Interview: MEGAN O'NEILL, C2C Country 2 Country 2019, London

 I first interviewed UK country star Megan O'Neill way back in 2016 (you can read that interview here) so obviously a lot has changed since! I caught up with her at C2C Country 2 Country 2019 in London (check that out here) to discuss creating an album on her own, her favourite country artists, and what she wishes fans would bring to her shows - read on!

Ciara’s Country (CC): Hi Megan, thanks for taking the time to talk to me! So the last time we spoke was at Nashville Meets London in 2016.

Megan O’Neill (MO): That’s so long ago!

CC: It’s great to see that you’re still a big name in UK country music and popping up at every festival. How has it been growing within the genre over the past few years?

MO: It’s been really great. I think it’s been amazing to see country music grow in the UK. I’ve been really fortunate to be a part of that, and know and be friends with a lot of artists in the industry and see them grow as well. I’m really grateful to still be doing what I’m doing.

CC: How have you grown in the time you’ve been playing country music?

MO: So much! I think my first EP I released in 2015 was so different to what I’m doing now, and I think that’s kind of natural. You’re going to grow as an artist, you’re going to develop as a songwriter, you’re going to be going through different things in your life and want to write about different things. It’s been really great to explore other instrumentation and working with other people like producers, songwriters and the like. The new stuff is definitely quite different, but it is still in that core country genre, probably just more alternative country, whereas my first EP was country-pop, my second EP was country-blues, the album was probably I-don’t-really-know country! This stuff is definitely more alternative country.

CC: Of course 2018 was a big year for you with Ghost For You – what was it like putting that out into the world?

MO: It was really terrifying if I’m honest. It was my first full-length solo album, I’d just left Megan and the Common Threads which had been a project I’d been working on for two years, and it was a real learning curve for me. I made that album without a band, without a team, without a manager, without a label, without an agent; so it was an awful lot of figuring out how to do it on my own. But I’m really proud of that record and it’s gone down really well. It went to number one on the singer songwriter charts, and has allowed me to tour as much as I’ve toured in the last eighteen months. I’m really proud of it, and really happy that it’s out in the world.

CC: You covered it a bit there, but what were the best and worst parts of producing an album?

MO: Oh, man, so many! The worst part is definitely the expense, especially when you’re doing it all yourself. You don’t want to fall short on an album because you don’t want to pay for X, Y and Z; if you’re going to put it out there, you want it to be the best it can possibly be which costs more as the days go on. The financial aspect of it was really difficult. Also just simple things like the running order on the album, and how the songs are going to gel together; and the legal stuff behind registering it. That’s tough. But the good always outweighs the bad, that’s why we all stay in this industry. There’s been so many good things that have happened in the process of making it. I made it out in America, and working with the writers was a great experience. I don’t know if I can pinpoint a best bit.

CC: So the running order was a conscious decision?

MO: It was so hard! At the end I just threw my hands up in the air like ‘I don’t know!’ and just put things where I thought they made sense. I won’t do that again because I think the running order is so important in an album and you have to be really particular about the running order because one song is not going to make sense behind another song. There were a lot of different songs on Ghost Of You that could have been in various different genres so the running order was quite important. I’m not sure I nailed it, but people go on Spotify and press shuffle anyway so it doesn’t really matter.

CC: Very true! So, turning to C2C, how has that been?

MO: Really great so far. I just did my first set at the Big Entrance stage this morning and have my next set this afternoon at the Icon stage. There’s a really good crowd here. We played three new songs I haven’t played before and the response was really good. I’m excited for the next set.

CC: Do you have a favourite song to perform live?

MO: Oh my God, no. I think it depends on my mood, the crowd, whether you’re playing to a festival audience or an intimate room of a hundred people, it always varies. I definitely have some favourites though.

CC: Give me a few examples.

MO: I love playing Let’s Make One Up because it’s got a really nice groove. I love playing Ghost Of You when it’s full band because the chorus is so big. I love playing Girl Crush because it has a really nice groove to it as well.

CC: Do you have any pre-show rituals?

MO: I should! I try and just get myself into a really relaxed state and do a lot of breathing, which is completely impossible at C2C because you have ten minute changeover! At least at regular gigs you have a soundcheck for an hour, and then you have an hour to chill and change. Like, if you want to have a glass of wine or a hot lemon and honey, you can. At C2C, it’s like ‘go, go, go! Get on the stage!’ So the rituals go out the window.

CC: Well I find festivals like this a great place for fans to discover new artists.

MO: Oh yeah!

CC: Is there anybody you think people should be listening to at the moment?

MO: Everything that’s coming out of UK country. I know I’m biased because this is where I’m based, but at Country 2 Country, I feel the American artists get the most attention and I don’t necessarily think that’s very fair. Jake Morrell and Lisa Wright and Laura Oakes are three of my very good friends and also three very good musicians who really deserve the attention. A lot of people are coming to Country 2 Country and seeing the American artists and forgetting there’s homegrown talent here that’s really, really good. If people like country music, they should check out what’s in their home and give that a listen.

CC: You and Laura performed together at The Long Road, didn’t you?

MO: Yeah, we’ve performed together a number of times, as have Lisa and I, and Jake and I. We all collaborate a lot because we all started at the same time. We’re good friends.

CC: Well, I hope there’s more of that coming.

MO: Yeah, loads more of that coming!

CC: And what about the rest of 2019?

MO: It’s shaping up to be really busy which is great. There’s lots of touring, some shows in the US, working on new material. We’re going to be releasing the first single in May and then a few singles before the end of the year, and then the next album will be early 2020. I’m trying to take it one week at a time and not lose my mind. It’s all shaping up to be really great.

CC: Were the new ones some of the ones you played today?

MO: We played two new ones off the album and Girl Crush which we hadn’t performed live before. They were received really well.

CC: That’s a good sign! Final question: what’s one question you’ve never been asked in an interview but would love to be?

MO: Oh my God, that’s so hard! What’s my favourite coffee, so people can always come and buy it for me? Or my favourite type of red wine? They’re two of my favourite things in life.

CC: What are the answers then?

MO: Oat milk latte or Pinot Noir red wine.   

CC: I expect you’ll have them on your riders for future shows.

MO: One hundred percent!

CC: Brilliant, thank you so much! 

I hope you enjoyed today's interview! Feel free to drop me a message in the comments below and follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry to stay up to date on new interviews and reviews coming soon - thanks for reading!