Covers vs Originals - My 10 year lesson (2008 - 2018)

When it comes to songwriting I started off writing Rock Songs. As a band called ‘Mediator’ we were best known for our song “Away from Here” which reached the finals of the 2FM Song Contest where we played to a sold out crowd in Vicar St. We didn’t win though. My voice cracked during the high part of the song during the last rehearsal which was recorded for the judges to decide the winner before the crowd got there. I was devastated. It was the greatest lesson of all to start singing songs closer to a key that suits me and - most of all - to prepare my voice properly before I sing high. If you want a laugh look at the videos below this blog post. 

When I hit about 19 I started to discover Folk Music. At 23 I started a Rock Band called Strange Glue. The influences of Folk were there alongside Hard Rock influences. In a way you could say I was pulling against myself but I had an opportunity to start a band with my brother so I didn’t pass it up. Strange Glue made some good music. Our EP ‘Life in the Buslane’ was an early cap tip to the Commuter life we were living at the time. The title also hinted at our lack of Independence as people. The recession meant we all had shit jobs we didn’t like and our mates were all away in Australia, Canada and the UK. Early radio support from Roddie Cleere in KCLR FM springs to mind. Thanks Roddie. Check out the interview / video below this blog post. 

We had no money for pubs.

Strange Glue ended up getting good festival slots but unfortunately we couldn’t draw a local following in the days before social media took over. The more well to do bands who had more well to do mates did a little better than us at home. But we couldnt change our mates. Because on one side we had Brian and Bob, both 19, who’s mates couldnt afford to go out to a pub. And on the other side you had Alan, from Balbriggan, who always brought people out but not all his friends would travel. I was struggling to find anyone just to go for a pint with at the time. Everyone I knew drank in the house and went down pissed to the nightclub. We had no money for pubs. The only exception was Mcphails Bar in Drogheda. 

Mcphails Bar relied on Rock cover acts like Big Generator, J-90 and Blue Moose to draw a music crowd. The Enemies were one of my favourites. They were different. But The Monday Club Band was the pick of the bunch. Excellent musicians who did their own cover versions but also had a bag of popular Hits to appease any arseholes that came in. Almost every other band was trying to emulate Blue Moose and Big Generator and were playing in the same professional pub circuit. 

The only way to be the Red Sauce that was to go out and have a hit song on mainstream Irish Radio.

The lesson I learned about Mcphails is best described in a metaphor - if people want Heinz Red Sauce they don’t want any other Red Sauce unless everybody is eating this cool new Red Sauce. In other words there wasn’t a keen appetite in Mcphails for original music. Mcphails didn’t nourish talent like The Spirit Store in Dundalk. We tried and they obliged but it just didn't work. The only way to be the Red Sauce that was to go out and have a hit song on mainstream Irish Radio. Which really only happens to a handful of Indies a year so we didn’t fancy our chances.

People didn’t give a shit. They wanted Heinz.

We went and renamed the band 'The Profile' and made the BIGGEST MISTAKES EVER. We invested in an expensive rig and started to mix our Original songs into a setlist of well known cover songs. Then low and behold, we got into Mcphails once a month for about 2 years. It was so futile. People didn’t give a shit. They wanted Heinz. I was getting fed up. We soon called it a day after we fulfilled our last calendar commitments. Then I went and recorded my first EP “Holding the Fort”. But I was just burnt out from failing back then. Burnt out from people not giving a shit. And burnt out completely when I realised I was a part of the problem. So I took a 5 year break. I still wrote though. In fact I submitted a song called “Lost and Found” to Eurovision in 2016 the year there was a big call for a song. Needless to say I tasted more failure! 

Both bands see to it that their crowds have a good time. Crowds that don’t want to be educated.

I see artists still making the same covers / originals mistakes. Especially in Folk. Starting off a setlist with Dirty Old Town or The Fields of Athenry is something you hear from a lad entertaining an Irish Bar in Lanzarote. The scaled up Rolls Royce version of Mr Lanzorote is The High Kings. The High Kings are well established musicians with brilliant people working for them behind the scenes. Both bands see to it that their crowds have a good time. Crowds that don’t want to be educated. 

The problem for me is when an Artist starts to promote his own songs amongst huge floor filling hits. When you play these well known songs you become remembered for these well known songs. That’s how these songs have endured years of people singing them. Not everyone can write “The Leaving of Liverpool”. But can he or she make it their own? Are they just playing something popular to get them out when they are playing in a new venue? 

The Artist gets trapped in a bubble. I could still be in that bubble if I listened to every tipsy patron in Mcphails after those gigs.

The thing that kills me is that the people who remember 'Dirty Old Town' are encouraging the Artist who is mixing their set. When really the Artists own material hasn’t got a fair platform. There is less focus on the songwriting quality; it's “look at these people who follow me”. The Artist gets trapped in a bubble. I could still be in that bubble if I listened to every tipsy patron in Mcphails after those gigs. We weren’t grabbing people - until we played a well known song. And worst of all the money was polluting us not to focus on writing better songs. “Shur we’ll just learn this new song out they will love it”. Show band mentality. 

And then there are the acts working the “Paddy Circuit” abroad. The songs that tend to grab Foreign audiences first are some of the greatest Irish songs ever written. What standing does this give you if every Original song has to be that good in order to not create a lull in your set? 

I believe the Covers / Originals mixing works well in 3 different ways: 

1. If the Artist tries to make the cover song their own in their own style (This takes time to develop and lots of hard work)

2. If the Artist becomes well known as a songwriter for other Artists as they work their     own way into the Industry. (Pete St John and Johnny Duhan come to mind.) 

3. If the Artist becomes engrossed in Song collecting, Song evolutions and Song research alongside their own writing (This is the chosen route of acts like Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Martin Carthy, Lankum). 

My message to you is don't take the route I did. Don't make those mistakes. 

I respect my fellow musicians. Especially those who make a living making people happy by playing well known songs. Your route is different to mine. I will be the first person standing in front of you on my holidays or at a wedding. You are not the subject of my ramblings today. It is the people with different aspirations whom I am referring to. My message to you is don't take the route I did. Don't make those mistakes. 

To finish, Let this blog be a word to the wise. Keep your mind open. Try something new. Change the landscape. EVERY SONG YOU HAVE EVER HEARD IS AN ORIGINAL SONG. Question is - Do you want to be like the Parrot or the Lark? The videos below show how long I was the Parrot.