2020 was set to be a huge year for the artist known as Dunluvly…and then COVID hit, and everything changed…kind of. While the live touring part of his plans were put on hold, the singer songwriter is still releasing his EP, Plethora, at the end of October. He also has another EP already in the works. The prolific artist took time out from working on the 2nd EP to answer some questions for us:
| Congratulations on the upcoming single release. Tell us about the song. What is the title, and what was the inspiration behind it? Thanks! My new single ‘Too Late’ is a song about the transitionary period between your education and the rest of your life. The theme of the track is road-tripping with friends. I would write throughout my roadtrips in the last year and I kept encountering a recurring feeling of the glooming future that was stopping me from relaxing. Like when you’re in school and it’s sunny just before exam season. ‘Too Late’ is me figuring out that the glooming future doesn’t exist and it’s I stopped feeding it. You also have an EP coming out in October, with one already in the works. Tell us about the soon-to-be released EP. What should fans expect from you? Where was it recorded? How many songs? Where did you draw inspiration from? Is there a reason you’re not releasing a full album, and have decided on the two EP releases? I do, the EP is set for the very end of October. The upcoming EP titled ‘Plethora’ is probably the first time I’ll showcase every tool in the shed. Since I graduated University last September I’ve almost exclusively worked on music projects as a full-time job, taking inspiration from Stephen King’s work ethic. I studied Music Technology and have been living in a studio for the past 7 months in Kilkenny where most of its production took place. Kind of a dream come true really. You might not hear it in the project, but jazz has been a huge influence on my playing over the past year. Recently playing with amazing jazz musicians Christian Conefery and Ryan Fahey, coupled with listening to a lot of Jazz-Pop fusion artists like Tom Misch, FKJ and Biig Piig could have something to do with it. The reason it’s not an album is because of the pandemic and everything being online based. The cold start I’m foreseeing in the gigs front makes online the only place you can currently be seen as an artist, so stretching out that picture seems like a better idea. Who are some of your biggest musical influences? In a lot of ways it’s one big melting pot. Damien Rice was my first influence, hence the folk aspect in my music. Then again early Kings of Leon alt-rock is also a huge early influence too. I mentioned 3 jazzy artists above, but I’d also have to include a few more pop orientated recent influences like Dominic Fike, Milky Chance and Jorja Smith. How has the COVID 19 pandemic affected your music career? Can you take anything positive from it? Hmm, I remember when it first hit being quite down because I had just played a successful headline show in our capital city Dublin and had two more booked shows in the city cancelled. I was only a month into playing with a drummer and a bassist, both of whom are jazz veterans. So, having the momentum and excitment of our bands progress unexpectedly curbed was bad at the time. However, it opened up the opportunity for me to move into the studio I live in now right beside my bandmates. So we’re playing so much more than we were and creating much more new stuff too. What are your post-COVID plans for your music? How will 2021 be better than 2020? I’m pretty excited for 2021 actually. Most of the music on the upcoming EPs have happened since the pandemic begun and it’s given me a lot spare time for practice too. I’m currently putting a lot of hours into a live-set so that I’m ready to knock the socks off anyone that gives us a gig. Despite the world being put on hold, the timing has worked pretty well for me. I’d love to play any music festivals that arise in 2021. Otherwise I’ll take this set busking. It definitely feels like it’s time for the music to be heard. Check out Dunluvly at https://linktr.ee/dunluvly |