Singer and songwriter Nell Mescal chats about her love of words, music and creativity

17-year-old Ireland-native Nell Mescal knows how to make the most of her free time. During a school-year of lighter work, she didn’t sit around, but instead, she’s taken the time to launch her music career. Having released two singles so far this year, she hopes to release an EP in the near future. The younger sister of Normal People’s Paul Mescal, Nell comes from a very talented family. Her two singles – “Crash” and “Deja Vu” – are irrefutable evidence of that talent. Delicate piano playing is rounded out with full-bodied, intoxicatingly powerful vocals, reminiscent of a young Adele.

Get into Nell’s creative process in her interview, and listen and/or download her singles on all streaming platforms.

Did you grow up in a musical family? What drew you to music?

Nell Mescal: Well, my mom and dad actually met while doing a musical. My dad especially grew up heavily involved in music – he plays piano and guitar, and he sings and he acts. I think myself and my eldest brother, Paul, we both got that gene more so than my other brother, Donnacha, he’s more sporty. We all have different airings at this point but I feel like I meant we all were drawn to sport, but he definitely is more so – he doesn’t sing at all. It’s just funny because me and Paul very much love to sing and do more of the creative side, but Donnacha is very good at finding music, which is cool. I always go to Donnacha to find new playlists. I feel like everyone has a little bit of everything, which is nice.

So what drew you to the piano? Was it your musical parents, or you just wanted to learn to play?

Nell: So my mom and dad put myself and one of my brothers into piano when we were younger. I didn’t stick with it because I hated learning scales and stuff, so I quit and I was so dramatic about it. We’ve had a piano in our house obviously my whole life, but when I was 13 my dad brought home with another piano and I started playing with it. That day I got a whiteboard marker and I wrote down any chord I could remember, so it was C, D, all the way up as far as I could, and I wrote this really bad song all using my whiteboard marker markings. Since then I’ve taught myself how to play – I’m not great but I’m trying. I’m trying to get better, especially over quarantine with all the time we have.

Is there any instrument that you’d like to play that you haven’t learned to play yet?

Nell: I’d love to play the guitar but like the piano, I did guitar lessons, learned two Irish songs, and was done with it. Then my dad would try and teach me and I would just fight with him and fight him because I was like, “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” when he really does. At the start of a lockdown I tried to pick it up again and I was terrorizing my family with it. My brothers were just like, “If I hear you play that same song the way you’re doing it…” because I wasn’t even playing, I was just singing really loudly and strumming whatever chord I could find, so it was shocking.

You have two original songs out now, do you plan on releasing more?

Nell: Yeah, 100%. I have a few already recorded and I’ve been spending a lot of time writing music and honing in on different parts of my craft and trying to learn more. I’m definitely really excited to get into the studio and record more because I’m so excited about the new music I’m writing.

Is there an EP or an album eventually in the works as well?

Nell: Hopefully, who knows? I definitely have loads of songs but it’s just trying to figure out which ones tell the story I want to and fit into that four or five songs, or however many go onto an EP. So hopefully very soon. It’s weird because some songs take…speaking of the two that are out, “Crash” I wrote I think a year ago last week. I was fake studying for one of my exams and I had this melody in my head and I tried to write the song and it took me, I’d say a month to finish the song. Then for “Deja Vu” I was sitting, watching TV and then all of a sudden I just was like, “Oh, I really want to play piano,” and I wrote that song in two hours. So, I never really know what’s going to happen.

Do you like to write your songs yourself or do you like to collaborate with other people to write songs?

Nell: Yeah, I’ve never collaborated with anyone. I’ve written all my songs on my own and just videoed myself and sent it to all of my family members saying, “Do you like it?” And if they’re like, “No,” I’m like, “Okay, well, that’s okay because I still love it so I’m going to do whatever,” you know? So I just do that, as in I write on my own but I do share with my family and be like, “Oh, what do you think?” And they’re like, “Yeah, good.” And I’m like, “Okay, thanks.” But I’ve only written on my own so hopefully, I can collaborate with a few people in the future, but at the moment it’s just been by myself.

Listen to Nell’s singles via Spotify:

Is there anybody else that inspires you? That really calls to you when you’re writing songs and your music besides Lennon Stella? Because I know you’ve done several other covers as well, anything that speaks to you, but are there certain ones that speak to you wholly a lot more than others?

Nell: I’ve definitely been listening to a lot of Jensen McRae and Phoebe Bridgers and Orla Gartland. But I feel anytime I listen to a song that’s just so good and just so interesting I definitely feel like I have to sit at the piano for at least two hours and try to write something as good as this. So it’s definitely just whatever I listen to in that moment. All my songs are written from my own experiences. I’ve always said I never want to write about something I don’t know about, so I’ve always just stuck to writing about whatever’s been going on in my life. Any inspiration I get from anywhere else is just kind of cool. I love listening to artists that just tell a story because I think it’s so good. I just love listening to those kinds of artists, like Jensen McRae and Phoebe Bridgers and Lennon Stella, I just love them.

Is there anybody during your parents’ era that they grew up that you really liked that’s storytelling?

Nell: I grew up listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter and Fleetwood Mac but I literally listen to every single genre of music. I’m in love with country music, I love musical theater and anytime I listened to any of them I’m like, “I have to sit down at the piano right now.”

How have you been dealing with your creativity during quarantine? Are you just writing songs? Are you focusing on your music? What’s going on for you?

Nell: Yeah, I’ve been really trying to write as much music as I can. I allowed myself to not write music if you get me. So if I’m not able to think of something I’m not going to sit and brood over it for hours and hours and hours, I’m going to wait and see what happens. So I’ve been lucky that my creativity hasn’t completely stopped and I’ve been able to write some music that I really love and music that I’m really excited about. I’ve been really looking into the production side, which has been really interesting.

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Photo courtesy of Shepperd Fox Artist Management

Niamh Lynch discusses her acting in the hit television series ‘Normal People,’ singing, film and music favorites

Irish actress Niamh Lynch is fairly new to the small screen, but she’s already making positive, and much talked about waves. She plays Karen in Hulu’s hit series Normal People, based on the novel of the same name by Sally Rooney. Since filming Normal People, Niamh has landed a role in Kenneth Branagh’s film Death on the Nile, a companion to Murder on the Orient Express (both based on books by Agatha Christie), set to come out later this year. She also has a role in the 2021 movie Cruella, directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya (2017)), starring Emma Stone. She also had a guest role in the Tom Hardy-produced television series, A Christmas Carol.

In our interview, Niamh talks about why she loves acting, how she got into the mindset of playing character Karen, and whether or not she sees a singing career in her future.

You’re an actress, most recently featured in Hulu’s Normal People. What does your familial background in acting look like? Did you grow up in it?

Niamh Lynch: Well, both my parents actually work for the NHS. My dad was a paramedic
and my mom is still a midwife in the hospital. My brother works as a recruitment consultant. My dad’s cousin is an actor. Apart from that in my family – especially my close family – no. All my cousins in Ireland are mainly nurses. I think I was one of the only grandchildren, really, to not be a nurse or otherwise in that field. I don’t know why or how I ended up not going down that route.

What are some of your earliest memories of acting that you recall? When did you know that you wanted to become an actress?

Niamh I think that I always knew that I wanted to do it. My parents were so supportive and open to whatever I wanted to do. I was always, on the weekends and the evenings, either doing dancing or singing or acting. As a child – I wouldn’t necessarily say I was very shy – but I used to think when I was on stage that I could be a different person, so I wouldn’t really worry about if I was being embarrassing or anything. The stage was such a safe place for me. I just loved feeling the audience and being able to just play. Especially when I graduated from drama school and it is now my job. I think it is that thing where if you do love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. A lot of my friends did it with me but then, obviously, they went on to different paths. My best friend became a lawyer, my other friend became an accountant. They branched off, but it was something that wasn’t just a hobby for me. It was something that I wanted to do with my life and really see through. I’ve just always, always, always wanted to do it.

Now, I’ll get into your character as Karen. I loved your character Karen on Normal People because she’s very sweet and kind and supportive. What was it like filming for you? What was the camaraderie of it like between you, the actors and the crew?

Niamh: I had the absolute time of my life. Normal People was actually my first professional television job. So I’d never been on a set before where I was working as an actor. I’d never been behind the camera professionally. It was all very new to me and I think I went in … obviously a little bit nervous, but I was excited. I didn’t know much about the crew, I didn’t know much about hair and makeup, what they did. I didn’t know a lot of things. I went in completely open minded and I wanted to experience it as much as I could to the fullest. I think the greatest thing about Normal People, especially in my kind of scenes and what I worked on, is everyone wasn’t too similar in age.

The first time we all met at the read-through, everyone was just so lovely and so chatty and so supportive of each other that the environment was just made instantly and you just felt at ease. And the crew were just the loveliest. I can’t even express how nice they were and how you just felt like you could be so comfortable and ask them anything. I think at the end it just felt like you were accepted into their little family. Especially the four girls; so myself, Daisy [Edgar Jones], who plays Marianne, Leah [McNamara]who plays Rachel, and Meadhbh [Maxwell] who plays Lisa. Us four, we kind of just clicked straight away, which was so nice. And I feel like I’ve known the girls for years; it’s madness. We still have a group chat and we’ve been chatting over lockdown, we talk a lot and we’ve just been updating each other. We had the time of our lives in the hotels and we watched Love Island together and just had the nicest time. Everyone was so lovely and it was just the job of a lifetime.

How has the response been for you since Normal People was critically well-received and has a massive fan base? And did you expect it to be so well-received?

Niamh: I’ve had such positive feedback – I don’t actually think I’ve heard or seen anything negative about any of the characters or the story really. The book was so popular and the fans of the book were so excited to see the series. I do think the series really served the book so well. This kind of reaction was so huge and I think all of us were so overjoyed to see that because all the hard work had paid off.

The story that was created was so beautiful and, as you say, so relatable for anybody. I think a lot of people can relate, whether they’re a teenager or an adult. The experience of love, the experience of heartbreak, the experience of friendship, loneliness, anxiety. There are so many themes in there and I think, whoever you are, you relate to at least one of them. That’s the great thing about a TV program or a book when you can find yourself in some part of that. I think that’s why people received it so well. A lot of people I’ve seen have watched it once, twice, three times and always find different things when they go back to watch it or things they’ve missed before. And I think it’s so lovely when you can do that. I’ve been so pleased with the response to it.

It’s amazing. Do you know if there’s going to be a sequel?

Niamh: I actually have no clue. I don’t know if there would be a sequel. We’ve not been told anything and I don’t know if the main characters or the producers know that. I honestly have no clue, I’m in the dark as much as you are about that.

Now, speaking of your character and acting itself, and specifically with Karen, were there any rituals that you had to get into character for acting? Such as studying other, similar characters? Or listening to a playlist? Since you were the only nice person, honestly, in the characters and you were dealing with all these other characters who were just mean spirited and had the popularity complex and things like that. So where did you have to go to, to get into that mentality of like, “Okay, I have to play a very nice person amongst these characters who are trying to bring down the main characters,” basically?

Niamh: At drama school, we learned a lot of things how to build our characters and make them three dimensional and give them that life, but even more so, in it and out of it. One thing I learned at drama school was to do a background, kind of portfolio, of your own character. So even it might not say in the book, “Oh, this person is this.” You kind of create it for yourself and it’s kind of a personal thing. So as Karen, I made her portfolio and I said, “Well, what’s her home life like? Has she got any siblings? What’s her part-time job? Has she got a boyfriend?” It was many questions like that.

I think when you know that person as a character, it’s almost like it’s a little secret for yourself. And when you can go on set, you can have all the answers in your mind that you’ve created about your character. So for me, I personally was like, “Oh, Karen’s had a really good upbringing. It was in her parents’ home. She’s even got siblings, an older brother.” I remember, so I had an older brother that was very protective. So I had that protective side. So I think when I created this world that she lived in and that she lived in outside of Normal People when I brought her into Normal People it made sense why Karen did those things, rather than what her friends were doing.

You also did A Christmas Carol, which was produced by Tom Hardy. I’m a huge fan of his – did you get to meet him?

Niamh: I didn’t meet him. So I just had a little role on that and worked for a couple of days on that fairly specific scene. That was another lovely, lovely job and that was literally in between filming Normal People so it was really nice. It was nice to finish the first bit of Normal People, then do that and then go back. Yeah, I just had a lovely year last year.

I want to touch on your singing. I love your voice, absolutely love your voice. It’s beautiful. What draws you to music specifically?

Niamh: I think I’ve always had music through anything. If I’m happy, it’s music. If I’m sad, it’s music. If I’m getting a train, getting a bus, music. I can’t go anywhere without my headphones. It’s such a comfort for me, I think it’s such a mood enhancer especially. And I think for me, music is like… you know when people say if they smell a certain smell, it brings them back to somewhere? For me, it’s like if I hear a song, or hear a band, or music it just throws me right back to a time in my life. And I just think that is so powerful, that something can do that.

What creative satisfaction do you get from singing along with acting?

Niamh: I think it’s my go-to thing if I’m bored, or wanting something new. It’s my thing that makes me happy. I know that it’s always something that I enjoy doing, it’s never a chore. It’s never like, “Oh, I’ve got to practice singing.” I just find myself doing it because it feels like a natural thing in my body, in my brain, to just do it. When I sing, it feels like I can feel it all over. And when I sing I can feel it in my body, it’s like it’s everywhere. I just love to sing.

Do you think you might release an EP of your music one day?

Niamh: I would absolutely love to. I think I definitely would. When I was younger, when I was in college I did music as a subject. And I did music mixing, so I had the technology side of it, and the production side of it, and the classical of it. So I ended up writing two of my own songs. I still have them and I work on them and make them better and stuff like that. I’d love to one day, hopefully, record them both and write more music. And I think, in such a time like this, when I’m at home and I’ve got free time, I think it’s been something that I have been thinking about as well, alongside my acting.

How have you also been keeping in high spirits? In addition to your music, with creativity, during quarantine?

Niamh: So, I actually live in London in a flat with my two best friends. But at the moment when we went into lockdown… just before, me and my two best friends decided to go back to our family homes.

I’m actually from the northwest of England. So I’m back at home, I’ve been here for three months. I packed a suitcase for a week and I’ve been here for three months. It’s been great because as much as it’s been a hold on everything like everything’s been paused, there’s been so many things. Now we have online and technology, that’s been great. I’ve been doing Instagram workouts with an amazing fitness blogger that I follow. I think it’s important to do that, just because when I feel like I’m being active, my mind is so much clearer and I can focus on my other creative art and things like that. And I also have a dog at home with my parents, so having a dog in lockdown is very entertaining. I’ve been doing self-tapes, I’ve been singing, I’ve been auditioning sometimes. So I’ve been keeping quite busy. I’ve also been writing a play with my two best friends. So I’ve been having a great time, really. I try to see the positive in having all this free time.

Do you recall the first film and/or television show you ever watched?

Niamh: I think one of my first that I can remember watching and just absolutely loving, was Matilda. Oh, I just absolutely love it. I still listen to the music in it now and when I’m not acting, I do after school nannying. I absolutely love it. I love working with kids. My little boy that I look after, I introduced him to Matilda and now he absolutely loves it.

Do you recall the first concert that you went to? And which one has been your favorite so far?

Niamh: So my first concert I went to was Kylie Minogue. I absolutely loved it. I was 10 when I went to my first concert. And my favorite concert I’ve been to, I’ve been to two in the last year because they’re both my favorite bands. Mumford & Sons and my other favorite band is called The 1975. And I watched them in February, just literally about three weeks before lockdown happened. So I was really lucky to see them. But I think that’s been my favorite concert ever, The 1975.

What was the first film that you recall purchasing on DVD?

Niamh: My first DVD purchase… and I remember getting money for my birthday and I saved up. And it was the film called The Bridge to Terabithia. I just absolutely…it broke my heart. That was my first ever DVD I bought by myself and I just got obsessed with it. I used to watch it on repeat, practically every day.

Do you recall what your first purchase of an album was?

Niamh: My first album was Family Portrait by P!nk.

Which five films and/or television shows would you not want to live without?

Niamh: Oh, I’ve got so many but if I have to pick. There’s a series in England that’s based…I think it’s in Nottingham in England, which is like the middle of England. And they have a film and a TV show called This Is England.

That’s my favorite series and film of all time. They started with a film and then from the film they made three seasons, like a series. That would definitely be at the top. I also absolutely love Desperate Housewives. I also love Pretty Woman, Fleabag, and Mrs. Doubtfire. I think one of the last films I watched before lockdown happened was Parasite. I just thought it was absolutely brilliant.

Which five albums or artists would you not want to live without?

Niamh: So obviously The 1975 and Mumford & Sons. Beyoncé, I love Beyoncé. I really, really love Adele. I love her and I’m waiting on her next album. I also do love ABBA, and I love Ed Sheeran. And then who else would I say? I really like Fleetwood Mac.

Going along with the musicians, which five actors or actresses have you drawn inspiration from the most?

Niamh: My favorite actress in the whole world is Julie Walters. My goal in my career is to work with her on something. I also love Emma Thompson. I love Meryl Streep, she’s a big one for me. Olivia Colman is absolutely wicked. Also Melissa McCarthy, I just think she is unbelievable. And there’s someone called Sheridan Smith that I love.

Do you have a guilty music and/or entertainment pleasure?

Niamh: I’d say my guilty music pleasure would be country music. Yeah, I just love country music because my dad is such a country fan. I grew up listening to country in the car and my favorite country singer is Garth Brooks. I’d say my guilty pleasure TV show – I have got a few, but this one in England…it’s called Gogglebox and it’s where people are watching TV and you’re watching them watch TV. I also really love Say Yes to the Dress.

Connect with Niamh on Instagram and Twitter.