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Enya: The Enigmatic Irish Songbird

Enya grew up in rural Ireland surrounded by conflict as her family spoke Gaelic and had to be careful where they spoke it. She showed early musical talent but there was no music program in her public school, so her grandparents paid for her to attend a private school to explore music. She later joined a family band and was noticed by her producer Nicky Ryan, who believed she should pursue a solo career and is still the only person who works with her. Her unique sound is influenced by growing up in Ireland and her producer's expertise at layering sound.

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Steve Watkins
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60 views8 pages

Enya: The Enigmatic Irish Songbird

Enya grew up in rural Ireland surrounded by conflict as her family spoke Gaelic and had to be careful where they spoke it. She showed early musical talent but there was no music program in her public school, so her grandparents paid for her to attend a private school to explore music. She later joined a family band and was noticed by her producer Nicky Ryan, who believed she should pursue a solo career and is still the only person who works with her. Her unique sound is influenced by growing up in Ireland and her producer's expertise at layering sound.

Uploaded by

Steve Watkins
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

entertainment

A Look Inside The Private Life Of Enya


By Jordan Donohue
Her Moments Staff

Enya evokes something different for everyone. For some, she is the voice that was
playing in the background while your middle school art teacher taught you watercolor.
For others, the hypnotic melodies form the Irish songbird bring you back to a Volvo
commercial from 2010.

But regardless of your exposure, almost everybody knows of Enya. The irony, of
course, is that almost no one knows much. Her music has been prominent for many
generations of listeners, but the singer has an enigmatic life that is mostly lived
behind the walls of a castle. Until recently, many of the dark moments in her past
were kept veiled from the public. Now the truth is coming out.

Enya has proven to be a confounding success in the music


industry for a couple reasons, one being her complete lack of
public appearances and press work. But it’s her background
growing up in Ireland that influences her unique sound.
Enya was born Eithne Ni Bhraonian in County Donegal, Ireland,
in 1961. As she describes it, “There is mountains, the bitter
Atlantic and that’s it.” One of nine children, Enya landed in the
public education system, as the family couldn’t afford to send
everyone to private school.
Growing up, she was surrounded by the Northern Ireland
conflict, or The Troubles. This conflict centered around Irish-
nationalists who wanted to break free from British control and
the Loyalists who wanted to remain in the United Kingdom.
Enya and her family were subject to searches by armed soldiers
on a daily basis.
The troublesome conflict affected her family in other ways, too.
For instance, they spoke Gaelic as their first language, but they
had to be careful where they spoke it. Uttering a word in the
wrong place could out their location and cause violence.
So, while attending the local public school, Enya could not
invest herself in studying music because there was no music
program to speak of. Her grandparents recognized her musical
talent and paid for her to attend the private school where she
could explore her talent.

Further along in her education, she joined a family band, in


which she boasted her stunning vocal range. Producer Nicky
Ryan was in charge of the group, and they gained moderate
success in Ireland. Nicky, meanwhile, had other plans for Enya.
Nicky believed it was time for her to begin a solo career, so she
left the band under his guidance, taking his advice and spelling
her name (Eithne) phonetically to officially become “Enya.”
Nicky and his wife are still the only people who work with Enya
to this day.

In fact, Nicky’s responsible for Enya’s complex and dynamic


sound, as he’s an expert at layering and mixing sound to create
the masterpieces catching listeners’ attentions for years. It’s
this that makes her stand out from the pack.

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