Limerick's own Caroline is ready to show her versatility

WITH a confident strut, Caroline Clancy makes her way to the bar of a small pub on Sarsfield Street. The Corbally native made her debut back in March with the release of her first single. Last week, she shared Wait, a sad song you could dance to.

“It actually started out as a ballad. I love ballads, I love slow songs,” she says while cooling herself down with a Japanese hand fan."

"All I ever sang growing up have been slow songs with piano. I’m more inclined to write sad songs, but we had summer in mind, so it ended up being more of a dance track. Even if it’s an upbeat dance track, there’s still hints of melancholy in it.”

Off The Record: Enda Gallery wants to create 'beautiful things'

Produced by Shane Wixted in Launchpad LK Studios, Wait is Caroline’s second offering. The song touches on the relatable experience of being in any type of relationship and waiting it out to see if things could change.

“It could be about a platonic relationship that can be seen as a romantic relationship. Or it could be a situation that you're in when maybe it's not the best for you, it's not working out for you, but you just can't help and stick around. You are kind of waiting to see it through,” she says.

When she writes songs, Caroline likes to keep things ambiguous.

“I feel like I can shield myself a little bit. I am pouring my heart out in the song, but it may not be clear to you what I'm talking about, what kind of situation it is and I really like that I feel I have a form of therapy, but I'm not bearing my soul and I'm not telling everybody my business."

“I think it’s applicable to a lot of different things in life. Even situations that maybe are toxic or make you feel disrespected.
“You know that it's wrong and that you shouldn't stay, but you can't help but just try and wait it out and see if anything changes.”

Even though Wait is only her second release, Caroline is eager to show her versatility. The singer-songwriter  describes herself as a hard-working and goal-driven person.

“I always have a goal in mind, and I'm always kinda chasing the next one. I should enjoy the current moment, and I'm so proud of what I've done. But every time I put something out I'm like ‘What’s the next thing?’

“I just can’t wait to have a big repertoire on Spotify, I want to have lots of different songs and show my versatility and all the different things I can do.”

From a young age, Caroline sang in plays and musicals before getting professional piano training and completing her grades at 17. In college, she studied politics and international relations with Spanish. Now, she works a 9 to 5 and dedicates the rest of her time to music.

Before offering a handful of peanuts to the interviewer, the singer explains that, like many, she felt a bit lost after college.

“I finished university and I was kind of like, you're always in education in school or university. You don't actually realise that you're going to come out and have to work for the rest of life. I would've always said like 'I want money, I want money', but I finished college and realised that my life and my choices are completely my own now. Everything that I do now is up to me and I actually have the power to make the choices now.”

Ready to take a gamble, she decided to step into the unknown and do the one thing she loves more than anything else - music.
“There is literally nothing else in the world that I could do. There's nothing else, I can’t look back when I'm eighty years old and regret that I didn't do it,” she says.

Caroline, who has a powerful and soulful voice, says not developing her talent would be disrespectful to herself. Her biggest fear would be to “forget about her dreams and give up.

“I would just be so ashamed of myself, waking up every morning in a job that I didn't know. I feel really lucky because some people never know what they want to do, some people never find what they want to do, they haven't found their talent yet. I have a talent, I know what I want to do,” she states.

With tunnel vision, she is now actively working on her EP.

“All my spare time is going into this, there’s no messing about. When I’m writing, I just lock myself away in a room and get into the flow of the song.”

If there is one thing people might not realise about her, it’s how shy she truly is - something which might be difficult to believe, as the artist exudes confidence.  

“I do get anxious and I actually am quite shy. I'm really loud and when I'm comfortable with someone, I'm really loud,” she admits softly. “Sometimes when I have social anxiety, I’m like, what's wrong with you? You want to be a performer.”

“I just assume everyone else is kind of socially anxious when they go home. It’s really flattering when people say they could never tell, when they're like 'You're so confident'. Because I'm like, ‘Oh my God, they don't know’,” she laughs.

As a new artist, Caroline says she is “dipping her toes in the water” as she experiments with different sounds.

Not only does she master the piano, she also plays the tin whistle  - an instrument she would perhaps like to incorporate in future songs.

Speaking of Irish traditional music, she notes: “It’s so amazing that we have such a beautiful culture, I think that’s something that could absolutely be modernised. That’s why I love Strange Boy, I love that he’s blending hip-hop and Irish traditional music.”
Speaking of that artist, Caroline will be opening for Strange Boy on October 6, in CASK in Castletroy.

“It’s a brilliant opportunity because it's my first proper gig. This is kind of a goal and I'm really excited for it. It's gonna be all my own songs, so I'm gonna have three more songs by then and they're going to be a slower pace,” she concludes.

 You can book tickets to see Caroline Clancy here.