‘Never meet your heroes’, says the old adage, because you run the risk of ending up disappointed. However, as a decades-long fan of Róisín Murphy’s music, you can bet that I jumped at the chance to interview one of electropop’s coolest leading ladies! Growing up in a small town in Germany, hits by Moloko, the electronic music duo Róisín founded with Mark Brydon, were playing up and down the local radio station as I sang along in the car. Tracks such as the iconic “Sing It Back” and “The Time Is Now” gave me a first taste of cosmopolitan glamour, but it was really during my formative years in London that the songs she put out as a solo artist became the sonic backdrop to my big city adventures.
Known for her bold and fearless fashion choices, I vividly remember hobbling along on vertiginous studded Gucci heels lent to me by my flatmate Natalie, a stylist, when we went to see Róisín perform at Brixton Academy. The fabulous Italian shoes were at least two sizes too small for me, but to honour the fashion icon on stage I gritted my teeth and danced until my feet went numb.
Fast forward a decade, and I have the immense privilege to interview her in person. This time, I only have the gentle hills of Cala Llonga to tackle to meet the renowned Irish singer and songwriter for our interview during the International Music Summit 2024.
With the accompanying photo shoot already having taken place a few weeks prior, I couldn’t resist asking Ibiza Style’s creative director and owner Mart Storck what Róisín is like. “Amazing, she was up for anything!” he tells me.
When we sit down in the bustling press room, Róisín enthusiastically confirms Mart’s statement. “I really enjoyed it. It was a full-on production – there was a horse involved,” she laughs.
Having adopted Ibiza as a second home, I have to ask about the first time she ever visited the island. “It was around when Sing It Back was a hit,” she recalls. “We dropped in here in the middle of August and I had a lot of press to do. It was horrendous, actually, it was far too hot, and I was far too busy and got full of Mosquito bites! But we went to the Manumission Hotel, and I sang there – that was really fun. And I’ve come back a million times since.”
Away from the hustle and bustle of summer, it was during the off-season that Róisín really fell in love with the island. She says, “I have a number of friends who live here, who have children, and it reminds me of how I was brought up in Ireland, where we always had lots of really interesting adults around. Ibiza has that sense of community that we had back in Wicklow, where I’m from, where people will come from the other side of town to help you out. That was really the reason why I wanted to be here, to be part of a community.”
Of course, as a creative powerhouse, Ibiza also inspires her work. She says, “I worked on some of my latest album here, and I made a film recently that’s called Is This Balearic? Asking For A Friend, where I go around some of my favourite spots on the island.”
With her latest album Hit Parade lauded by critics as “the best record of Murphy’s career”, and the remix package about to land, the singer has been touring extensively and is looking forward to another busy summer ahead. “I don’t spend nearly as much time here as I’d like to,” she laments. “I love that time when you’re sunning yourself every day, roasting like a chicken! But I haven’t had a sun tan in the past two years because I’ve been coming and going so much.”
The day after our interview, Róisín is billed to perform live in the breathtaking setting of IMS Dalt Vila. Even during sound check, her powerful voice sounds flawless as it echoes amongst the ancient walls of the UNESCO World Heritage site. When she takes to the stage later that night, her presence and charisma is palpable. And, naturally, she has a fabulous outfit to boot – a leather biker jacket by Japanese designer Junya Watanabe, embellished with studded leather cones. Having given us many iconic looks throughout her career, it would be a crime to interview Róisín and not ask her about her sartorial flair. “I find inspiration everywhere,” she says. “I keep my eye out on Instagram, obviously, and I make a lot of connections with young designers through that. I also had a few things made in the last few years, crazy outfits, with triangles coming out of everywhere. “Lately my look on stage has been quite Victorian in a way; very monochrome with, perhaps, a splash of red. And where it all comes from is that I found this really old silk top hat, which is around a hundred years old. The real selling point for me was when the guy who sold it to me said that, according to British law, it is still illegal for me to wear it – because I am not aristocratic! So I could actually be arrested in the UK for wearing it.”
Whether you have witnessed Róisín on stage or encounter her in person, it is evident that she is a strong character. A recovering people-pleaser myself, I ask her if she has ever experienced record label executives or managers trying to control her creative output or agenda? “I have always been able to stand my ground,” she says. “In the early days, I had a skinhead and wore big boots. I had been living on my own since I was 16, because my family sort of dissipated. We had moved to Manchester from Ireland when I was 12, and when my mum decided to go back, I decided I wanted to stay. So I learned to be independent from quite a young age, and whenever there has been any kind of issue in my life, I remember that teenager that went ‘No, I can do this.’ That moment of being brave, it really served me well.”
Explaining that she takes creative direction across her music, videos, wardrobe and social media, Róisín also manages herself. “So I only do what I want to do,” she laughs. “But for any artist, any creative, you have to learn how to say ‘no’. So many people struggle with that, but the power of saying ‘no’ can be extremely important.”
We most certainly feel honoured that she said ‘yes’ to this interview!
