shiv: "Ireland is in such a cool place creatively at the moment"

You launched your career as a house DJ – what inspired you to focus on songwriting?
DJing was a way to fulfil the desire to share a piece of myself through music. Singing and songwriting has always been the big dream, but it was a goal that seemed unattainable at the time. In recent years, the model for releasing and recording music has evolved, making it a much easier thing to achieve independently. After writing a song in lieu of a Maid of Honour speech for my sister’s wedding, the video captured the attention of a music management duo – and it’s to them that I owe the confidence, belief and drive of pursuing music and songwriting as a career.

You’ve spoken about being inspired by the likes of Kojaque and Biig Piig – what do you think of the talent coming out of Ireland right now?
Ireland is in such a cool place creatively at the moment. There is a merging of cultures and ideas that the country hadn’t really seen up until this point. With social media and the Internet, it’s becoming increasingly easier to spread ideas and art around the world. People who for so long felt that they didn’t have a voice and couldn’t make an impact outside of Ireland finally have the ability to share their creative output. Knowing your work can reach any corner of the world, and having a plethora of inspiration at your fingertips, is awakening a lot of people to their creativity. It’s only a matter of time before Ireland is on the map internationally as a music and creative hub.

Your single ‘You And I’ addresses a time in which you were anxious about expressing your creativity – how did you ultimately overcome that?
A whole lot of self-reflection, and quarantine helped that. A major turning point was when I listened to my EP in full – and every single word felt like it was written for me. That sounds obvious, seeing as I wrote the songs, but at stages in my writing I felt kind of absent-minded, and I didn’t feel the lyrics represented anything of substance – which was part of the reason why I didn’t feel ready to share the EP. The resounding message for me was that forcing anything will never do any good. Relaxing into the process and simply taking it for what it is, being grateful for the experience and ultimately letting it go, is the best way to truly embrace your creativity. I really needed to get used to the vulnerability of sharing myself, and stop judging myself enough to eventually let go of what other peoples’ judgements may have been – which was the main thing that had been holding me back.

shiv’s debut EP, Me 2 Me, is out on December 3.