Creativity
Gef’s 30 Under 30 2024 Winners: Q&A with Mera Royle
Ten categories. Thirty young visionaries making their mark on the Isle of Man. Introducing the 2024 #Gef30Under30 winners: the next generation of our island’s leaders.
The Isle of Man Arts Council Creativity category winners are some of our island’s most artistic young minds — expressing themselves and inspiring their creative communities, no matter which medium they choose.
What is your name and age?
Mera Royle, age 24.
Job title or role in the community?
Musician.
How did you start your career or role in the community?
I first started playing music when I was at Primary school, with Mike Boulton as my teacher. I was in different bands with my friends, which was a great way to experience performing and creating music at a young age as I was able to learn these skills as well as collaborate with other players in a way that felt really comfortable. I think I always knew music was what I wanted to get into because of how much I enjoyed this introduction into it.
My journey to becoming a professional musician on island evolved as I experienced more gigs and began to build my own style and confidence with performance. I learnt how to express myself through music composition during these years, and formed an understanding of who I was, how to react to nerves, and interact with others. Through different experiences of music and art on the island, and explorations into myself, I began to understand what kind of artist I wanted to be.
In one sentence, summarise your journey so far as a young and successful person under 30.
My journey has been a mixture of successes and unsuccesses… I’ve felt lost at times, but I’ve had so many great experiences and found a lot of peace in connecting back to music and the things I love doing; I’ve worked hard to push myself and I’m ambitious about continuing to push myself through my twenties, to see what new passions and successes I can create.
Tell us about your business/industry, is there something interesting about it that most people wouldn’t expect?
In the creative industry, I’ve learnt that you need to be able to spin lots of plates at once. This can feel crazy as it’s a never-ending to-do list; you have to be good at juggling tasks and switching your brain between projects quickly. But you learn to become malleable, to adapt to new scenarios, use initiative and apply yourself in new ways. I feel I am always developing musically through the projects I do, as well as meeting new people and gaining confidence in myself. I’m really grateful that I’m part of an industry that’s filled with passion and creative expression.
Have you experienced any hurdles in your career or community efforts and if so, how did you overcome them?
I think the greatest challenge is finding the confidence that what I create and present to the community is good and can be admired. From my experience, it’s taken a few years to begin to feel satisfied with what I create and easy with the imperfections that come along with it. I think I’m beginning to understand that creating music isn’t so much about me and what I can do, rather what the music I create can do for me; how it can alter my emotions and help me make sense of the world. Learning that art is subjective and immeasurable and there are no rules to it.
Tell us about why you think you won in the Creativity category?
I think my nomination stood out as I’ve been really busy working on creative musical projects and have been throwing myself into as many opportunities as I can. Since being back on the Isle of Man after university, I’ve begun teaching young harpists on the island and this has been so inspiring for me to see young players learn to love it and find their voice with it as I did.
I’ve had exposure in UK festivals through my experiences playing harp, such as my performances at Cambridge Folk Festival and Fairport’s Cropredy Convention to an audience twenty-times the size of Maughold, where I grew up and live currently. I’ve also been involved with numerous projects celebrating Manx culture and I feel very passionate about that, and how our island, although small, has such a powerful and vibrant identity. One of my all-time favourites was Isla Callister’s ‘Creeaght’, a series of compositions written by Isla which brought together musicians and animation in various performance settings to celebrate Manx women.
I’m best known for receiving the award as BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Musician, and this has opened lots of doors including being commissioned to compose a musical piece for film critic Mark Kermode, for the much loved and missed Isle of Man Film Festival and creating soundtracks for films across the UK. I hope this is something that inspires the students I have and whilst I still feel at the start of my career, I think it’s these efforts which have contributed to why I won this category.
Who are your role models, either on-island or off, in your sector or outside of it?
My earliest memory of a creative inspiration for me is my Aunty Joanne, the artist Jo Davies. She’s constantly creating things and looking forwards and knows how to solve any kind of problem.
I’ve always wanted to be like her, with all her colours and boldness. I think I’m influenced by people who find outer artistic ways to express their feelings on the inside and I feel very fortunate that the people I have around me have more than a knack for it. Musically, growing up on the Isle of Man, listening to the likes of Tom Callister, Katie Lawrence, Isla Callister, David Killgallon, was huge in imbuing my passion and commitment to traditional Manx music. There’s lots of people who are from the island, making huge marks on music scenes around the world. I think the sense of cultural identity I have from being from the Isle of Man informs a lot of my art and music, as well as my interactions with other creatives.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
I once attended a workshop run by Eliza Carthy and she talked about nerves and what to do when feeling overwhelmed pre-gig. I follow what she said as a ritual before I go on stage now. It was about how our nerves are a form of adrenaline, a rush of energy which makes us feel all sorts of things like nausea and shakiness, or increases our heart rate and makes us sweaty. You have to get rid of that energy by moving yourself. So if you’re ever looking for me right before I’m about to perform somewhere, I’ll probably be in a corner or some other quiet space, jumping around and throwing my arms about. People might wonder what I’m doing but it always makes me feel better.
What do you wish you knew when you were getting started in your career?
I’ve been really fortunate so far and my music has gone well from being still at school. For me it’s about keeping building on and progressing. I often still have to remind myself not to compare myself with other people, everyone’s journey is unique and there is no such thing as a set age you have to achieve things by; not everything you do will work out, sometimes you plan for things and they don’t happen, but something else is probably around the corner, just keep open to offers. Stay being kind and compassionate towards yourself.
What are your plans for the future?
A huge goal of mine is to be part of a company working on composing for film, and ultimately composing music which people love to listen to. I want to keep making connections with musicians, filmmakers and creatives and working on projects that I love and feel passionate about. In the short term, my goal is to create an album soon, which collates all of the creativity and emotions I’ve experienced over the last few years, and is something I’m really proud of. I’m hoping I’ll be able to perform it on island and across in the UK.
What changes do you hope to see in your sector or community in the coming years?
On the island, there’s already changes happening in the creative industry, particularly in the film industry here, which I’m very excited about. With support from the Arts Council, more and more films are being made here with productions coming over from London, which is great for people on island to gain experience of being involved with film. I’d love for more films to happen on island, with filmmakers being drawn back again because of all the talents, locations and creative people here.
On a music front, it would be so amazing to see Manx musicians getting more and more known in the mainstream – Manx trad music at Glastonbury! And also within my own experience, lots of opportunities for young players to learn, and be mentored by musicians on island. This was so important to me growing up, and it feels essential from my perspective that organisations like the Arts Council and Culture Vannin continue to be able to offer the help they do, and young people are supported with creative skills.
What, for you, are the benefits of staying on or moving back to the island for young people under 30?
It’s mainly the pride the Island pours onto recognising and promoting achievements and how much they celebrate artistic efforts. Most, if not all of the projects I have been involved with wouldn’t have been possible without support from the Arts Council, or Manx Radio, or Chloë Woolley and Breesha Maddrell at Culture Vannin. There’s so many opportunities offered here to help get projects off the ground.
I’ve also been greatly supported in my time being back on island by Laura and Dave Rowles at Manx Music Shop. I work part time at this shop, as well as teach from there and the creative support and kindness I’ve had from Laura and Dave has completely expanded my teaching skills and helped me feel more confident. Dave is also a professional sound engineer, and has helped me with recording and sound mixing on my composition projects. I feel their generosity is synonymous with what is perhaps the biggest benefit of being on the Isle of Man, which is that people are really supportive and friendly, and help each other out. I’ve had exposure which I wouldn’t necessarily have had in the UK, and it’s meant I’ve had the chance to do things that would be so much harder to do anywhere else in the world, such as playing for the government, meeting royalty, being interviewed on the Radio and getting financial help.
And of course, it is such a beautiful place to live – I have an astonishing commute to Peel when I work at the shop, and catch magnificent sunsets on my way home. I can go swimming in the sea before breakfast and then eat breakfast gazing out at beautiful big hills and green fields and rivers. I feel the landscape here is important to my sense of who I am and gives me a strong sense of home.
What does being a Gef’s 30 Under 30 winner mean to you?
It’s a huge honour to be recognised, and so lovely to meet the network of successful people working away on the island. I was so awed by the energy at the awards ceremony and had such a great time. The spotlight on my profile has helped me to think about what I’ve done so far, how I got here and to propel me forwards. I feel really grateful for the nomination and award and people have been so kind getting in touch to congratulate me.
It was great to meet the Gef team and I loved gaining an insight into the media side of the creative industry, and after my interview I felt very motivated and supported. You’ll meet some cool people, the island’s movers and shakers! It’s so nice to have the opportunity to meet people and talk to them about what they’re passionate about and how they plan on making a difference on the Isle of Man. I especially enjoyed meeting the other winners for the creative category, Catherine Devine and Amy Price – I really hope we can work together on projects in the future.
I think it’s so important that this project exists as it gives us a sense of community to each other. I hope it continues long into the future!
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