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A Chat With, Album Review, indie rock, Interviews, New Music

A Chat With: The Wombats’ Dan Haggis

The Wombats are set to release their fifth studio album, ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’ on the 14th of January. I caught up with Dan Haggis to chat about the album, it’s recording and Murph’s falsetto range. 

“It’s about looking inwards to solve and confront your own problems rather than avoiding your demons by filling your time with endless distractions. I think we’ve always had an introspective side to our songs but after going through the pandemic where most distractions were taken away, there was nowhere else to look other than inwards and I think a lot of people went through some tough times mentally trying to reevaluate who they were and what they need to function. When Murph [Matthew Murphy], suggested the title we all had lots of thoughts about what it means. We really wanted an album title that made people think. Everyone will hopefully have their own take on the title and album and with any luck a few conversations will be started as a result.”

The album was recorded remotely from the band’s respective homes over the past year. They discussed each day’s plan via Zoom, then recorded separately, and sent individual files to producers. I wondered how the band found the remote process and if Dan thought the album would have sounded different if the band had been able to be together in the same place writing and recording.

“We’ve lived in different countries for over 6 years now so we’re used to sending ideas and files back and forth but we’ve never done a full album! As with most things in life there were upsides and downsides, fortunately we had some really organised producers working with us so keeping all the parts in the right folders, everything recorded at the same bit rate, at the right tempo etc was pretty smooth. It was fun hearing the songs come together in a slightly different way than before too. We always have pretty solid demos of the songs we’re recording by the time we make an album and this was more important than ever on this album. We had worked out what we needed to re-record, what we were going to keep and what needed work, our producer even made a nice pdf sheet with each track and the notes we all had!”

“We did write half the album all together in LA throughout 2019 which was great and gave us a good platform for the album once the pandemic hit. Of course the album would’ve been a bit different, you can’t help but be influenced by where you are and who you’re with. Just being in a different studio usually means you have access to slightly different microphones, instruments and outboard gear, not to mention the room itself sounding different so I actually think this album sounds even better and richer than it otherwise would because of that! There was a sitar lying around in Murph’s studio so that is on a few songs, if it hadn’t been there I’m not sure we would’ve necessarily hired one in! (It’s on ‘Ready For The High’ and ‘Wildfire’ for sure if anyone wants to try to listen out for it!)”

‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’ is a vibrant album that boasts The Wombats’ dynamic indie rock sound. The album is awash with irresistible musical gems for the listener to indulge in again and again; for example, ‘Flip Me Upside Down’, ‘Ready For The High’ and ‘Wildfire’ all highlight the infectious, fun and insatiable groove-filled sound we have come to love from The Wombats. It’s a cohesive collection of tracks. 

“Thanks! Yeah we always write between 20-30 songs for an album then the album usually starts emerging from the songs and towards the end of the process we get an idea of what’s missing.”

There are such great guitar moments in the album. The Wombats allow the guitar to flourish within each of the songs. The guitar has always been an enticing factor in the band’s sound and within this album, they venture into many genres with the guitar from indie elements to heavier rock, psychedelic and more. 

“The first song we made for the album was Ready For The High, I started playing the opening riff on acoustic guitar and we built the song around it, it felt like it could be grungy so we plugged in to this little cigarette packet sized amp which sounds insane and that was the sound we kept for the album. The guitar sounds in the chorus changes completely from the opening, we tried to make all the transitions as dramatic and drastic as possible on this album, Basically, each song we make, we imagine what we’re aiming for sonically and then start playing with guitar sounds, sometimes we’ll use references from other genres to help us find the right sound, it’s such a fun process.”

Throughout the album, The Wombats fill out their sound with experimental synths. ‘Work Is Easy, Life Is Hard’ has a subtle electronic punk/indie vibe. I wondered if the band have multiple versions of each song as they figured out what they wanted.

“We do have pretty solid, well thought through demos of all the songs but yeah, when we record we often do LOTS of options for each section just we try enough ideas and make sure we’re not missing any mind-blowing sounds or moments.”

‘Don’t Poke The Bear’ is another great track. Witty lyrics and jaunty guitar drive the track while rooted bass and buoyant drums create an upbeat foundation. Dan explained to me what inspired the song.

“I wanted us to make a bouncy swing song and so we started messing around and before long we had the music pounding, then we usually make a rough backing track for Murph to listen to and he walks around writing lyrics. When we were making this song he had a cold and his wife was worried he’d give it to his daughter so it was a little bit stressful for him. I’m guessing it was about not pushing people too far and knowing when to give each other space.”

Murph’s vocals slip into falsetto for a few tracks on the album. The effect creates a dynamic texture within each tune. The band’s ability to produce fresh and exciting elements in their sound is inspiring and Murph’s sweet falsetto adds an impressive aspect to the album. 

“Yeah it’s fun messing with range and melodies, we’d never really done full verses (apart from maybe Emoticons) with just falsetto so on this album Wildfire and Ready For The High it was fun to go from falsetto in the verses to full voice in the choruses. You ultimately come up with slightly different melodies depending on whether you sing full voice or falsetto so it keeps us, and hopefully the fans, on our toes.”

The Wombats bring the album to a close with ‘Fix Yourself, Then The World (Reach Beyond Your Fingers)’. The track is a subtle psychedelic gem and the perfect end to this riveting album. Deciding on an album track list is a gruelling task especially the closing tune. Dan explained how the band decided on their closing song.

“Yeah we always spend a while going back and forth with the track listing, we always try to make album’s that you can listen to all the way through from start to finish. The album closer was potentially going to be an interlude on the album at one point but we realised that Method to the Madness did a similar job on giving the album a couple of minutes breathing space so then we realised it was the perfect album closer. From the chaos of Flip Me Upside Down to the eventual calm of the last track. It was actually a jam we had in Murph’s studio after smoking a little CBD stick and it felt so good we just left it as it was originally recorded.”

The Wombats have announced a series of eleven exclusive UK intimate shows which started on January 6th, 2022 at PRYZM, Kingston to celebrate the album’s release. This is an extraordinary opportunity for fans to catch the band in such an intimate set-up before they go on the road for their biggest ever UK headline tour set for 2022. Dan told me what fans can expect from their upcoming shows.

“Lots of energy and new music!. Yeah we can’t wait. Playing the new album live is the final piece in the jigsaw for us so fingers crossed we get to play the shows!”

With five album’s under their belt since forming in 2003 and numerous shows and tours to date, I wondered what advice Dan would give to an aspiring musician or band beginning their career in music. 

“Just enjoy and focus on making music with your mates, don’t worry about getting signed or anything other than being the best musician you can and expressing yourself honestly through your art. If anything else comes along it’s a bonus.”

The Wombats are notorious for their dynamic indie anthems, irresistible hooks, and glorious dance floor boppers. ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’ follows this trend superbly and highlights the band’s knack for insatiable melodies, witty lyrics and refined musicianship. The album is a thrilling listening experience.

‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’ is set for release on the 14th of January. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here  https://thewombats.ffm.to/fyntw.oyd

Watch the video for ‘Everything I Love Is Going To Die’ below. 


Author: Danu

A Chat With, Indie, Interviews, New Music, Singer/Songwriter

A Chat With:Megan O’Neill

Photo Credit: Declan Creffield.

Irish born singer-songwriter Megan O’Neill has released her stunning cover of ‘Fairytale of New York’. O’Neill takes this beloved Christmas song and strips it back to create a haunting and moving rendition that highlights the lyrics of the song.

I caught up with O’Neill to chat about the immaculate cover, her songwriting and her recently released album, ‘Getting Comfortable with Uncertainty’. O’Neill also gave some solid advice for aspiring musicians.

“I suppose, it’s a brave one to cover. It’s a really gorgeous song that a lot of people love, myself included and so I was thinking, is this a good idea? But it’s just one of those amazing songs that I feel the message of the song can be interpreted in loads of different ways. That’s what we tried to do with our version. We just tried to interpret the story of the song in a different way, in a different mood.”

“When you actually sit down and you read those lyrics without the revved up production that’s in The Pogues version. When you actually sit down and read the lyrics. It’s really sad. It’s a song about failed relationships and broken dreams and unfulfilled potential and it’s quite a sad message in the story. I felt there’s another way you could interpret the story sonically, and that’s really what I wanted to do. Also, I think, a lot of time if you are going to do a cover, it’s important to do it uniquely in your own way that’s not trying to just recreate the original but trying to do something that’s your own.”

O’Neill’s voice is the focal point that carries the song’s emotional tone and she achieves this perfectly without overdoing it – the result is a time stopping, and a unique listening experience.

“Yeah, I didn’t really feel pressure. I think I have an ability with my voice. It took me years to figure out that I had [the ability] to portray emotion quite well, and it was something that for years, and I think this is the thing with all singers, you’re not really entirely sure how to use your voice or where the best elements of it are and that was kind of it for me. It was only when I started to actually sing less and pull it back and allow the natural tones and the natural emotion to come out that I realized, oh, I can do something here. [with ‘Fairytale of New York] It wasn’t really a pressure that I felt. It was just I wanted that emotion of the lyrics to come out. So I worked quite hard for that to come through my voice rather than it be something that was over sung. I wanted it to be vulnerable and close and haunting and like you were in the room with me really”

“I’m such a lover of stories and all the way through when I’ve been writing and releasing my own songs, the story has to be really important, it has to be the central point of the song. So I really zone in on lyrical content, and the story, and the message that I’m trying to get across in that story. It’s funny because when you’re recording songs, you can be in the room and there can be a bit that’s a little bit out of tune or a little bit too fast or a little bit too slow or you’re a little bit off tempo with the music. But if the emotion is there, those are the takes that I always keep. Those are the parts of the song that I always keep because that’s more important to me. It’s more important that the emotion comes across than the song is absolutely perfect as a recording.”

O’Neill worked with producer Mark Caplice on the track. Caplice and O’Neill have worked together before, and she explained to me how their friendship made creating a moving and vulnerable rendition of the track more comfortable.

“ Mark and I are very dear friends and we’ve worked on a lot of stuff together. So when I wanted to do a Christmas cover, Mark and I had been discussing which ones that I might do and what could work and he’s just got such an amazing ear. He’s such an incredible musician that always working with him, particularly because we’re such good friends, is easy, I don’t mind being vulnerable in the room with him. I don’t mind messing things up to then get them right at the end. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere and it always ends up being a great product at the end of the day.”

O’Neill’s songs have received great attention over the past year – including her recent single ‘Ireland’, which hit over 400,000 views on social media during release month and her album ‘Getting Comfortable with Uncertainty’ hit #1 on the iTunes singer/songwriter charts in the UK and Ireland. We discussed the whirlwind of a year and how 2021 brought a variety of ups and downs for the artist.

“Yeah, it’s been a weird and wonderful year. It’s been odd to have all these things going on and have them all going on, still stuck at home for a lot of it. You know, usually, when you release an album and you’ve got stuff happening, you’re able to tour with it and I wasn’t really able to tour this album before its release. I was able to tour it in September, October, November this year, thank God. I just got in the window..it was fantastic. Throughout the past two years it’s been good to me and also been challenging on a lot of levels but it has been great that the songs have been reaching more people and I’m glad that the album is out there now because we’ve delayed the release with Covid. So there’s been a lot of great things I think, for everybody pluses and minuses of the last two years.”

Similar to many artists, O’Neill’s return to live shows was a fantastic source of joy and anxiety. The return to shows brought pressure on artists to just jump back on the horse when they hadn’t performed in over a year. 

“Yeah, terrifying. My first run of shows were in Germany in September and I was absolutely riddled with anxiety and stress before I was due to go and I’m not that type of person. I’ve never really suffered from anxiety in my life. I’d always get a bit nervous before shows. But this was a totally different thing and the day before we were due to fly I was just a complete mess. Then once I got there and I got to perform, I was nervous but once I got in the swing of it, I was fine. But it’s been so long so there is an anxiety about getting back up and doing it again. There’s obviously the nerves with performing but there’s also a feeling of we all should have gotten better over the course of this pandemic, as in that’s the feeling. I’m not saying we should have. I’m saying people feel pressure to be coming out with better songs, being a better musician, being a better songwriter, like coming out of this pandemic almost as a new artist. That’s an awful lot of pressure. This has been a difficult time to be creative for a lot of people. It’s been a difficult time to be motivated. So I think there’s a lot of layers to what musicians are feeling going back into performing, myself included. I found it amazing to be playing in front of crowds again, but there was a lot of anxiety around it from my point of view and also from people in an audience not necessarily wanting to be in a crowded space. So it’s a difficult time and I don’t think it’s going to change very soon.”

‘Getting Comfortable with Uncertainty’ is a striking and impactful album. O’Neill packs a serious emotional punch with the album which is filled with glorious indie/country-toned songs and wonderful, meaningful ballads. I wondered if she found it daunting or exposing pouring so much of herself into her songs.

“Oh god yeah. I think it’s kind of a blessing and a curse because I am a songwriter that writes about my own life. I write about what I’m feeling at the time and you can write those songs and they end up being good songs that you fall in love with and then you’re like, oh no [ I ] have to release that, people are gonna know that side of me. So there is a vulnerability in it. But I think it’s important to be real and be true with what we do as artists because we’re all human beings. We’re all living similar lives obviously with differences, but, if I’ve felt heartbroken, if I felt lonely, if I’ve felt removed from my homeland, if I’ve felt frustrated with my career, the reality is that most other people have felt those emotions. So it’s important to be truthful with the stories that I tell because people will relate to them. They’ll relate to something that I’ve felt and that I go through because we’re all humans at the end of the day. It can be a bit daunting, particularly when people ask you about a very specific one. There’s some songs coming out in 2022 that will be pretty vulnerable for me so those might be challenging ones to discuss. But yeah, I think it’s important to be real with the messages you’re putting out.”

‘Time in a Bottle’, the bonus track off the new album featured on episode one of the hit Netflix TV Show Firefly Lane. One week later, O’Neill performed the song live on the RTE Late Late Show – reaching an audience of approximately two million and the single charted that same weekend in Ireland across all genres. ‘Time in a Bottle’ was the highest new entry on the Irish Homegrown Charts at the end of February and playlisted by RTE Radio 1. This was a crazy unexpected experience for O’Neill.

“Yeah, it was. We were again, in the height of lockdown and it was February this year when it came out, and I didn’t at all know how it would be received or what kind of feedback there would be, but people loved it and again it was one of those brave songs to cover. It was a song loved by very many, and I grew up listening to that song. That’s one of my mam’s favourite songs. So it was an odd one to take on. But again, the story and the message of that song is so powerful and it’s so relatable. It’s so emotional when you listen to those lyrics. So I wanted the story to be at the forefront.”

“I was approached by Firefly Lane by the creators of the show, because they wanted a female version of Jim Croce’s ‘Time in a Bottle’. They didn’t really give too much direction or what way to do it or how it was going to go and I did my take on it, again, that was produced by Mark Caplice. We did our take on it, and they loved it and it ended up on the show. But it was one of those things, you know, February this year, it was the height of lockdown and everyone’s sitting down to watch this Netflix series and I’m just sitting down to watch it with everybody else and then listening to myself on it, so it was very surreal. I’m so glad that people really love that version and it was a wonderful thing to have happen, particularly again in a year where we weren’t leaving our houses.”

The singer-songwriter’s video for ‘Ireland’ got picked up and shared by none other than Olivia Newton-John. With such well-deserved recognition under her belt, I asked O’Neill what advice she would give to somebody starting a career in music. 

“That’s a hard one. Be careful who you decide to work with, as in who you decide to be on your team, as a manager or an agent or whatever else. Those relationships are really hard to get right. But it’s really important to get them right. I know a lot of people, myself included who have had bad experiences on that front and it just, you know, it can destroy everything. We all get into music for the pure love of music, then all of a sudden it becomes a career and it becomes a business and it becomes a job and that can really challenge your love of it and challenge your attitude towards it which is hard. So I think being careful who you decide to work with, and also trust your gut because loads of people are going to tell you that you’re not good enough or you can’t do it or it’s too competitive or whatever. You’re going to hear “NO” way more than “YES” but your gut is usually right. Doing something that means a lot to you and that feels, like I was saying earlier authentically you, there will be people that will relate to that. Not everyone’s gonna like what you do but there will be people that will relate to what you do if it’s authentically you. So trusting your gut is important. Not even half the world is gonna like what you do. The whole point is having a niche market or having a select group of people that love what you do, and that can be a very sustainable career.”

O’Neill is an eloquent singer-songwriter who pours everything into her compelling tunes and her rendition of ‘Fairytale of New York’ is a fine example of this. Her moving vocals evoke a deep sense of loneliness and melancholy within the song and her sombre tones easily stir emotion with the listener. O’Neill is certainly an artist to keep an eye on. This singer has exciting plans ahead as she told me what next year has in store for her.

“Well, next year there is going to be a single coming out every eight weeks from January onwards. So next year will be a lot about releases and my music is going in a completely new direction, which I’m very, very excited about. It’s much more kind of into the pop realm. So I’m really excited for those new songs to come out and there’ll be two EPs. The first one will be in March-time. The second one will probably be in September/October. It’s not fully decided yet. So it’ll be mainly a year focused on releases because none of us really know where live is going to be next year, unfortunately. There are a few shows in the UK in February and then after that, we’re just gonna wait and see how the touring climate is. There’s going to be some songs I’ve written with other artists as well coming out which I’m really excited about. So just keeping creative. Keeping it going.”

Stream Megan O’Neill’s version of ‘Fairytale of New York’ below 


Author: Danu

A Chat With, Indie, Interviews, New Music

A Chat With: KAWALA

I sat down to have a chat with Daniel McCarthy and Jim Higson from KAWALA before their headline show in The Academy Dublin. We discussed their upcoming album ‘Better With You’, live shows and their YouTube sitcom ‘Paradise Heights’

KAWALA’s debut album ‘Better With You’ is set for release on March 4th 2022 pre-order here https://Kawala.lnk.to/BetterWithYouAlbumFP

Watch The Interview Below


Author: Danu

A Chat With, Alt- Pop, Indie, Interviews, New Music, Singer/Songwriter

A Chat With: Lyra

Photo Credit:  Evan Doherty

Cork native Lyra has recently released her new single ‘Lose My Mind’ via Rubyworks label. I caught up with the singer-songwriter to chat about the new single, the haunting events in the spooky Loftus Hall where she filmed the video and what we can expect from her upcoming, as-yet-untitled new body of work. 

Lyra packages a song that is about losing all your inhibitions and being free in the most exhilarating manner. ‘Lose My Mind’ is a cinematic, dark pop dance tune that is sure to get people up to dance.

“I had an idea, a vague picture of sonically how I wanted the song to sound while I was writing it. This song came very simply because it is more of a stripped-back, I suppose, more pop song than I usually write, which is the bigger,  hard-hitting, anthemic, quite high choruses. So for this one, the sound was easier to come up with. I knew that I wanted to keep my drums which I always reference Riverdance for because I love that big Celtic feel. But in this one, I wanted to also put the electronic sounds in. So, a lot of drum samples I went through. I don’t know how many, oh my god ! if I heard another drum that day, I think I was gonna drum my own head off. I knew that I wanted to have this pulsing beat and I knew that I wanted to have that intro that, like you said, kind of grabs you. That’s why I decided to put the chorus at the start because then, it kind of gets locked in their minds before they realize that it is the chorus, but without giving it away too much. I said “you know, I think we need to pitch this down a bit and make it sound a bit weird” or I was like “kind of Kanye West vibes”. The producers were like are you referencing Kanye West?. I know it sounds strange coming out of my mouth, but I did I just dropped that bomb. So I always had that vision in my mind when the song was being created that these were the rules, the bass notes of the song was something cool, beating drum, a kind of a weird vocal effect and putting the chorus first. And that’s how I made my baby.”

The singer-songwriter has a knack with catchy melodies, and the chorus in ‘Lose My Mind’ is a glorious earworm that just keeps on giving.

“I actually wrote the verses first, because they’re quite conversational kind of talkie you know. It was after this night out that I had and it was very fresh in my mind and I wanted to relay the story as natural as I could for people when they listened to the song, that they really got a sense of what I was talking about. So I started with the, “ I can see you looking, From across the room, you want me”, and it is like I’m talking in a singing voice. So that actually came first and normally I like to, in my choruses go a lot higher than the verses so it’s a bit more impactful. Then I was like, you know what, actually this one, I’m gonna keep it simple and I just randomly started singing “I keep losing my mind”. I kept repeating it and I was like, is this too simple? to have this just repeating in the chorus and then I tried out other things and I just kept going back to it. The chorus just came very naturally after I had sung the verse.”

Lyra’s voice is a recognisable factor in her music. She has impressive control, expressive depth and power in her vocals. Lyra explained to me that finding her voice and being comfortable with it wasn’t easy initially.

“It definitely took a lot of time for me to be confident in my voice. I suppose because – I call it a Marmite voice. You either love it or you hate it kind of vibe. Which I always say is fine by me. I don’t expect to be loved by everyone. It’s not how life naturally goes. But I suppose when I was starting out I was told a lot that my voice was too loud or that it was too brash, or I was told my diction was shocking and you know, I just went through this a lot. Anytime I got my demos back I’d almost be scared pressing play – what’s this gonna sound like now? because they would have as they will call it, polished up my voice a lot or there will be, a lot of autotune on it, a lot of reverbs, a lot of delays. A lot of the diction would have been cut into place and stuff like that so I always felt my voice wasn’t good enough if they had to change it so much. It took me ages to be actually ‘eff this, this is how I sound. I can’t have a CD and then get up on stage and then sing naturally the way [ I ] naturally do. It just doesn’t work. So when I wrote ‘Emerald’ I was very true to myself because I did it very much by myself. I took that time out of the music institute to find myself, I was like, this is who I have to be. Whether it works or not. I just have to be myself because I can’t be anyone else or I’ll be absolutely miserable and I won’t enjoy the time in the music industry anyway. So that was my big changing point where I was like, just sing how you actually sing and if people like it, they like it. If they don’t, then they don’t. And I’m okay with that.”

Anyone who sees Lyra live is blown away by how impressive her performance is and how her songs come to life in the live setting. She takes the passion in her music to new heights while still maintaining a fun and charming stage presence. We discussed the Kilmainham pilot music festival during the summer this year as that was my first time seeing Lyra perform live. 

“I loved that. That was so scary.  It’s so nice to hear that because you know a lot of people do say to me, “I follow you on Spotify and I came to my first show of yours and, it’s actually better in real life than on Spotify because you go for it” and I’m really singing and I suppose I can really get that passion out of the song, what it means to me and what it means to be in front of an audience. It’s just in that moment factor. So it’s always so nice when people say that because that’s why I want to be in the music industry, for the audience more than anything else. So thank you for saying that.”

The music video for ‘Lose My Mind’ was filmed on location within the infamous haunted corridors of Loftus Hall, situated at Hook peninsula County Wexford. It’s an impressive, fun and powerful video that makes use of the grand venue with rich lighting and multiple wonderful costume changes.

“ I knew with this song that I wanted a simple music video, I didn’t want to overcomplicate this and then I went working with this amazing girl called Debbie Scanlon. We worked together and we went back and forth and you know [to see] how we could develop [it]. Then it was actually my manager Caroline Downey who said “oh my god Loftus Hall would be amazing for this”. It’s a really big grand open space and I wanted somewhere where I could really show off my outfits as well, because originally the music video was going to be in a nightclub. Then we were kind of like, you know this space isn’t letting me artistically express myself and these outfits, I need a bigger space. So it’s actually my manager who came up with Loftus Hall.”

“Debbie was the director of the whole thing and she was amazing. She made me feel so comfortable on set and allowed me to be myself which I think always brings out the best in an artistic person and we went into the room and she was like, “well, we’re just gonna play the song and you, just do you and you know, this can be a test run and it’s fine”. And it’s actually the scene where I’m wearing the black outfit and we literally just put the music on and I just went crazy. I was just living in the moment of the song. It’s about losing your mind, being free, having no inhibitions in life. The song is about just living in that moment and just really enjoying yourself and that’s exactly what I did and she was like, okay, there it is. The music video is done. I just stopped and I was like wow, I just lost myself in that song for that moment”

“I call them my different colour characters in there where you start off with the lady in green, who has been left in the shadows and is this shy person that kind of meek person. Then she starts finding herself through the music video, and then you meet the girl in the blue tulle dress and the tulle dress is pretty but then you have like this diamante bra underneath it. That’s sexiness, like her transition from becoming this kind of meek little person who’s a bit shy and a bit timid and maybe a bit scared to express herself. This is the transition into the black outfit who was this badass b**ch who is like, this is my domain and I’m f**king living life how I want to f**king live it. Then you go into the Red Room, which is the final scene. She is the goddess sprawled across the bed with her diamante eyebrows on and, she’s like, I’ve arrived and you know, this is my domain and its that kind of full circle.”

“It was really good fun because I decided actually to style that myself. So I was literally arriving in Ryanair and there were like Fifteen thousand bags and they were like, where are you going your flight is for a week and I was like, it’s just clothes. Customs everywhere stopped me and they pulled me aside and tried to open my bags thinking I’m smuggling something. I was like I swear this is just massive tulle dresses in here that’s all. They were like who is this bloody girl?”

Loftus Hall is a famously haunted mansion located along the Hook Peninsula, County Wexford. It is said by locals to have been haunted by the devil and the ghost of a young woman. I wondered whether Lyra had experienced any spooky incidents.

“Sandra [Gillen] on makeup and Katrina [Kelly] on hair said that they heard banging on the wall like somebody was knocking on the other side of the wall, but it wasn’t a wall that was dividing anything and they said they kept hearing stuff. I was like “you need to stop saying this to me because I’m the scarediest scaredy cat ever, you can’t say that to me cuz I’m going to shit myself”. But the thing is, I [ spent ] the whole day concentrating on doing a performance, getting out of the outfits, changing the entire look and going back in. I could have been standing next to a ghost the whole day and I wouldn’t have even noticed. I genuinely wouldn’t have had a clue. I was just – next outfit, next look, next this, next that. The ghosts are there like “who is this spooky b**ch she’s scarier than us” and there’s me with my ass out walking up and down, Jesus Christ, oh mortified.”

‘Lose My Mind’ is the first new single to come from the artist’s as-yet-untitled new body of work due for release later this year. Lyra explained to me that the song teases the sound to come from this collection of work. 

“Yes, it definitely is. This is me developing. All my music has been a development from something. l started with ‘Emerald’ which is really Celtic. It was very much inspired by Enya [ and ] it was you know quite Kate Bush. They were all my influences back then when I was writing and I suppose I’ve just developed as a songwriter. I’ve developed my tastes and developed what I’m like singing on stage and you know, how I see the audience interacting with different types of songs. Then, I went on to ‘Falling’, which has that more commercial sound but still being very true to me as an artist with my drums and stuff like that and I feel ‘Lose My Mind’ is a very nice step up from ‘Falling’. So they all have [ been ] stepping stones to where I’m going. ‘Lose My Mind’ very much is a taster of what’s to come. I’m so excited, I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised.”

Lyra is set to perform at this year’s New Year’s Festival, Countdown Concert in Dublin Castle. She told me what else she has planned for the year and how much she is looking forward to the festival.

“ My Christmas EP, that I produced myself in lockdown last year. I’m going to bring that back out for Christmas. Just because everyone loves an old Christmas song and then in New Year’s, I’m playing at Dublin Castle with Picture This and Ryan Sheridan and that’s going to be amazing because I did Dublin Castle last year on my own, literally in the middle of Dublin Castle on a podium by myself singing ‘New Day’ ringing in the new year. So it’s amazing to go back. I’m really looking forward to that it’s going to be quite an emotional event for me, just from comparing it to last year. That’s what I have planned for this year, obviously a lot of mulled wine drinking. I’m going to my very first bingo loco which I’m so excited about because I’ve heard so much about it so I need a Christmas outfit for that.”

“Then next year I’m going bloody nuts you will find me everywhere. I’m going to be touring, releasing loads of new music and new stage setup. I’m just ready to take that extra step towards where my dream goals are so big bloody year. There’s no bloody stopping me. Nobody will be able to stop me next year. I’m working my ass off as we speak just to make sure that everything’s ready for next year. I missed out on a year and a half already. I’m making up for lost time and I can’t wait. I just can’t wait.”

‘Lose My Mind’ surges forward with an effervescent sonic wall of sound that is filled with elements of dark electronic and pulsing Celtic drums. Lyra’s incomparable vocals remain at the helm, strong and evocative as always. It’s a tantalising and exciting glimpse into what the singer-songwriter has planned for her next collection of work. Fuelled by ambitious vision, Lyra is an artist forging her own path and the result is engaging and exhilarating tunes that exude passion, lyrical depth and impressive musicianship.

Watch the video for ‘Lose My Mind’ below. 


Author: Danu

A Chat With, Interviews, New Music, Singer/Songwriter

A Chat With: AJ Wander

London-based pop singer-songwriter AJ Wander has released his new single, ‘Take It All’, The track is a cinematic and emotional tune doused in refined musicianship, crisp production and evocative songwriting. 

I caught up with the singer-songwriter to talk about the new single, his plans for live shows and writing the new single in a caravan in Wales. 

“It came to me when I was in Wales with my friend Geth [Gethin Williams]. We were staying at his caravan, sort of at the foot of Snowdon, which is a nice little spot to write and I was definitely feeling the need to write in that moment of life. I was just in a toxic situation and it felt quite cathartic and something that I needed to get out. It was quite a positive turn for me in terms of reevaluating self-worth and realizing that I couldn’t let it continue.”

“It was last November. We had a heater. He actually lives in the caravan. I feel like caravan is definitely miss selling it. It’s definitely like a big caravan that doesn’t move. It was a glamping caravan. I mean it definitely did get cold at night, that’s for sure and when the heater was off, you definitely felt the bite of Welsh winter.”

The track was produced by co-writer Gethin Williams alongside Brad Mair (Dean Lewis, Jamie Cullum, Kygo). Wander’s songs are vividly emotional with a personal aspect rooted within the lyrics. This makes his songs heartfelt, passionate and relatable. We discussed how nerve-wracking it can be to express all these personal emotions to the people he co-wrote with.

“ I think it’s nice knowing that’s what these people do. It’s definitely a hurdle to get over that initial awkwardness but I think once you accept it for what it is and that there’s not really any judgment on their part, they’re literally there to help you get your thoughts out and into music, it doesn’t feel awkward”

Lyrically the song tackles pain as Wander explores personal emotions in the midst of a toxic relationship. However, with his signature beautiful piano at the helm, the music is uplifting while cinematic soundscapes urge the track forward. Wander found the music and production came naturally to him and Gethin Williams, as they worked on the track.

“As with the other songs it just happened naturally, I think I was sat writing the lyrics whilst Geth, was producing up the track. It just happened organically, it wasn’t over planned, it wasn’t overthought it’s just the way it happened.”

Wander began his solo career during the pandemic. Lockdowns etc made it difficult to promote music and yet his debut single, ‘Time Out’ has just under 4 million streams. Like other artists of this generation, Wander has the power and influence of streaming platforms which gives artists huge exposure however it doesn’t really make them money. We talked about this paradox and the fact you can reach more people but don’t reap the benefits as much as you would with album sales and touring as well as how streaming has helped him with his music.

“Yeah, definitely and it’s still sort of difficult to come by. It seems that everyone that was supposed to be gigging before and during lockdown is now playing catch up and they’re playing all of their shows so for new artists you know, gigs are hard to come by. But things have been booked in now, which is exciting for next year. So 2022 is pretty busy. Yeah, it’s been tough. I guess the only sort of meter I’ve had to gauge the tracks success and how people are enjoying the tracks and connecting with them is Spotify and streaming. So it’s not multifaceted. It’s very singular and I do miss that connection with people in the room. It’s easy to forget why you do it. So yeah, having that barrier there was definitely a struggle and it’s a barrier I’m looking forward to knocking down soon and getting out and seeing some faces as I sing.”

“ Obviously, I don’t do it for the money. I think it’s a dream to just be able to survive on music. It plays into the whole sort of social media thing. It is one thing to release a song and it’s another thing reaching people. It’s something I’m struggling with right now. I think being able to perform in front of people will be a great thing for me because I can actually see people connecting with it rather than just seeing the number go up on a screen. So yeah, very much excited to streaming not being my only way of gauging how people are connecting with my music.”

Wander has been creating great content with his videos and the lyric video for ‘Take It All’ is an impressive example of his creative genius.

“I wish I could take all of the credit. I mean, initially, it came from me. I was sat on the tube and as it left the station, I was watching the adverts pass behind the train window. I was like that’s kind of a cool way to present lyrics as if they were adverts on the wall behind the train. Then that turned out to be pretty hard to do, to make it look like adverts on a wall. So then my mate Skip and I walked around London, taking pictures all over the place and just capturing loads of footage trying to think of situations where lyrics could be made to look like they were there. It’s nice to be able to show off a bit of London too like my hometown and people to have that kind of connection with me.”

With the release of ‘Take It All’ I wondered if Wander was giving us a teaser for an EP or an album to come.

“ Yeah, definitely an EP coming next year and then I get to perform it to lots of people which I’m even more excited about. So yes, there’s lots more music coming. So between now and Christmas is getting that EP ready, getting my live show ready, getting in rehearsals, and just prepping for a big 2022 really.”.

So what can we expect from an upcoming AJ Wander show? 

“That’s a very good question. Yes, there will be a band. I think it will depend on the show that I’m playing. I’ll have a piano. I know that I’ll have a piano and I will have a band on the bigger shows. Other than that anything is possible. There might be pyrotechnics, I imagine. Maybe I’ll like pop out with some smoke out of the bottom of the stage. In reality, I’ll probably be playing in a pub corner to about ten people, with the pyrotechnics obviously.”

AJ Wander is a compelling musician who showcases his effortless and ambitious talent through moving, rich and heartfelt tunes. His lyrical depth and remarkable songwriting is incomparable and ‘Take It All’ is a sublime example of this. Wander’s passion for music radiates from each release and his live shows are sure to have an audience captivated. Keep an eye out for his live show announcements. 

Stream ‘Take It All’ below 


Author: Danu

A Chat With, Indie, Interviews, New Music, Singer/Songwriter

A Chat With: Pa Sheehy

Cuan Dingle have announced three live-stream concerts from the Dingle Hub on the 30th – 31st of October. The series is an online celebration of artists based on the Dingle Peninsula and features Dréimire, Dairena Ní Chinnéide, Niamh Varian Barry, Gerry O’Beirne, Billy Mag Fhloinn, Maggie Breen, Pa Sheehy and Julie Jay over the two days. Tickets priced at €10 are on sale now from https://tvlive.ie/. Each concert will run for 1 hour, featuring one music act (45 minute live performance) and one non-music act (15 minute pre-recorded segment).

I caught up with singer-songwriter Pa Sheehy who will be performing on part three of the event on Sunday to talk about the livestream, his new EP ‘The Art Of Disappearing’, and his first solo tour. 

At 9 pm on Sunday Pa Sheehy will perform followed by one of the most exciting new voices on the Irish comedy scene, comedian Julie Jay. The performances will take place in the Dingle Hub which overlooks the beautiful Dingle Marina. The Dingle Hub has a strong creative connection to the community on the Dingle Peninsula. The concerts will highlight the incredible views of the Dingle Marina with a multi-camera production, paired with the highest professional sound and lighting. Being part of the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht, Cuan Dingle will also incorporate the Irish language into the series with a number of performers fluent in Irish.

“Yeah, it’s all going to be live there on Sunday night. It looks like a great set up and it’s a good lineup so yeah it will be good craic”

After a decade fronting the Irish chart-conquering Walking On Cars, Sheehy decided last July that it was time to leave the group and has released his own music and EP called ‘The Art Of Disappearing’, which hit the Top 10 Irish Charts. We discussed how daunting it was for him to go solo and discover his sound outside of a band aesthetic

“ The first few months was all about taking a step back and re-evaluating everything. Then I spent an awful lot of time in the studio over the last 18 months trying to figure myself out a bit and just writing songs every day and sooner or later, it just kind of dropped. I was like okay, this is where we’re going. So what you are going to hear in the first EP is the end of my Walking On Cars, kind of vibe and a step into a new world. Then a second EP, that’s when you really get to know what I found when I sat on my own for a year, it’s more chilled out, a bit more acoustic. Yeah, it’s just a different step from Walking On Cars.”

“ I guess, every decision I had to make was just trust my gut, and sometimes I got it wrong sometimes I got it right. A prime example of that was the single, Róisín. That took me so long to finish because I was so undecided on what parts to put where. There was so much that I muted on the record in the last maybe month of making I just kind of threw everything that burst out of me onto the song and it became apparent that I had too many ideas in there. It was one of those things where I needed an outside head and I remember one day I showed the song to my sister, and she listened to it, she loved it. Then the following week, I changed a little bit and I took out the post-chorus because I felt there were way too many melodies on it, and I played it to her and she was like, man, that’s the best part of the tune, what are you doing. I was like, Okay, I needed to hear that and so I put it back in and obviously, that was a good move to actually talk to someone outside of me and get their two cents on it.”

“ It was a case that I knew it was a good song, but I didn’t know where I wanted it to end up for a long time in the process of making it. So it took me three times of recording it to finally say okay, this is the one. I went to London around this time last year, and I met up with a few producer buddies of mine. We recorded it and it just felt really flat and not what I had envisioned at all. I came home and I was gonna delete everything and start again and slowly but surely it started falling into place. Day after day I’d come back to it or I’d hear something else that was a little bit wrong. I just tweak it and eventually, it all just fell into place.”

‘The Art Of Disappearing’, is an utterly time stopping EP filled with heartfelt emotion and moving songwriting. It’s lyrically deep and personal and Sheehy explained how difficult it was to express these raw emotions.

“ To be honest, I avoided a lot of these songs for a long time. But every time I sat down with a guitar, the same themes would come up for me and that means that I need to write about this and get it off my chest and move on to something else. So yeah, the themes in the EP are pretty grim, pretty sad, pretty close to home. But I feel now that they’re written, I can move on to some more lighter subjects.”

Sheehy cements himself as a powerful and vivid songwriter in the Irish music scene with this EP. He uses expressive, eloquent lyrics that perfectly place you in the setting of the songs or depict the gripping emotions within, “Oh you know I still remember the day you chose to go. Mom was in the kitchen, saying, “now we’re on our own”.- ‘I Saw You At A Funeral’

“I don’t think that’s something you can look at while you’re writing. I just do my own thing and if people like it then great. If people acknowledged the skill in it along the way, sure, isn’t that kind of a bonus.”

“I’m not sure. I feel I’ve so much yet to prove because, obviously I left the band and it’s just only my first outing. I feel I’ve got so much work to do and so much more to prove to myself, to be honest.”

“ And that’s so exciting. I can’t wait for the next round of songs. I have a tour planned for next March. A couple of dates in Ireland, a couple of dates around Europe. So yeah, like you say, I get to do my own thing and there’s a magic and a freedom that I really enjoy.”

There is a cinematic quality to the EP. A fine example of this is within ‘Drop Me In The Ocean’. Sheehy creates a beautiful and mesmerising backdrop through the use of soft piano and echoed backing vocals that contrasts the tracks powerful and evocative melody. It’s quite the remarkable tune.

“ I love that song. I wrote it with a guy called Jamie Norton. He’s a UK based songwriter and he is an amazing piano player. So basically in the last year, the whole writing scene, when I got bored of myself, I was like, Okay, I need to write with some new people. Basically, everything was on Zoom. So I had a Zoom call with Jamie Norton, who I had written with before so I knew we vibed and I had this vision in my head. I’d been listening to a lot of Radiohead at the time, so I was really into, loose acoustic guitar sounds, lazy drums, really organic sounding.”

“We wrote a song and I sang it and I recorded it. I recorded the drums, the bass, the electric guitars. I had this vision for it and I was like, this is great, this is exactly what I’m going for. I sent the song to Jamie and I was like, what do you think of this?, add a few bits if you want but I think we’re on the right track. What he sent me – he took the drums out, he took the bass out, took the guitars out and he just laid down this piano for the chords that we were playing and it just gave everything the song was about a deeper meaning and a deeper feeling.”

“I was just knocked out when he sent it back, a part of me was sickened because my vision of the song was destroyed but what he had created, what he turned the song into was incredible. When he sent the piano track to me, I just started putting subtle kick drums and subtle strings on it just to move it along but it didn’t need a whole lot once the vocal and the piano were sat nicely. Then from the piano, the ‘ooh’s’ jumped out at me and I sent them back to him and he was like, ‘Yes, man, we’ve done it!’. So it was just one of those things that grew and grew and took a few turns on the way.”

A track that stands out in the EP is the nostalgic ‘The Years Never Waited’. The harmonies and sweet arrangement create a perfect hazy atmosphere. Sheehy aptly captures feelings of the sweet memories we all have that make you smile through pulsing beats and sun-speckled guitar causing the listener to reminisce on their own youth while enjoying the refined musicianship and captivating soundscapes within the track.

“I suppose it defines where I was at that time. I’m in my early 30s and as you grow up, you just lose touch with friends and you don’t hang out as much. People go off and do their own things, people move away and have families, people have busy jobs and you just don’t keep in touch as much as you’d like. This song captures that in a nostalgic way rather than a super sad way. I didn’t want the vocal to be too harsh. So what you’re hearing on the record is three different vocal styles blended into one. The harmony is very prevalent in it so yeah, I wanted it to be a smooth soft vocal and I didn’t want to go to chesty on it. I was just looking for a new style to use my voice in.”

The EP is penned in a very emotive indie, singer-songwriter style yet Sheehy slips into a soft country rock-esque tone for closing track ‘Through The Fields’. It’s a beautiful end to the EP.

“To be honest, that song was in my pocket for about five years. It was never a Walking On Cars song. So when I left, I looked at the batch of tunes that I did have that weren’t in Walking On Cars world and that was one of them and I really wanted to bring it to life. The last lyric in the song is “goodbye from me”. That’s just to say thanks for listening to EP, I’ll see you on the next one kind of thing. It just felt nice as the last tune”

Sheehy has embarked on his first tour as a solo artist playing to a sold-out Whelan’s, Dublin on the 27th October and sold out Roisin Dubh, Galway on the 28th October 2021 as well as a sold-out show at St. James Church, Dingle on the 30th October.

“Yeah, I’m loving it. We did Cork, Cyprus Avenue on Monday, and that was incredible. That was a full room it was a really nice moment. People were singing along with the EP tracks and people were really enjoying the new music. I played an hour set and all new music so I think people are just interested to see what I’ve been up to for the last 18 months. ”

‘The Art Of Disappearing’ is a heartfelt collection of tracks filled with themes of loss, nostalgia and love. The EP is a sublime and passionate display from Sheehy and boasts the artist’s melodic mastery and meaningful songwriting. His performance on the Cuan Dingle live-stream is sure to be a timeless display. Cuan Dingle have selected a diverse and entertaining lineup for this live stream event and it is one not to miss. 

Tickets for the livestream are priced at €10 and are on sale now from https://tvlive.ie/.

Stream ‘The Art Of Disappearing’ below 


Author: Danu

A Chat With, Indie, Interviews, New Music, Singer/Songwriter

A Chat With: Stephen Kelly

Photo Credit: Daire Legaspi

Stephen Kelly, frontman and songwriter for Dublin rock band Raglans, is set to release his new single ‘All The Trouble I’ve Caused’ on Friday, October 22nd along with news of the release of his upcoming solo album ‘Bad News Best Forgotten’. I caught up with the singer-songwriter to talk about his blistering new single, what we can expect from the album and what sparked his decision to release solo material.

‘All The Trouble I’ve Caused’ is a big sing-along indie-rock anthem filled with scorching guitars and vibrant rhythms. Kelly’s signature hearty melodies and rich musicianship are on full display within the track while his deft songwriting hints at deeper, more serious subject matters. 

“With a lot of my songs subconsciously but also consciously, I try to mix a catchy melody with more serious subject matter. The lyrics aren’t always about the best things but the melody makes you feel good so there’s a bittersweet dichotomy going on. With this one, it’s just a case of self-reflection of my journey so far in being an artist and having the belief and faith of many people in your life, and how that can sometimes feel like you’re taking advantage of their belief in you when you’re trying to get things going as an artist. It’s a song about self-doubt, the verses are about doubting yourself and the choruses are about believing in yourself.”

During the lockdowns due to Covid-19, we have all had time to look inward and reflect on our lives. Kelly was no exception to this, and he explained to me the impact this had on his career and decision to release solo material. 

“Absolutely, with Raglans I wrote all the songs but we worked on them all together and it was a real team effort once we were in the band. So after Coronavirus and losing all of that because of what happened, you just have to draw on your own, and develop skills better than I had by having great musicians and stuff around me. I like writing songs but I often deferred to musicians to help me to arrange them etc and now doing it all completely by myself has been a very eye-opening experience. It’s been incredibly gratifying, developing my skills to the point where now I can really just look to myself to express my own vision.”

Producing and writing one’s own material can give an artist a sense of freedom; however, it can be daunting as you don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off. For Kelly developing the skills to produce his own singles was an invaluable and enjoyable experience.

“That’s the terrifying thing of it. But at the end of the day when you sit back and you play the track to yourself, and you’re happy the first time you hear it. I kind of follow that instinct rather than listen to it a million times and go ‘oh this is what’s wrong’ or ‘I could change this’ or ‘if I spent more money doing this it could be better’. I find doing that is just a pathway to complacency, so I get a song finished, I get it mixed and mastered to the best of my abilities. I play it to myself really layered and if I’m happy with it, I cross it over and move on to the next song. I feel I’ve got my second album, nearly finished aswell. I’m being very productive… it is nice to have developed the skills to do it myself now and be the king of my own creation.”

“ I’ve loved being in Raglans with Rhos [Horan] and Conn [O’Ruanaidh] because we didn’t know each other when we started really. They knew each other but they were strangers to me, and strangers who meet in a room and share music and that music starts at nothing and then takes you to Australia, all over America, everywhere. There’s something beyond the music to that relationship that we built. That’s why we never announced in my opinion, that we’re breaking up or we’re finished because we never had intentions of being a band that breaks up when we started because we didn’t have any intentions at all. I like the idea of it being an open-ended project and if people ever want to see us in a room together playing our music together we’ll be there to do it but at the moment because of the way the world is and because of how hard it is to be an artist financially. It just makes sense for us to do our own things for the moment and I found that something I wasn’t expecting to find as gratifying but I’m loving it, you know.”

The intro to ‘All The Trouble I’ve Caused’ is incredibly catchy and sets the song up well, creating a dynamic and full-bodied sound that makes the listener eager to hear more. ‘All The Trouble I’ve Caused’ is the perfect appetizer for the upcoming album, and Kelly explained to me how his mother influenced which track was going to be released first.

“Yeah, it was actually the intro that sparked the song. What I often do is I’ll hear a drum beat or find a drum beat and I have hundreds of songs in my head that I’ve written over the years, and I listen to this new drum beat and sometimes I go, well if I play this song over this drumbeat, it will completely change the complexion of that song with this beat, and ‘All The Trouble I’ve Caused’, was like that.”

“The reason I released that song first, is more of a personal decision. My mom passed away two years ago and before she passed away, I’d just started writing that song on an acoustic guitar, and one of my memories is her walking by going ‘ah that’s a good one Stevie, that’s a good one’. She always had a good ear for music. So, part of me felt like doing my own thing, not answering to anybody no compromise. I’m going to put out the song my mom would have liked to hear. That’s why I chose it. Even though I feel some of the upcoming singles that I’m working on may appeal to a wider audience or whatever, or be rockier blah blah blah. This one was very important to me because of what it meant to me and my mom’s relationship.”

“She’d be proud of me getting my shit together, getting my songs out, especially the one she likes. So I’m excited to put it out in her memory, her honour because I don’t like to post about those things on social media, put up pictures and say all this and that, it’s just not my way, but this is my way, to make this song for her, put it out and hopefully if she is around, or if she can hear…she’d be proud, you know.”

The new song follows the melodically rich tunes we experienced from Kelly’s ‘Home Brew Volume 1’ EP last year. We discussed how Kelly created his upcoming album ‘Bad News Best Forgotten’ differently from the EP and what we can expect from the new album.

“Well, the difference with Home Brew was it’s kind of like a brain fart, you know. We were all locked down, we weren’t practicing the same levels of scrutiny etc on our lives that maybe we were before. I look back at Home Brew now and I see it as a necessary evil, it’s not exactly how I want my songs to be produced and sound but I had nothing at the time and no means of getting anything. But luckily, in the last few months, I’ve been able to invest in my own proper equipment in the studio and I’m working with some great musicians when I need. There’s some brass parts on the new songs, and I’ve got great musicians who come over to my studio and put the brass parts down. It’s personal diary entries that are masquerading as absolutely banging anthems. But there’s more shades to it than just rock and roll, indie rock anthems. We’ve got a few different styles in there. I’m using some violins and brass, and I just want the album to showcase a dynamic songwriter who doesn’t just write for one genre – can write across a few types of songs and tell some stories as well, and hopefully people will go ‘okay shit this is going to be good live let me go see this live and we’ll have a party!’.”

I got a sneaky listen to ‘Leandro’, another blistering track on the upcoming album. This fiery indie-rock tune is brisk, catchy and full of energy and boasts clever lyrics that narrate a love triangle.  

“That’s a perfect example of what I want to display – a dynamic songwriter, for example, that song is like Raglans Christmas song [Christmas Number One (On My Own)], it’s tongue in cheek, you know. Somebody told me I couldn’t write a Christmas song so I wrote a Christmas song. I wasn’t actually alone at Christmas feeling sad and writing a song. I wrote a song about being alone at Christmas because somebody told me I couldn’t.”

“With Leandro, I was listening to a song by The Cars called ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ a lot of the time, and I found there was something hilarious about that sub-genre of music about the jealous boyfriend, who loses his girlfriend to a friend. There’s a few songs like that, there’s also the Joe Jackson song [Is She Really Going Out With Him?]. I just wanted to write a song in that genre.”

“So with Leandro, I had a girlfriend at the time who, received a job offer from a lovely, lovely guy called Leandro. The Leandro in the song is not actually based on the real Leandro, because he was a lovely guy, but I envisioned as a joke that he was a suave lecherous guy who was stealing my girl but ultimately they just fell in love and I was the third part, the third wheel without knowing until the end of the song. It’s actually one of my proudest songs even though, it’s a simple indie rocker. My songs, the ones that aren’t personal diary entries sometimes are easier for me to listen to because I haven’t attached as much of my traumatic experience to the lyrics.”

There is a shredding guitar solo in ‘Leandro’ that scorches through the vibrant indie-rock backdrop. It oozes swagger and vigour.

“Well actually, that is an interesting one because that was supposed to be on Raglan’s second album. Before the Coronavirus came I’d shown the guys in Raglans that song…I actually remember singing the solo to Rhos [Horan] when we were playing because like I said, I would often refer to better musicians, so I’d sing the lines sometimes and the guys would play them. But yeah, there’s definitely some Raglans DNA in that song, but I just thought I had to get it out. I really want to hear it on the radio before the summer sometime when I’m driving somewhere, you know.”

‘All The Trouble I’ve Caused’ and ‘Leandro’ evoke images of live crowds dancing and bellowing the track’s lyrics back at the top of their lungs. Kelly told me he is buzzing to play his songs live.

“Oh absolutely, it’s all getting planned at the moment. I put together my own solo band called Steve Kelly and The Natives, which is a nice nod to the Raglan song. So yeah, we’re putting that together we’re going to be ready to gig by January 2022. The album is intended to be coming out in March 2022. It’s called ‘Bad News Best Forgotten’ and we’re rehearsing at the moment, getting ready.”

‘Bad News Best Forgotten’ is a great title for an album. I wondered how Kelly came up with it.  

“Picking titles is hard that’s why Raglans first album is called Raglans. But this one, it was a lyric in one of my songs. Often I subconsciously write my lyrics and have a built-in meter of what I think is good and bad, and I look back on the lyrics I’d written for one song that might not even get on the album and I just saw that one of the lyrics was “bad news best forgotten swore an oath in blood”. I just liked the idea of Bad News Best Forgotten and we’ve been through a lot of shit, every human being in the world for last few years. We’ve received a lot of bad news on a daily basis. But dwelling on it is not the case and that’s what this album is for me.I don’t want to dwell on Raglans broken up by COVID. I want to just put good music out.”

‘All The Trouble I’ve Caused’ is a bright, anthemic and perfectly executed song that will put a spring in your step while the meaningful lyrics showcase the artist’s eloquent songwriting. This is exciting times for Stephen Kelly and fans alike. ‘All The Trouble I’ve Caused’ is out this Friday. Check it out, it’s an absolute gem.

You can follow Stephen Kelly on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/StephenKellyTheFirst


Author: Danu

A Chat With, Indie, Interviews, New Music

A Chat With: N.O.A.H’s Ryan Hill

Meath band N.O.A.H have released their highly anticipated debut EP ‘Echoes of The Night’. ‘Echoes of The Night’ is a summation of the past 16 months for this new band, both in metaphor and in sound. 

The EP sees N.O.A.H teaming up with Grammy-Winning Ruadhri Cushnan who produced the record in Camden Studios, as well as John Davis who mastered the record in Metropolis Studios, London

I caught up with lead vocalist and guitarist Ryan Hill to talk about the EP, the significance of the lyric ‘Echoes of The Night’ from the band’s debut single ‘Shine’ and why it was chosen for the EP’s title.

“ ‘Shine’ had such a big impact on the band and the actual line itself resonated with us. It summed up the meaning of the EP altogether, and the sound as well and how much it meant to have our first single out. ‘Shine’ explains this journey that we went on to get to the point where we are at and it just made sense to have it for the EP”

‘Echoes of The Night’ is a diverse collection of tracks that displays different facets of the bands sound. The trio pack in hefty indie anthems like ‘Shine’ and ‘Darkest Hour’ but they show a knack for navigating through pop, soul with some electronic and funk in the mix as well. Ryan explained to me that these songs were specifically chosen to showcase their versatility as a band as well as an overspill of their different tastes and styles.

“To be honest, it’s probably a mix of both. Last year, over the lockdown we wrote, I’d say, around 30 to 40 songs. When it came to picking an EP, as you can see, six songs, it’s a big EP and the reason behind that was because when it came to narrowing down to the set amount of songs for EP itself we wanted to pick something [ that ] gave the listeners something different every time they went on to a track. As you said yourself you do have those, indie kind of anthems like ‘Shine’ and ‘Darkest Hour’ but as you go on through the EP you have songs like ‘I’m Not Scared’, [ it ] was to show how versatile we can be as a band. It’s our influence as well, you know, Ronan [Hynes] our drummer would listen to a lot of Hip Hop, EDM and Dance music, [ these ] influences are in there as well. So it was probably a bit of both and that’s why we went for those six songs out of like 40 other tracks to go on the EP”

“It was a nightmare because we had ourselves picking songs and then we had other members of our team that were [ saying ] ‘Oh, you have to go with this one’. So yeah it was a difficult choice to narrow it down.”

‘I’m Not Scared’ features Hare Squead who bring a hip hop style to the band’s cinematic sound. The duo perfectly matches the anthemic, eerie and expressive instrumentation with their fluid raps. 

“Well, we recorded with Ruadhri Cushnan in Camden Studios, and Hare Squead were in there most of the time in the other room. Our main goal for that track, the last track on the EP was to experiment with something different, and when we were in with Ruadhri, it was a case of, we’d like to have someone in doing freestyle rap over this verse and that was always the main goal. It just made sense because the lads from Hare Squead were popping in and out while we were recording, and we just thought it’d be a cool collaboration. It’s kind of always been like that it was the same when we did ‘Darkest Hour’, we wanted to get Booka Brass on because it’s great to work with other Irish artists, so yeah, it just made sense”

Not only have N.O.A.H become known for their powerful and evocative musicianship, but their lyrics also capture the listener’s attention through meaningful and clever turns of phrase. Especially within ‘I’m Not Scared’ they are particularly moving,“ these silver bullets cut me open now everyone can see right through me”. Ryan explained to me what inspired these lyrical moments.

“Yeah, all these tracks were written over the lockdown. I believe that when you’re writing lyrics it comes from life experience but I found over the lockdown, you’re constantly writing, you get to the stage [ where ] you’re not seeing new things. You’re kind of locked away at home and stuff like that. So I think that it got to the stage for myself [ where ] writing was like almost creating your own story. Even for ‘I’m Not Scared’ the idea I got from that was a man that was losing hope which I suppose the meaning resonates with the listener because during that time of lockdown a lot of people were losing hope.I tried to stick to that theme but, as you said make it more creative. I think even for me from a writing side it was different, it’s just to pinpoint on that theme of isolation, loss of hope, you know”

“Yeah, and some people would ask me, ‘oh, what’s the song about’ and it was in the moment you know, it’s a story that you’re telling and it can be difficult to explain [ that ] sometimes.” 

Ryan shows a lot of diversity and range in his vocals throughout the EP. From falsetto in ‘I’m Not Scared’, tenderness in ‘Turn Your Heart Around’ and powerfully emotive in ‘Hands Up’. It’s a confident vocal display that matches the band’s masterful musicianship and marks him as a vocalist to keep an eye on.

“You know, I think it was only in the past year when we were doing demos at home. Sometimes you’d get in a rut where songs sound the same, and no matter how much you change them up instrumentally you have to look further and say let’s look at the vocals themselves. I think I’d be more confident now when it comes to the vocals, and that has a lot to do with people we’ve worked with as well in the studio like when we were working with Ruadhri he’d guide me in a way that we can do things differently, that I wouldn’t have even thought of. I’m not vocally trained, and never had any vocal coach or anything like that so for me it’s taking advice from people who’ve worked with other artists that probably are vocally trained to do things in a certain way. Yeah, I think after doing this EP I’d have more confidence in my vocals.”

“Hands Up was one of the main tracks that when we were in the studio, a lot of emphasis was on how that [ vocals ] was going to be done, and Ruadhri guided me in a way to not [ do ] the usual sort of belted out vocal, to do more intimate and you know, closer to me kind of stuff. It definitely was different for me as well, it’s a lower register, a bit quieter”

 ‘Darkest Hour’ is my favourite song on the EP. The sing-along hook, dark atmosphere, and vibrant brass combination are simply magnificent. However, there is something special about ‘I’m Not Scared’ the emotion it evokes is on another level to the rest of the tracks on the EP. It’s a great track to end the EP and teases a different sound from N.O.A.H. Ryan told me why he is most proud of ‘I’m Not Scared’.

“‘I’m Not Scared’, the reason is that we’ve been sitting on that song for over a year, and it was always that one track that sounded a bit different to the rest. When we recorded the EP itself that was the last one we worked on. There was a stage where, ‘we know what the song is but can we actually make this a track on the EP’. It was just one big idea and we had to get the song done in two recording sessions. It was a bit of a rush to do it, but then when we heard that finished product, I think it resonated with me the most even though it is the last one out of the bunch. I’m just delighted to hear it in its full, complete stage”

But it has to be said ‘Turn Your Heart Around’ is a beautiful song. The band strip all the lush production back allowing Ryan’s voice to express the tender emotion before slowly building to a cinematic crescendo. The track is an utterly time stopping listening experience.

“We started this off on an acoustic guitar with the chords. Adam actually wrote the lyrics for that track as well so I think I had the chords on the acoustic guitar and then he just came in and said we’ll try out these lyrics. That was a demo that we wrote I think around seven, eight months ago. I think one morning we were sitting there, and it didn’t take much time at all, we sat there and Adam handed me the lyrics and it happened naturally. Obviously, there was improvements made to it. But it really just happened naturally. Even in that track it’s sort of a belt out vocal but it’s a comfortable song to sing you know, and it still has that emotional thread throughout the whole track as well.”

Each member’s musical prowess is what makes N.O.A.H’s sound so special. All three members  Ryan along with bassist Adam Rooney, and drummer Ronan Hynes have talent in abundance which they bring to the band to create tight, cohesive and arena-worthy tunes that are irresistible to the ears.

“Yeah, definitely. I think especially over the past few months we’ve all improved on our instruments and stuff like that. We can bring more to the table now than before. We’re more comfortable playing because we’ve been together nearly every day for the past few months. We’ve gone more in-depth in certain things we can do, whether it be on synths, keyboards, guitar sounds, drums a whole lot you know. I think it makes a big difference, it’s kinda opened our eyes to the stuff we can do.”

‘I’ll Be There’ is a wonderful tune. It changes the pace of the EP allowing the band to present a glorious gem through refined and beautifully arranged instrumentation.  It’s that sunshine in a tune earworm that brightens every day. The rhythm and bass in particular in the song is fun and bouncy. ‘I’ll Be There’ is going to be one sing-along moment at gigs that will ooze feel-good vibes.

“That was one of the last tracks that we picked to go on the EP. I suppose you could say that the actual tempo of the track is a lot quicker than the others, it’s a 60 BPM of a track even though it sounds quite chill, it’s a very quick song but it was one of the first that we recorded when we were in Camden Studios, it was sort of a pick me up track and I suppose almost going back to our roots of playing or where we got our main influences from Kings Of Leon, The Killers and stuff like that. We all love rock music and indie rock music and we wanted to emphasize that in the song and even working with Ruadhri he said I want people on this EP to hear that it is a band, it’s a full band playing in a room. So, yeah, I think it’s just to give that more natural band vibe to the song, once again having the first sing along when it comes to playing live as well”

N.O.A.H will take to the main stage in Whelan’s on the 10th of December. These songs are destined for the live setting and the band are buzzing to play for their fans.

“Well, we played a few months ago the first indoor gig in Navan in the Solstice Theatre, it was a big place and it was only holding 50 people. It was our first time playing these tracks, and it’s weird because you’re so used to hearing the songs through headphones, and then when you go to play them live with real instruments it’s a loud show but it packs a punch you know. People can expect it will be a great show. We’ve had nothing but time to rehearse and we’ll always put on a great show. We can’t wait to be honest, we can’t wait to play.”

It’s an exciting time for N.O.A.H. The band has achieved a tremendous amount already. From signing with Mother Artists, supporting Bell X1 to performing live on BBC Radio. The lead single from ‘Echoes of the Nights’, ‘Hands Up’ was released in late July and has received amazing support from Irish radio and the wider media. Highlights include being playlisted on RTÉ 2FM as well as being chosen as one of the iLove Tracks for September on iRadio. Ryan told me what we can look forward to from the band in the future.

“What we’re looking at now is short term goals, we’re supposed to be doing an Irish tour in February and to be honest I think it’s going to be almost like a repeat of, we go back and write new tracks, start touring next year around Europe and maybe get over to America, hopefully. It’s just gonna be a case of writing and gigging when everything opens back up and yeah, hopefully, take over the world of music”

‘Echoes of The Night’ is a spectacular debut EP from N.O.A.H. The band showcase their boundless talent through this vibrant, musically dense and hook-filled collection of tracks. Within the EP there are immaculate moments of heightened emotion relayed through irresistible melodies, driving rhythms and majestic guitar work that takes your breath away. N.O.A.H are a band to treasure and if ‘Echoes of The Night’ is anything to go by this band have a bright future ahead. 

Stream ‘Echoes of The Night’ below 


Author: Danu