Having a look at the last year and a bit for Irish songwriter SOAK, it’s a fair understatement that she’s just been trucking along. Off the back of her acclaimed debut release Before We Forgot To Dream, SOAK has become more than a buzz name, but more of a enigmatic performer whose potential just keeps on presenting itself. For her age, SOAK has gone above and beyond expectation and it’s been great to see her creative aesthetic continue to evolve as she’s moved from performing solo shows to touring with a full band in recent times.
“The main thing that has developed has been the live performances,” she agrees. “Just in terms of how different it is dynamically now, with the band, than before with the solo performance. I think it’s 100% a different thing, with the band. We’ve spent the last year touring a shit tonne in America and over here, so playing even more has just helped us continue to learn things.”
Soon to be out in Australia once more for the Falls Festival and Southbound tours, SOAK remembers her debut appearances in the country, the few east coast shows she did completely selling out.
“I’m really looking forward to it!” she enthuses. “The last time I was there, all the shows were more or less sold out and it was amazing. I’m really looking forward to coming back with the band and seeing more of the country.”
As the stages have gotten bigger for her and the music has been able to reach more people, SOAK has managed to keep a chilled demeanour, one that comes across instantly as we chat. She reflects on how she’s retained a level head amid all the hype, putting it down to a simple mantra – keeping it real.
“Because the last year has been so full on,” she explains. “I haven’t really spent as much time with my family and friends. I feels like it’s a completely different system of working and routine because when you’re on tour, you’re on tour. That’s its own life and then you go home and you’re with your friends and your family, and that’s a whole different thing. It all feels very real but I think there are times when, because you are living in such a strange world, something unbelievable might happen and you don’t look at it as such so you do have to pinch yourself and be like, ‘This is actually really important, I should be taking note of this!'”
“I think if you’re confident in what you’re doing,” she says of the way her career has taken off. “It’s quite easy. When you get into the routine of touring and being with the people you’re touring with and being friends with those people, it makes the entire thing really easy and enjoyable. I think that’s important and also not to expect things to be more than they are and also, not to believe all the hype that’s written about you.”
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