Laura B's Big Voice! 30/4/13

Image property of Aoife White

Laura B is a fairly new singer/songwriter to the music scene in Derry. Most recently Laura B performed at a night full of local talent where artists where filmed in order to have a chance to take part in the “It’s Happening” festival, a two day event over the 11&12 of May.

Laura got started in music a little later than usual but it didn’t take her long to decide she would pursue it and see what happens. “It all kind of started when I did a transition year in school, I never did music before and I picked that and started teaching myself guitar. I was always fairly shy and doing all the different activities and stuff I built up my confidence. I tried my hand at playing guitar and I liked it. I always liked singing but you always kind of need an instrument to back yourself up.”

Continuing her music at school, Laura spread her wings into the world of gigging very early.  “Then I thought I’d do it for leaving cert and I got an A so I decided to do a bit of giggin as well. There’s an organization for young people down in Moville called the Up Scene and I started giggin with them and built up a bit of confidence. 

Mainly I started before Christmas, started writing my own songs and giggin with other artists like Susie-Blue. Been coming on leaps and bounds and doing a bit of recording as well. It’s about two or three years ago but I’ve only been getting serious about it in the last year and a half and building myself up. I’ve noticed myself getting better, changing poems into songs and that kind of thing. I always used to write poems, just adapting them musically. It’s a good way of expressing myself. 

I tend to get a wee notebook whenever I’m feeling annoyed or whatever and jot it down and then just make it a song. Any kind of feelings, happy, worried, strong emotions that you need to get down on paper.”

Feedback from local music followers has given Laura more confidence in her performing and her songwriting abilities. She explains how the Derry music scene in particular has been a comfort where she can learn from other musicians. “People have given me feedback about it being catchy or saying they really liked it. Some will say they noticed the lyrics are really kind of deep or whatever and that’s what I like to hear because whenever you’re singing songs to people in bars, like your own songs, you are really afraid about people not liking it. It’s your own work so you’d be more conscious of it where as when you’re singing covers that’s not your own song so you don’t really mind. It’s relaxed in Derry. It’s nice to see all the different musicians because you learn stuff from them and it’s always handy that if your friends are musicians you can go do gigs with them. It’s a nice wee community of people that are like yourself. I’m from Greencastle originally but play mainly in Derry. I would do regular slot in Ruddins in Moville but mainly in Derry because I go up to college here. I do the Bound for Boston with Susie-Blue and any open mics that are around. I’m trying to get myself known so I can get more proper gigs about Derry as well .”

Having listened to Laura B perform there is no doubt that her voice carries a lot of power. It’s controlled in such a way that she doesn’t give everything away to begin with but when that song goes for the emotion so does Laura. “I’ve been described as sounding a wee bit like Regina Spektor, Jilly St John’s compared me to her. Last week at the singer/songwriting competition in Moville I was described as sounding a bit like a young Edel because my voice was kind of powerful. I didn’t place but there was a lot of people involved and there was about 15 that had gotten through to the final. My friend Jack Craig came second. It’s always good to get the live experience I mean every gig’s different but live is more atmospheric.”

More atmospheric indeed! If you’d like to hear some more you can hear Laura’s demos online at http://www.reverbnation.com/laurab3 or on her Facebook Laura B Music. I recommend seeing this artist live as the energy that comes with the live setting is conveys Laura’s true talent and potential.

There are to be more professional recordings coming up soon and Laura is hoping to be possibly bringing out an EP of her own music. “I’m hopefully going to release one in the summer. I’m working on it now. I have the songs ready, it’s just a matter of getting them recorded and getting everything ready. Maybe even a launch in the summer time. In a year hopefully I’ll be a bit more better known and playing a few festivals like Stendhall and Glasgowbury and stuff like that, keep it small so there’s something to build upon.”

Hats off to this Comrade! 22/4/13

Image compliments of Paul fox

Neil Burns is a local singer/songwriter and composer. You can see him perform tonight at Sandinos
as part of the singer/songwriter night upstairs. Neil started off playing music at a young age and
ended up studying music extensively as well as taking on an alter ego name ‘Comrade Hat’ for the
delivery of his songs. Neil explains in full how he’s come to this stage.

“We had a piano in the house, it was a sort of a family heirloom type thing, it was banjaxed and my parents got it fixed up. Nobody in my family could play so they sent me to lessons, that was the beginning of my involvement in music and then I got to like it. I got very interested in playing by ear and started to pick tunes out and everything. I was a lot more enthusiastic about doing that than I was about practising scales and pieces and things at that age."

I taught myself a lot I think, I did all the ‘by the book’ stuff as well and I started, when I was a bit older, going through the exams but I just liked playing things and picking out tunes. I was picking out Irish folks tunes, we had a sort of odd record collection in the house, mostly classical really to be honest and I don’t have any brother or sisters or anything. Then I did music, studied music in school, picked up the guitar somewhere along the way and played the violin a bit too, a bit of everything. When I was at school at about 14 I started a band called ‘Imperial Blether’ and we never formally split up as such we just sort of drifter
our separate ways. At the same time as doing that I was doing serious musical study. I did A Level music and then I went to university to do music because it just was the path. I wouldn’t say it was
expected of me it was just the natural thing to do. So I did that and then I got interested in composing when I was doing that as well, classical, apart from just song writing which I’d been doing for years anyway. I ended up staying on and did a PhD in composition. So I’ve two sides to what I do one is the serious composing, whatever you want to call it. I’m doing a project the year actually for the City of Culture. It’s a sound-scape piece collecting sounds from around Derry and assembling them into some kind of music that you can listen to on headphones as you walk around, that’s the concept. I have that sort of avant-garde side of things which I do that’s Neill Burns. I created the Comrade Hat thing as a vehicle for my song writing really and to have a bit of fun.”

‘Comrade Hat’? Where did that name come from? Neil has a child hood friend to thank for the
inspiration. “It’s my alter ego as a songwriter and performer. When I was about 11 I had this hat
that, it was actually from Hog Kong but it was like one of those old soviet sort of ones, Russian ones
and there was a guy in school jest thought it was funny and called me Comrade Hat. I kind of forgot
about it and then years later, after Imperial Blether it wound down and I wanted to start doing songs
again myself and I didn’t have a band so I revived this name as a solo project.”

As well as doing his own recordings at home Neill is now also looking forward to a little studio time
and releasing something that is a little more polished. “I’ve been working on my studio debut which
is going to be an EP really which should be out before the Summer, it’s almost finished. I’ve been
working on that for a while. At the same time I’ve also been working my way through archiving and
completing loads of home recordings because I’ve been working away at stuff myself for years. I’m
more or less just finished a song today that I’m hoping to get up before the weekend, up online on
my Bandcamp page. I realised an album last year which again was a compilation of home demos
from the past couple of years and I’ve also realised a couple of EPs. I released 3 Christmas EPs, over
four years because I skipped one year, I think I was busy. I kind of just made them as a bit of fun
really and for presents for friends and family for Christmas but I put them out there anyway for people to experience and they’re all up there online if you feel like Christmas in July.”

As well as performing tonight there will be other opportunities to see Neil play and sing locally. “The
Inishowen Gospel choir, which is another thing I do, we’re doing a concert in Derry in the Glassworks
in May with various local artists, they’ll sing a couple of their own songs with us. I’m going to be
performing one of my own songs at that with the choir backing.”

The arrangement that Neil has as backing has somewhat become an unofficial band with a core of
members. “It started just with me recorded songs on the laptop and that sort of just evolved into
more of a loose band arrangement working with various musicians. It’s become more of a band.
There’s two or three people who I work with regularly and then some other people I bring in for
other bits and pieces. It’s informal that way but there is a core. Rohan Armstrong plays double bass
and electric bass for us, I’ve been playing with him for years actually in various projects and bands.
Gary Raymond, drummer, he’s based in Crandonagh for the past year or so. There’s a guy Padre Coll
who plays guitar with us sometimes too.”

There are a variety of sites to check out Neil’s music online, his Bandcamp page http://
comradehat.bandcamp.com/ has his album and EPs on it and there’s also his Soundcloud page http:/
/soundcloud.com/comradehat-1 which has more of an overview of what he’s produced. However
Neil warns that the stuff online is older material and quite eclectic in taste. Neil’s newer material
which has a heavier jazz influence hasn’t been released online yet so it’s definitely worth keeping an
eye so you can hear what exciting new path he’s taking. For updates check out his Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Comrade-Hat/170939696252814.

Fantastic Foyle Folk Festival! 5/8/12

Image compliments of Foyle Folk Festival Facebook Page

Saturday saw yet another highly successful and buzzing Foyle Folk Festival take place in Cafe Soul and its’ adjoining court yard. Eighteen different folk acts, some of the best in the country, took stage to provide the people of Derry with some top quality entertainment. The day kicked off at 1pm with acoustic acts in Cafe Soul free for all to enjoy.

Conor McAteer and Shane McCaul,  local singer/songwriters, played in the cafe early in the day and got the chance to enjoy the rest on the artists. “It gets people into the cafe and entices them out to the main stage. I’m here as a fan too, I’m performing but sticking around as a fan. A big bonus for me was having my set moved forward so I got to see Teknopeasant on the main stage.  I’m surprised they don’t get some sort of funding for it considering it’s now in its fifth year”, said Conor.

Teknopeasant who is well known amongst the music scene in Derry for his welly-boot wearing, spoken word and songs such as Bin Hoker Girl was thrilled to be involved. “I love it! A full day of music I love, people I love and their kids. There are people from their 20’s to their 70’s. I’m really looking forward to Andy Irvine and the Farriers. You wouldn’t think you were in the middle of Derry.

Wally who organised the event with Marty Doherty said: “It’s the only folk festival in the town, more about having a day out with acoustic based music. You have some of the best bands in the country coming to this. It’s an intimate environment and affordably at £15 when people can bring their own food and drink.  I’d like to see it running in twenty years time, it’s slowly getting bigger even though there’s no funding, myself and big Marty Doherty have done all this ourselves. If we did get funding maybe we could do more. 

It would appear men are the ruling gender at the moment on the folk scene with only a handful of female artists playing at this year’s Foyle Folk Festival.  Tara Gi who has recently returned to the city has seen a rise in the amount of women taking part. “I’ve played international women’s events and have been playing in New York for 6 years before I came back last year. Compared to before I left there’s a lot more women involved, before I left Derry I felt quite intimidated as a female artist. It’s great now to see things like this raising the profiles of local artists.”

Of course the highlight of the night for many was the appearance of folk legend Andy Irvine .He played a lively set and paid homage to other folk legends such as Luke Kelly along the way. The crowd sang, danced and clapped along. “Derry people are very sparky people, the vibes are good and I really enjoyed it. And of course I will be back. Derry is a city all of its own.”, said Andy.

The festival is going from strength to strength and with hopes that it will get bigger and better, Derry could be welcoming even more folk acts next year.

Nate’s Poetry in Motion! 15/4/13

Image compliments of Shazz White

Nate McCartney, brains behind local group Dramatic Tiger Club has seen some recent success with his not so much singer but songwriter style. Nate’s delivery is unlike anything else in the City. A cross between, rap, spoken word and true poetic talent and let’s not forget the acoustic guitar under his arm. Nate describes how he started in music and developed this unique approach.   

“I started playing piano when I was about six and I gave it up because I was terrible at it. When I was about ten then I was given the option of playing double bass at school and I took it. I started that properly and played double bass until I was about 15 or 16. I got to my grade 8 but then in the interim started playing bass guitar. I started playing in bands and stuff. When I turned about 14 I wasn’t able to work yet and I wanted money so I taught myself how to play guitar  just so I could go busking and I haven’t stopped playing guitar since. I was never really a great singer so after my book came out a couple of years ago someone said to me, “Why don’t you just write stories and put them to music?”, more like spoken word over music as opposed to what I’m doing know which is more folk. That’s how I started off doing what I’m doing now and how I got here.”

An eclectic taste in music is certainly a good thing, Nate mentions a guilty pleasure as well as some acts who have had a big influence one his music. “I have a ridiculously eclectic taste in music, my favourite band range from anything from the Backstreet Boys. There’s a guy who recently, in the last couple of years I’ve started to watch a lot of and listen to a lot of called Watsky and he’s a rapper but his turns of phrase and everything else is fantastic, he’s a wee white boy from America and brilliant. A huge influence when I was playing bass in the first place was Ian Dury and The Blockheads because the bassist for The Blockheads is unbelievable but then in turn Ian Dury became a huge influence when I started doing what I’m doing now. It’s the same kind of idea again, spoken word almost, he could never really sing either. A more recent influence in the last few years would be Jamie-T as well, love Jamie-T.”

To be starting out and doing something you haven’t seen done before must be daunting enough but Nate actually set up his first gig before he’d even written his set. Raising to the challenge he had a set-list finished in two months and made his debut. “The first gig I did was in the Culture Tech Festival and I’d only written one song at this point, not when I did the gig but when I was first offered the gig. I’d written one song and sent it over knowing I’d write more and sent it over to Mark Nagurski and he offered me a slot on the same night as the Japanese Popstars so I had like two months to write a whole gigs worth of stuff. The first gig wasn’t exactly packed out, we were in the cafe and they were upstairs but the people who were there enjoyed it. It was sort of one of them thing where I hadn’t really gotten my footing yet but the idea was there and I think people enjoyed that more than anything else. I had a couple more gigs, some I the Nerve Centre, the Jammhouse in the Playhouse and then a few in the Castle as well. The ones in the Castle were the main ones then because that where I started to get a lot more people showing up and they were specifically for me and Conor Hutcheon and people we knew were coming. A couple of gigs there might have been 50 or 60 people there which doesn’t seem like a lot but in the Castle it’s packed out! That’s when I started enjoying it more because people were reacting to it better. The last gig we did then, the Firstsource singer/songwriter competition and that was the best reaction I’ve ever had for anything I’ve done with my own stuff in my live. People singing along and that kind of thing, it was fantastic. I'm really excited about the whole thing. I assumed, and this is probably because of my lack of investigation into the whole thing, I assumed the prize was going to be a lot less than it was. I thought we were going to play the Music City Festival and maybe get a small voucher but we ended up getting tonnes more. Not even any of the actual prizes like the recording or the vouchers, I’m excited about them so don’t get me wrong but what I’m most excited about is getting a chance to sit down with Paddy Glasgow, Stephen McCauley and Charlotte Dryden to hear their thoughts on what I’m doing and what I could be doing better because they’re big names in the industry. Then playing the Music City Festival which is apparently projected to have 30,000 people coming to it, it’s overwhelming to an extent. Hopefully the more people that see what I’m doing the more people that will enjoy it.” 

Nate explains that as a result of his recent success he’s going to have the opportunity to do something he’s only been able to do before in the comfort of his own bedroom or even shed. He’s looking forward to a new direction and knows what he wants. “I’ve recorded a lot of my stuff but only in friends sheds and bedrooms, I’ve spent a lot of time doing that but I’ve never been in a proper recording studio for my own songs. I’ve done session work for other bands and other artists when I was playing bass and guitar. The main thing for me now is that I’ll be sitting in a recording studio with full control of what I want to do and what I have to do.”

“The recording I have up online are all quite, there’s a lot computer production and distorted guitars, effects and drum beats in every song. What I want to try and do now it to strip it all back so it’s just going to be myself and Niall on acoustics. When I was playing before in The Castle and stuff I was bringing up a laptop and basically had created my own backing tracks and was playing along to them. I don’t want to have to do that anymore because I have the band with me and I think it will be better and nicer. When I’d spoken to Paddy Nash before the competition, as part of the competition, I played him a couple of songs and then he went home and listened to some more recordings online and it was him who said I should just be doing it acoustically. I’ve come to that conclusion as well.”

Have a listen online at https://soundcloud.com/dramatictigerclub or if you’re one of the 30,000 projected for the Music City Festival 21^st June you can check out Dramatic Tiger Club live!

Ruairi and The Owls 8/4/13

Image compliments of Paul Brown

Ruairi Connelly is the brains behind local group Ruairi and The Owls. Originally the group was set-up with the intentions of it being a side project while Ruairi was involved with the writing of a debut album with Furlo however; it has taken on a life of its own. Ruairi tells the story of how he became involved in music from his teenage years, right up to the present.

“I started playing when I was 15, I used to grab guitars out of the music room and head to whatever room I could find and bang away at the guitar. Then at Christmas I got a red guitar and I pretty much sat and looked at it all Christmas because I couldn’t really play it, I just made noises, I didn’t really know any chords. 

I started teaching myself. I’m a massive Smashing Pumpkins fan and started teaching myself their songs, I had to start somewhere I suppose. It’s funny because I actually started writing my own material when I first picked up the guitar even though I couldn’t really write a song. I started playing then with a few mates, a few failed bands here and there. After school I went to art college for 3 years and we were all gearing up to go to Uni when I decided to go for a music course and that’s when I formed my first band, Derry band, Traffic Episode. 

We just started writing music and Stephen Roddy who is actually the guitar player in Furlo, he was the bass player of that band. Things were going really well but then the drummer had kind of had enough and we split up. I went back to Uni then in England, back to art and then over there started playing with a guy Nick. We were gigging around the venues and bars in Preston playing blues, folk covers and that.”

Even with the experiences that Preston had lined up for Ruairi, he was homesick. An opportunity arose for him to go back home and join a band, he took it! “I wasn’t really enjoying Uni because I kind of went over by myself and didn’t really know anybody over there so I was pretty much just working in this wee bar all the time. I then got a phone call from the singer of my last band and he was putting together a new band and wanted me to play bass so I upped-sticks and headed home. I joined Rescue the Astronauts and we started making music straight away. Things just started taking off very quickly, we hadn’t played a show yet and then already we were booked to support Fall Out Boy on the Belfast leg of their European tour so I practically lived in Dave’s house where we were jamming every day. The first time we actually played together all under the same roof was on the night of the gig because we had all jammed separately so it was quite stressful. We actually were quite prepared to be honest but it’s just there were ones from Belfast and some from here and there. I think someone joined late on as well, I don’t know how it all worked out but we played the first gig at the venue. I wouldn’t be at that craic now, it’s too stressful. That band kind of ran out of steam after a while so I went back home and that’s when Furlo came about.”

Furlo is a group we’ve come to know and love in the local scene but you may have noticed they haven’t been around much recently, the reason, a debut album in the pipeline. “I was playing and writing music with Johnny and Stephen, two local guys from Limavady, we just formed the band. It’s the most relaxed band I’ve ever really been in to date and it was great craic writing and jamming together, still is. At the end of 2011 we decided to take a year out from gigging to concentrate on writing our debut album.”

As a result of this bit of a break Ruairi got to forming Ruairi and the Owls, a side project of his own songs. “I had a bit of extra time on my hands and I’d always been writing my own stuff, solo stuff, from I picked up the guitar and decided at the time, why not band an EP of my own stuff out? I rounded up a load of local musicians from Limavady and we released Ruairi and The Owls first EP, well it was actually called Owl Parliament back then in November 2011. We changed it then to Ruairi and The Owls because there was another band from America called the Owl Parliament and there were mix ups over links for Facebook pages and all that which was a bit of a pain. We went down really well and got lots of radio play which we were really chuffed about. It was supposed to be a wee quiet side project but then took on a life of its own. In early 2012 we started working on the second EP and released that in August of that year. The whole time we were doing that I was still writing with Furlo for this debut album, that’s all finished up at the moment and we’re gearing up to release that, we’re just finalising artwork and all that. We’re really excited about it and proud of the piece of work we’ve produced. Hopefully we’re going to release that in May, well May or June, it’ll depend on when the label, Yogen Records, want to do it, that’s when we’re hoping. In the meantime too I’m currently recording another Ruairi and The Owls EP. We’re throwing artwork ideas here and there now.”

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to question if Ruairis’ alliances lay with Furlo or The Owls first and although the answer looks to be Furlo, Ruairi isn’t the only one to have a side project in the band. “Stevie and Johnny are songwriters as well in their own right so there’s 3 songwriters in the band and we all had songs of our own that didn’t really fit Furlo. Johnny’s got a side project called ‘August’ who released their first single last month and are doing quite well. Stevie has a side project called ‘I am Jack’ and he’s recording at the moment as well. When we’re not at Furlo we’re writing stuff for our own wee side projects, it’s healthy and keeps us busy. Our main priority lies with Furlo and we help each other out with our own projects if anyone needs anything done, artwork, a bass part here or an opinion on a song there.”

As of yet there’s been no confirmation of launch dates for coming material but to check them out online have a look at http://ruairiandtheowls.bandcamp.com/. Boomerang from the Fishing in your Dark EP is a great track!

Great start for GRIM 4/4/13

Image compliments of Peter McDonald

GRIM launches his single tomorrow night in the Playhouse. Derry based singer/songwriter Laurence McDaid will be appearing at the Playhouse between 8 and 9 pm, admission is free for the event. The single ‘Little Fizz’ is just the beginning of GRIM!

Laurence explains that his involvement in music started off at an early age at home but has gone full circle as he’s gone back to piano in recent years.“ I liked piano and grew up around classical music, my mother loves classical music so, it sounds really pretentious, but there was always Mozart playing. I loved that, the idea of one instrument making all that music. The things you can do with piano are amazing so I asked to go to lessons when I was about 8 or 9 and my mother arranged for me to go. Of course as I grew up I became a teenager and I no longer wanted to go to lessons, I hated classical music because that’s what my parents liked. I got to about grade 5 and then stopped. 

I hadn’t played piano for years until I started doing my course again and my parents gave me the old piano from their house because no-one else played it. I have it out and the house now and play away. When you think about nothing else but music and you like so many different types of music it’s hard to stick to one type. I went to the BBC Introducing Music Master class there last Thursday and everybody says you should stick to one, have one genre, have one sound so as not to confuse people but I find that very difficult.

 I’ve been playing the piano a lot recently but a lot of the stuff I do on piano is instrumental and then I use the keyboard to add sounds when I’m  recording but it’s just bulking out sound, I’m not actually playing, I’m layering. I haven’t recorded any of that instrumental stuff yet.”

Although he used to be involved in many different bands flying solo has allowed him to create music his way from a single idea to recording and mixing. “It is just me more or less, I’ve been playing at bands for years, been at it now about 10 years. I did a course with Marty Magill in the Nerve Centre, the performance and technology course. It’s brilliant, anyone who wants to get a start in music should go see him, he’s a great teacher. The course taught me to make music on the laptop using the software. I’ve been refined my sound for the last two years because it’s all trial and error, trying to do it all myself. I record everything in a shed which is about 4 feet across and 6 feet long, a tiny wee shed. I managed to get a pretty good mic and recorded by myself so it’s all mixing and mastering which is a pain. You have to keep at it and it does your head in but eventually I got it. The GRIM part came about because I wanted a name, not do it under my name but have a character. I love Tom Waits and he always talks about how the Tom Waits on stage is a character that puts on a show. It was originally supposed to be like ‘The Brothers Grimm’ with two ‘m’s but one of my first gigs at the Jam House, it was on the poster spelt wrong but looked good all in capitals, it stood out so I kept it like that. It was a mistake that worked. I think all music works like that anyway, all the best songs come about by mistake anyway, one that works. Half the stuff that I do when I record it and put it up on SoundCloud it’s all trial and error and some of it is mistakes, I just muck about with sounds and samples. Whatever sound catches my ear I develop and eventually it turns into a song, that’s how I do it. It starts with an idea. When I was in the band years ago we used to joke because when a song started with one idea, most of the time the song would evolve and the idea got left behind.”

Even though Laurence prefers to play bass on stage there have been some piano performances that have helped him stand out from the crowd. “I’ve been down at the Open Mic Night in Bennigans a couple of times and played the piano in there and it went down a storm. The reason I played the piano in there thinking about it now was because everyone else was playing the guitar and singing. I thought, ‘I’m not going to stand out here playing guitar and singing’ and I haven’t played the piano in ages but sat down and played a few songs and it went down really well. I play guitar but I’m not very good at the guitar. I went from piano Bass, started that when I was 14 because the band I was in needed a bass player. My parents got me a bass and I’m a lot more comfortable playing that than guitar. If you ask a lot of musicians, especially guitarists they’ll tell you it’s a lot easier to go from guitar to bass than bass to guitar because the frets are so far apart and you needs to press the strings so much harder. I’m very heavy handed with guitar, I miss frets and pulling strings just because I’m pressing so hard. I can play and will play it because going acoustic is quick and easy but bass and piano is what I’m most comfortable with.”

It’s not the stage image we’d all be used to but maybe it’s time for something a little different, with a little previous preparation involved. “I have my laptop with my backing tracks and I’ll either play bass or guitar depending on what the song calls for. At the moment I’m trying to whittle it down so I’m mostly playing bass, plus it’s an image thing, this is another thing I learned. Everything’s about image, you have to be a brand essentially. You’re not just creating music and people are listening to it, you’re selling yourself and it’s a lot about that. I look stupid with guitar anyway because I’m quite a big guy.”

The music is Electronica meets Rock meets Jazz with Indie undertones. It sounds different, he looks different and the performance is something different too! Check him out online at www.grimderry.bandcamp.com .

Susie-Blue on the Button! 1/4/13

Image compliments of Peter Sherlock

Susie-Blue is launching her second EP ‘Bits and Buttons’ this Friday at Café Soul! The local singer/songwriter has a lot in the pipeline with both performing and organising gigs locally and further afield. Susie-Blue will have the pleasure of providing support for her friend and peer, SOAK, at The Little Museum of Dublin tomorrow and Wednesday, both nights have sold out already!

Susie-Blue tells of how she first began to play music a few years after receiving a guitar as a present. “I’d say I was about 7 or 8 my daddy bought me like a wee half guitar or ¾ guitar for Christmas and I didn’t touch it until I was about 9 or 10. I moved from Belfast to Foreglen and then he started to teach me how to play. After that I just played guitar flat out. He taught me my first five chords and after that I just ran with it and tried to do as much as I could with it. I was learning other songs, well trying to, he taught me ‘Sloop John B’ by the Beach Boys. He used to play ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and when he was playing that I thought it was the most complicated song to play ever and I used to think ‘God, I’d really love to play that song, I have to learn how to play it.’ That was my goal.”

After reaching her first goal Susie-Blue went on to write her first original song at the age of only 15. “I wrote my first proper song when I had just turned 15. When I did that, for Christmas which was six months later my mummy and daddy booked me into a studio in Feeney to record two songs. That was my present and I was so happy, really buzzing. I went in and recorded Avril Lavigne’s Nobody's Home and did a piano cover of it. I was just learning piano at the time and it was awful. I also did the first song that I’d written, Memories; I don’t even play it anymore. I think it’s bad, my mum obviously loves it because it was the first song I’d written.”

Even though it was big step for Susie-Blue, she felt at ease in the new surroundings.  “It was weird, I felt natural in it, I really enjoyed it. I was still a bit shaky on guitar and piano, I was fifteen and had been playing for five years but never in front of anyone or anything. Then to play in front of this man who has a studio and plays guitar. It was nerve wrecking and I was sitting trying to play but it only took two takes to get the guitar part and one or two to get the piano as well.  I had only just been learning to play piano, Eoin O’Callaghan of Best Boy Grip taught me how to play in school.”

Susan Donaghy was the name left behind for the new identity of ‘Susie-Blue’ but this was a transition she felt was necessary. “There’s a strand of songs that I don’t play. They’re all on YouTube except for Memories, that’s not on YouTube. Songs like ‘Fallen’, ‘Pressure’ and others that are on YouTube under ‘Susan Donaghy’ and to me they’re nothing to do with Susie Blue, they’re more just me when I was starting out. There are some good hooks in them but I wouldn’t tamper with them or change them and leave them where they are. The songs I have now are the ones I was writing when I set out to become Susie Blue. I did gig as Susan Donaghy for a while and played the likes of Internal Woman’s Day with my friend. I was really shy though and I think I needed to take myself out of the equation and put in like a character and a stage presence where I could talk on stage and be more open on stage because it wasn’t actually me. It feels like you’re not putting yourself out there as much because it’s under a different alias. I think I understand now why people pick stage names, it’s easier to make a page and say when you’re playing, if someone doesn’t show up then I’m grand when I go home, Susie Blue might be a bit hurt when she’s sitting at the gig.”

Susie-Blue explains how she went on to organise nights for other acts, particularly those who may not have had the opportunity to play otherwise. “Les, the owner of the Bound for Boston, saw me at the Battle of the Bands where I came third. That opened up a good few opportunities for me. That encouraged Sean Woods from Birchwood Recording Studio to record my next EP. The Les said he like  me to organise a night with my name on it where it’d be my night and I’d get the acts and he would step back and give me full control of it. I thought it was great because then I could get in acts that don’t really get a chance anywhere else. I found the Bound For Boston really hard to get into initially, thank God for the Battle of the Bands, I think they’re great to introduce bands and singer to bars where they’re looking for acts. For example, I’ve got a girl playing who never plays anywhere, the only way she would get to play was at open mic nights and stuff but because I’m organising this she’s getting to play. Her name’s ‘Wee Blue’, I’m excited to have her there to play.”

It’s going to be a busy week for Susie-Blue, The Little Museum of Dublin tomorrow and Wednesday, Susie-Blue Presents… in the Bound for Boston on Thursday and of course, not to be missed, the launch of ‘Bit’s and Buttons’ the new 3 track EP on Friday . Check out Café Soul for the launch starting at 8.30, £2 at the door but you can bring your own drinks. In the meantime have a listen online at http://susie-blue.bandcamp.com/.