‘So surreal’ – Amy Michelle on 3Arena gigs

Performing in the 3Arena was “so surreal” for rising Mullingar star Amy Michelle.

The singer-songwriter says she took “every moment” in as she was tasked with warming up some 13,000 people as Niall Horan’s support act on the Dublin leg of his world tour.

Amy says the adrenaline of performing in front of such large crowds, on three nights (February 23-25) helped keep the nerves at bay.

“It was so surreal to me but I made sure to be present in the moment because I knew how quickly it was going to go by,” she told the Westmeath Examiner.

“I’m actually more nervous playing in an intimate room rather than an arena – it’s such an adrenaline rush and a high.

“I loved every second of it and I really wasn’t overcome with fear. I did a lot of breathing before I went out – that helped.”

Amy, aged 24, says she could not thank the former One Director star enough for the opportunity.

“Niall is exactly how he comes across, he’s so down to earth and has time for everyone,” she says.

“We want to a pub together after with lots of the Irish Rugby team who were there too on Saturday night.

“My brother was super starstruck by them – it was great craic.”

Amy admits music was something she “never thought” she could pursue as a career, but it has been a part of her life from a young age.

“Piano was the first instrument I started playing when I was seven, but I also basically grew up in Áras an Mhuilinn too, playing the tin whistle,” she says.

“My dad played guitar and the mandolin and, after a while, he taught me my first chords so I was influenced by a lot of different types of music.

“In my mam’s car I would be listening to Damien Rice; Led Zepplin in my dad’s car, and Mozart with my granny – I enjoy all genres really.”

Amy attended the Gaelscoil in Mullingar before going on to St Finian’s College, where she says she “struggled”.

“I used to go to the music room a lot and sing by myself and play on the piano and stuff like that,” she says.

“Near the end, I stopped going to school but I did my Leaving Cert and attempted to study art afterward as I didn’t know what else to do.

“I didn’t believe music was something I was good enough at to study in college and I was also 100% lacking in self-belief. I never believed music was something I could actually pursue.”

Despite lacking confidence, she had a keen interest in songwriting after first putting pen to paper at age 17.

“I had toyed with the idea of writing for a long time before that, having grown up writing poems and stuff like that from a young age,” she says.

“It took me until I was 17 to put the two together when I started adding music to my poetry – I don’t know what sparked it in me.”

In 2018, Amy enrolled in the renowned BIMM Institute in Dublin, an international music college whose alumni include the likes of Fontaines D.C. and George Ezra.

It was a pivotal moment in her life where she was introduced to “like-minded people” who helped nurture her creative side – but it wasn’t to last. The pandemic hit and she was forced to move back home to Mullingar, which she “found tough” at first but it ended up being a blessing in disguise.

By the end of lockdown, Amy had signed a record deal and released a six-track EP titled ‘Is That All There Is?’ after gaining recognition by self-recording and publishing her own music on Soundcloud and YouTube.

“At first I thought the emails I was getting from record labels were scams and I didn’t know how to respond to them,” she says.

“I met my current manager in September 2020, who reached out and we had a chat – he managed artists like Kojaque and Kean Kavanagh, who I was huge fans of, went to all their gigs and had all their merch.”

Beginning to establish herself, Amy moved to London for a year but fell into “writer’s block” and found it difficult to adjust, before returning to Mullingar.

“Whenever I went back to Mullingar, I would feel inspired again and start writing, so I moved back here again for that reason,” she says. “I have great friends in London but I think I am a home bird and I love Ireland.

“I like writing songs in my bedroom and making songs in my bedroom – I think I always will, it’s my comfort place.”

From her bedroom in Mullingar came a second EP, titled ‘Felicity Stories,’ which won her further recognition and she then caught the attention of a world-leading artist.

“Lewis Capaldi texted me on Instagram about a song called ‘Bottom of the Well’ and said it was incredible,” she says.

“He said it stopped him in his tracks and the lyrics were unbelievable, which was very kind.

“Lewis Capaldi then sent it on to Niall [Horan], I’m pretty sure, and that’s how that connection came about.”

Without having met Amy, the former One Direction star began to sing her praises to the media.

“He said he was a fan in an interview with Rolling Stone and described me as ‘dark, spooky and a really good lyricist’ – which I loved,” she says.

“It took me away from the pop genre I’m described as, and I don’t really see myself as a pop artist so his description meant a lot to me.

“I’m a poet at heart and pour everything I have into my lyrics, which pop writers don’t.”

Amy Michelle has a headline show in The Sound House in Dublin on April 25 (tickets on sale now), and she also says to expect new music that month.