Laura Sheeran, musician

What has been the happiest day of your life so far?Last year, after five years struggling to get my album made, my pledge campaign reached the 100 per cent mark. It was so exciting, but just when I thought it couldn't get any better, my boyfriend proposed to me.

Is there a famous piece of art (book, song, play, painting) that you wish you had created?Funnily enough I had this thought for the first time just the other day. I was watching a live video by Katie Kim, filmed in Odessa by Donal Dineen. I've never had that feeling before but that song gave it to me.

If time travel was possible, where would you go?The late 1800s I think – I love the music, the clothing, the artworks, the photography.

Who would you most like to be set up on a date with?Apart form my fiancé? Probably Rihanna or Lara Stone – serious girl crushes going on there.

If you were told the world was ending tomorrow, what would you do?Look forward to time travelling through the cosmos? And I would also seek out a seriously amazing steak, the best I could find in Dublin, no matter what the cost.

What's your favourite smell?The smell of the air after a short, long-needed shower in spring. Blissful.

What book/album do you repeatedly buy for people as a gift?The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra.

What makes you cry?I saw a protest (over the recording of the Gardaí making rape jokes) by the Rape Crisis Centre outside the Dáil the other day from the top deck of a bus and that made me cry. Also watching upsetting things on the news can often make me cry.

What's your guilty pleasure?Watching serial-killer documentaries before bed and Home and Away.

What is your favourite building?My grandparents live in an amazing house outside Gorey that is over 300 years old. I've been going there since I was a child and my cousins and I visit there to get away from the world. There's no phone signal and they like to believe that it's haunted. Our grandma makes sure we are all up to date with the latest ghost stories.

What's the best gift you've ever received?They've all been instruments or music equipment . . . my first laptop, my saw, a one-stringed instrument my friend made for me out of a screw, a flat piece of wood and a string.

If you weren't doing what you do now, what would you be?A very frustrated person!

What one thing, above all others, do you want to do before you die? Perform in a really beautiful venue, like an ancient amphitheatre in Italy. I’ve also heard there is a venue in Iceland that’s in the crater of a volcano. That would be incredible.

What's your favourite quote or saying?"The good old days are gone, that's why they're good – 'cause they're gone."

What’s the most unusual question you’ve ever been asked? Once an airport official (who must have suspected me of being a musical terrorist) asked: “Can I check your accordion for TNT?” I was quite amused.

Laura Sheeran is a Dublin-based songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist. Her debut solo album Lust of Pig and the Fresh Blood is available from laurasheeran.com. She plays Kelly’s in Galway tomorrow and the Grand Social on Monday.

In conversation with SINÉAD GLEESON