Q&A: Marketa Irglova – “Once” Upon a Time and Back
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In 2008 – just days ahead of her 20th birthday – Marketa Irglova was standing on the stage of the 80th Academy Awards holding 
an Oscar. Not even out of her teens, the mightily talented singer-songwriter was being recognized for the year’s Best Original Song, “Falling Slowly.”
Pulled from the movie Once, which IMDB summarizes as ‘a modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week in Dublin, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story,’ the song and film truly pushed Irglova (who also co-starred in the movie with Glen Hansard) into the spotlight.
Since that time, Irglova has continued on her musical path, with the latest destination being 2014’s Muna. Riffyou.com recently spent some time with Irglova to discuss the album, as well as the movie that changed her life.
RY: You’ve described this album as chapters of a story, but a story that you want the listeners to determine the meaning of. Why is it important for you to have listeners define your music, as opposed to you telling them what its about?
Marketa: “I find that to be more interesting. For me, I don’t like tunes that are vague and that I can’t find a message behind, or understand what the person sending it out to the world was trying to do with it. I like when there’s a message that’s understandable, but room is still given so that [listeners] can bring themselves into the song. In the marriage of the two, that is where the magic is born. For me, if I introduce something to people – something that provokes thought and brings them into themselves – that’s what I’m interested in. I’m not really interested in bringing everyone into the inner sanctums of me. You don’t need to learn everything about me – I’m trying to bring people into themselves.”
RY: Do you remember what motivated you to take that approach with your song writing?
Marketa: “I used to write a lot about love stories and different experiences from my personal situations. But then I thought, if you get stuck in that, then you keep re-experiencing the same thing and you get into these grooves that you don’t get out of. For me, I want to expand. I want to expand on my emotions. I’d like to observe my relationship with the world and relationship with my own idea of God and my relationship with myself as a human being. My journey to this point has taken many years, but I only truly arrived at [this new destination] on this album. I found that I was writing about much bigger things than heartbreak and suffering through intimate relationships with other people.”
RY: Would you say then that you’re interested in challenging your audiences?
Marketa: “My goal is not to challenge audiences, but to challenge myself. I’m always reaching for something. Whenever I feel like I’ve figured out something, that just opens the doors for me to figure something else out. It’s the never-ending journey of self-discovery and a connection with yourself and the world. In my work, I have to write about what resonates with me at the time, otherwise, it would be of no value to me. I’m influenced by what I’m interested in at the time and that reflects where I’m at in my journey…and that seeps into the work. I like the idea of putting that into the world. I might be [helping] other people start their journeys toward self-discovery.”
RY: Of course, many people saw your music career get kick started thanks to your role in the Academy Award-winning film, Once. What do you recall most when reflecting upon that era?
Marketa: “I remember the moment I was asked to participate in the Once project. I remember being at my parent’s place and getting a call from Glen. He asked if I’d be okay to jump on a plane to Ireland and audition for a part. I remember how great the idea of getting to dodge school for a week to audition for a movie was. I couldn’t have imagined what that was the start of. Now I remember the very intense time of bringing the movie to audiences. That created so many chapters in my life.
“It’s incredible the distance that the movie has travelled. It’s inspiring to me that you can just never know where things are going
to take you…and how things that start so small can grow to be so significant not just for you, but other people as well.”
RY: Have you determined why Once resonated so well with people?
Marketa: “It’s very authentic and it comes from the heart. It’s a story that everyone can relate to, and it’s beautiful in its 
simplicity. I think people really respond to anything of that nature. But, I don’t have enough distance from the movie – because I wrote the music, I acted in it, and it became so much of my life – so I wouldn’t have the same perspective that others would. I can’t tell you what it is, but it must be something invisible. In everything, there are invisible parts. We can see something with our eyes and hear something with our ears, but there’s always something more on the energy level that we all tune into.”
RY: You were very young during the Once era, but found a way to evolve from that into an artist who is still making music today. How have you changed from the person everyone saw in the film, to the person you are today?
Marketa: “I feel like a different person. I was only 17 when I acted in the movie and I was turning 20 when we won the Oscar. I was still young and everything was up in the air and what was in front of me was unclear. Today, I’m a mother. I have an 11-month old girl and I see the world completely different than I did back then. I’ve since embraced my world and know what it is. At the time, I was just going with the flow and not really knowing what was happening, or where it was going to bring me. But since then, I’ve taken responsibility for the path that I’m on and I’m committed to being on it. Hopefully, I’m growing into a more wise version of myself,” laughs.
-Adam Grant
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