Sinéad Lohan 

by Alex Teitz  

Sinéad Lohan is an Irish singer who first appeared to American audiences with the Interscope release of her second album No Mermaid. Lohan has achieved great success in Ireland, and is currently doing a short stint with the Lilith Fair before going on her second U.S. tour. Lohan’s songs are introspective and independent. They are filled with rich colors and emotions. FEMMUSIC was honored to have a few minutes with her before she began her Lilith Fair dates.

FEMMUSIC: Where do you get the ideas for your songs?

SL: Well, in my head. I can’t really explain it any better than that because I’ve always been drawn towards the writing things down. I just really describe what I’m thinking about. It’s a fairly natural process.

FEMMUSIC: What challenges have you faced as a woman artist?

SL: Well I can’t really say a female artists because I’ve never been anything else but a female. I don’t think the differences are too big from male and female. I think I’ve been very lucky because I’m 28 now, and I started playing full time ten years ago, and I got noticed almost immediately. In Ireland when I started playing my own songs. I got signed up by an Irish record company, and then an English one. I was always able to play my music full-time. Which is something a lot of other musicians I know would like to be able to do. It hasn’t happened as easy as that for a lot of people. I suppose I’m the exception to the rule. But the challenge when I’m in there is to write, to keep writing better songs and whatever that means to me. It means stronger melodies, and try to be original.

FEMMUSIC: What has been your best experience since you’ve been playing music professionally?

SL: God, let me just think. (Pause). I think every gig I play is different because the people you’re playing to are hearing you maybe for the first time or whatever. It’s a unique experience every time. It’s a sort of addictive thing you know. Every gig you play…It’s a new experience every time you play your music.

FEMMUSIC: As a Lilith Fair artist, what role has the Lilith Fair played for emerging women in music?

SL: What has Lilith Fair done for women emerging in music is it? Well I hadn’t heard of Lilith Fair until last year because in Ireland we hadn’t heard about it. But when I came here then to do my own tour I was invited to do a couple of gigs last year and then I realized what it was all about.  I think it’s very encouraging for Sarah McLachlin and all the big names who are on the tour to have this celebration of women in music. For them, the way they see it, as they explained it last year, was that women in music have had an awful struggle for so many years. For say like twenty years, or whatever, it was a male dominated thing. But then I haven’t really experienced that because I’m of a newer generation so I haven’t come up against that obstacle. So I was really wondering what the celebration was all about, but they explained that and I thought it made sense. But also the quality of music at Lilith Fair is so high that it’s an indication of how many women are out there doing their own thing, and have been for a long time.

FEMMUSIC: What are your goals for the next five years?

SL: Musically? I don’t know. I really have got this far without having any specific goals apart from wanting to record my songs, and do interesting collaborations with musicians or producers. I’m really happy with the album I have out right now, No Mermaid (Interscope Records). So what I plan on doing is writing some more songs ’cause I’ve hardly had time recently. For the next five years I suppose I’d like to have made at least one more album of songs that I feel proud of.

FEMMUSIC: What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?

SL: Well, I hate to be discouraging. I love to be positive. If you decide to do this for your life I suppose once you’ve made that decision that’s the biggest part of it. Also, It’s difficult enough. There are so many people making music and so few are successful it can be daunting sometimes. If you just focus on the most important thing, which is writing your music and playing it to people, and for it to be a satisfying experience. I think everything else will fall into place.

FEMMUSIC: How would you compare the American versus European audiences?

SL: Well I think that when I’m playing to an audience in Ireland or an audience over here the reaction after the gig has been more or less the same. All my writing is very subjective, you know. I’m writing about people’s emotions, human emotions. So whether they’re from American, or Ireland or England or Canada, we all have the same experience, more of less the same feeling. So somebody who can relate to my music, then I’m relating to them above and beyond any sort of distinction of what country you’re from or anything. I don’t find the differences in people that very big at all.