Introducing: Runah

Irish musician Runah last featured on the blog with Mother back in 2019. The release of their stunning new track Ghost Light felt like a great opportunity to catch up with the artist to find out what they’ve up to since then, and gain an insight into the person behind this unique, entrancing sound.

First up, could you tell us a bit about Runah, the musician?

Hello, I am a solo artist, I love fantasy and picking apart the human experience. I enjoy playing with the experience of being alive at this time and turning it into music. My music sits somewhere between indie-electronica, alt-folk and alt-pop… I think.

What inspires you to write?

I love fantasy, my whole childhood was all about books and stories, I think it became my comfort blanket. When I write life drives me, the human experience, but it all ends up wrapped up in fantastical elements. I think that is what keeps me going back, living in a different realm with my thoughts for a while.

Who has the most influence on your music?

I think humans kind of collect narratives and perspectives from our immediate surroundings. My biggest influences are whatever or whoever creeps into my day-to-day life. If I am absorbed by the internet my music tends to get a little darker and stranger. If I am spending lots of time in nature my music tends to be all about mother earth and the feeling of my body in nature. So, I think it depends. In the same way, who I am listening to changes the landscape of my writing and production.

Is being a solo artist important to you?

Yes, as much as I would love to share the stage with a band again, I am quite introverted so it can become overwhelming. I also love the freedom of being able to curate worlds that just flow from my mind into the music and visuals (with an amazing group of people at Picture Mode, Beardfire Music and Bonfire Records) with very few obstacles. I think especially in the early stages of creation the fewer obstacles the better.

What has been the biggest challenge of your career so far?

I think finding the right people. It can feel lonely at times so finding the right people professionally and personally has been invaluable.

If you could support anyone, who would it be and why?

Sylvan Esso, their music makes me eternally happy, and it would make my dancing feet very happy to be a part of one of their shows.

What other bands do we need to be checking out right now?

I’m just going to make a list of what I am listening to, I hope that’s ok! DYVR, Megan Dixon-Hood, Maddy Storm, Becca Mancari, Kat Cunning, Dream Wife, Alice Phoebe Lou and Sylvan Esso, off the top of my head.

What was the last album or song you listened to?

Song: Ashniko – Slumber Party
Album: Alice Phoebe Lou – Orbit

Tell us about the background of your recent single, Ghost Light.

Ghost Light was inspired by an online exhibition my friend Abigail Henry showcased at the beginning of the pandemic. She worked in two theatres in Manchester and asked permission to capture the theatres in these moments. The Exhibition was called Ghost Light. Ghost lights are lights switched on in the theatre when the theatre is closed for the night or a longer period of time. They are left on for safety reasons but there is also a superstition they are left on for the ghosts that dwell in the theatre to perform under.

Ghost Light also has a B-side, Let’s do it all again, a song about the experience of loneliness. I felt, although the song is about my experience, that the spirits would feel lonely in their disembodied state continuing to perform their pieces.

This, to me, was a strange reflection of how we have a tendency to continue to perform our lives, disembodied, in moments when we really need connection.

Any teasers for the next few months?

In October (my favourite month of the year) I will be releasing my sophomore album. Full of spooky tunes and strange landscapes. I am so proud of this piece of work.

Ghost Light and Let’s do it all again are out now via Burn The Money, an Imprint of BonFire Records. For listening details and to find out more about Runah’s upcoming album check out their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter socials.