Natalya O’Flaherty
Irish spoken word’s rising star.
Not so long ago it would have seemed unlikely to feature a spoken word artist on a music site, but there seems to have been a significant crossover recently. Were there any musicians who inspired you to start writing poetry?
When I was in school I got really into George Watsky- an American musician and poet. I heard his music before I heard his poetry but it immediately resonated! I remember being so in awe of his lyricism, I was desperate to be so eloquent in my writing. I even used to write (but never send) letters to him, cringe..
Where did you start performing?
I started at an open mic night in town, The Circle Sessions. I was 15 when I started going, I was hanging around with lots musicians and buskers so it happened really organically. It didn’t matter how good or experienced you were, you were welcomed on stage. It was the perfect place for me to test the waters of performing!
How has it been appearing at music gigs?
I love it now, but a when I first started I felt very much like filler material. My name wouldn’t be on the line up and I’d get small slots between the musicians or I’d open. A lot has changed in the last few years though, music and poetry are constantly overlapping and spoken word is garnering a lot of positive attention and is definitely earning its own space.
Would you ever consider putting your words to music in the future?
I don’t know. It works for lots of poets, and it could work for me. I actually did a poem over a cover of Jape’s floating that I worked on with Post-Party which worked really well. For now though I’m really into the idea of sound scapes and ambience, it helps to lift up the piece rather than distract from it.
