Home Interview The Rabbit Society Meets: Shiv

The Rabbit Society Meets: Shiv

October 10, 2020

when did you know you wanted to pursue a career in music?

Music has been a passion of mine for a long time – I grew up in a house in which music was the centrepiece – but it wasn’t until about two years ago that I began considering it seriously as a career. I was the maid of honour for my sisters’ wedding and I wrote her a song in lieu of a speech.. After posting the song to Youtube, it got the attention of a management team based in Dublin. It is to them that I owe the drive and confidence I have to pursue a career in music.

how has lockdown been for you? been keeping busy/creative?

I was lucky in the sense that lockdown was generally a positive experience. I was locked down with two of my closest friends in Dublin.

The slow pace of life gave a lot of time for self-reflection and gave me an opportunity to work through a lot of the self-doubt that had been surfacing for me throughout the year. I was doing a lot of production doing lockdown, and actually wrote, recorded and produced my current single, You and I towards the end of lockdown!

what song are you most proud of?

I think at the moment, probably Golden. I was so new to songwriting, production etc at the time, so I didn’t really know what rules I had to follow, and I just kind of added things that felt right. I knew I liked it, but I didn’t expect anything to come of it, as I was such a novice to the whole music scene, but after some help from MYFAULT, a Dublin based producer, it ended becoming a song that exceeded my expectations and something people really connected with.

when did you realise that music was going to be what you did full-time?

Doing music full-time has been a more recent decision. After almost two years of trying to juggle both full-time work and beginning a music career, lockdown made me realise how much more constructive output I could produce to advance my career if it was my primary focus. That’s really what has pushed me to try and maintain music in a more full-time capacity.

if you could work with any artist (dead or alive) who would you choose and why?

While not trying to be entirely cliche, I would love to work with Frank Ocean. The production of all of his tracks always finds a way to perfectly communicate the emotion of the song effortlessly. Lauryn Hill would be amazing too as I feel I’d be able to learn a lot from her in terms of lyricism.. also Kanye West – 40% because I think he’s great and 60% for entertainment purposes.

if you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?

If I could pick anyone, I think it’d have to be Erykah Badu… To have the opportunity to share a stage with her would be so unimaginably amazing.

what has been the main influencing factor in your work?

Influences change depending on where I am and what I’m doing… Because I produce, write and sing all of my music, I draw inspiration from so many different facets of my life. Music I listen to, words I read or hear people say, circumstances in my life. It’s hard to pinpoint one as the main thing.

what has been your proudest career moment?

I think probably my first releases were the proudest I have felt of myself so far… When I listened to my first single, Here, on release day, I got really emotional just processing the fact that it was the culmination of so much work for so long, and I had put so much of myself in that song. It also marked the turning point of when I realised how much I wanted to be a musician.

what’s your advice for new artists who want to start creating music?

Give yourself the best opportunity for success. If you can carve out a solid week or two of time to dedicate to begin the foundations of your songs, that’s helpful so you can immerse yourself entirely in your project and get a solid base started. Allow yourself time and be patient, don’t judge something until it’s finished, and don’t be afraid to take a break from a particular song if you don’t like the direction it’s going in. Fresh ears are more rational than frustrated ears.

Be nice to yourself.