This year the Isle of Man Arts Council are proud sponsors of the Creativity category for Gef's 30 Under 30 2024, celebrating some of our island’s most artistic young minds.
Arts engagement Officer Jade Boylan (a former 30 Under 30 winner herself) sat down to chat with each of the three Creativity winners.
First up is 24-year-old musician, Mera Royle.
When did you know you wanted to work in a creative field?
I always felt more compelled towards music than anything else when I was younger. I didn’t fit so well into maths, science and other more academic subjects at school, but loved the creative ones, music, art and English literature. I have always felt my best when I’m playing and listening to music or studying art and reading and writing. I’ve never questioned it really, I’ve always felt that being involved in a creative field is right for me.
What do you like best about the creative arts scene on the Isle of Man?
For me, growing up on the Isle of Man was a very cultural experience, and I feel very connected to the identity that comes along with being from a celtic nation with its own language, art and music. I love how the art here expresses experiences unique to what it is to live on the Isle of Man, to know it, the people, the dialect, the seemingly small things that you only understand if you live here, but maybe don’t appreciate or notice as much until you see it scrubbed on a canvas. A lot of the music we have here is named after places, and I learned to associate melodies with different landscapes growing up. This immediate connection between music and my surroundings helped me see how a place can be interpreted through art, through human expression. It feels like a very special and beautiful perspective, and one that you can only have from being here.
Also, seeing independent shops like Pink Seaweed celebrate and promote Manx artists has been very inspiring, and creative people here have certainly defined for me why I like it here so much.
What would you like to see change/happen to improve opportunities for creatives on island?
I’d say unfortunately, it can be hard to exist within a creative field wherever you are, for varying reasons but often financial. Organisations like the Isle of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin have helped me hugely in my career, and it feels a very lucky and unique position to be in, as a creative with these vital lines of support available. I love filmmaking, the process of creatives coming together to apply their varied skills into one expressive project. With the film fund now, there’s companies coming over from the UK to create films here, drawn to our landscapes and services. I’ve been really enjoying being involved with this and would love for it to continue.
I’d love for more events to happen where creatives can share their work and talk with other artists, swap ideas and gain insight and exposure. Social media has become a great tool in our field, but it can be difficult to feel connection and gain feedback and grow as an artist through it, and I often fall into the fearsome pit of comparing myself to other people. So maybe a regular island festival which shares the music, art, films, books, poetry and food we have here.
But in all honesty, I’m scrabbling for things as I have felt very supported and encouraged towards the arts all my life, and it was only when I met people with different backgrounds to me at university that I realised how fortunate I am to have experienced this.
What would you tell young aspiring creatives in similar fields to you?
Just keep practising. Don’t stop doing it, block out anything that's making you feel like what you’re doing isn’t good enough. Committing to art and creativity as a career is daunting and takes a great deal of confidence, but to live a life defined by passion and led by what you’re happy doing is, I believe, the most important thing of all. So keep going.
What is your favourite piece that you have created so far?
I’ve been writing music for years now, but somewhat frustratingly, my most favourite work is the first thing I ever wrote, a harp solo composition called ‘A Hundred Hours’. Everytime I play it, I’m transported back to my 14 year old self, pumped up on fascination and hope and excitement. It’s nice to go back there every so often.
What is your ultimate creative goal in life?
I think to be unafraid. To grow and express in exactly the way it feels right to, and feel sure and confident. To keep working on projects and meet fascinating, strange, wonderful people and share minds and experiences with them, to be captivated and constantly developing. I would like to have strong opinions but listen a lot to others and think about things, really think and care about things and be passionate and loud, still and quiet and clap and cheer for the people I love. Ultimately, I would say, aware of the pretentiousness, within my life and music, I would really like in some way to create good and meaning. If I do that, I’ll be happy.
You can listen to Mera's music HERE
