Rosa Nutty is a songwriter from Dublin. Since the 2015 release of her EP Bunny she has been making her mark on the music scene, both here in Ireland and overseas. Her songs are relatable - definitely to those of us who have experienced heartbreak anyway (can I see a show of hands…)

A soothing but sombre guitar serves as a perfect backdrop to Nutty’s poignant lyrics and soft vocals, which is all further enriched with a subtle but moving set of harmonies. Her most recent EP, Pips, was released to a packed out room in The Workman's Club last month, where we caught up with her afterwards to have a chat about songwriting, the satisfaction of releasing material, and playing in Reykjavik.

The songs that you write and sing feel a bit darker and moodier, with an atmospheric, alt-rock feel to them - not like Radiohead, but with an essence of Radiohead’s darkness in there. Would you agree with that?

No, not at all! I think that a lot of the songs that sound a bit darker are from a few years ago and when I started writing music, I wrote the music that came out so that might reflect how I felt at the time. I think they’re really good cathartic songs for me to sing now because its really good to engage with that.

You came on the scene about 2 years ago, and since then you’ve played not only loads of festivals in Ireland (Castlepalooza, KnockanStockan, Canalaphonic and the Other Voices Music Trail) but you’ve been to Reykjavik and London which is very impressive. Is it a surprise to you that you’ve gotten to these heights in such a short period of time?

All of the cool gigs, were definitely me forcing the door down on somebody else! I’d like to play it cool and be like ‘Well, Reyjkavik rang and begged me to play…..’ and it was very Eurovision and I agreed immediately…. but, unfortunately, that’s not the case! They were these opportunities that were made available to me that I just totally jumped at. Theres nothing like playing music to an audience from a different country because the cultural relevance isn't there. Your songwriting and your songs just have to stand up by themselves. You have to be out there and I really love that, i think it’s really shaping.

A lot of your recordings are with a full band, but you are a singer/songwriter primarily. When you’re writing a song do you write arrangements with a full band in mind or do you just write it for yourself and fill it out later?

I think when I write a song I can hear how eventually I would like it to sound. I’m so lucky with the band that I have, they’re really, really excellent. They’re really open and creative musicians. So to be honest I bring the bare bones of the music to them and they add a lot to it - it’s not me telling them what to play, its very much a team effort, so I can definitely not take their credit because they bring so much. Whatever magic way it works out, it normally ends up sounding like how I imagined it, which is really satisfying. I think that’s a sign of a healthy working relationship - they’re awesome.

It sounds like you’re really good friends with your band…

Yeah, well I know the bassist and the drummer for years, but |I only know the girls (keyboards and backing vocals) the last year and a half, but they’re all really terrific and just general dreamboats!

So, you just released your Pips EP, along with your song Hives on Soundcloud on the same day. Tell me about the process of making the EP? And does it feel good now to release it into the wild and let it roam!?

We did it ourselves actually, myself and Ciarán, who is the bassist in the band - we recorded it in his studio. We took our time with it. We work very well together so we spent time and layered things and worked on everything and if something didn’t feel right we changed it until we eventually came to the finished product, which I’m really satisfied with. How it feels to release it? Well, when you’re recording you're essentially sitting in a room with a person for a long period of time, and you cant hear any more what the songs sound like because they've gone through every stage. They’ve been dissected to their bare bones and its very hard to get an indicate of what that finished product sounds like. So when I release anything it’s a real kinda like *sighs* baited breath moment because you’re just waiting to see if there's a response, or a feeling there that people understand because you just can’t tell anymore. I don't mean that in a bad way, I still love the songs and everything, but you just cant see it objectively at all, and when you release something and get a reaction, it’s so satisfying.

Have you got any festivals or gigs planned for the summer, or any more recording?

I’m not gonna be recording for the next 3 months anyway, I’m gonna hang up my recording hat for a little while and take a break! Yeah we have a few things planned, the most notable being Castlepalooza in August which I’m really looking forward to. Not massive amounts to be honest because we’ve been so consumed with what we have been doing lately with the EP, but hopefully now we’ll get a chance to get a few fun plans in place and get going on them!