IMRO Creative Rooms is an online content series that invites artists to share an intimate insight into their creative process, by showing the spaces they create in.
As a songwriter, Don Mescall’s songs have featured on albums with sales of over 22 million worldwide and have received in excess of 18 million hits on YouTube. His songs have been recorded by artists including US Country superstars Rascal Flatts, Backstreet Boys, Geri Halliwell, Sharon Corr, Christy Dignam, Cliff Richard, Lulu and many many more. Besides his songwriting and producing, performing live is a huge part of Don’s career. He regularly tours in Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe and the USA and has previously been awarded the prestigious ‘Songwriter of the Year’ at the IPCMA’S 2017.
Don splits his time between his own studio in a 1800’s converted Church on the banks of Quivvy Lake, Co. Cavan and NHM in Nashville. Here, Don gives us an insight into his Quivvy Church studio, working with the late, great Christy Dignam, recent projects, and future plans.
How did you find your current studio and decide to return to Ireland?
Really as a direct result of the pandemic I decided to close the ‘Pepperpot Recording Studio’ in Greenwich SE London in July 2020. It wasn’t an easy decision after building up the studio and having seven years of wonderful projects with some amazing musicians, artists and songwriters coming through the doors, but Covid really forced my hand in a way, so I had to try to find a way to not to be a casualty of the new circumstances that we all faced. As I’m sure you will remember it was such a challenging time for everyone, the world seemed to pretty much come to a stop. In a way it helped me make the decision to give up the studio and move house, home and work back home to Ireland where I had left 30 years previously.
Sometime earlier in 2019 I had managed to purchase a beautiful old Church from the 1800’s in Co Cavan on Quivvy island, originally built by Lord and Lady Lanesborough as part of their estate and used by them for services of the Church of Ireland. Then in the early 90’s it was bought by the artist/songwriter/producer Brendan Perry (Dead Can Dance). I actually came across the “For Sale” advert as a direct result of suffering from insomnia. It was one of these middle of the night, can’t sleep hours where I was browsing old properties, castles, islands, period houses and of course churches.
I ended up finding a piece on the church, but my excitement was soon dampened when I noticed the piece and indeed the advert was from five years previously, ha-ha. Well, I’m a dreamer so I emailed the estate agent anyway, and it turns out it hadn’t sold, there were complications, which of course only heightened my interest. Long story shortened I ended up buying the property from Brendan and putting together a kind of five year plan to start a major refurb and sometime in the future move back, but that all changed on the 1st of August 2020 when I took that leap of faith and moved into a very run down, tired and desperately in need of TLC, church in a tiny community in Co. Cavan.
It pretty much took two solid years from 2020 to 2022 to get the space to a liveable and comfortable home with recording studio on level two. Brendan had previously used the Church as a kind of rehearsal/recording space with some living space on the top floor. I decided to take it a little further design wise. Looking back now the first six months were pretty challenging, cooking on a single George Foreman Grill and showering under a water hose out the back, or bathing in the evenings in the lake, weather permitting. I was surrounded by my life’s belongings still in carboard boxes and two rather full shipping containers in the yard. Luckily at this time most tradespeople in the surrounding area were confined to working within a 10km radius because of Covid and were happy to have the work. Looking back I was so fortunate to have some amazing builders/tradesmen working on the structure for the initial two years.
So what did you work on once you got the space up and running?
When the Studio was finally up and running, equipment wired and all the usual teething problems figured out, desk installed and vocal booth down in the main church area functioning , I started to again to look at my own new project ‘Seven Setting Suns’ that I had been working away at in the evenings at my studio in London with my trusted engineer/string composer and dear friend Michele Busdradghi – we had worked together for the previous six year at my studio by the Thames in London.
It was such a lovely change, a rebirth to embrace the new space of the Church and the silence that only you can find in such a big old stone structure. Brendan had made a few amazing albums here, so he definitely left a wonderful musical karma within the walls. It was one of the things that I had felt so strongly from the moment I first travelled over from the UK to initially view the church and visit the local area. I remember thinking this is so obvious, this is where I’m supposed to be! So actually it was an easy decision to buy, my life was about to change and so much for the better.
You were also working with Kiera and Christy Dignam as well?
One of the other projects that I had just started in Pepperpot studio back in London in 2020 was with Kiera Dignam (the late Christy Dignam’s) daughter. I had become friendly with Christy after making the connection with him and his former band Aslan many years before when they recorded a few of my tracks, one of them ‘Too late for Hallelujah‘, which was quite successful for them. Really it was my connection with Christy and his love for his only child Kiera that got me interested in the project. Kiera had sent me a few songs and I could hear something quite beautiful in her voice at times, but was pretty sure in my head that the genre might have to change a little. She has an amazing range and the power delivery that she obviously inherited for her old man, but it was when she was singing softly that I realised she had an incredible emotional connection with the listener, a highway straight to the heart. You can’t make that stuff up, its either there of its not. It’s that moment when a singer sings a line and its totally believable, you know they have lived that moment, it’s real.
So I started working on songs with Kiera that she initially wouldn’t have felt were in her comfort zone , and pretty much most were met with the reaction “Jaysus Don, I don’t think I can sing that! That’s not me”. To a few days later, a text saying “OMG!!! this song is about me, I feel so connected to it, ha-ha”. It’s wonderful when that happens it makes my job so fulfilling and a lot easier.
So Kiera travelled over and back a few times and we started with what was originally planned as an EP, but then was slowly turning into an album project. Again this is pre-covid, Keira naturally was reporting back to Christy with the songs and he was guiding her. He was really liking the vibe I guess and was incredibly proud of her. Then, a phone call out of the blue from him, that led to a conversation about his ‘Bucket List’ stuff he wanted to do before he departed this world.
Obviously everyone knew at that stage he was incredibly ill and he wasn’t going to recover. Those were strange conversations in a way, because you were speaking to a man that was very aware and planning for his ultimate demise. So really Christy wanted to make one solo album before he died, that was the essence of it although we danced around the houses until we got to that revelation. In fact even at that early stage before we had even tried to figure out how we could even attempt make the album he was calling it his ‘Legacy Album’, which I remember feeling at the time was not only an incredible honour for me as a writer and a producer but also came with a huge weight of responsibility.
The title of the record, ‘The Man Who Stayed Alive’, was really a tongue in cheek comment about the fact that Christy had been dying for so long, but still had managed to rally every time it looked like he was on his final performance! We laughed a lot actually when I initially played him the song. I had written it based on a conversation I had at the night of a fundraiser “A night for Christy” at the Olympia Theatre. I bumped into a very well known Irish rock journo back stage who told me he had actually stated working on Christy’s obituary! That stopped me in my tracks a little, as you can imagine. The irony though was that the show was in 2013 – Christy passed peacefully from the world on June the 13th 2023, he certainly was the man who stayed alive!
We released the album on our own independent record label ‘Taranis Music’, through Sony Records Ireland in October 2021, climbing to #7 in the charts. The reviews were pretty amazing, it indeed was seen as his legacy album with four star reviews the critics describing it as “The Man Who Stayed Alive – A life-affirming triumph” (The Irish times). There were so many wonderful people responsible for the making of the album. I played a small part believe me, by writing it and producing it. It was a joy to work again with Christy, but the guys behind the scenes really deserve the credit for making it happen.
There is a whole other book waiting to happen on the story of the making of the album and the fun times the challenges recording as Christy’s health deteriorated, but the team of genuine people that I worked with were inspirational. At some stage I hope to speak more about them, but in no particular order these people need to be acknowledged! Willie Kavanagh, Catriona Casey, Paul Whittle ( B.I.T.A), Sarah Murphy, Larry Bass, Robert Bass, Chris Kelly and Darren Reinhardt (Sony), the wonderful musicians and of course Christy’s angels! The people who actually put their own money in the pot to make it happen, the heroes!
What else can we look forward to from you?
On finishing Christy’s album project I was asked to work with and produce an album for the Italian X Factor Finalist Leo Meconi, a very talented young singer/songwriter. This project came through a mutual friend and artist manager Sem Moioli. It’s been a fab project to produce, half of the tracks in English and half in Italian. Mixing has begun on the record, so the end is in sight and the future sure looks bright for this young man…Watch this space!
Also Kiera Dignam’s album, we’re finishing the last two tracks. It’s a great record and I’m excited for her. She’s a grafter and really is deserving of a successful career. She’s not just following in her father’s steps, she’s making her own history. I really hope people give her the respect she deserves.
What do you love about your job and your creative space?
One of the things that I love about my job is the diversity of the projects, the different genres really. I’ve always felt that a good song can cross many genres and can be recorded and produced in many different styles. This is something that I’ve always encouraged students to consider when I occasionally give songwriting workshops. I feel there are and there is no need to be fences, boxes and any other barriers that hold back a song or push it into a certain format – that’s just a production thing.
I enjoyed working many years ago with Charlotte Church, what a voice! And then later with Ramin Karminloo, who at the time was the lead in ‘The Phantom Of The Opera’ in the west end. I always loved crossover classical type songs, so when I was asked to work with the incredible Irish Soprano Celine Byrne, I jumped at the chance. Now this is something that seems to work beautifully in my church studio in Quivvy. Celine really has one of those voices that as a producer you can’t wait for the session to begin. We are in early pre-production stages with the album, trying different songs. It’s fun and its again refreshing to be working with such a unique voice.
Being based in Cavan, do you have a sense of community in the area? Tell us about the upcoming Cavan Music Industry Week…
I’m honoured to have been appointed the Exec Producer of the ‘Cavan Music Industry Week’, in October 2023. It’s looking like it’s going to be an annual event in association with Cavan Arts and the Cavan Institute and IMRO. We have some incredible things happening this year. it’s a must attend if you are a musician / songwriter/producer /singer this year a three day event with seminars and workshops and intimate performances plus a special concert at the beautiful Cathedral in Cavan with Celine Byrne, Cavan Cathedral choir (under the direction of Eileen Tackney), special guest Cobhla Surlis (winner of the 2019 Soloist) and a string quartet.
There is also a wonderful opportunity for up and coming songwriters/performers to showcase as part of the ‘The Listening Room’ event the Sat 14th apply using this link below. They would really like to hear from you via the online form. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=j36jh-42AkGpwpKve16vpWZvfiWhmzhJiGIkWLfVEUdUMlBUTFVCMFVKRlNHTEtTT0dDVVhBQzVVNC4u
That looks brilliant Don, is there anything else we should be looking out for?
Well apart for a few other projects I’ve been writing for stateside that come out next year. It’s back to the studio for me to finish my own album and deliver the others. It’s really great to be back in Ireland after all these years. My life has changed dramatically, but most definitely for the better. We are at planning stage for ‘Songwriting Workshop Weekends’ at the church starting later in the year. It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to people coming to work with me and staying over for a few nights in this wonderful setting. Hopefully finding the kind of inspiration that I feel here on a daily basis and I’m also looking forward to sharing some of my little songwriting gift with others – offering a little guidance and fun, including some wholesome vegan food!
I’m sure that will be interesting for some – these weekend retreats will be announced when the available dates are confirmed at the church.
Connect with Don Mescall
Website| Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
