Catch You Down the Highway looks like a reflective cease alongside the way in which moderately than a vacation spot. What second or feeling first sparked the concept for the EP?
It got here from this realisation that I used to be at all times chasing one thing. The following tune, the following objective, the following model of myself and I by no means actually paused to soak up the place I used to be. I’d gone by way of a stretch the place rather a lot was altering personally and musically, and as an alternative of attempting to wrap all of it up neatly, I wished to write down from inside that in-between area. Catch You Down the Highway turned a approach of accepting that possibly we don’t actually arrive wherever. We’re all on our personal journeys, however we’re all headed the identical approach. It’s about not taking the journey with no consideration, studying to be current for the moments as they arrive, and appreciating the individuals you meet alongside the way in which.
The file carries that unhurried, lived-in really feel — such as you’re not attempting to impress anybody, simply inform the reality. Was {that a} acutely aware manufacturing selection or one thing that got here naturally?
A little bit of each. I recorded and produced all of it myself, so I had the liberty to only comply with what felt sincere. I wished the manufacturing to serve the songs, to really feel actual and genuine moderately than polished to loss of life. If a vocal take had emotion however wasn’t technically excellent, that’s the one I saved. I simply tried to do no matter served the story, the which means, and the vibe. I wasn’t attempting to show something, simply seize one thing actual.
You’ve shared levels with some heavy hitters in Irish music. What’s one lesson or little bit of knowledge you’ve picked up from these experiences?
The most important factor I’ve realized is that the perfect artists aren’t attempting to be anybody else. You possibly can really feel when somebody’s absolutely themselves onstage, it’s magnetic. Enjoying alongside individuals who have that groundedness made me realise that authenticity cuts by way of greater than any trick or pattern ever might. It gave me the braveness to belief my very own tempo and my very own sound.
Americana with an Irish soul — that’s how Scorching Press described you. How do you see your roots shaping your tackle the style?
I grew up surrounded by Irish songs and storytelling which have coronary heart and historical past, the place each lyric feels lived in. I additionally grew up on American acts like John Prine, Bob Dylan, and Kris Kristofferson, so I used to be surrounded by these two cultures from a younger age. Americana has the same spirit to us, simply by way of a distinct lens. So after I mix the 2, it’s not a calculated factor, it’s simply what naturally comes out. There’s that bittersweet hope, and the struggles of the human coronary heart, in each.
The title observe looks like a goodbye that isn’t actually goodbye. Who or what have been you saying “catch you down the street” to whenever you wrote it?
The preliminary spark for the tune really got here after my canine handed away. It was a type of moments that makes you cease and take into consideration how every part adjustments. The individuals, the locations, even the variations of your self you allow behind. By the point I completed writing it, there have been numerous goodbyes taking place all of sudden. However I didn’t need it to be a tragic tune. “Catch You Down the Highway” turned my approach of claiming goodbye with out it feeling ultimate. Like a mild promise that we’ll meet once more someplace down the road, in another kind. It’s hopeful, actually. It’s about how endings and beginnings typically overlap, and the way each goodbye carries a little bit of “so long” in it.
Now that this debut EP is out on the earth, the place do you see the street main subsequent — creatively or personally?
Proper now, I’ve received tons of fabric I’m itching to file. It’s simply discovering the time that’s difficult, however actually, it’s a great drawback to have. I’m actually enthusiastic about exploring some new sounds and pushing the songs in instructions I haven’t tried but, each for myself and with my band, The Nice Concepts. We’ve received plans to get again into the studio quickly, and it looks like the beginning of the following chapter creatively. On the reside aspect, we’ve received gigs that I can’t anticipate. One spotlight is Curveball at The Button Manufacturing unit on December twenty first, tickets are on Eventbrite. We even have a present in Cork to announce in December, some extra gigs early subsequent yr, and We’ll be enjoying on the Your Roots Are Exhibiting Convention in Belfast. Being on stage, sharing songs with individuals, and connecting with individuals, that’s what retains all of it transferring for me. The journey is thrilling each creatively and personally.
