Photograph of Tony Tyrrell by Conor Healy / Picture It Photography
Irish songwriter answers Tony Tyrrell five questions covering his debut solo album ‘Conviction’ and time in music as a member of critically acclaimed group The Afternoons.
Are there any particular themes that thread through the lyrics of ‘Conviction’?
I’m not sure there is any central theme as such, but I think a number of the songs are an exploration of motivations and emotions. Sometimes my own, other times maybe more broadly. For example, I wrote a song called Worth it to You? having read a book about the 12 men who have stepped on the moon. Despite their achievement, many of them went on to have pretty tough, dysfunctional lives, and it made me think about ambition and what we wish for versus the reality once we’ve gotten there. On the other hand, a song like Shining is more introspective and feels to me like an argument I’m having with myself about (not) taking action on things that matter. Slip Away also has an introspective thing going on with an emphasis on commitment and taking chances. Love in its various guises features in songs like Another Day, To Know You, and Love on Those Steps. That said, I would hope that the songs on the album leave plenty of scope for interpretation for the listener and would love to hear what people think of them.
What was the writing and recording process for it?
Some of the songs were started a number of years back and other were written nearer to the recording sessions. I worked on the songs using DAWS right up to the recording, making sure things worked, that the lyrics fit, and the song structure was how I wanted it to be although some minor changes were made to the lyrics in the studio.
When I started to discuss the album with the producer I presented him with about 30 songs and we whittled that number down to 12 and planned to have 10 on the album. During the recording session we dropped two of them and brought in a different song and then decided to keep all 11 recordings.
The engineer/producer I worked with – Tommy McLaughlin from Attica Studios in the northwest of Ireland – assembled the musicians I worked with. We wanted the album to have a retro feel with an emphasis on the songs and the musicians with very little by way of studio tricks. I really wanted it to feel ‘real’, and I think we realized that ambition. We stayed on-site and laid down the tracks in as live a setting as we could manage. The drummer worked to a click and the rest of us followed him with the music growing out of the interaction of the wonderful players on the album.
Can you outline your background in music and what you have done previously?
It’s a meandering tale. I started out as a classically trained clarinetist (from the age of 10) and played with concert bands and orchestras. After I took up the sax I played big band jazz and then went on to play and write with various folk-rock, acoustic combos in Ireland. I was a founding member of a folk rock group called The Afternoons. We played live extensively, built up a following, and recorded an album called Homage (1994) that was critically acclaimed. We were nominated for various ‘best new band’ awards in Ireland and were selected to play on the Irish showcase stage with Stiff Little Fingers at the big industry festival (MIDEM) in Cannes, France. After the band dissolved, I took up the guitar. Over the years, I continued to write for various projects until more recently deciding to sing my own songs and to work as a singer-songwriter.
What artists do you admire and why?
Dylan is the most important because of his single-minded dedication to his art, regardless of the consequences in terms of fashion or popularity. Also because he is, even now, so fearlessly honest in his art and eternally curious, trying out new styles, and different collaborators along the way. But there are others such as The Beatles who were simply gifted as a combination, and pushed the boundaries of what was possible in popular music for all to follow. More recently, I love the songcraft of artists like Ron Sexsmith and Nick Cave as well as the urgency of the music of bands like Radiohead and Arcade Fire as well as the apparent ease that flows through the music of, say, Wilco, Calexico, and The Punch Brothers.
What are your future plans?
My album – conviction – launched August 12th, so I’ll be concentrating on promoting it any way I can including live shows, on radio, and online. It’s an independent production so it will require a lot of my time and energy to promote it. But I will also continue to write songs, rework older songs, and I will start planning to go back into the studio to record a second album.
Further information can found at tonytyrrellmusic.com
