From the Event Guide archive!
This article refers to an event which took place on, or until, 31 December 2004
Music Interview - Paddy Casey
The Living Word With over 120,000 copies sold in Ireland of his 'Living' album, and with 'sold out' signs going up on the doors of his live shows, you'd think that Paddy Casey would be full of himself. Not a bit of it. The soft-spoken, self-effacing singer spoke to Kieran Owens about 'Living' for his living. Hello Paddy, how are you? How are things going?
Not bad. Congratulations on the progress to date. I saw the last show at The Village and thought it was fantastic. How has the year turned out for you?
Em, I couldn't have asked for better. It was great. Looking back to the early days of the International Bar would you ever have expected things would turn out so well?
I was hoping that it would be like this, that I'd do well. I've put a lot of time into this album. Can you put down the difference between your debut and 'Living' to anything in particular?
For some reason people just picked up on 'Saints and Sinners' and it all took off from there. Personally I didn't think it was one of the better songs, but that did the job. When I wrote it I liked singing it, but I thought it was too weird. Having started out playing to just handfuls of an audience a couple of years ago, what do you think of the fact that you play to tens of thousands now?
It's brilliant. There is a nicer mix of people now. And no one is too precious about it. Most of them seem to want to have a good time. What has been the live highlight of the year?
I had a couple of shows in Scotland that were great, but it still has to be the performance at Oxegen, just for pure madness. I don't even think that we were very well on the day, but the crowd reaction was amazing. You have re-released 'Living' with additional material, b-sides and rarities included. What was the reason for that?
Well, the record company wanted to do it anyway. I didn't think it was a cheap move or anything, but what they wanted to put on it was different to what has ended up on it. They had suggested a few acoustic tracks, but I thought it would be better to put stuff on that wasn't on the original release. I'm not quite sure if they got permission for things like 'The Whole of the Moon'! They said they did, but I suppose I'll find out soon enough. Turn are your special guests at the upcoming RDS gig. Is there any special reason for choosing them?
I've always been a fan of theirs. In fact, for a few years I probably went to nearly every one of their gigs, from The Da Club up to whatever. I used to think that for three people on a stage they got amazing power out of what they were doing. The songs are poppy as well, y'know. They look great and they sound great. What sort of reaction and numbers are you getting when you tour abroad?
In England we do Whelan's sized venues and stuff, and in London slightly bigger. It's not Damien Rice or anything, but it's going well. Further abroad, with this album we've only gone as far as Norway, as it's not really out properly elsewhere. And in America, the label that I was on merged recently with another, so I'm now not with them. What we have to do is to wait and see what label we are going to go out on. There are a couple of choices, but it wont be for another few months. Is that a frustration? Surely in six months you'll still be expected to tour 'Living' but you might have moved on to the next album's set of songs?
I don't know. I think with this year and last year it was a case of putting the head down and doing the work for the next couple of years, so I'm sticking to that plan. But it's annoying for me, and probably for the audience, just hearing the same songs all the time. Can you write as you tour, or can you only do it without that interference?
I'm always writing, but I have a set-up at home now, so I can record ideas to a good quality. Some of the stuff that's on the b-sides have been done at home. I definitely want another album out over here before the end of 2005. We've already recorded the guts of one, anyway. We have about twenty tracks down so far, and I really like about ten of them. It's nice to be sitting on that, but I want to wait until I write a few better ones, to have something new to record. What can your audience expect to hear at the RDS?
Hopefully the show will be different to anything we have done so far. We're planning to bring in strings and a few other things. I'd like to make a proper show out of it. So we can expect a few surprises?
Well they won't be surprises now. Paddy Casey, with special guests Turn, plays the Main Hall at the RDS, in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, on Thursday 30th December. Doors 7pm, admission €27.50. He also plays a special New Year's Eve show at the Olympia Theatre, on Dublin's Dame Street, on Friday 31st December. Doors 10pm - 2am, €27.50. At the time of going to press, both these shows were almost entirely sold out. www.paddycasey.com / www.mcd.ie / www.rds.ie / www.ticketmaster.ie
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