 The Wild Rovers group and Fair Play to them, they're just amazing and I enjoy the fact that they enjoy it so much. That's the secret, that's the secret. So if you see them on Vouchik and you'll be clapping along and dancing along to them. I hope they enjoy the Rosatrile because it's always good track down there. We move on to our next guest and we say hello, Danny O'Connor, how are you? How you doing Paul? I'm doing good. It's lovely to have you here. So a quick introduction, Danny, you're Balai Shannon born and you're living in Berlin now, isn't that right? Twelve years I'm actually there. The twelve years have flown in so fast. Born and raised in Balai Shannon and I moved to Berlin in 2010 and before that I went to college here in Lederkenny for four years. I graduated in 2002 and between 2002 and 2010 I was playing in bands touring. We were in Germany and Holland and Belgium all over the place. We had a rock band called Innuendo and I used to play actually here as well. A lot in Lederkenny we used to play in the Oasis. We used to play in McGinley's as well here. There were great days like I missed them. Sometimes I miss being in a rock band, the camaraderie between a couple of musicians kind of on the road together. What made you take the step to go to Germany? Well I met a German girl in Santa Ponsa in Mallorca in 2005 and we kind of stayed in contact and then all of a sudden a year later she was working and living in Kilkenny. She had rang me and said I'm actually working now and living in Kilkenny if you ever want to meet up and when we did meet up it was kind of, that was it. Very good. Yeah so we've been together for like 15 years. And you've just recently got married? Yeah so we got married in Germany in Berlin on the 1st of April. April Fool's Day, we thought it would be good fun. We'll never forget it you know. Yeah we got married in Berlin and we're home now with our daughter Roxy and we're home to have an Irish blessing this Saturday. Lovely. And where are you having that? We're actually, we've kind of got really lucky. My dad was in the army for 42 years. Yeah and we're actually having it in Finner. Oh very good. We're having it actually in the NCO's mess in Finner. The reception's there and we actually were allowed to use the church as well for the ceremony. Excellent. Yeah it's really nice. That's nice, it's really lovely surely. Yeah well listen the best to look with that. Thanks a million. We'd love to get into a piece of music and I'm going to talk about your album and whatever. So the first song, these are all original songs of years down here. Yeah. And the first one you're going to do first? The first one is the actual first track off the album. It's going to be the third single coming out on the 2nd of September. It's called New Life. It's a song written about, I have a cousin called Billy from Mayo and Billy has been through an absolute torrid time. Billy has cystic fibrosis and Billy actually received a set of new lungs some years ago, I think about 10 years ago and he's doing fantastic. But he's been through an absolute mad journey, absolutely mad journey. But this song is called New Life because of his new lungs. Very good. Well whenever you're ready we'd love to hear it. Love flowing, let it cover up, be strong in your chest. A crucifix lies on your breast, hold on. That is a track from Donnie's brand new album called Wisdom and Graft. Great title. Yeah I honestly, you know I was thinking about that today I was telling. And honestly like the songs as well you know it's a track, the songs really just came to me you know. Like I didn't really, I didn't have to try very hard to write the songs. The songs actually wrote themselves if that makes sense. Have you been writing songs for a long time? I have. I've always, you know even with the band that we had in Uendo I always, we always wrote songs. We played some really big gigs back in the day. We played Wilens, we played Temple of Our Music Centre and all that stuff in Dublin. We were playing original gigs but we were also playing cover gigs. And you know we were never able to only be an original band because we had so many bills to pay. Of course. And that was the sort of breaking point of us because we actually, we could never really break into the original scene and just successfully be an original band. It's a hard one to crack in the end. It's really hard. It's really difficult. You know I was listening to Danny, is it Danny McGatigan you guys had on there a couple of weeks ago? Is it Danny McGatigan? He writes for the Sunday Mail. Oh Danny McGatigan. Oh Danny McGatigan. Yeah Danny was up with Jimmy. Yeah that's right. That was a brilliant show actually. It was. Really really good. But I listened to what he said and what he was talking about was right good tunes there is no secret formula. That's right. There is no secret formula it's basically right good tunes and you will get heard. You have to keep pushing and pushing. The video comes along, is that your daughter and the winner? Yeah. That's beautiful. The winner, you know the song, I'm so happy with the production. We worked so hard on it. Myself and a guy called Mo Yak. He's a real Berliner. He's actually a rockabilly stand up bass player. And he plays with us quite regularly. And you know back in 2020 when the world was a very different place. He said to me come out to the studio and honestly we started tracking. We started demoing basically one of the tracks and that's the album it turned into an album. So two and a half years later we have a 12 track album. It took two and a half years to make it. It took two and a half years because you had a standard that you had set yourself. Yeah. So I recorded an album in 2016. Well an EP basically a seven track EP called Black Sheep. And we done it in eight days. Right? Yeah we done the whole production in eight days. Now the reason I had to do it was because I was an international artist in Berlin to be recognized as an international artist internationally. You have to have original recordings. And I didn't have any at the time. So we made this EP and we done it in eight days. And honestly you know you can't be happy with recordings that are done in eight days. So the process this process was so so different. We were able to go away for a month and not listen to anything and then come back to it with fresh ears. Yes. Listen to it again and know exactly what we had to do with the music. And the process was so organic and so it was really beautiful process because we weren't under any time management. This is exactly what I think pressure is the word there. You weren't under so things maybe flow a bit better. As you say if you're under you're putting an EP together in eight days and you know you're not doing it for the right reasons. You're doing it for the reasons to keep you in work. But at the same time this is you and a different main set. Yeah. You know it's really you just can't do you just can't do it. It's it's it's kind of unheard of but but I was doing it for a completely different reason. Yes. And and look this is this is this is honestly I can really call this wisdom and graft. I can really call it an album that I'm really really proud of. It's something important. Yeah. And I think that I think I think that's really important for you know as a musician that you can you can be really proud of your work and you know what you've put into it. Of course. Yeah. Good satisfaction. It's going to be around for a long time. Exactly. Yeah. You're part of a foot grip over. Are you mainly with the grip or are you mainly an independent artist? Yes. I'm still kind of I'm still doing both. Okay. You know like you know like Paul the thing is about being like I said. At earlier I touched in it playing with the band for so many years you know like we could only earn money from from doing the cover gigs. Of course. Yeah. And it's still the same. You know it hasn't changed like so the model so the business model that I have basically in Berlin is you know we do weddings and festivals and you know sort of bigger you know bigger bigger gigs. Yes. Over there and and it works. Pays the bills. It pays the bills and it works. It's a job at the end of the day you know. But you know your my my passion and my my my love of music and my love of writing music being able to go in and do that in a studio and come out with a you know with something that you're very proud of I think is a huge achievement. Without a doubt. And it's definitely something that you know you can you can say you can you know you can hand this over and say look this is very proud of this. Absolutely. 100%. We had a good friend of yours said play a special quest for Donnie from his best pal as Trudy need only. Oh Trudy yeah. Have a great night. You're sounding amazing. Oh thank you Trudy. Trudy was along with us during the bus confestival judging and she was brilliant because. Trudy's amazing. She don't know the talking at the end. But we. Myself and Martin Ward just stood back. Yeah she's just amazing. I mean myself and Trudy and Michael McGraw one of my best friends from home. We used to play in the Oasis every Tuesday night back when we were in college here you know. So we were playing the Oasis on Tuesday night with a band called Fetro. You know we were doing awful mix massive mix of covers you know with the flute guitar and bass it was really nice. And yeah and we used to we used to play every Tuesday night there was brilliant. Karen McGraw said hello. Oh Karen. Yeah so. Karen actually I have to I have to I have to give a big shout out to Oshin and Mihal who who competed in the Flacule in Mullingar this week. And Oshin won the under 12 and banjo title. Wow. Iron and title. I was told. I couldn't believe it. And they came third Oshin and Mihal their twins. Yeah. They came third in the in the Cayley group. Wow. So like I mean they're just you know Mihal I used to play their dad. I used to play in a band with New Endo so he would have them very well driven. Very good. And they're great cubs. What is some achievement isn't it. It's unbelievable. I have to get them up Jimmy. Yeah I'm two boys come up. That would be class wouldn't it. Crackers they're brilliant. Well done fair play to them. Well listen Danny we're going to take another track from this new album. What's released it as a currently out there at the minute. No it's not so two singles are out Northern Lights was the first single. I kind of chose Northern Lights because it had this look. There's still a bit of a rocker in me. Yes. You know even though I'm a little bit older like. Oh. And I you know I when when music has a has a good beat. Yes. I love it. Yes. And we had like I have to have to mention as well we had Ingrid Arthur from the Weather Girls. It's Rain and Men. Yes. We had her in the studio with us to do the to do the gospel choir like I mean she brought a couple of choir people in with her. It was just unbelievable. That's on that's on Northern Lights. And I released Northern Lights in June and then the winner was just released as a single on Friday and it was followed up then by the video which I made with my daughter because the winner. I'm the winner. Yes. You know because look I went through I went through two years of absolute torture. You know it's a different thing when you have a job right and you have a contract and you know you have backing being being self employed being self employed musician. Yes. When when the beep hits the fan right and you've nothing to fall back on. Yes. Because all your eggs are in one basket. Right. And you're told that look you can't you can't work you can't work at the minute you have to stay at home. That's there's something there's something different about that you know and that was really tough. Did that change your perspective on everything? Oh yeah absolutely like I mean the winner the winner was written most of these songs were written deep in lockdown anyway you know throughout throughout the process of writing the album and you know I used to wake up every day and pinch myself because you know this little girl was coming in jumping into the bed beside me and saying good morning daddy and and that to me to me that's magic. That's a win-win situation you know so that's where the winner that's where the winner came from. But this next song you're going to do first? This next song is a little bit more mellow. Yeah. It's the it was actually the last song that was written for the album and it's the last song on the album because we wanted the album has a very high tempo there's like five or six high tempo rock songs on it. It's a kind of a mix between rock songs rock indie songs and folk tracks so it's kind of it's a mixed bunch. There's something in there for everybody and this one was written last and it's called don't close your eyes. It's no beginning keeps wandering on this journey through a tired soul with some high earning forgotten thoughts of me and you what comes to mind through all this carnage to leave this world so far behind. Don't close your eyes to wait the morning in a different life in a different mind so softly spoken keeps rambling through hard what comes to mind through all this carnage to leave this world so far behind to wake the morning in a different life to fear list that love what comes to mind. This is a head and ready of course in a Monday night Monday night sessions and that of Daniel Connor playing track New Life which will be released on the second of and the album itself will be launched on the end of September 30th. The 30th of September it's out. On all the all the platforms. Yeah all streaming platforms it will be and I will release it on the 25th. I mean actually we were over here now for two weeks. The week I get back we fly back on the 21st I think and then that week I'm receiving the physical copies so the discs I'll be receiving. And your involvement in that see the covers and stuff like that you know you take charge of that or something. They're all my designs. Yeah so I actually I studied here in letter Kenny and I always had a real passion for for design you know. It comes on handy now. Yeah it does yeah so it all kind of fits together like so I do all my own excuse me I do all my own graphic design work and I do all the album covers and I do all the web design and stuff like that. Miho and Austin said hi and they said thanks for the mention on your sound and grit so there you go. Oh thank you guys. Well there's your boys there. There we are. We should have them up. They're just they're just they're amazing young talent. Absolutely brilliant and that's what we're about. We love encouraging young talent. And it's fantastic you know look the thing is I keep saying to them as well you know whenever I'm home I always say to them you know listen lads music is something that it's a gift like to me to me music is a gift right and obviously there's a lot of groundwork and a lot of hard work the first you know the early years with music but you know if you stick with it you can go anywhere in the world you can you can pack your guitar your banjo you can pack it up and head off you can head off for a few months you can fund it you know we can busk you can do anything like that and it's just it's it's something it's a passport to the world really. That's a good way of putting it. Definitely is. Brilliant show really love the Daniel Connor interview and his original songs live from Eden Laird Eden thanks very much and great stuff Daniel your sounding grit love from Donald Donald and Audrey listening in Sony Mayo. Oh lovely. There you go. Oh yeah. But no as I say you have to there's a passion there obviously and you're sort of seeing that now the fruits of that are on this album and we're really looking forward to it. How many musicians had you involved in the process? It's unreal you know like if I if I actually wanted to tour this album right I was thinking about it you know the best way for me honestly and the easiest way for me to tour it is to go and do solo shows myself. Yes. Because taking a band you know with the Northern Lights for example we had you know we have a gospel choir three three three three ladies. Yes. We had a brass section three guys the brass brothers right we had a full band so we had a drummer bass player keyboard player guitarist and myself that's a five piece band so you're talking five six seven eight nine ten eleven you're talking about an eleven piece band to put plus the crew yeah so like it's just look it's it's kind of it's beyond it's beyond possible. You have created there you have created that music now as you say you'll get out of that what you've put into it but you don't know what's right in the corner with that you know that album could open all the doors for you. Yeah well that's you know look that's really I'm really honestly I'm really just I want I want people to listen to it you know I you know I'm doing a lot of work at the minute with a guy called Florian Keller he's a he's he's actually the percussionist on the album and he's a he's a young guy he's about 26 and Florian lives in Leipzig and we see each other we see each other for gigs he plays he plays some gigs with us he's a he's a phenomenal musician but he's also a fantastic marketing mind so we're kind of working together he's made he made the videos he's actually drumming he's drumming in the videos and he's he's recording them on camera so it's just he's a great guy and I'm trying to I'm really trying to to to grow my you know grow my Spotify followers yes I'm trying to grow a really good social media presence. Spotify will do that for you because it's probably one of the benefits offered that there's not a lot of benefits in Spotify not financially but what it'll do is it'll let you see where your music you know says some country or some people let you sort of see where it's coming from the listeners are coming from absolutely give you a sort of angle they look at you know it's a massive as you as you well know Paul like it's a huge there so many people are looking for the same thing yes Spotify you know trying to be a bit different on Spotify is hard yes difficult and you know look the key is no more than what Danny McClelland he said you know it is writing good music and writing and recording good music okay that's the fundamental that's the fundamentals of it right but actually getting yourself heard and getting yourself on top Spotify playlists on editorial playlists so it's when you when you basically present a song to the Spotify curators that's honestly that's quite impossible to get a song on there it's a different word you're not Ed Sheeran or exactly but it's a different word now for an artist because 10 15 years ago when we did the Spotify say you know your CD sales or with this or airplanes stuff like that so there's another door open there now which I think it's good in a sense because it gives someone like yourself gives them an opportunity for the music to be heard worldwide basically and that's as you say get on the playlists and that's there's positives there too well listen listen I've been an absolute delight haven't you we're delighted that you put it us on and we really appreciate that we would love another track from the album Danny and this final track you're going to do first this one's called closed doors yes I tell you I tell you a wee story about it I play lots of Irish bars in Berlin and you know we spoke about that earlier but you know they're run by they're run by Germans they're not run by Irish people you know and honestly like you know in some of the bars that I played in they you know when you're away from home your heart is even greener yes you know exactly yes and you know these bars were packed and trying to get you know trying to get a decent wage off of these guys was difficult you know and honestly like I mean I had to I had to change my personality to a certain extent when I moved I really had to you know and that got me into trouble sometimes and this song is about this song is about that we've got the Germany's a great I love Germany for two and a half years today. Clone and Bond and then I love for six months on an island of the North Sea called Borgum it's a kind of holiday resort beautiful absolutely beautiful but I love the music scene even back then it was great you know so it's you know it is there is there is a good there's a massive hunger for there's a huge appreciation there there is there's a massive that's the word yeah and and honestly like I mean what I do out there you know I like lots of people ask me any every time I'm home you know are you still in Germany would you ever move home you know I wouldn't because like I can't I couldn't have that life that I have in Berlin and being appreciated so much as an Irish international artist over there and you know being able to being able to play my Irish folk which is a separate separate project and being able to do my original stuff so it's not easy but it's not easy but it's it is the dream you know well listen congratulations on that and I'm glad you've got you know I see a great sense of you know satisfaction in what you're doing and your life the way it's going and you know with your daughter and stuff like that it's absolutely beautiful so long may it continue right your final song closed over thank you you're welcome