Month: October 2020

Charlie McGettigan’s new song ‘Ordinary Boy’ describes the relationship parents have with their sons and indeed grandsons. It’s an upbeat joyful song written by Charlie and produced by Paul Gurney at Real World Studios in Longford

Charlie McGettigan started his musical career in the 1960s in various rock bands in Donegal. Moving to Dublin in 1968 he honed in on the thriving folk scene there at the time. In 1973, Charlie formed the highly successful group Jargon, which went on to win the prestigious Letterkenny Folk Festival, following in the footsteps of bands like Clannad and Pumpkinhead.

He has worked with artists like Maura O’Connell and Eleanor Shanley who both recorded many of his songs including ‘Feet Of A Dancer’, ‘A Bed For The Night’ and ‘If Anything Happened To You’. 

Charlie joined forces with Paul Harrington and Brendan Graham to win the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with ‘Rock n Roll Kids’. He has released many solo albums including ‘In Your Old Room’, ‘Family Matters’, ‘The Man From 20’ and ‘Stolen Moments’ produced in Nashville by legendary producer Bil Vorndick.

Charlie’s songs have been recorded by many artists including De Danann, Mary and Frances Black, Ray Lynam, Daniel O’Donnell, Sandy Kelly and Hal Ketchum to name but a few. 

These days Charlie tours both here in Ireland and abroad. He presents “The Saturday Connection” on Shannonside/Northern Sound Radio, a two hour programme where he previews live music and theatrical events, interviews guests from the world of arts and entertainment and plays an eclectic mix of music and song on CD. 

His latest album ‘Tuesdays With Paul’ is receiving great attention from the media and includes the songs ‘Dust If You Must’ and ‘When I Was A Kid’. 

His latest album ‘Tuesdays With Paul’ is receiving great attention from the media and includes the songs ‘Dust If You Must’ and ‘When I Was A Kid’.

http://www.facebook.com/CharlieMcGettiganMusic
https://www.youtube.com/user/charliemcgettigan
https://www.charliemcgettigan.ie

‘Vamos (Lofi-Dreams)’ is the latest single from Alternative Pop/Hip-Hop act Darce. The track is an all-West Cork affair with the song being produced and mixed by rising female artist Blakkheart. The content is a mix of lyrical dexterity, witty self-depreciation and social commentary over a sleek lo-fi beat that make it the perfect addition for study playlists. All revenue earned from the track will go to Irish Network Against Racism (INAR) (https://inar.ie/). Vamos (Lofi-Dreams) is the first single from Darce’s upcoming EP ‘Rural Wi-Fi’.

“Wait, What you talking bout? / I don’t know life trying to sort it out.” Darce utters these lyrics on his latest offering ‘Vamos (Lofi-Dreams)’ and they perfectly sum up the West Cork native’s musical offering. The Alternative Pop/Hip-Hop act’s style combines introspective lyrics, a unique vocal technique with a life perspective from rural Ireland. A mixture which has seen the Bantry artist land features with numerous top publications, Spotify Editorial Playlists (New Music Friday UK), performances at festivals (K-Fest), support slots for the likes of Le Boom and industry showcase sets (Ireland Music Week, Music Cork) along with international TV appearances in both Brazil and The Netherlands. Where he appeared alongside The Rubberbandits and David McWilliams of all people.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darceyout/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarceYOUT/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DarceYOUT

‘Disappear’ is the first original solo track released by Paradox frontman Pete Mac in over 10 years since the release of his first solo album ‘In Limbo’ in 2009.

Recorded at Wavefield Recording Studios in West Cork ‘Disappear’ takes a different direction to the usual harder sound of Paradox featuring Brian Casey on grand piano and keys and Peter O’Sullivan on drums. The track was written during the lockdown period with Pete experimenting with different sounds. Pete has also been kept busy in 2020 recording some of his favorite cover versions at his home studio and releasing them on Spotify. Collaborating with other musicians such as drummer Mick Cross from Bunnosionn via long distance recording on such tracks as REM ‘Man on the Moon’ and The Smashing Pumpkins ‘Disarm’. 

Pete Mac plans on recording and releasing more original music this year with the plan of releasing a full length album next year. 

Pete Mac is the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of Irish based Alternative Rock/Grunge outfit Paradox. Not your typical Singer/Songwriter Pete Mac has branched out from his band Paradox and taken his Alternative melodies and musical frustrations to his acoustic guitar. Paradox have been a band since 1997, formed in Cork, Ireland by brothers Pete and Mike Mac. With four albums officially recorded and released (‘Chapters’ in 2015, ‘Corporate Pollution’ in 2010, ‘Sacred’ in 2004 and ‘Circle of Growth’ in 2000 on US indie label), as well as a solo album in 2009 titled ‘In Limbo’, a few trips to the USA, shows, studios, more shows in Europe and a few solo performances in between Paradox have been kept busy. The biggest part of the bands popularity has been through word of mouth and the Internet. No big promo campaign and no Label. The band shot a music video for ‘Mr. Bureaucracy’ in 2012 which was nominated for best song at the Berlin Music Video Awards, Dublin International short film and music awards the Portobello Film Festival London in 2013.

In 2012 the ‘Corporate Pollution’ track ‘Repress Excess’ was used on the soundtrack for Canadian horror movie ‘Truth’ which screened at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Canada International Film Festival’s Royal Reel Award.

Paradox have toured both Europe and the US as well as playing support to the likes of Therapy?, Kerbdog and Shonen Knife in 2013.

Every Paradox song was originally written and performed solo on acoustic guitar before being transformed by electric guitars, bass and drums. So the ‘Pete Mac solo project’ if you can call it that is Paradox at it’s core, every song in it’s original form, at it’s point of conception, nothing added. Voice, melody, acoustic guitar.

Pete Mac continues to play both solo as well as with his band Paradox The current Paradox album ‘Chapters’ has been a working progress for over a year which originated in September 2013 with songwriter Pete Mac playing all instruments on the recordings including all guitars, bass and drums. The first single ‘Nothing Lasts’ features slow melancholic Cello tones carrying the song to it’s climatic refrains of ‘Nothing Lasts’. A music video also accompanies the single. Cello makes an appearance on various other tracks on the album. A music video accompanies the second single ‘Free As A Bird’ which was initially inspired by the film ‘Into the Wild’ with singer Pete Mac and his dog roaming aimlessly on a deserted beach.

2017 saw the release of the new single ‘All Life Matters’, an eagerly awaited follow up to the bands last album ‘Chapters’. ‘All Life Matters’ takes a similar direction to the previous Paradox album ‘Chapters’ which was also recorded at Wavefield. Singer Songwriter Pete Mac plays all instruments on the track with Brian Casey adding keys and piano. A music video accompanies this track taking a sarcastic slightly twisted view on social media and today’s society. The video won ‘Best Music Video’ at the Disappear Here Film Festival in Donegal and was also nominated at the Kerry Film Festival and the Indie Cork Film Festival 2018.

2020 saw Pete returning to his solo endeavors with the digital release of various cover versions and the release of his first original single titled ‘Disappear’ in over 10 years.

Pete Mac on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/petemacparadox 
Pete Mac on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/3rQYBq9v6iZ1H5m6NW0C4A?si=gUZMt5QVSJWvKPSX2neTfw 
Pete Mac Paradox on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/petemacparadox
Paradox on Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/paradoxirishband
Paradox/Pete Mac Videos on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/paradoxrock

Imagining Ireland showcases the most exciting creative artists at work today. For its next instalment idiosyncratic Kerry singer-songwriter Ronan Kealy aka Junior Brother will perform alongside his own special guest, Lankum’s Ian Lynch.   

A unique creative force, Junior Brother was named Irish Times’ Artist of the Year for 2019 and his debut album ‘Pull The Right Rope’ was nominated for the Choice Music Prize. His richly lyrical songs meld the ancient and the avant-garde. In addition to selling out many headline shows he has played support for acts such as The Proclaimers and Glen Hansard, the latter bringing him on a tour of the US East Coast in July 2019. His innovative work was also acknowledged with two nominations for the 2019 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, for Best Folk Album and Best Emerging Folk Act.  

For this special performance he is joined by Ian Lynch. Ian is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best-known as a member of Lankum. The folk group’s two most recent albums ‘Between The Earth Snd Sky’ (2017) and ‘The Livelong Day’ (2019) received much acclaim including a Choice Music Prize win (the latter), plus several RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards and BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In addition to his work with Lankum, Ian has a monthly radio show Fire Draw Near and a Youtube series called Songs from the Craic Pipe.  

Supported by Davy as Innovation Partner.  
Imagining Ireland is a partnership collaboration between NCH and Culture Ireland.  
Supported by The Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht and The Irish Times and Newstalk as media partner.  

The concert will be available to tickets holders for 24 hours following the performance.  

Tickets for the stream are available exclusively via DICE.fm  

Tickets: €7 On Sale Now 

‘Infernal Fires’ is the second single from the newly released self-titled debut album by My Sweet Beloved.

The alluringly garish video created by Danielle Harrison Byrne, hints at the fears associated with superstitious beliefs and the allegories behind them. Telling a cautionary tale of sorts and inviting you to be mindful of the consequences of your words, thoughts and deeds. 

My Sweet Beloved merge the intensity of a fever dream with the kind of subtle, sultry pop smarts you thought had gone to Hell in a handcart. With brooding, atmospheric textures seemingly conjured out of the ether, the album is the cumulation of many months of artistic endeavour and some years of collective experience. The voice of Danielle Harrison Byrne (ex-Skindive) floats on music activated by musicians Derek Byrne (Autumn Owls), Anton Hegarty (Future Kings of Spain, A Lazarus Soul) and Dan Devlin (Moskowitz).

When Skindive split up some years ago, Danielle – who arrived in Dublin from Los Angeles specifically to join the band – knew her true voice hadn’t yet been revealed. When that band fell apart, she was, she remarks, “a singer with no songs,” yet the determination to match her creative vision with her vocal skills never wavered. Slowly, assuredly, one song followed another. The process was painstaking yet precise, the lessons learned invaluable. The album, says Danielle, is the result of a “long journey that I am now able to fully appreciate.”

With producer/musician Les Keye, Danielle produced and mixed the new album, her vision of what she wanted in perfect alignment with what she knew her bandmates could instinctively Deliver. Joe Chester of A Lazarus Soul was on mastering duties and Mark Colbert contributes drums to some of the tracks.

There is a cinematic quality to the music, too. Alongside central classic rock/psych music (notably, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here albums), Danielle admits that when she hears any of the songs she is reminded of, “little films. I can visualize each story and feel the water, or the ghosts, or the cliffs all around. Some songs, also, are pencil sketches, while others are painted with deep colours in broad strokes.” Such innate artistic leanings fuse with those of her bandmates, all of whom “have their own inspiration. Ultimately, it’s a lifelong love of music and playing music that brought us all together.”

The musicians in My Sweet Beloved are all vastly experienced, with Derek Byrne (guitars), Anton Hegarty (bass) and Dan Devlin (drums) cumulatively adding what comes naturally. Is the formation of the band a classic case of all good things come to those who wait?

“When I heard Derek play for the first time I was blown away,” says Danielle. “He brought exactly what I had always wanted for the songs, which is a dreamy, haunting power. I had always known I wanted to play music with Anton, and Derek had always wanted to play music with Dan, whose background is in teaching drum corps percussion“. Fortuitously, the two worlds came together.

She says “Playing and recording music with these three people has elevated these songs to a level I had always dreamed of. I get to explore everything I love about music, atmosphere, layers, movement, intensity, depth, big sound, heavy bass, big drums, deep colours, darkness, experimentation and diversity…not being held to predetermined rules about song structure and just letting the dream take over. When I hear these guys play, I always think if I wasn’t playing with them then I’d sure wish I was.”

Dreams have come true, then, but sometimes at a price. As usual, life and the living of it have interrupted the best laid plans and strategies for the members of My Sweet Beloved, but the outcome of putting many years of work into the music is true friends (“with an incredible bond”) creating songs that truly matter. A certain pandemic may have put a temporary halt to many things, one of which is bands playing music in small music venues, but the band, says Danielle, “can’t wait to play live shows again. There is nothing like ‘living in the sound’ when you play together live. In those moments it all becomes bigger than its parts.”

Whatever the size, the songs are the most important. “Music is not a contest. There is no winner. My Sweet Beloved has its own label, D&D Records, and while that takes a lot of heavy lifting at least we don’t owe anyone anything. And crucially, we can do it our way.“

Introducing ‘Veritas’ by CATALAN! The Belfast based indie punk protest project by Ewen Friers. A stream of modern consciousness barked over world music infused rhythms and melodies.

New single ‘Ungoogleable’ out today.

Naming an album after the Latin for truth seems like a bit of a precocious move, but it was borne out of a genuine desire to create an honest representation of Friers’ outlook, his truth. Following a string of eclectic singles and a handful of exciting live appearances Ewen retreated to a secluded glen on Ireland’s North Coast to record the debut CATALAN! album, ‘Veritas’ earlier this year. Creating a home recording set up in a massive modern house, Ewen and his live band, along with Ryan McGroarty (Beauty Sleep, Start Together Studios) at the controls, spent 10 days interpreting reams of voice memos, demos, lyrics and instrumentals into a fully realised album.   

The album must be viewed as a journey; it darts between styles and musical traditions. The lyrics dance around the subject matter, they reflect our maddeningly fractured social media landscape. At one moment it’s cute cats and photos of latte art the next it’s the migrant crisis or climate disaster. This approach poses questions about how we’re realistically expected to process this complex web. A spontaneousness and freedom can be felt on the record, much of which was tracked live and without much obsessing over clinical details and more about a focus capturing a particular vibe. 

Kynsy, the solo project of rising 23 year-old multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, Ciara Lindsey, today releases her new single and video, ‘Happiness Isn’t A Fixed State’. 

Written and co-produced by the artist, she enlisted mixer Claudius Mittendorfer (Interpol / Sorry / Parquet Courts) to buff the finished work into three minutes of surly swagger.  About the track, Kynsy said: “It’s a tug of war between the positive and negative thought processes that occur when a relationship ends. It’s about accepting the fact that sometimes you have to laugh the pain away or look at negativity head on in order to feel positive emotions and have positive thoughts again.” 

The track comes with an accompanying self-directed video, filmed in Dublin by Tim Shearwood and featuring Kynsy and her friends. Talking about the video, she continued, “I wanted to try and create the same sort of balance of ideas, it needed to be fun and playful but with moments of emotional vulnerability in there too, a sort of ying and yang of simple fun against complex emotions.”

DIY launched the video and single today calling it “swaggering” and “another instant mesmerising earworm” – read the piece here.

‘Happiness Isn’t A Fixed State’ follows the release of her debut single, ‘Cold Blue Light’, which showcased the Dublin artist’s wry lyrics, depicting fading chancers and bullies and their last grasp at relevance. 

Tipped in 2FM’s Rising 2020 list and Golden Plec’s 2020 Picks, ‘Cold Blue Light’ picked up plays on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music with Kynsy also featuring on the cover of Spotify playlists including Fresh Finds Rock and An Alternative Eire as well as on the cover of Indie Britain on Tidal. The track was also included in Spotify’s New Music Friday UK, Badass Women, Et Alt and New Alt playlists.

Dork described it as “all at once understated and anthemic, a foreboding, end-of-the-world beast that channels youthful rage into something that’s both tragic and yet somehow uplifting” and Get In Her Ears called it “a dark synth-pop gem that oozes with defiant attitude”. 

Kynsy’s louche, almost rakish delivery is half world-weary lounge singer, half astute soothsayer. Moving from the metallic lurch of a nightclubbing Iggy Pop to the icy cool of St. Vincent and the futurism of Julian Casablancas, Kynsy has constructed her own world, one with a playful juxtaposition between the warmth of pitch perfect pop melodies and the stinging realism of her lyrics. Watch this space for more music and news on Kynsy, coming soon.

Kynsy performs at Ireland Music Week on 7th October 2020.