Dublin Music Spotlight

Interview by Róisín Mckeown

Efé (Eff-ay) is one of the biggest names in the Dublin music scene right now. Her bedroom pop blend of guitars, drums, keys, and airy vocals singing beautiful melodies is infectious. 

The first song I heard from Efé must have been “Seven”; an R&B led track released in 2020. Since then, she’s put out two EP’s; 

“What Should We Do This Summer?” in 2020, and “Vitamin C” in 2022 (which includes my favorite song of hers; “Loving Girl”), as well as releasing several music videos, and playing lots of gigs; opening for Still Woozy on tour in the autumn of 2022, and building up a dedicated following in Dublin and abroad. 

Here’s what she had to share about her journey so far, and what’s to come…

Róisín: To start off; how are you doing? What’s taking up most of your time these days? 

Efé: I’m doing good, I’ve been in the process of releasing a new song coming out in June, and also making new music. I’m sort of having artist's block at the moment cause I’m trying to figure out what I want to do. I also just got signed, so I’m really happy about that but feeling some pressure to make the best music I can. It’s hard to find the right people to help make what I want to make. 

Róisín: Yeah, finding the right people can be tough. 

Efé: Yeah 100%, I just wanna execute what I have in my head and bring them to life. 

Róisín: Could you give an introduction, to someone who’s never heard of you; where you’re from, what got you into music, what kind of songwriter or storyteller you are? 

Efé: Well I’m Efe, I’m from Dublin, and I make sort of an accumulation of genres of music. At the start, I was very inspired by SoundCloud artists and Clairo, Rex Orange County, SZA… Eventually, I wanted to make my own music and started doing bedroom pop, indie, now I’m more doing rock kinda stuff so I’m kind of in a rock world right now. I listen to a lot of genres so it's hard to stick to just one. 

Róisín: That sounds like a lyric in itself; “I’m in a rock world”. You’ve got a unique and established kind of style; musically as well as visually; when you watch one of your music videos you can tell it’s you. I love the ‘Lime’ video with all the people in wigs. Can you talk about that, what inspires you and how did you find your style? 

Efé: I think since I was younger I always wanted to stand out, whether it was me preferring Bratz over Barbie, or in like 2014 being into Tumblr, and I guess growing up with the internet and being exposed to different cultures, like Japanese pop culture has really been important musically and visually. I really gravitate towards it with photography and videos. I always say that the reason I started making music was to have my own music video, so it's always been important. Also to have someone that looks like me in these colors, and making the music I’m making. It’s cool that I can be that person for others. SZA was that person for me, she’s so cool and really inspired me. I’m glad what I’m doing resonates with others cause I’m just having fun really. 

Róisín: Yeah that’s great. When you’re so unapologetically yourself, it inspires others to do the same. 

Efé: Yeah 100%, I think you’re rewarded more for being yourself. 

Róisín: Can you talk a bit about the Dublin music scene and how you’ve found your place in it? 

Efé: Yeah it’s been growing rapidly, I’m like damn slow down y’all. No but it’s amazing cause there was a point where everyone was like Ireland what are you on? And now there’s been so many incredible artists coming out. I think for a while I was scared to be bubbled in like being an ‘Irish artist’, just cause it felt like you were almost limiting yourself to Ireland, so I wanted to push my name forward. To an extent I do think it can keep you in a bubble, but now it does feel like we’re building a force, cause we’re all trying to make it. I’ve always kind of done my own thing, what I will say about the Irish scene is everyone’s very supportive and nice, it’s a lot of people wanting to work together. 

Róisín: What are you most proud of / highlights so far? Things you look back on.

Efé: I’m very proud of my performance at Longitude, I’d been wanting to do that since I was like 15. That was the summer of ‘22. It was just really fun, I got to be creative, I brought all my friends out on stage and they were all in wigs from ‘Lime’. We were jumping around, it was really fun. That’s something I look back on. 

Also, one of the recent videos I put out, the ‘Truth’ promo. My friend came from Paris and wanted to make a video. We found a location, a cinematographer and edited it all within about a week, we pulled it off. The response on TikTok was insane. I loved how people could see where my references were from. I was inspired by Tommy February 6, who’s a Japanese artist. 

I also did a tour opening for Still Woozy so I was really proud of that. 

Róisín: What’s been your favorite show to date if you have one?

Efé: I think either the Longitude one or the Still Woozy London show, cause before the gig everyone was telling me like, “Don’t be disappointed if the crowd doesn’t react cause every big artist goes to London, don’t take it personal”, and I was pretty nervous thinking nobody was gonna care. I did two shows and the crowd was amazing. It felt great, it was a good vibe. 

Róisín: Yeah that’s great especially as an opener, when you get a good crowd. How long was the Still Woozy tour?

Efé: It was a three week tour, back to back tours around Europe and the UK. It was so crazy, we got an email but for some reason my managers didn’t see the email, and then I was randomly scrolling through our inbox, and I think the email was already a week old or something, and then we were on it. Then it got suspended by a few months because of Covid but yeah, it worked out in the end. 

Róisín: Yeah that’s amazing. What's the most challenging aspect of what you do & what excites you the most?

Efé: Hmm that’s a good question. I think finding people to work with is quite difficult. Also mixing, I just don’t like it. I’m like ‘release the song I’m over it.’ You have to be around for the person that’s mixing to send drafts and references. I don’t look forward to mixing at all. It’s so tedious and annoying. I love when I’m in a flow of making music and just feeling good about it. I love brainstorming, I love Pinterest and Canva, making visual boards of ideas I have. 

Róisín: Yeah I’m definitely a visual person too. I like to set the scene. 

What are some of your biggest goals going forward or upcoming shows and projects? 

Efé: Well I have a song coming out in June. I also really wanna do an Efe show before the end of the year. For right now though I want to release some more singles and videos. 

Róisín: Great I can’t wait to hear, thanks so much for doing this. 

Efé: Thank you!