Kieran O’Reilly & Ragga Ragnars can do more then act. They can also sing
Interview conducted on March 05, 2020
by Dan Locke
Actors, Kieran O’Reilly & Ragga Ragnars from the Emmy-award winning television show, VIKINGS, have released their debut single, ‘BROKEN WINGS‘.
Dan Locke- What was your up bring?
Kieran O’Reilly-I was raised in Dublin, Ireland in a house with 3 siblings in a working-class family. We lived about 6 miles from the center of the city in a nice suburban area. I went to secondary school from the age of 11 in the city itself; it’s an area I’ve never left, from college to my working life. I genuinely feel at home in the city center of Dublin.
Ragga Ragnars-I was born in Reykjavik Iceland and apart from living in Denmark for a few years when I was young, I was raised in Iceland. I started swimming at the age of 6 and by age 13 I was a part of the National Team. School and swimming were my life growing up. I have a younger brother and an older sister and extremely supportive parents, that helped me make it to two Olympics and endless European and World Championships.
How did you start acting?
Kieran- I started acting in 2013 when I managed to land an audition for the biggest show on Irish television (Love/Hate). I genuinely didn’t realize how much of a big deal it was at the time and was relatively oblivious as to what I had got myself into. I was very fortunate and remain very grateful for that opportunity.
Ragga – I always knew I wanted to act after my swim career. I did school plays and whatever I could while I was still swimming, but after my son was born in 2013, I decided to go to California and study acting. There I started my career in small roles and when I moved back to Europe, I landed the role of Gunnhild on Vikings.
How did you discover music?
Kieran- I’m not sure I can answer this question with any precision. I don’t think there was a moment that I discovered music; it was always there. From as early as I can remember, music was all around me, from my mother listening to ABBA, Boney M, Karen Carpenter, to my own voyage through Motown, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, I never remember life without music
Ragga – Music has been a part of my life since I can remember. My whole family is into music, playing instruments and singing. A few in my family are professional musicians and I have always felt it a part of me.
What are your musical roots?
Kieran- I don’t believe that there were any great musicians in my family but that is probably only going back two or three generations but I do believe that music is a primal extension of our being and that it is in us all.
Ragga – would say my grandmother gave me my musical roots. She played guitar, sang and wrote music. My parents also play and sing every chance we get and most family functions end up with music being played and sung into the night. It was a great way of growing up, feeling and hearing music everywhere.
How did you meet and what made you feel that you could work together creating music?
Kieran- I and Ragga met while filming the television show, Vikings. We worked on both Seasons 5 and 6 together. We spent a lot of time together and realized very quickly that we had similar tastes in music so we naturally bonded over that fact. The fact that we became friends and respected one another made it easy to work together but the idea to pursue a musical project came from Ragga when one morning I received a text from her suggesting we write a song together so we did.
Ragga – We met on the set of Vikings. Early morning call times had us singing together in the hair and makeup trailers to wake up and get our spirits going for long days of battle and cold. We shared a few songs we both loved and I think that is when the idea came up that we should work together on something.
Kieran before Hail the Ghost, you had another band “White McKenzie”. What happened to that band?
Kieran- White McKenzie was a great band and I have great memories of our time together. It was my first band as a singer/songwriter and it was the first band for some of the other members too. It was a six-piece and that – when considering creative input and control – can be testing at times. The reason White McKenzie discontinued was probably that creatively, we were all pulling in different directions and maybe a little unsure as to what our identity was as a band. We are all still friends and who knows, maybe one day we might all stand in a room together again.
Ragga, you are an Olympic summer. How was it to be in the Olympics, not once but twice?
Ragga – The Olympics were an amazing experience. I felt right at home among the athletes, the inspiration and discipline you can feel in the air at a big sporting event like that. It feels like an alternate reality, living in the Olympic Village for a month, preparing for races, swimming my races and be a part of a big united group of people, who are all there to do their best.
How did you two get this single project off the ground?
Ragga – We started with phone calls, texts, voice notes with melody and lyrics and after a couple of weeks, Kieran gave me a deadline for a part of the song and that really helped. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing since it’s my first ever attempt at music but having Kieran and Martin Quinn from JAM Studios on my team made it much easier.
What is the song “Broken Wings” about?
Kieran- We recorded the song with Martin Quinn from JAM Studios. Martin was integral to this project. He is one of the most talented Music Producers in the Country, not to mention a superb multi-instrumentalist, so Martin was the best collaborator we could have hoped for with this project.
Ragga – The song is about love lost and how a person can feel when a heart is broken. I feel like everyone can relate, the weather having lost a romantic love or anything in life really that makes you feel like a bird with broken wings.
How did you write it?
Kieran- We wrote the song by bouncing ideas back and forth. We would Skype, text, and call and we seem to naturally land on the same page so it was a lot easier than we both anticipated.
Ragga – We bounced back and forth on chat, skype, and texting. It was a pretty smooth and easy process as we agreed on so much from the start.
Are you going to perform live?
Kieran- There is a chance that we might perform in Europe later this year. We are speaking to people at the moment but those details will only be published when confirmed.
Ragga – I hope so. Kieran has performed live many times and I am a newbie at this so I am hoping to be able to perform with Kieran soon. We are in talks about performing in Europe at the moment, so we will have to see what happens.
Do you think you will do another song together?
Kieran- Yes, I think we will. It might be nice to continue this project because we both really feel it was worthwhile and we are very proud of the results.
Ragga – We have talked about it and I am sure another song will eventually come bursting out of us. We had such a great time making this one and we are very proud of the results.
How do you see yourself in five years?
Kieran- That is a very tough question. Hopefully happy. Hopefully with many more creative boxes ticked.
Ragga -My goal is to have a bit more musical experience in five years, more acting roles and a bigger family.
Anything you like to close with?
Ragga -Thank you
Kieran- Thank you for the questions and your time
You must be logged in to post a comment.