Damian McGinty has released his new single ‘Like Moments Do’ alongside announcing his upcoming album “Moments” which is out on the 25th November. I spoke to the singer-songwriter about what inspired the song, how this new album is a new creative facet to his songwriting and a new cycle to his sound and the prospect of an Irish show.

“This is the start of a new cycle for me and a cycle I’m really excited about. It’s been such a fun creative experience writing this album and the theme and the feelings behind it are very important to me. I stand strongly behind what the album represents and what the new single represents. I’m genuinely proud of it. Yes, this is what my music looks like right now. It’s common knowledge that as an artist, the hardest thing to do is, find your sound and hone in on that. ‘Moments Do’ is just a perfect representation of where I am as an artist and I just think it’s an uplifting song that I’m excited for people to hear and enjoy in their own time.”

“Honestly, it wasn’t even something that I was searching for. It’s a period of time that I went through where last autumn myself and my wife moved from California to Nashville. We bought our first home, moved across the country and what I didn’t expect, was just shortly after the very harsh covid period, in the industry and it had fully reopened I was just so slammed with work, and with the personal life and moving across the country and setting up a home. So it was the first time ever in my life that I was waking up every day and just felt like I was suffocating. It just felt like I couldn’t catch a breath. Like I was on a hamster wheel and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t get off. No matter what I did. It just wasn’t working and my brain was going 1 million miles an hour every day and it felt very overwhelming for a fairly long period of time. Then I just started having some conversations about how to fix it like how to slow things down a little, how to be more present and that’s just where ‘Moments Do’ was born. It’s about appreciating small moments. It’s about appreciating moments that don’t get the notoriety or the recognition. You know life isn’t always about bright lights and limousines in the magazines and the billboards and as the song says, it can be something as simple as having a coffee in the morning or having a conversation with your family or just the really simple stuff that doesn’t get recognition. It was about being present and appreciating those moments. That’s just where the single was born. That’s where the whole album grew from.”

‘Like Moments Do’ is a bright upbeat song filled with warm guitar and light piano twinkles between a powerful uplifting soundscape. There is something soothing about the song that creates a wholesome atmosphere throughout.

“Yeah, you’re spot on. I think we started out the session and I was very clear that I wanted something upbeat. But I wanted, it not just upbeat. I wanted it to be hopeful. I think hopeful is the keyword. So you know whenever you go into a writing session, you sometimes throw things on a page or you’ve been messing around with a few chords on the guitar and the piano, whatever it might look like, but just hoping that you can find something and for this particular song, I really knew what I wanted. I’ve been writing all week at this point in Nashville and it was the last session of the week and I just want to write something hopeful. I want to write something that feels like it’s gonna inspire people. I want people to feel simultaneously like they’re getting a hug but also like they’re being told that your life is as normal as my life and that’s great. You don’t need big lights. You don’t need your name on billboards, on magazines. You don’t need all that to live a fantastic life, social media truly is a highlight reel and that’s all we see and therefore that’s a problem of our generation. You compare yourself to what you see on your phone. But yet the moments of the song talks about the in between moments that I think actually have the most beauty. When you are present in those moments, you learn to appreciate them a little more. So it’s definitely like a tip of the hat to all of that.”

The single comes alongside the announcement of McGinty’s upcoming album “Moments” which is out on the 25th November and the singer explained to me the concept behind this album.

“This is the first single and it is the concept of the album. So the whole album dives into these moments that I’m talking about, these moments of the in-between. Different moments in our lives where we feel happiness, where we feel sadness, where we feel contentment, where we’ve been challenged. It’s an album that goes on a journey of all of that and what I like to call you know the journey of the in-between because it really is about normal life and because I just felt there wasn’t a lot of representation for that and I think that a lot of people will hopefully relate. So the album really goes on a journey of all of that and ‘Moments Do’ is the lead single. It’s the perfect song I think to represent the first track and to give the flavour of the album. Then the album takes you on a journey through the in-between.”

In 2021 McGinty released a pandemic project, where he released a new single every month. This album takes a different approach. We discussed how differently he approached this album.

“Initially whenever you’re starting out a project or a record and you’ve got a blank canvas sometimes the only way to start filling that canvas is to just naturally start writing and start creating and see what comes out. That was the really fun thing about this project. I did start writing and start essentially, like painting on the canvas for the lack of another analogy, I started painting on the canvas, and the album and the idea started presenting itself very early on. So I was able to hone in on what boxes I wanted ticked on the album because the album is all about being present and recognizing little moments that never get the recognition because life so fast-paced. Because the album is about that I was reminded on a daily basis to be present. I was reminded on a daily basis to slow down. So it happened to be the record cycle that I’ve enjoyed the most just because I was so present and just because it didn’t feel overwhelming. The entire process has not felt overwhelming. It’s felt well timed, well-paced, so much so that the last song on the album is a song I was able to write whenever the other 10 tracks were already finished. I was like, I want to write a song that really wraps up this theme and I was able to do that which is not like any other writing experience I’ve ever had. So that felt really nice as well.”

To celebrate the release of his new album, Damian McGinty will be hitting the road this autumn for his ‘Live in the Moment’ tour across the US, with dates in eastern Canada as well. With a lot of artists approaching touring differently since the pandemic, I wondered if McGinty was going to take touring at a slower pace and if a show in Ireland would be a possibility. 

“Yeah, I’m really excited to get on the road. I’m really excited to perform this music. Obviously, I’ve never performed it live yet. It’s gonna be great. Live music looks a lot different now. It just feels different in a very weird way and I think almost in a healthy way live music for the artist doesn’t feel like it’s 100% necessary anymore. I’m trying to explain that because I’ve seen a lot of artists being like I don’t want to tour right now. It’s not good for my health. It’s not good. So I think we’re entering a really healthy period for music, where people are not letting it define them. Which is really important because touring, sometimes can feel like the be-all and end all and how many shows you do in a year, defines how successful your year is. Whereas now, people are just learning a little more to look after themselves and the music and the performance will then benefit from that. So it’s almost like a partnership. It’s like if you take care of your health, and if you’re in a good place, then the performances don’t feel like a chore. They just feel like something that you enjoy, and that you happen to do and you’re lucky enough to do. So that’s where I’m at. I’ve been just trying to be present, be steady look after myself and then I just feel very fortunate that I get going and do six weeks of live shows in the autumn. That just feels really exciting to me to get to see people on a face to face basis. So I’m really excited.”

“It’s something that I’m very interested in [ a show in Ireland]. I’m heavily considering so I’ve had a couple of conversations about it. At the moment, it’s most certainly a watch this space thing so yeah, that’s definitely something I’m gonna keep my eye on.”

Filled with wonderfully expressive instrumentation, sweeping melodies and warm lyrical content ‘Like Moments Do’ is a compelling glimpse into the joyous musicianship of Damian McGinty. This song is a fantastic appetizer for his upcoming album. 

Stream ‘Like Moments Do’ below 

Author: Danu