The Small Town Girl With Big City Dreams

**On today’s ALL RISE series, RISE meets with Moya, aspiring musician from rural Meath, Ireland to discuss influences, music as therapy and latest collaborative project: ‘Five-Star Hotel’**

It’s through the lens of my laptop camera that I met Moya. Straight out of the county of Meath in Ireland with a population of 195,004 surrounded by grass and cows, Moya is a small town-girl with big city inspiration. Singer and songwriter, her music passion came at a very young age. A passion that quickly turned into a career goal. Although she’s only 16, her mature demeanour influences her songs which discuss themes such as love, anxiety and finding herself. Recently, she has joined forces with her best friend Sam and created a group called ‘Five-Star Hotel’. So far, they’ve only released one song. Called ‘Insecticide’, the track gives us a glimpse of Moya and Sam’s talent.

Inspirations and Aspirations

The more you speak with Moya, the more you realise that she’s an old soul. Whilst a lot of young people of the same age may cite Post Malone or Billie Eilish as inspirations, Moya on the other hand takes influence from artists like Nina Simone or Billy Joel. It’s a music taste that she owes to her dad; ‘My dad is very into music; he has good taste. He is the one who showed me the ropes’

As for next steps, Moya is keen to define her craft at music college. She has her eyes on London. There, she feels she would be free to experiment with her music away from judgement. ‘In Meath, it’s very difficult to be yourself. People are very close minded’ she admits.

That said, unmistakable Irish influences exist in her sound: her voice on ‘Insecticide’, her first ever released track sounds reminiscent of Ireland’s most legendary vocalists, Enya or Sinead O’Connor.

‘Slow down, you’re doing fine’

Despite her forward-looking attitude, Moya is still in her teenage years and in the midst of all upheaval and change that comes with that. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it and, for Moya, it’s music. ‘I struggle with anxiety and music cured it’ she says.

She cites songs ‘Vienna’ by Billy Joel and ‘You’ve got to learn’ by Nina Simone as formative tracks that spoke to her on a deep level. The lyrics ‘Slow down you’re doing fine’ have helped form her motto of taking life one step after the other and learning from her experiences.

Although music helped with curing her anxiety, having her best friend Sam by her side might have had an impact too. Together they’ve created the musical project ‘Five-Star Hotel’.

When Moya met Sam

The name ‘Five-Star Hotel’ was inspired by Whoopi Goldberg’s famous line ‘I worked in a state hospital, this place is a five-star hotel’, from the movie Girl Interrupted. A movie to which both of them relate.

Musically, the pair have different tastes. Moya is a jazz-punk artist, Sam on the other hand creates more grunge-rock sounds. But their musical differences don’t hold them back from creating harmonious music together.

Last year they’ve released their first song ‘Insecticide’. Written and composed by them both, Moya’s voice blends splendidly with Sam’s guitar. Very 90’s alternative rock inspired; the song brings to mind ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries. For a first song, the duo shows some very promising talent.

Moya and Sam’s story reads like that of a coming of age novel – two best friends growing up in a rural town, who share a common passion of music. Together, they join forces, bringing opposing styles and influences to create a whole new sound. One day they finally release their first track…and what happens next? I’m excited to see.