Welcome, welcome friends! We are back today with another fabulous Beneath the Surface feature with the sensational Adam O’Rua, off the back of his recent music video release for ‘Rainfall’. So grab a drink, settle down and let’s get to it!
What would you say first sparked your interest in music/who inspired you to make music?
Growing up with a lot of friends that made music and with music just being part of what we did as young Irish kids definitely embedded that into my identity. Was a major Thin Lizzy fan back in the day (still am) so Phil Lynott was a big inspiration.
How would you describe the music you are currently creating?
Throwback R&B with funk, singer-songwriter and dance influences mixed into the sauce.
What does your creative process look like?
It varies a lot, honestly, but tends to be about making sure I capture a feeling whenever it comes naturally. I woke up at 5AM the other day and the idea for a song just sort of fell out of my mouth. Thought I’d be going back to sleep but I knew that if I didn’t go with the feeling at that moment then it would disappear. So I got up and sat with my guitar for 3 hours messing around with progressions until the song had parts and lyrics and then went back to sleep haha. The production side of things tends to be a slower process – once I’ve got the sketch of a track I’ll leave it sit for a while and then collect a bunch of sounds that I like that I think fit the vibe and then experiment with adding and removing layers until I’ve got it as close to what I hear in my head. That’s basically my main struggle as an artist – being able to hear exactly what I want it to sound like in my head and then just finding a way to recreate that sound in real life.
Who would you most like to collaborate with? (let’s send it out to the universe and make it happen!)
Love this question. So. Many. Artists. There’s like the side of things where there’s artists I think I could collab with in the near future cause we either know each other or are in similar circles. Denise Chaila, Jafaris, Aby Coulibaly, GROVE, Bricknasty, shiv, Qbanaa, Winnie Ama, Mere Raj, Bonga Kwana.
Then there’s artists that I’m like, “If I really get this shit to work we could be on a track together in a few years time.” Ella Mai, Doechii, Alewya, Maverick Sabre, James Vincent McMorrow, Joyce Wrice, Vitão, YENDRY, Duckwrth, Tom Misch.
And then there’s the artists that you dream of collabing with but you never know if you actually will. Timbaland, H.E.R., Kaytranada, SZA, Anderson Paak, Doja Cat, J. Cole, Justin Timberlake, Rosalía, Tainy, Tyler The Creator, Tems. I’d love to produce a track for Rosalía and Anitta, I think that would be a sick collab.
What is the one message you would like to send out to your listeners?
Love is the pure essence of everything. Make sure everything you do in this life comes from a place of love.
What’s your top tip to rejuvenate your creativity/get over a writer’s block?
Stop trying so hard. Go have some real experiences. Your experiences and the feelings they create within you will be the seeds for all of your art. Novelist (UK grime rapper) said something to a bunch of us as young artists that stuck with me: “If you force it, it’s gonna sound forced.”
What’s next for you, what do we have to look forward to/ what are you currently working on?
So the next release I’m working on at the moment will be the joint music video for “If I Had…” and “Waited For You”, two tracks off my debut EP “EVA”. They both speak about love from different aspects and I’m planning on building my own AI vision models to make the visuals so that should be interesting (if I can get it to work haha). I’m also working on my next two EPs at the moment: The Garden and Paradise. Keep your eyes peeled over the next while, I’ll be teasing the tracks on my socials and bringing you some acoustic versions and covers as well so you can get to know me better. I’ll also be announcing some gig dates in Dublin, London and some other spots soon, and some other stuff that I can’t announce yet but should be exciting.
Watch ‘Rainfall’ here:
Keep up with Adam O’Rua:
Instagram
Tiktok
Spotify
FACEBOOK
Youtube
The post Beneath the Surface: Adam O’Rua appeared first on Turtle Tempo.
