by Chloe O’Keeffe
“I never even considered anything else; it was always music.”
Former UL Voice and Dance student Dora Gola always knew her path in life was music, and the various lockdowns over the past 12 months has helped her reignite this passion.
“I always feel bad talking about it, but Covid was a blessing for me,” she remarked.
“I was going through a [bit of a] burn out, and really was moving away from [music],” states Dora.
Originally from Poland, Dora moved to Ireland in 2008, where she completed her Bachelors in Voice and Dance at the University of Limerick before a Masters in Music Performance in UCC.
Now residing in Lahinch, Dora is the founder and owner of Voice Progress Lahinch, and is a singer- songwriter, dancer, and vocal coach.
It was always both singing and dancing for Dora, which made the course in UL perfect for her.
“It was always both; the movement is really influencing the music,” comments Dora.
Speaking about pre-lockdowns Dora mentioned of the confusion and sense of overwhelming that she became used to feeling.
Advisors and people all wanting her to do well, but with the perspective of what’s selling, and what music is in at that moment.
Quoting David Bowie, one of her life mottos is “Don’t pander to the crowd.”
Dora was a true advocate for enjoying the music process rather than pushing out music just for the sake of it.
Not planning to release any music, but writing for enjoyment, Dora collaborated with Darragh Keary.
“The atmosphere was amazing; I was so immersed in it [the music]” Dora comments on collab.
Interestingly, though Dora had no plans to bring out music, a drive to the beach where the two listened to their first demo completed changed their minds.
‘Dark Sands’ was released last week, April 2 and the response to date has been amazing, according to Dora.
Dora creates a unique sound combining nature, dance, electronic, folk and her polish background.
“It’s like you have a big melting pot and you put it all in,” she comments about her unique sound, and writing process.
In combining all these influences, Dora her own sound and genre, a piece of advice she always sticks by.
“Don’t neglect any influences that come your way; try not to copy other artists, you’re automatically creating competition for yourself [when you do]” were her top pieces of advice.
The song itself is the perfect Summer anthem and is a powerful feel good song.
“It’s about finding comfort in discomfort and looking for the answers in nature rather than in Google,” said Dora.
“It [Dark Sand] looks filthy and disgusting, but if you just let it absorb you, you’re gonna feel a massive improvement in life.”
‘Dark Sands’ by Dora Gola is out now and can be listened to on all music streaming services.
The music video for the song will be released next week and has already picked up awards from international film festivals such as the Independent Shorts Awards.
Dora is currently working on her first album which she will be bringing out later this year, she is also excited about the return to gigging, whenever that may be.
“I really do think that whenever we do open up, people are gonna be so hungry for live music, and it’s gonna be better than ever!”
Molly Cantwell 
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