Rita Perry: "Music was there from the very beginning"

Music comes to people at different times and in different ways, but listening to Rita Perry’s debut EP, you just know music is in her bones. Rita wrote, produced, mixed, and of course, sings and plays on the EP, which is pretty impressive when you hear how complete it is.

“I don’t know if I intended to give myself all those credits,” Rita laughs. “When you’re doing things DIY, it just ends up being that way. The songs were there. That part is easy. That’s me and my guitar and my voice. So all of that came together really fast.”

Having written some of the songs back in lockdown, I wonder what they say about her now.

“They feel very much from a specific chapter in my early twenties,” she explains, “so I don’t know if they say so much about me now, maybe more about how I got here. I think when you’re reflecting, there’s always ways to reconnect back with some past self. I’m still in those songs, but I have a very different feeling. There’s a certain care I have for them that I wouldn’t have had at the time. Probably because I’m somewhat nostalgic for how I perceived things at the time.”

FAMILY IN CATALUNYA

Born in Barcelona to a Catalan mother and an Irish father – Robbie Perry, percussionist and uilleann pipes player with legendary indie pioneers Dead Can Dance and younger brother of lead singer Brendan – Rita’s EP reflects on her unique sense of identity and belonging.

“Ideas around identity have been a constant in my life,” she confesses. “The question of authenticity and belonging are things I’ll always question as I go through life. By this point, I’ve come to realise the world is big enough, and my heart is big enough, to be from two different places, and I would hope that doesn’t make me less of anything. But it’s a very interesting experience!”

Track two on the EP, ‘Tard pel Trebal’, is sung in both Catalan and English. Was it important to feature both languages?

“First of all, it’s really natural. When I speak with my mum, it’s half a sentence in English, half a sentence in Catalan,” she explains. “I was trying to write in the way I would speak in an intimate setting – and the song is about being in that kind of setting with someone.

“There’s a real intimacy for me to have Catalan present, especially when I’m performing, or if I’m in Ireland or in an English-speaking space. There’s something so grounding about having Catalan there for me.”

Having spent her school holidays with her family in Catalunya, I ask if Rita considers herself Catalan rather than Spanish.

“Yeah, I would consider myself Catalan,” she asserts. “When I was growing up, I would have said, ‘I’m going to Spain’ instead of saying I’m going to Catalunya. Because where I was growing up, people knew Barcelona as a holiday destination, but didn’t know about Catalunya or even Catalan. So it just felt like so much effort to have to explain things about myself. Part of the journey has been realising I don’t actually have to explain everything, as long as I feel those things are represented in some way.”

With Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez having recently declared “No to war” in the Middle East, I ask how Rita feels about Spain’s stance.

“As a Catalan, it can be a complicated relationship between representatives in the Spanish government and internal politics, but in terms of the world stage, I’m very proud of Spain. As I am of Ireland at times,” she adds. “A lot more could be done, so it’s hard to give a total seal of approval, but certainly Sánchez has said and done a lot more than other leaders.”

While Rita is very connected to her Catalan roots, she is also a proud Cavan woman.

“I grew up in the countryside, so we always had a veggie patch and spent a lot of time gardening, whether we wanted to or not,” she laughs. “Having fresh vegetables right there on the table at dinner time was such an amazing experience growing up. Watching my parents value that so much, I guess they instilled that in us.

“My Granny is an amazing gardener and can make anything grow. But she’s not exactly very romantic or sentimental about any of it. She’s quite a practical woman, so it’s been funny having both practical and romantic experiences of nature always present around me!”

Rita Perry. Photo: Sorcha Frances Ryder

LANDSCAPES, FAIRYTALES & FOLKLORE

Growing up with creative parents – as well as her musician father, her mother works in film – was hugely influential in Rita becoming an artist.

“Music was there from the very beginning. I didn’t have to go far to find it,” she says of being Robbie Perry’s daughter. “What’s great about my Dad is that he’s a percussionist first and foremost. I mean, he plays absolutely everything, but he’s a percussionist, which was fantastic when I was growing up, because it meant I would sing a lot of songs and play guitar while he drummed.

“The great thing about percussionists is that they’re not listening to you, lyrically, which meant I could improvise a lot while being in a room with another person. That was amazing for songwriting. I think I developed a skill to improvise lyrics without having to be too self-conscious. I’ll always be grateful for that.”

Rita’s EP features a host of talented musicians, including Caimin Gilmore on double bass, Peter Broderick on strings, Pep Gol on trumpet, Jonny Pickett (DUG) on banjo and, of course, Robbie Perry, whose driving percussion is a special feature. Having had a successful career himself, as a multi-instrumentalist both with Dead Can Dance and Kíla, and as a teacher and instrument-maker, how does her father feel about the release?

“He’s proud. It’s been great craic,” she enthuses. “It’s an amazing thing to be able to play music with a family member. We’ve played together my whole life, so it just made so much sense that he would be part of this project.”

Neil Young, Karen Dalton and Planxty were a big influence on Rita growing up.

“The first songs I remember learning would have been my Dad teaching me songs like ‘Blacksmith’ and ‘Raggle Taggle Gypsy’ walking down the lane with him,” she recalls. “Now, I’m lucky enough to be friends with a lot of amazing contemporary musicians like Lemoncello, who would be a big inspiration.”

Rita has also collaborated with fellow Cavan artist Josh McClorey, on a collection of songs inspired by Cavan’s landscapes, fairytales and folklore. She’s looking forward to their upcoming hometown gig in the Townhall Arts Centre.

“It will be one of the first chances to play the EP post-release, and we’re going to perform some songs that we’ve been working on, along with some of Josh’s own songs,” she enthuses. “There’s something about playing to an audience that kind of knows you. It’s really important, especially when it’s your first time putting out new music. It can be such a vulnerable process.”

As she looks ahead to taking her music on the road, Rita Perry’s debut launches an exciting new artist with fascinating pedigree into the ever-growing sea of extraordinary talent in Ireland.

“It’s going to be a very interesting experience putting the songs into a live context,” she says. “Half the fun of recording it was playing with arrangements, so it will be very full circle to bring it all to the stage.”

• Kill Your Darlings is out now. Rita Perry & Josh McClorey play the Townhall Arts Centre, Cavan on April 11.