A trip to America will cost me money

When Taylor Swift’s ticket sales hit $2 billion and Coldplay sold out all 10 of their shows at Wembley Stadium, it’s easy to think of touring musicians holding The sight of wads of cash, like a guitar-wielding Scrooge McDucks.

But for many artists, touring is becoming less and less feasible. Since 2019, the costs of taking shows on the road — from van rentals and gas, to crew fees and accommodation — have been skyrocketing.

Little Simz and Rachel Chinouriri are among the artists to cancel US tours this year due to poor financial conditions.

In our interview about her new album Everybody Needs A Hero, Dublin indie artist Orla Gartland explains how serious the situation has become.

A month later, she will embark on her first North American tour, playing 13 shows in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit and Philadelphia. It’s sold out every night. Due to high demand, some venues have been upgraded.

But she said, “The amount of money I lost on that tour was eye-watering.”

How much exactly?

“About £40,” she frowned.

“I even had to pay to expedite the band’s visa the other day… It’s scary, but it’s okay. Everything will go smoothly.

Gartland is determined to achieve this goal, as touring the United States has been her top priority since she posted music on YouTube under the name “MusicMaaad” at age 13.

“I’ve never played there properly, so promoting this tour was really a prayerful time,” she said. “It was so cool when it sold out.”

The singer isn’t a household name yet, but to those in the know, she’s been an independent from the moment early EPs like “Lonely People” and “Roots” showcased her sharp lyrics and sophisticated songwriting skills One of music’s most promising talents.

She built her audience (and a degree of financial independence) by launching the “Secret Demo Club” in 2016 – around 1,000 fans pay up to £13 a month to receive demo recordings, live streams directly from the club and “In Depth” songwriting videos.

In 2022, when her song “Why Am I Like This” was used key scene Netflix’s coming-of-age drama Heartstopper.

Within a week of its premiere, the show was played 1.4 million times in the United States alone.

American fans have been begging Gatland to tour there for years. With her second album about to hit shelves, 2024 feels like the right time.

“America is so big and I’m just fascinated by it,” she said.

“The fans there seem to love music in different ways. I’ve had messages from people saying they’re driving 12 hours from North Carolina to see me.

“We won’t do that here. People will say, ‘Why don’t you play football?East London?

Gatland’s new album, Everybody Needs A Hero, is made for live performance. It’s filled with jagged guitar lines and fiery melodies that bite hungrily at your earlobes.

first single kiss your face forever is a grunge-pop anthem about carnal obsession, and the follow-up little chaos It is a crazy reflection of inner unrest.

These bombastic songs are paired with more vulnerable songwriting, e.g. Popular – Gatland describes a friendship so close in a simple ballad, “If you get cut, I’ll feel the sting”.

These 12 songs are an autopsy of a five-year single relationship, examining all the different feelings you can have for the same person, from the heady rush of first love to the unease of realizing something is wrong.

It’s profound and wise, and it recognizes that all these emotions can coexist – something she makes clear in the opening song, Both of these things are true.

“When I listen to pop music that’s really, really commercial, I just think it’s a little silly,” Gatland explains.

“It’s simple – fall in love or break up. That’s not my experience with relationships. It’s more dense and I thought it would be fun to use that as a thread throughout the album.

In “Who am I?”

The song begins with an idle thought – “I cut my hair the way you said you wanted/Do I have no free will?”—this can turn into an existential crisis. At the end of the song, Gatland sings: “I am a silhouette of who I am”.

“I see this in myself and a lot of my female friends,” she said. “You’re kind of manic, running around giving your energy to other people, and then you’re left feeling like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t even know what I want.’

“So this song is about you trying to take your foot off the gas and thinking, ‘If I take you out of the equation, is my identity going to be shattered?'”

“Everybody Needs a Hero” was released last Friday, and critics are already giving it rave reviews. Far Out magazine called it “incredible evolution”, “Dork” magazine praised it as “Delightfully rebellious“With a sound, the golden pick named Gatland “A Blue Ribbon Composer in Alternative Pop”.

Instead, the musician had no idea what she thought of the record.

“I don’t have an opinion,” she said with a laugh. “Deep down, I’m proud of it. I think it stands out a little bit more on the edges than the music I’ve made before – but I wish I could erase my memory and hear it for the first time.

fair enough. She’s been living with the album for two years, on and off, surrounding her commitment to it Indie pop supergroup Fizz.

The band she formed with friends Dodie, Greta Isaac and Martin Luke Brown released an album of delightful harmonic psychedelic pop last year and Soon found themselves becoming festival favorites.

The record took less than a week to write and record, freeing the band from the pressures of a solo career. For Gatland, who spent years obsessing over tiny details in his home studio, the freewheeling approach was a revelation.

“This is a big deal,” she said. “I realized that if you change it too much, you can easily suck the magic out of the song.”

She still writes on her own – claiming collaborators can find her methods “intolerable” – but approaches recording with a newfound looseness.

“Making sure everyone is eating well, taking a nice walk in the afternoon – all of that is mixed into the music,” she said. “When someone is having a good time, you can hear it in their voice.”

Although some of the songs were written in her London flat, others were based on impromptu jam sessions held at a studio on a farm in mid-Devon.

“That’s what little Chaos is,” she said. “We picked a key, recorded it for 40 minutes, and then I took all the individual parts home and chopped them up.

“I made a chorus part, I made a verse part and sang the vocals over the top.

“It was so exciting to be able to rewrite the recorded drums. It made me want to match the energy. I would stand up a little taller when I sang.

The result is a record that bursts from the speakers with confidence, as does its worldview.

Gatland can’t wait to play the new music live. She’ll probably lose money going to the US, but she’s looking forward to a “fun, tough” few weeks on a tour bus.

Her only regret was leaving the kitchen.

“Restaurant food and endless takeout are wearing down my soul,” she said.

“I’ve definitely seen YouTube videos of people making elaborate meals using equipment provided in hotel rooms.”

For example?

“Oh, it’s like cooking a toasted sandwich with a trouser press, or frying an egg on an iron covered with foil.

“But I don’t know…I guess I can’t bring myself to try it.”