The Kildare-born singer-songwriter Miranda Faul has been gaining a lot of traction since she entered the Irish music scene in 2022. Her rise in popularity has coincided with the growth and expansion found in her music, evolving from the one-woman acoustic guitar music of her open mic days to the full band setup of today. On Tuesday, Miranda will release her fourth single, “Delicate,” which she worked on with the highly-demanded producer Cian Sweeney and that adds some electropop elements into her sound.

Miranda took some time to talk with Post-Burnout about the song, her background, her career thus far, and everything in between.

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I guess the first thing I wanted to ask was a little bit about your background. I like this quote you had, where you said, “When someone asks me when I started playing music, I tell them that my dad handed me a ¼-sized Spanish guitar as soon as I could hold it.” I think that’s really cool because, in a very laconic description, it gives an idea of your background whilst still being somewhat vague about it.

Yeah.

It seems evident from that that music has been something that’s been part of your life seemingly forever. Guitar was your first instrument, [Laughs] I assume. So, how long have you been playing music and what made you want to do it as a profession?

I would say it’s always been part of my life. Like, my dad taught me [Laughs] when I was probably about five and then I taught myself guitar from there, and I went for piano lessons when I was a child, as well. So, I just always played, and I always sang, and I sang in choirs. I just never wrote songs, really. So, I went to college to study Physics – which [Laughs] was a time! – and I kind of just wanted to drop out and be a musician, but I still hadn’t really written any songs. And then, I don’t know, for some reason when I was nineteen, I was just having a crisis about dropping out and then I just wrote all these songs, and then, from then on, I felt… – I didn’t actually drop out; I finished the degree – but I felt like I actually could go and pursue music now because I’m writing, you know? It wasn’t just like, “I’m sitting here, playing guitar, but what would I do?”

Actually, when your dad taught you guitar as a youngster, was he teaching you specific songs or was he just teaching you how to tune a guitar and how to play chords? And, generally, as you took the reins yourself and started doing your own thing, how did you find the music that you started making or gravitated towards differed from what your dad was showing you, or did it differ?

Well, yeah, because he didn’t teach me any formal theory; so, he’d teach me how to play…I think R.E.M.[‘s] “Everybody Hurts” was the first song he taught me, so he would teach me those chords, and he would teach me how to play fingerstyle, or he would play little blues riffs and get me to copy what he was doing, but no theory. But then I had piano theory. I was doing a Songwriting diploma in BIMM a few years ago, and I just didn’t know, say, that when you play…Like, I knew that B minor was A minor on the second fret, but I didn’t know anything about semitones or the theory of guitar, which I think has been nice and it’s been nice to know. So, sometimes if I’m writing a song, I’ll write out the chords in a key and I’ll try and experiment a bit more beyond just going by ear, but a lot of times with guitar, I would just go by ear.

What do you find is more beneficial as a songwriter, for you: Is it theory or is it instinct? Which do you find you kind of gravitate more towards when songwriting?

It would be instinct. Like, normally if I write a song, I like to spend a good bit of time alone, because it’s really when I’m wandering around and letting my thoughts wander that I’ll have a little thought. It’s always, like, just one little thought and then I’ll think, “Oh, that could be something,” and then I’ll sing and I’ll go along with that, or I’ll pick out something on guitar. So, normally, it’s instinct, but I’ve just found it a bit useful lately, once I’ve got an initial instinct, to think about, “OK, what key am I in? What will be the sixth chord?” Something that I might not have just thought to go to myself, and kind of mix the two, really.

Yeah, that’s cool. So, instinct is the base of what you’re doing, and the theory helps you build on top of that, I guess?

Yeah. Yeah.

And then, obviously, you were mentioning, as you finished your diploma, you started getting into pursuing music as a career. It would have been, if I’m correct, post-pandemic? I think you started in 2022?

Yeah.

So, I think […] the silver lining of the pandemic, in a way, was that a lot of people did start reevaluating the stuff that they were doing and taking a chance on certain artistic endeavours. I was wondering, how did you find getting into the music scene? I assume you had already been familiar with it, as a fan of music, but, as a performer, how did you find getting your footing?

I think, for me, it’s been a slow process of doing a lot every day. So, I studied in Amsterdam from 2018 to 2021, so I wasn’t really aware of the Dublin music scene at all, because I wasn’t a student here, I didn’t go to gigs here, but I moved back. So, I went to BIMM to do the…they have a diploma in Songwriting, just because I thought it would be…I had no idea what to do. And I remember, at the time, feeling lost, because I was like, “Oh, I have no idea how to release a song, how to record a song, how to find a band. I don’t know how to do any of those things.” So, I feel it’s just been a slow process of going to open mics, working with producers, learning how to do that, having my first jam with the band, finding my own band, and playing gigs myself, and then, eventually, having gigs with my band, and just learning in tiny, little steps, really.

Yeah, because, obviously, the first songs that were coming out were primarily focused on yourself and the acoustic guitar, and they’re kind of relatively stripped-back; I mean, obviously, there’s added production flair, but it’s relatively stripped back. But, yeah, the project has expanded to a full band. How do you find that dynamic has changed the way you [write songs]? Is it more collaborative, do you bounce back and forth with your bandmates, or how does it differ now?

I think with my band, we would bounce back and forth on arrangements for our live gigs, which is great, but I think it’s more so working with producers that has kind of changed how I’d approach my music now. Because there’s one guy I work with in the Netherlands, since, like, September, and working with him was the first time I had really collaborated on an arrangement and harmonies and changed up chords with someone else, and he’d add bass and a drumbeat and synth and all these things. Because I think my earlier songs are very stripped, and I wanted more but I didn’t know what that was or how to do it, so now I’m working with a guy in Cork and it’s kind of the same approach where I would get my guitar line, I’d get my vocal line, we’d have a good chat about the sound that we’re going to go for, and then work that out. Yeah, so it’s kind of…it has changed my sound, definitely, but it’s kind of nice just to have other people’s input, you know?

Yeah. And, actually, you were talking about how different producers differentiate the sound a bit, I was wondering […] are you kind of shopping around [for] different producers to kind of see…I guess, to kind of expand and just kind of see what your music can be and what the walls are for what your music is, or are you looking for a producer to work with consistently? What is that process like, at the moment, I guess?

Yeah, it’s something I’ve been figuring out over the last year or so, I’d say. Because I can just record my band, as a fully acoustic band sound, or just me on guitar as a fully stripped thing, or go for more of a pop production. So, I think where I’m at now, I’m kind of sticking to two producers just not to have too much inspiration; like too many different sounds. So, I’ve got a few songs that are coming out now that I would say are a little bit like a folk-pop production. I’m thinking of doing a very stripped EP, later on in the year; just folk with very subtle production, to try that out, as well. But, yeah, I don’t want to limit myself too much, to just say, “OK, this is my sound, I’m going to stay here.” I think it’s good to try out different things.

When you came back from Amsterdam and got into the Dublin music scene as it is now, what did you find, I guess, in what the scene had become since you’d been away?

I think it’s really great, and, like, I don’t have a reference point for what it was like before, but even compared to when I was living in Amsterdam and all of my Dutch friends…Like, one of my best friends from the Netherlands, she’s a big music fan, and she came to Dublin to do a diploma in Music Business at BIMM, and she also said that it’s so much better here than Amsterdam. Like, I think there are just so many promoters who want to give you a chance, so many active open mics where you can just go along by yourself and meet people, there’s always a good crowd, and then different opportunities come from going to those events. Like, it’s really, really great. I think there’s just so much happening every night of the week.

Yeah, and I think there’s also such not only talent but such versatility in what’s out there. Did you find people were accommodating when you were approaching people to perhaps collaborate with or to book shows with? […] How did you find approaching people to work with, as a new musician?

Yeah, like, I found it really great. So, I think the open mic scene has been a really good or has been a really good starting point, just to build a network, and then there’ll be people who organised that open mic and will tell someone else about you, who will then offer you a gig. So, it just feels like they want to help you, and, even finding a band, I’d find one person who’d suggest someone else to ask for drums, who’d suggest someone else to ask for bass. […] I just feel there’s energy there, you know?

Totally. And, obviously, between starting this project in earnest and actually getting your music out, it seems like, to me, to be a relatively quick turnaround rate. I mean, [her first single] “Renegade” was brought out, I think, only, like, a year after you started, maybe less than a year, and, obviously, since then you’ve had “Summer,” you’ve had “Not Much Of A Man,” you’ve had so many succeeding singles in that time. Do you find, for yourself, that it has been such a quick turnaround rate, or, to you, does it feel more gradual?  How does it feel to you?

I think I just work very hard, and there was this period…So, like, September, October, November, I worked on this song and then we lost the whole song, right when it was nearly finished. That was with a producer I was working with. So, then, I don’t know, for months, I had a photoshoot, and we were working on my song “Not Much Of A Man,” and everything was just really slow, and I felt like I was doing all this work and nothing’s happening, because there’s no releases. And now it’s just lovely that, all of a sudden, I had “Not Much Of A Man” come out and all my next songs are lined up, like, one every month or two for the next months. [sic] So, yeah, I don’t know, to me, everything feels slow because I work so hard and I see all these projects that I want to happen and I see how I want them to happen, and I’m not very patient! [Laughs]

Yeah, fair! [Laughs] And, beyond Dublin, have you been playing around the country much or has your focus, at the moment, been on the Dublin music scene?

Yeah, my focus has been Dublin. Like, last summer…I’m from South Kildare, so I played at the Carlow Arts Festival, and the Kilkenny Arts Festival, and I would really like to branch out a bit more – like, even, Cork, and Belfast, Galway – but it’s not something I’ve done yet. I’ve one gig in Amsterdam in November, so I’d like to even try to get to London and Amsterdam, but I’ve mainly been focusing on Dublin, yeah.

Would that be you travelling with the full band, or would that just be yourself with a guitar, or how does that dynamic work when it comes to travelling, I guess?

That one will just be me, because my friend who’s into music business, her dad is a promoter in Amsterdam, so he’s got me on a support slot for a kind of a folk band, so that will just be me. I think the logistics of bringing the whole band would [Laughs] be a bit beyond me, right now.

Yeah, but I think it is kind of cool that your music is adaptable to a kind of minimal set-up like that, where it is just yourself and a guitar, because then it does offer a lot more opportunities, in terms of travel, in terms of even just set-up and stuff at the show. Is that something, if you were to start branching out and touring more, you’d like to begin, perhaps, in a more minimalistic setting like that, or…?

Yeah, like, I am comfortable playing with just me and my acoustic guitar. I like having…like, if it’s a bigger stage or whatever, I do like having the band, but once I feel like my rhythms are tight and everything is good, I’m happy with myself, as well.

I actually found, when I was listening to your music, that the guitar and the vocals can be kind of contrasting. Do you often find it difficult to sing and do the guitar part at the same time, or has that been easy for you?

Yeah, and I think, sometimes, I feel like I get lost in, like, emails and PR and my mix notes and everything, and then I go to play and I’m like, “My rhythm is off!” [Laughs] “Like, I need to rehearse more and actually be a musician and not just an event organiser, basically.” I feel like there are some songs where I have to play them, like, five times a day and then I can play them tight, but it can be hard to get to that point with some of them, yeah.

Do you find playing music is something you have to do as an exercise or is it something you do out of enjoyment? Do you just pick up an instrument while watching TV or something and just start playing, or is it something where you’re like, “No, I have to actually focus time and consideration for what I’m doing”?

I think it’s hard because it is very much fun for me just to pick up a guitar and play songs, and write little bits, and sing, and, on some level, [Laughs] that’s all I want to do, but then if I’m like, “No, I just played a gig and my rhythm was off. I need to rehearse my set for a few hours to a click,” that’s work. Or, if I’m going to the studio to do a song, I’ll spend a few weeks obsessively workshopping those vocals, and that’s work and that’s discipline, but the actual just picking out things on my guitar is fun.

When it comes to your songwriting process, is it playing an instrument and finding something that you like, or do you often have melodies and you try to recreate what’s in your head? How does that process work?

Sometimes – and I have this more lately – I wouldn’t have an instrument at all, and I’ll write…Like, it’s happened a few times where I’m just making dinner and I’ll write something – and then I feel that it’s more free because I can throw it around; it’s almost like freestyling and I can play around with words better, then – or even when I’m out walking or something. But then sometimes, if I just play a little sad chord transition on piano, that can lead to a melody. So, it’s kind of a bit of both.

Actually, I read something that you wrote, and it was interesting, what you were talking about. It’s something I relate to a lot, where you have the general idea of what it is you’re trying to express, but then when it comes to actually trying to articulate and put it into words, it can actually be quite difficult to actually express some abstract ideas, you know? And I totally related to that. […] How many times do you have to revise something you wrote and go, “Oh, no. I actually…I want it to be expressed like this,” and has there ever been anything you’ve put out on record that you feel like, “Hmmm. I could’ve expressed that better” [Laughs] or are you content with everything you have?

Em, I think…

Sorry if that’s a big question. [Laughs]

[Laughs] All the big questions! If I think of the songs I’ve released, I’m pretty happy with them, but I’ve had other songs that I won’t record because I can see, to me, parts of the lyrics that are just a bit cliché or don’t feel right. […] But I think with my song “Summer,” say, there were parts that I’d replaced by just writing for pages and pages and pages and just trying to find the way to say that one thing I wanted to say. Sometimes I feel, I don’t know, I could write a song in half an hour, but then, just to replace a couple of lines I don’t think are working, could take me hours of searching for the right line.

I want to talk about your new song that’s coming out, “Delicate.” I think, of all your songs so far, this has…Obviously – you were mentioning working with new producers brings new elements – you were working with Cian Sweeney on this one, and there is kind of an electropop element to it. What I think is cool is that the song isn’t contingent upon that element to work, so it is something that you can translate into a live setting. Was that something that you had consideration for before you went ahead or was that just how it came out? Were you like, “No, I have to replicate this live,” or what was that process?

I think, definitely, the live version and the produced version are, like, polar opposite songs. [Laughs] The way that I make my songs are, I work with a guy in Dublin, so I record all the vocals, and then I kind of comp them myself and send them on to Cian. So, a lot of what we ended up with was his idea, just based on my thoughts on the sound I wanted. So, I think it’s definitely something different than my live sound, you know? I kind of just wanted to experiment a bit. But I think, yeah, the core of the song, like the lyrics and the vibe of the guitar, that would be how I would play it, and that would be the song that I wrote, originally, by myself [Laughs], like, at home with my guitar.

Yeah. Actually, how did you meet Cian? Because he’s obviously worked with really big acts in the Irish music scene at the moment, so how did you get to know him, I guess?

Yeah, I think I saw…Like, I came across him a few times by accident. ESSIRAY and Qbanaa are two artists that I would be quite aware of, and I saw that he produced their latest songs, and I really liked the songs; it was kind of a sound that I wanted. So, I just reached out to him, contacted him, we had a call, and, yeah, we’re working on our third song – well, technically, our fourth song, now – yeah.

Perfect. I wanted to stick with “Delicate” for a second. Obviously, the lyrics are very emotionally vulnerable. Do you find that to be something that’s difficult to talk about, stuff that’s personal, or are you OK with that? How do you view what aspects of your own personal life that you feel comfortable talking about in a song versus what you choose not to sing about? How do you make those distinctions?

I don’t know, because I think when I write, I don’t really have a filter. Like, any difficult emotional experience I’ve had could come out in a song, and then, once I’ve written a song, I kind of forget that that’s the backstory to the song; I’m like, “Wow, I like this song! I want to share it!” And I’ve even had [Laughs] people at work asking me, like, “Are you OK?” Because I kept on sharing all of these miserable songs on my Instagram Stories, and I think I just forget that people can hear this! At some point, I just forget about the lyrics and I only see the song, and I’m like, “Oh, this is lovely!” But I would never just go and tell everyone at work about [Laughs] some difficulties I’ve had!

The other thing I wanted to ask was, you have an EP coming up in the summertime. Is “Delicate” on it? I wasn’t clear on that.

Yeah, so I’m going to have “Not Much Of A Man,” “Delicate,” and then I’m releasing a song in June and a song in July to all end up on the EP.

Perfect. One final thing I wanted to plug – you have two gigs coming up at the end of the month. [Editor’s Note: I deleted the information about the first gig in this part because it had passed by the publication date, and I, seemingly, don’t trust our readers not to get confused] and, also at the same venue, on the 25^th, you’re doing a headline show with Dollface, Shy, and Sunset Ensemble. Yeah, I was wondering if maybe you could talk a little bit about those shows and what people can expect if they pop along?

Yeah, so I’m really excited. It’s lovely to be at the Crowbar Terrace, twice in a week! [Laughs] I’m really excited about the gig on the 25^th. So, the Sunset Ensemble are the band who are going to be backing all of our sets. So, Craig – who’s playing bass in the band and organised the gig – he reached out to me and asked me to be involved; he kind of wanted to blur the boundaries between everyone’s sets, so change the sound up to match the artist but then to have two hours of continuous music, but just one band on all of our sets. So, I’m going to be hopping in on backing vocals and keyboards on the other girls’ sets, which is going to be really cool. So, I’m really excited about that one. [Editor’s Note: The rest of this answer was deleted. See: Question, for reason]

Perfect. I guess the final thing I’ll ask is, you have an EP coming out, you hinted at a potential second EP, too. [Laughs] Yeah, I was wondering, what does the rest of 2024 hold for you? What would you like to do and what’s already in the cards?

Yeah, so I’ve got “Delicate” coming out in April, and then my singles in June and July, or June and August. And then I kind of want to get back into the studio in the summer and get working on that next EP. And just play as many gigs as I can. Like, I tend to see a couple of projects at a time and a couple of months at a time, and I try and build on that, and it’s kind of hard to visualise beyond that because I don’t know what opportunities will come from what I’m doing now, if you get me.

Miranda Faul’s latest single, “Delicate,” will be released on Tuesday. You can presave the song here. Miranda will perform at the Crowbar Terrace tonight with Dollface, Shy, and Sunset Ensemble. Tickets can be bought from The Button Factory’s website. You can keep up to date with Miranda’s social media accounts, music, live dates, and more here.

Aaron Kavanagh

Aaron Kavanagh is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Post-Burnout. His writing can also be found in the Irish Daily Star, Buzz.ie, Totally Dublin, The GOO, Headstuff, New Noise Magazine, XS Noize, DSCVRD and more.