Meet ogreta | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with ogreta and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ogreta, what role has risk played in your life or career?

Risk is kind of a fundamental part of the program isn’t it? As an artist I mean. I’ve been an actor as my primary career since the minute I left high school and crikey, it is a bonkers profession to try and make work, but I love it. It’s forever changing and not always what one would expect it to be, but it truly makes me happy so it’s worth it. As an artist- an actor and musician- I sometimes crave a little bit more “order” in my life but overall I think risk and payoff is far far more rewarding than letting the days come and go habitually. For me it started by moving to New York pretty young. Having grown up in the countryside in Ireland, a good 15 minute car ride from the nearest town, I was enamored by the bustle and romantic mayhem of New York and despite the rather ubiquitous “are you crazy?” sentiment surrounding that move I felt like I didn’t really have a choice- I kind of just had to go for it. Perhaps that was more of a naivety than a risk taking but looking back on it now, 10+ years later, I feel like it was the blueprint of how I’d continue to live my life. There’s no formulated path or stencil to follow with a career in the arts and in my experience the biggest challenge is to just keep going and not let external (or self) judgment get in the way. I’m 32 and in the process of recording my first album and who knows where and what it will lead to but what would be the point of not doing it. Some things land, some things don’t but when you embrace the chaos and keep pushing the most exciting and beautiful things come into your life. I’m a lover of genuine and present experience and I don’t think you can really get that without risk.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m currently working on my first album which I’m really excited about. My producer Neil and I have been working on it for about 9 months with the first single ‘Wolfborn’ recently released in December 2022. It’s a self funded record so we’re working through it slowly but the process has been so gratifying both musically and personally. Having a collaborator has been incredible; his input stretching the record into this beautiful eery alternative world while still giving me the space to lean somewhat back into my more singer/songwriter roots. My lyrical style is a bit “cheeky softy” if you will; Although my songs are mostly based around relational challenges with love, environment, family, loneliness, time, I like to play with colloquial language and guarded symbolism to ease off some of the candidacy that comes with those themes. I think as a person I’m perceived as outgoing but I’m really quite shy at the end of the day and I hope that lands through the music.

I have been writing since I was 14; my brother taught me one song on an electric guitar then I picked up an acoustic and I was hooked. I grew up in Ireland outside of Dublin to a family of 6 and we were all pretty naturally musical, by ear mostly. My Granny on my Irish side -Gretta- who was a huge influence in my life would tinkle on the piano whenever she stopped by the house. Plus my folks and their friends would propel into collaborative pub sessions pretty much every night in the summers after spending rainy days on the beach in Cork. The staple bartender Mary O’Neill would coo old Irish folklore while pouring pints and my Dad would have the guitar on hand for tipsy renditions of James Taylor tunes.

Those musical surroundings from a young age paired with the diverse taste in genres amongst my family and friends influenced me a lot. So with no lessons, and really no interest in playing covers, I started formulating my own sound.

I write primarily on the guitar and the lyrics and playing come out as one. I do find it challenging to complete a song if it’s not finished in one sitting but that’s something I’m working on because there are bits and bobs that I’ve written along the way that might be worth jumping back into.

I think because music was so entwined and celebrated in/around my growing up I felt very akin to it but also nervous to share it. I played in small venues around Dublin for a little bit in my late teens but anxiety and some version of the aforementioned shyness manifested into full avoidance of the stuff. I played several shows at venues in downtown NY and BK and would convince my bartending friends to let me set up my subway busking gear in the back of their bars but every time I played I felt more and more distant from it. I can’t really pinpoint the moment I let it get to me but I quit for a long time. But I never stopped writing.
Then in the last year, perhaps due to the dualistic blurriness and clarity that the pandemic brought up in so many of us, something shifted with my relationship to music. In the summer of 2021, I was in New York and my good friend Reuben Barsky convinced me to start trying to record some of my songs. In his cat-ridden, sweet smelling living room with cups of water abundant and meatballs in the oven we eased into a home set up style of recording. A lot of swapping stories and me being frustrated by a click track but we slowly found a flow. It taught me so much about how rewarding collaboration could be when it was something I’d always feared before.
Recording in New York while I was based in LA was sadly not so sustainable but after a few months settling back into LA I wracked my brain on how to dive into music out here. Enter, Craigslist. I was scouring the gigs section to see if I could start making money and meeting folks by singing back up or getting into songwriting or something and I came across Neil who was offering engineering as a wee side gig. I don’t think he knew what he was getting himself into but we met for coffee and hit it off and the rest is history.

The album will be out in the summer of 2023

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I like this question! I’ve dived heavily into soaking up more of what LA has to offer these last few years and I’m finding it’s starting to feel more and more like home. Ryan Pollie hosts these really cosy music nights at The Fable in Eagle Rock that are always super enjoyable and a great way to see some of the best up and coming acts in a chill environment.
The restaurant where I work to pay the big bad bills is a little gem too. It’s called Greekmans (formally Freedmans.) I used to go as a customer before I worked there and the vibes are always good- it kind of feels like a comfy casual chic spot you might find somewhere in Brooklyn. Plus the lemony potatoes are absurdly good.
I also love just taking a drive around the east side neighborhoods and seeking out architectural gems- some on a grander scale like Silvertop House- John Lautner’s spacey mid century masterpiece that was renovated by Bestor Architects and some of the little unknown beauties on stilts, tucked away in the hills of Mount Washington. I dare to dream of having one of my own one day.

A couple of other things I enjoy:
A nice little jaunt around the Silverlake reservoir can be pretty magic on a nice day before twilight.
The Prince in Ktown for a drink and some people watching.
A solo trip to point dume in the later afternoon for a dunk in the water and a contemplative moment in the sand.
And in general, I’m really just loving the queer community growing out here and being celebrated more. Melody Wine bar hosts a fun night on Tuesdays

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It’s hard to name just one because I have such a supportive network of family and artistic friends but if I were to shout out the person who has really helped me launch into this process it would have to be my producer, collaborator and now dear friend Neil Wogensen. So many people through my life have encouraged me to make music but without his gentle and incredibly patient approach to building out this album I don’t think I would have ever done it. The recording process has never felt comfortable for me; between rather failed attempts to do it myself and some intimidating studio sessions when I was just starting out I got to the point of purely avoiding it. But working with Neil has changed my perspective; he has made it so manageable and natural and has helped me both as a friend and an artist. Sometimes we’ll just sit and talk about life for hours and knock off one thing on our to-do list but those chats and that one task complete is more than anything I could have ever done myself.

Website: www.pennyobrien.org

Instagram: @ogreta.ie

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bySqoFn7Ryk

Image Credits
Jack Manning, Dani DiPillo