Irish-Scottish duo Siights reveal chance meeting on Hozier tour led to formation

Irish multi-instrumentalist Mia Fitzgerald from Dublin was songwriting in Los Angeles during a break on the Hozier tour when she met Glasgow-born songwriter Toni Etherson.

Since then the pair, who perform with a full band, have been steadily climbing the ladder to success under the moniker Siights.

They’ve been championed by Elton John’s Rocket Hour and the BBC, and they grew their fanbase after landing a support slot to British singer-songwriter Griff on her sold-out UK tour.

Looking back to their first encounter in LA, Mia tells Shuffle: “It was a twist of fate that we met on a songwriting session. When you’re writing with someone you’re trying to see how you gel and if you’re on the same page creating something together. I think we just clicked when we were writing. We had a similar vision and a similar message that we wanted to get across when we were writing.

“Songwriting was something that both of us always went to. Even growing up, before we fully realised what we were doing, it was just a way of expressing ourselves. If something had happened, if something was upsetting me and I was going through something, often my way of coping with that was to pick up a guitar, sit at the piano and put my words to melody.

“I think it was the same for Toni. I think it’s just something that has been in both of us for as long as we can remember. So when Siights was formed it kind of felt like it was what we both were always pulled towards, that we both always wanted to do.”

You are both your own therapists through song-writing? “It does feel like that at times,” Toni nods. “I think music can be that for a lot of people.

“It’s funny that when you are in your lowest moment or most vulnerable moment lyrically writing, you sometimes can feel like, ‘maybe I’m the only person experiencing this or feeling this?’ And often it’s scary when you release it.

"But then you hear that it has helped other people. Somebody messages you and says, ‘This is what I’m going through, it has helped me push through it.’ I think that’s just so rewarding.”

Mia grew up in a musical household. “My dad is an amazing classical piano player, so from when I was very young I would just listen to him playing a lot of the romantic composers such as Chopin on the piano,” she reveals.

“It definitely had a real influence on me at that early age. It opened my ears to different styles of music that maybe I wouldn’t have come across until later in life had I not been exposed to that. My mum played guitar as well and I started on guitar and piano very early on.”

Going out on tour with Hozier was a huge learning curve, she says. “Hozier is an amazing artist. I played a few instruments on tour with him. I got to see some amazing parts of the world and some amazing venues and it’s an experience I’m super grateful for. I’m just proud to be Irish and of this country and the kind of talent that comes out of such a small country.”

Both Mia and Toni went to music college, with Mia studying recording and music production at Pulse College in Dublin.

“I would tell anyone going down this path that it’s good to have an education. It facilitates you creating your own music as well. You need to be able to understand the technical side of things to be able to capture musical ideas the way that you want.”

• The new Siights single, Fake It, is out now.