hawke.

The Dublin-born, London-based Orla Gartland is set to release her debut album, Woman On The Internet, in August and it’s a step in a whole new direction for the singer-songwriter/producer. Whereas her previous offering, 2020’s Freckle Season EP, was more so focused on a long-term relationship ending, Woman On The Internet sees Orla switching gears and putting herself first and foremost in the center of all lyrical content. 

Though she was raised by music lovers, Orla was the first in her family to pick up an instrument, taking up the fiddle at four years old and learning traditional Irish folk music by ear. At age eleven, inspired by punk-pop acts like Avril Lavigne, Orla taught herself guitar and by fourteen she was uploading original material to YouTube. As she was too young to play open mic shows, and wasn’t able to convince any of the 18+ local pubs and venues to let her perform, she used YouTube / social media as a way to get feedback on her songwriting, which became invaluable to her.

She released her first single “Devil On My Shoulders” (which went on to chart on iTunes) in May 2012 at age seventeen and two years later she went on her first tour. After returning home from tour, she packed her bags and moved to London where she spent the following few years writing, recording and honing in on her craft. She released her debut EP, Lonely People, in 2015 which led to subsequent EPs Why Am I Like This (2019) and last year’s acclaimed Freckle Season both self-released. Freckle Season also showcased Orla’s production skills. Initially having adopted a DIY approach out of necessity, she’s felt the need to maintain her creative independence through choice. Her aim was to have Freckle Season be the most “jam-packed, concentrated version” of herself and so when it came to producing it, her thought process was something in line with “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

Orla has said that how she went about creating Freckle Season really informed how she wanted to make Woman On The Internet. The debut album started taking shape around the first UK COVID lockdown in 2020, and it was only after a few songs into writing the album where she realized what the theme primary consisted of, the chaos of her 20s. Where teenage years are more chaotic in terms of angst, your 20s are when you start to feel surer of yourself and how you move about the world, though you know you still have a lot to learn. Woman On The Internet was recorded in October 2020 at Devon’s Middle Farm Studios with assistance from co-producer Tom Stafford and Orla’s own two-piece touring band.

Orla’s always been known for using her music platform as a form for self-discovery, and Woman On The Internet is another gigantic leap in that direction.

Orla’s web/socials: Website – Bandcamp – Soundcloud – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter 

Hi! So, things are pretty unsettling in the world right now due to the pandemic, civil rights issues, government upheaval, climate change, the list goes on… As a musician / creative, how has this last year been? How are you feeling? How have you been coping with everything? 

What a trip. It’s definitely rocked my world but also made me grateful for so many things in my life – my family, friends, home & the parts of my job I’ve still been able to do, like focusing on writing and recording. 

I feel like the music industry has shifted even more so during the pandemic. How has it felt as an artist? Has it been freeing? Is it scary trying to question how to approach music making and then how to or if you want to creatively release it to the public?

I’ve found it really freeing actually, especially back last year at the start of lockdown one. Something about touring stopping and everyone having to head home to sit down and do a hard reset… I found myself comparing myself to others less, I was focused on my own little world & no longer looking around and stressing my brains out about not being as busy and successful as everyone else.

Going back to the beginning. What was your childhood like growing up in Dublin?  

It was great. Dublin is the best place with the best people and my family is a dream – I lucked out. They were always super supportive and never overbearing – when I finished school and straightaway wanted to move to London to pursue music, they didn’t talk me out of it and just let me go. That’s a really trusting thing to do!

Tell me about your musical upbringing. What music did you grow up listening to? When did you first become aware that music was going to be a part of your life? What was your formal / not formal music education like growing up? 

My dad’s taste was eclectic – anything from Van Morrison to Eminem was on in the car. My mam loves music but never particular artists really, more certain songs here and there. She always trusts her ear and instinctively knows which songs she likes without a bias or loyalty to the artist and I’ve always liked that. 

My first instrument was fiddle – I played for 6 years from the age of 5. I learned traditional Irish folk music (jigs and reels!) and it was taught in a totally ad hoc, learn-by-ear kind of way – so I have no formal music education really. The spirit of playing traditional music is super informal by nature, much more focused on inclusion and everyone being able to hop in and jam along straight away.

Let’s talk about your formative years. What was the very first concert you attended? Did you play any sports / go to summer camps? Were there posers on your wall when you were growing up? 

WESTLIFE was my first concert. Wow. I really loved an English band called ‘Busted’ when I was a kid – specifically Charlie Simpson and more specifically Charlie Simpson’s eyebrows. There were 2 others in the band, but I scribbled over their faces.

When you were old enough to start seeking out music, where did you regularly find yourself (a certain record store / internet site / getting recommendations from a certain friend)? Who were some of the artists you first found and then were always on the lookout for? 

I was a Youtube geek from the start – back when it was a real weird kid thing to put up videos of yourself singing online. Artists like Kate McGill were the first artists I really connected with – I was obsessed with how informal and raw these videos could be of her singing in her living room or bathroom. After that I was straight onto LimeWire downloading artists’ entire discographies for zero pounds.

I read that though you were raised by music lovers, you were the first in your family to play an instrument, taking up the fiddle aged 4 and learning traditional Irish folk music by ear. Describe your path to becoming involved with music. What’s your very first earliest musical memory? When was the first time you felt super inspired by music? 

You’ve done your research! You’re totally right. My first musical memory was being at a fiddle lesson and having the notes scribbled out by our teacher on the back of a cereal box. It was not fancy, not a stave in site – literally just the notes written out like ‘A’, ‘B’, etc. With no proper notation it meant you had to learn the timing & other elements by ear – it was good practice for me.

How has it been living in London? What’s the music scene usually like (pre-pandemic)? What are your hopes for the music scene post pandemic?

I love living here. There is so much creativity around and I’ve carved out a beautiful community of like-minded musical friends which really helps make this city feel less lonely. Post pandemic I look forward to the return of sweaty venues and sugary overpriced drinks and MOSH PITS. When shows return I hope we show up early for the support acts.

Let’s talk about your upcoming debut album release Woman On The Internet. I heard it was written during the first lockdown of 2020 (which happened to be right after the release of your Freckle Season EP) at your studio in West London. What was your songwriting/creative process like for Woman On The Internet? How did the pandemic affect the making of it? Was there a specific moment when work on Woman On The Internet began or does the line between writing for this album and Freckle Season sort of blur?  

Yes – all true! Music always takes longer to come out than you’d think so I finished recording Freckle Season at the end of summer 2019, meaning I felt a clear chapter end between that EP and writing Woman in the Internet. Writing it in lockdown was a real challenge at first – it felt hard to write about life when no life was really happening. Eventually I found my groove with it and started being resourceful with song ideas I had started pre-lockdown, pouring a lot of time into each detail of the writing and production because I had nothing but time. Although this album was written in 2020, I feel adamant for no one to think of it as a ‘lockdown album’ – these songs aren’t about that. I’d rather it be a soundtrack to a different time, a better time.

What was your favorite part about the writing / album creation process? 

Inviting my band to be a part of the recording process. I’ve always made my music alone or with a producer and then brought each song to my band to help me bring it to life on stage. This time I wanted them to write their own parts, chip in ideas and feel ownership over this body of work too. Pete (bass) and Sara (drums) bring so much life to this album, an energy it would have been impossible to capture without them and I love that. I wrote some tracks with Nathan Cox who also joined us to record guitars, piano & synths on the album – another addition to the lineup I felt so proud to have.

Which songs off of Woman On The Internet were the easiest / most difficult to create? What are two or three songs you are most proud of on this album? Why?

“More Like You” was a long and winding process but I am very proud of it. The next single “You’re Not Special, Babe” was also tricky – the production went through so many different versions before it clicked into place. “Madison” was easy to write but tricky to record – it’s so sparse that it so heavily depended on the right performance. I think of the tracks that are still unreleased I’m most proud of “Things That I’ve Learned” & “Bloodline/Difficult Things,” the closing track.

I read that the album title — Woman On The Internet — references a “nebulous, self-help-type figure.” When and how did the album title come about in the album creation process? Can you go into more detail about the significance of the title? 

Yeah, the ‘woman on the internet’ isn’t me – she’s an elusive fictional character, like a modern-day wizard-of-oz who appears in a couple of the songs. I turn to her when I can’t turn to anyone in my real life; I turn to her when I feel lost. A lot of these songs are about growing up and learning to own that lostness.  (lostness? is that a word? whatever). 

I’m such a fan of the video “Zombie!” video. What was the treatment for this video? How long was this video in the making? Any fun behind the scenes facts from the making of it?

So many. I directed the video with my best friend Greta Isaac and we dreamed up this story of me as a zombie rescue ranger, running around a small town collecting the rare tears of zombie boys and eventually shooting them back through a water gun. A couple of the zombies in the video are my friends but most are strangers that I found on Instagram. It was an intense few days and a really ambitious video for the budget we had but I’m so glad we made it – “Zombie!” was never actually meant to be a single but that song and video feel like a really vital part of the album puzzle now. 

On that topic, how much energy do you put into the visuals (music videos, press images, artwork) that accompany your music? Do you feel like the art that accompanies one’s music is more / less important than it used to be? How do you feel like social media impacts the intention behind all of this?

I think it probably is more important than ever and I’ve put a lot more focus on them this time around. I’m so lucky to have Greta on board as art director across all of my album visuals – before working with her I honestly saw shooting visuals as such a chore, like a task tagged onto the end of the music-making process. I think it’s a wild time to be an artist right now – it feels like you have to be an absolute content machine, churning out new things every few days – so I feel extra grateful to have someone like Greta on my team, making it fun.

How do you (normally – pre/post pandemic) recalibrate before getting on stage and at the end of the day? How do you get in the correct mindset?

I’ll try and ground myself with some alone time before stage – on tour you’re around people constantly so I find a solo dinner and a big walk while the venue is filling up to help clear my mind! And at the end of the day -I’m big into those guided meditation apps so if I need to calm a busy brain before sleeping, I’ll try one of those. Wow! I’m so rock and roll.