After spending the last few months building and cultivating her sound, Irish artist Róisín Bohan is now introducing her Queen Bitch project with the euphoric debut single 'Bones'.
Channelling a brilliantly bold and explosive alt-rock aesthetic for her initial offering, 'Bones' makes for an impressive introduction to her sound so far. With its raw and driven hooks perfectly set to her shimmering vocals throughout, she is kicking things off with a wonderfully inventive opening number here.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with her to find out more about her origins and what has been inspiring her most lately.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
My favourite instrument is definitely my voice! It’s a recent love affair. I was in choirs when I was younger but I was never very confident at singing alone. I began doing a few singing lessons in January 2022 because I knew I needed to become more confident if I was going to start performing my own music. It was a big learning curve - I really didn’t know the capacity of my own voice at all, or how to use it. It brings me so much joy now to sing. Like, if I’m feeling stressed or down, or generally not in the best form, if I just sing it’s an instant mood boost and transformation.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
I liked a lot of different music - I guess I went through different music phases. I could loosely define it as pop when I was pre-teen, indie and rock in my teens, and I got into electronic music around my 20’s. I’ve a memory from when I must have been around 11, listening to Jamelia’s single ‘Superstar’ on tape, pausing the tape and rewinding, so I could write each line down and learn the lyrics off. I think I was caught dancing around my room singing along and being really embarrassed. When I was 17/18, I ended up getting really into The Prodigy after I accidentally won tickets to see them play in the Marquee in Cork. I had texted into a radio show thinking I was entering a competition to win a copy of some new album (by some artist I can’t even remember now), and I ended up winning the tickets. It was a great gig.
What was the first album you remember owning?
I think it was the Spice Girls debut album.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
There’s a Dublin band called Eppie, who I know as I met the front woman Palomi from going to open mic nights this year. She has a song called ‘First name basis’ which is SO GOOD!!! When I first heard it I thought “damnnn I wish I wrote that!”. I thought the song was really sexy and I needed a sexy song for my repertoire, and that inspired me to write my song ‘Turn the lights down’.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Not really. When I’m writing new music it comes about in different ways - sometimes a hook line will come to me when I’m trying to go to sleep (kind of annoying, but also, thank you for coming to me hook lines), when I feel the need to express something, or just because I feel like I haven’t written something in a while and I want to see what will happen if I sit down to try.
I do have a habit once the songs have been relatively established, which is a bit of an organisation system involving making lists and checkboxes - a kind of visual for myself of where I’m at in the development of the songs. I make columns for things such as “Lyrics completed” and “Song structure completed”, so I can get a sense of what I need to focus on - what songs are nearly finished, what songs are needing more work, etc. It helps me focus and it’s also really satisfying. I looked back at the sheet I started last year with the heading ‘First Album’, and it’s really interesting to see which songs got left behind, and which songs ended up becoming my favourite one - some quite unexpected!!
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
To be honest, I’ve been living under a bit of a rock the last couple of years, trying to find my voice and find my own style with the music. Now that I’ve started to release my music, I’m finding that I’m beginning to open up again to discover and enjoy new music, or reconnect with music I would have listened to previously. A new artist I’ve been really enjoying listening to recently is Ailsha, who recorded at the same studio as I. I attended a recent gig of hers and it was the most fun I’ve had at a gig in ages.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
I would love to open for Foo Fighters!
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Just last week I had my first gig with a full band at Fibbers Magees pub in Dublin. At the end of the show several people I didn’t know came up to the stage to tell me how much they had enjoyed the music. It was really moving and totally unexpected.
And what is the most frustrating part?
For where I’m at right now, it’s just finding opportunities to get the music out there to be heard. I mean - it’s happening, but I’m very impatient! Haha. It’s ebbs and flows - the ebbs feel frustrating, but then for example I find out that the track I’ve released has been added to a playlists, or a gig opportunity is confirmed, and that’s really exciting and clears away any of that frustration.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Have fun!!!
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Queen Bitch's debut single 'Bones' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.