May 2, 2024 • 21 mins
In this riveting episode, we invite you to explore the incredible musical journey of Dave Brown, a celebrated singer-songwriter from the popular Irish pop band, PictureHouse. Get insights on the making of five studio albums and two live albums and experiences of touring with world-renowned artists like Meatloaf and The Coors.
Growing up in South Dublin, Dave's passion for music took root during traditional Irish house parties. Listen as he shares tales of his musical evolution, from singing at parties to performing on national stages. Hear about his dream of performing with Meatloaf that came true 25 years later, testifying to the power of visualization.
Despite a brief hiatus, PictureHouse is poised to make a grand comeback with a live gig and more records on the horizon. Get a front-row seat to Dave's experiences of band life – the camaraderie, the fun, the long tours, and the challenges that come with it.
Get acquainted with the band's story, from their evolution to their triumphs creating albums like 'Evolution', which made waves on BBC2 Radio in London. This episode also brings to light the personal aspects of the band members' lives and their balancing act between relationships and music careers.
The session ends with some profound advice from Dave Brown, urging everyone to support each other in the music community and not lose themselves in the glitz of fame. This inspiring episode promises an enriching look at the music world from the lens of a successful band like the PictureHouse.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Good evening, everybody. So this evening I have with me Dave Brown.
He is a singer-songwriter from Picturehouse.
Dave has made five studio albums and two live albums.
He has toured with Meatloaf, The Coors, Mel C, Saw Doctors and many, many more.
So you're very welcome on tonight, Dave. How are you?
(00:22):
I'm good, Ciara. Thanks a million. Nice to be doing anything,
as they say. I see. Good, good.
So, Dave, tell us a bit about yourself and where you're from,
how you ended up in this wonderful, wonderful world of music.
Well, I'm from a place called Knockline in South Dublin.
I was born, I was actually born in Clondalkin and I left there when I was about two.
(00:47):
And we went to Temple Oak, Knockline then, pretty much in a few different houses
over the years, but pretty much in that catchment area.
You and I was singing before I could
speak so I was I was always a musician oh wow
that's impressive the parents used to wheel
me out at the parties you know we don't really do
that as a culture anymore but when I was growing
(01:08):
up the parties in the houses just everybody came around
they brought bottles of beer and there was
guitars out and sessions and sing songs they went
on all night but they were great you know Dave
Dave I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we still
do do it in Ireland it's only now there's legal matters we
can't pretend that our kids do it we can't pretend that they have
(01:28):
cigarettes and drink and alcohol hanging out of it yeah yeah
but you know just those house
parties were great and so I was always singing at those pretty much what would
you sing what would you sing oh I'd sing everything you know whatever's in the
charts at the time that was that was the point because I could actually really
sing you know and even when you know the the folks used to go to trad sessions in the pubs on a.
(01:55):
On a Sunday and I'd start singing and or even on holidays in Wexford and I'd
go to the pub and I'd sing a song and everybody give me toop and surf wipers
and I'd go up to the arcades and the amusement still that ran out come down
sing another song or two and off we went again and
that's that's what I did yeah that's amazing and
do you have any recordings of yourself with the child up
(02:16):
online that we can all have a little no actually no I don't a
young day it was well I'm sure my my dad
has has given me uh boxes of videotapes which
which sadly i was never got around to digitizing
but i'm sure i'm on there somewhere doing that
well if you ever feel like giving it up to us we can put it up you know what
they say look after the people the irish people and they look after you so if
(02:41):
you ever feel like giving that video across i can sell it for my millions and
go and retire oh lovely yeah well let me know how you get on with that because
because there's plenty more where that came from.
So you have music in your family you've wanted to do at a young age.
So do you have any siblings that play music as well?
No, no, nobody else. Now, my brother and I, my brother is a CEO.
(03:03):
He couldn't be more removed from it. But he and I, you know,
always used to sing together, as I say, at those house parties and family parties we had.
But he would, he'd sing one or two songs. But, you know, it would be mimey.
We'd put on this whole show. So we'd be waiting for the parents to come back
from the pub. We'd have the show ready, you know.
But my daughter is a fantastic singer. How old is your daughter? She's 21 now.
(03:27):
21, wow. And your daughter did... She's in college.
She's in college studying musical theatre. That's what she wants to do.
She's always done it. She's been at stage school since she was a kid.
Not because we put her there, but because she just had this,
I just, that's what I want to do.
That's, and you know, and did very, really well in her leaving cert and had
lots of choices, but that's what she wants to do.
(03:47):
She actually has, she sings with a lot of DJs now.
She's very sought after to sing with them. I think one of her songs,
Hit two million streams there recently. What's your daughter's name so we can look her up?
Alicia is her name. And she was singing with, well, she's kind of affiliated
with Belters Only, kind of.
It's not Belters Only themselves, but they have a kind of a,
(04:09):
you know, a house, a DJ house. And she's part of that little group.
Wow. So you must be really impressed and happy to have her in the music so you can kind of bond.
Would she get up on stage and sing with you as well? Or is it totally different genres?
No, no. No, no, she would. Yeah, she would. I mean, you know,
hasn't got up with the band yet, you know, because we really haven't been gigging that much.
(04:31):
But, you know, we have played together and plenty of times she would get up and sing.
No problem to her, you know, she loves it. And these, well, I wish her every bit of success.
And I'm sure, no doubt, having you as a father, she's going to do very,
very well, both independently and with the family as well for supporting.
Just looking at the names here that you've toured, I mean, Meatloaf,
(04:52):
The Coors, Thaw Doctors, these
are all people that I would have loved to have met when I was younger.
What was it like touring? How did you end up touring with Meatloaf?
Oh, well, Meatloaf, my mother got me into Meatloaf in the late 70s.
And she took me to see him in Daly Mount Park in 1980.
And I said to my mam, I'm going to get up there and I'm going to be singing
(05:14):
with him someday, mam. I promise you, with him, I can see that happening.
And sure enough, 25 years later, I was singing on the stage with him in Wembley Arena.
So there you go. So that was kind of, you know, the fact that the dream came true.
Like it was kind of a lottery win kind of situation because it was so specific, you know.
(05:35):
Not really. If you look at the spiritual side, you were using the law of attraction.
You've seen your vision. You wanted it. You made your burning desire and you
wanted to play with meatloaf and you made it happen. and it's happened to a
lot of people in life when they stay with what they want and keep the vision alive. He must have...
Well, that was really the thing that.
(05:55):
You know, gave that the whole universe attraction thing some kudos because I
thought that's exactly what I did. That happened.
And the chances of it happening were so slim and so remote, you know.
Jim Carrey talks about that a lot.
This is what I mean. And I kind of get it because it only because it happened
to me personally. It just that happened. I mean, it's not a random thing to happen.
(06:20):
And McGregor, what did you ever look at his interviews? He says the same thing.
He said the law of attraction. he said he didn't know about it back then
but he used to visualize and it's very interesting actually because
the guy that was training him in used to get him to do a
lot of vision work he'd say now I want you to picture this I want to picture
your component in front of you and do this and he didn't
know why he was doing it but he listened and had trust in his his
(06:40):
coach and then he found out afterwards that his coach knew and was using the
law of attraction using the visualizations using these techniques and now I'm
hearing your story I heard a story yesterday of because someone else had the
podcast and I'd love to get Jim Carrey on to explain his story as well because
he says it when he was younger. He put a check. I know.
Yeah, I know. And as I say, that's the only reason I put any kudos into it is
(07:03):
because it genuinely happened to me. It just happened. That's brilliant.
What's happening now? So you're going to go back touring, I believe,
the band. Tell us a little bit about that. Well, you know, we kind of got together.
You know, the band had been going and the original lineup we put back together
together for an anniversary concert of our first album and we did three shows
(07:23):
together and then we did a kind of a farewell show.
But, you know, I think that was a bit too fine.
Yeah, well, it was a bit it was a bit premature because, you know,
myself and my drummer Jason were talking and just saying, you know,
why is everybody else out gigging and we're not?
What's because our songs are
great and our music's great and it's so accessible and we have great fun.
(07:45):
And you know if everybody's out
doing it why can't we you know so we decided we're coming back
now it's not a one-off gig on the 12th in Opium it's
just a return to being a
proper band you know so we'd start making records again and touring
again and you know and I'd be lying if I said it's going to take us a while
to build it back up to where it was but that's the plan that's the visualisation
(08:08):
now Absolutely put it on the vision board and you'll get it Dave that's amazing
I'm just looking here you're on the the Late Late Show and everything and that's three years ago.
I was on the Late Late with every presenter. I was on it with Ryan, with Ash and Gay.
Wow, I loved Gay Porn. Ash and Gay was great, yeah. We have a great treasure of a video clip.
(08:33):
Of you know a friend of ours put it together of please
welcome picture house picture picture house picture of
the different guys all saying it and it was it was gay and pat and and ryan
and it was really really good that's brilliant so what happened so how many
years were you guys together well we signed our first record deal in 1991 oh
jesus day well there you go and we we,
(08:58):
we kind of had different connotations and lineups and all that,
but we pretty much got the band properly right and together and released our first record in 96.
And that was after a lot of playing in pubs and playing everywhere that would
have us. We were a very tight band and we were a great pop sensibility.
So we told the radio that we'd give them a new single every three months and
(09:22):
that's what we did. And we did 12 of them in a row.
And is it difficult? How many people were in the band then?
Five. And three of us lived together. Three of us lived together.
Yeah, we all lived together at the same time. We were basically touring for
three years. I think we were home. The first year we started touring with all
those bands that you mentioned there.
I think we were home for eight weeks the whole year. We were just touring all the time.
(09:43):
So in perspective, put that in perspective for me. Does most bands tour for
three years or does it usually last 10 or does it last a year?
Yeah, well, there is that. Basically what would happen is an album would come
out and then you'd go and tour it. And the bigger the band, the longer the tour.
So, you know, you two arguably could be on tour for three years.
But we were only starting out and we were just went on supporter after supporter,
(10:05):
which as it turns out was a bit of a mistake, really, because we should have
been at home looking after, you know, the home turf.
But then paradoxically, it's not big enough to sustain you.
I mean, once you've sold out the Olympia a few nights and then once you'd sold
out the Cork Harper house, where else was there to go after that?
You know, that's true. So you have to do what it takes.
So what was it like living with three men surely you killed each other no we
(10:28):
got on great we got on famously we were best pals yeah so when we came home
from tour we kind of like said goodbye to the other two and went into the house the three of us,
lived together you know but we had lived together for years before that you
know we'd lived together since 1990.
So that was six or eight years into it it was no big deal and do you find then
because there was five in the band do you find that three years because you
(10:51):
were living together at home were making this music and then the other two guys
were losing out because you guys could have been at home having a session and just jamming together.
No, not really. No, no, it didn't work that way. Yeah, we were more like,
right, time for the pub, you know.
But in the interim then, those band members fell away gradually as the years went on.
And then for about 10 years, I have the band that I have now.
(11:14):
And then I put the original line back together for the anniversary record.
And then once once those shows were over, I'm back with the band.
So the Evolution album, for example, we got playlists on BBC2 Radio in London
with a song called Rules of Science.
And that was a, that was a big hit. And, and.
That was this band. So, you know, to say that these are new guys in the band,
(11:36):
they're not. They've been in the band for years and years and years.
And I just love the way we play together. We play often and that makes a big difference.
So talk me through the band members, who plays what and who sings?
Well, I'm up the front singing on acoustic guitar.
I've Jan O'Brien on keyboards and vocals and guitars. Jan is a great guy.
He's an amazing singer and producer as well.
(11:57):
And I think on the Evolution album, our drummer Jason was on it.
I sang on it and Jan and played everything else. That's basically it.
And then I've, a great guy from Finland, Esther Tatnan on guitar,
whom I've been playing with for, you know, 13 years more.
And then I have Pete Farrell on the bass and Keats played with,
with Mundy and Cathy Davey and loads of different people.
(12:19):
He's, he's kind of a stalwart of the Irish, of the Irish music scene.
And Jason Duffy down on the drums, who was with Lord of the Dance and broke, he was on four year tour.
Maybe it was more actually. He'd probably correct me. could have been
10 years they were touring all over the world with that show so you
know they're really seasoned musicians really really
good guys and then when you add that to the collection of
(12:39):
songs that we have you know it's a really really unbeatable team absolutely
it's it's i'm going to come see you guys as everyone always tells me the best
way to go see some band and music is to go see it live yeah you're coming on
friday then friday oh gosh i don't think i can come on friday.
Well, where are you playing on Friday?
(13:00):
We're in Opium in Wexford Street, right next to Whelan's Opium. I'm in York now.
You're in where? I'm in York. How are you? A few years ago. Yeah. Right.
That's the thing about internet, isn't it? You just don't know where anybody
is. You don't know where anyone is anymore.
I know I've often, people have wanted to book me over here for certain jobs
and they'd say, oh no, sure, you're living in Malahide, you're back in Ireland.
(13:23):
And I'm thinking, no, where are you getting that from? And it's on Facebook.
But because I'm not good with technology, I don't know how to change it back.
So I must be able to change it. I know. It can be a dark art trying to get Facebook
to do anything, but, you know, and again, it's a different landscape.
You know, it's not like we're going to go to the radio with singles and they
(13:43):
won't play it, you know, because there are lots of, yeah, it's just a different landscape.
But then there's other mediums, you know, some things are harder and some things
are easier than they were.
So would you not then work with the likes of influencers or people that have
built up, like whatever your age group is? You don't know who's listening to
you. Well, this is what I mean.
That's exactly what I mean. it's a different so you know that would
(14:04):
be a much more effective way of getting
your music out than going to radio stations for
example yeah there's just no point that's true we have
things worldwide now so with all this fame and success and going away i suppose
traveling you did say and you mentioned that you have a beautiful daughter how
did that affect personal life because you've got this level of fame and your
(14:26):
daughter and your wife or even before then was Was it not real difficult because
you're away from home for so long?
How did you find that? Well, it was, yeah. It was tough on everybody.
It was. I mean, obviously, you know, now we were having great fun.
There's no point in saying we weren't because we were playing our music.
We were touring. We were in front of a minimum of 12,000 people a night.
(14:46):
And we were having a great time selling lots of records and doing that. But we worked hard.
We were on the road a lot. When they say on the road, it's like on the road.
You're in a van driving on the road. And then we'd be doing things like this in the morning time.
And then we do the show at night and then sometimes an overnight drive.
You know or a very quick hotel stop hotel
(15:06):
being you know a clean bed you know admittedly for
the night but you know the feeling people say
that was it people think that it's it's
all glamorous and don't get me wrong there's plenty of good
things about being on the road but they don't realize the things
that happen behind it and you're just using a place to stop at
the night just to get somewhere for the following day stop yourself and
(15:27):
lucky if you could make it sometimes times i mean we had 11 hour
drives on each end of that sleep and then there was
one gig with the meat with meatloaf we just couldn't make it we just we
drove as fast and as long as we could and we just
couldn't make it it wasn't possible oh wow i
think they must have the timing or you just wrecked at this time no no we just
couldn't get there we we left the show the night before we drove as long as
(15:50):
we could we we put our heads down for three or four hours and then we got in
the van and drove again for another 11 hours and just couldn't make it oh my
gosh what kind of I was a fan of Meatloaf.
What kind of personality did he have? Well, he was a lovely man.
Very, very, yeah, very shy, unassuming, you know, quiet man.
Nothing like his persona.
Just a very nice family man, quiet guy, you know.
(16:13):
And very, very kind to us. I mean, he paid for our catering on the road and
fed us and used to sneak us in wine and everything.
And, you know, so he was very much, you know, you meet some people who are,
you know, up themselves. and then you would meet other people who are just musicians
like you that happen to have more success.
That's the way I put it. That's something that I loved about California.
(16:34):
Everyone that you meet, I know everyone has their own experiences when they
go places, but my particular experience, but you're meeting A-listers and they're
fantastic people, but they don't, like you said, they're humble,
they're nice. You go down, you have a coffee with them.
Yeah. They want, I always find very successful people want other people to do
well and they remember what it was like and they try to lift them up along the
(16:55):
way, which is really, really nice.
Yeah well there's that saying the bigger the star the nicer they are yeah oh
I like that yeah that's a nice thing you know because I've met really really
some superstars and they've been the nicest kindest people and then I've met
some people pop idol winners and are absolute nightmares you know.
Nightmares having the clue and and and tend to
disappear relatively quickly but and that would be one
(17:18):
of the reasons do you ever have doubt with them dave do you
ever say to them listen put their nose back in joint no it
wouldn't get that far we'd be like we're gonna go stand over
here bye but you know you know what
i mean you just get the toad you get toad off some people and but never
you know really successful people aren't like that no
you can't you can't get that how far and be a tundra
(17:39):
and arsehole all the time you know no i was listening to tommy fleming
having an interview he's on i think next week but i was listening to one of
his interviews and he says ireland is too small to consider yourself famous
you know it's such a small island and we're all the same type thing but it was
really nice of him to say because with the levels of success that he's had as
well um i thought it was nice give tommy my regards he's a pal of mine
(18:01):
oh i will i'll tell him that you're asking for him i was asking for him yeah
yeah of course i will he's a top man he comes across very nice on his.
We're just all musicians trying to get on with it that's the thing like you
say helping each other what can I do can I book you for a beer when you were
younger to pull the women did you ever just use the whole success,
(18:21):
for your little band going over to pull the women no no we were too busy we
were too busy you know and then don't forget then you know we went straight
into our second album so we had to go write that we recorded we had wrote it
on the road we had to get that done and it took its toll i mean the band initially disintegrated from,
the amount of work we were doing and then a serious
(18:45):
lack of reward i suppose for that work you know like if
you were coming home from a three-year tour and you could buy
your house out of it it's different than coming home and
still having nothing after all that work really and that's because we financed
the albums ourselves and then we we signed it to warners stupidly when and sunburst
came out and they made their money back in 20 minutes because they they sold
(19:05):
the to centra as an ad and then to this day they won't give us the albums back
and we made them ourselves.
So you know there's stupid mistakes you can make people forget this it's very
important lesson in the music business it's small m capital b right music is
great and you have to be good at it and passionate and touch people to music
but if you don't understand the business that,
Again, back in our day, nowadays, probably the business model is slightly different.
(19:31):
I suppose you didn't have the connections even for somebody that was perhaps
doing it, you know, a couple of years ahead of you that could have given you
the information, but you were figuring out life yourself on your own.
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. There is that. Yeah.
Look, I wouldn't change anything for the world. We had a great time.
As I say, we really had a great time.
Yeah. Well, please, God, going forward now, you're going to be,
if any of the listeners want to find out when you're on tour,
(19:53):
where you're going to be, what's the best way to catch It'll all be on picturehouse.ie.
We're just revamping everything, but we're basically playing a return show on
the 12th of April in Dublin, which is this Friday.
I don't know when your podcast goes out, but it's this Friday.
It'll be this Friday. It'll be, I would say, tomorrow, this particular episode.
Oh, well, then it's this Friday in Dublin. It'll be this Friday, the 12th of April.
(20:16):
It's going to be a great night. Absolutely great night. I'm really looking forward
to it. Oh, I wish I was in Ireland to go see you guys.
You'll probably get a blight for 8 euro it's not that it's not that it's just over here I'm,
I'm mental with my own stuff as well but I know I will definitely come see you
guys and I'll message you before I go and I'll get a photograph I'll chase you
(20:37):
around Ireland and perfect I had Paddy Casey on tonight and I told him I'm definitely
going to go see him he's brilliant,
yeah yeah I know Paddy we all know each other of course absolutely your hands
have crossed over the years,
absolutely oh that's brilliant okay so we know where to get you guys now and
I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time tonight I know you're
(20:59):
only after finishing working as well tonight so I really do appreciate you taking
the time to come on here and fill us all in but best of luck no problem thanks
so much thanks Ciara okay mind yourself bye.
Good evening, everybody. So this evening I have with me Dave Brown.
He is a singer-songwriter from Picturehouse.
Dave has made five studio albums and two live albums.
He has toured with Meatloaf, The Coors, Mel C, Saw Doctors and many, many more.
So you're very welcome on tonight, Dave. How are you?
(00:22):
I'm good, Ciara. Thanks a million. Nice to be doing anything,
as they say. I see. Good, good.
So, Dave, tell us a bit about yourself and where you're from,
how you ended up in this wonderful, wonderful world of music.
Well, I'm from a place called Knockline in South Dublin.
I was born, I was actually born in Clondalkin and I left there when I was about two.
(00:47):
And we went to Temple Oak, Knockline then, pretty much in a few different houses
over the years, but pretty much in that catchment area.
You and I was singing before I could
speak so I was I was always a musician oh wow
that's impressive the parents used to wheel
me out at the parties you know we don't really do
that as a culture anymore but when I was growing
(01:08):
up the parties in the houses just everybody came around
they brought bottles of beer and there was
guitars out and sessions and sing songs they went
on all night but they were great you know Dave
Dave I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we still
do do it in Ireland it's only now there's legal matters we
can't pretend that our kids do it we can't pretend that they have
(01:28):
cigarettes and drink and alcohol hanging out of it yeah yeah
but you know just those house
parties were great and so I was always singing at those pretty much what would
you sing what would you sing oh I'd sing everything you know whatever's in the
charts at the time that was that was the point because I could actually really
sing you know and even when you know the the folks used to go to trad sessions in the pubs on a.
(01:55):
On a Sunday and I'd start singing and or even on holidays in Wexford and I'd
go to the pub and I'd sing a song and everybody give me toop and surf wipers
and I'd go up to the arcades and the amusement still that ran out come down
sing another song or two and off we went again and
that's that's what I did yeah that's amazing and
do you have any recordings of yourself with the child up
(02:16):
online that we can all have a little no actually no I don't a
young day it was well I'm sure my my dad
has has given me uh boxes of videotapes which
which sadly i was never got around to digitizing
but i'm sure i'm on there somewhere doing that
well if you ever feel like giving it up to us we can put it up you know what
they say look after the people the irish people and they look after you so if
(02:41):
you ever feel like giving that video across i can sell it for my millions and
go and retire oh lovely yeah well let me know how you get on with that because
because there's plenty more where that came from.
So you have music in your family you've wanted to do at a young age.
So do you have any siblings that play music as well?
No, no, nobody else. Now, my brother and I, my brother is a CEO.
(03:03):
He couldn't be more removed from it. But he and I, you know,
always used to sing together, as I say, at those house parties and family parties we had.
But he would, he'd sing one or two songs. But, you know, it would be mimey.
We'd put on this whole show. So we'd be waiting for the parents to come back
from the pub. We'd have the show ready, you know.
But my daughter is a fantastic singer. How old is your daughter? She's 21 now.
(03:27):
21, wow. And your daughter did... She's in college.
She's in college studying musical theatre. That's what she wants to do.
She's always done it. She's been at stage school since she was a kid.
Not because we put her there, but because she just had this,
I just, that's what I want to do.
That's, and you know, and did very, really well in her leaving cert and had
lots of choices, but that's what she wants to do.
(03:47):
She actually has, she sings with a lot of DJs now.
She's very sought after to sing with them. I think one of her songs,
Hit two million streams there recently. What's your daughter's name so we can look her up?
Alicia is her name. And she was singing with, well, she's kind of affiliated
with Belters Only, kind of.
It's not Belters Only themselves, but they have a kind of a,
(04:09):
you know, a house, a DJ house. And she's part of that little group.
Wow. So you must be really impressed and happy to have her in the music so you can kind of bond.
Would she get up on stage and sing with you as well? Or is it totally different genres?
No, no. No, no, she would. Yeah, she would. I mean, you know,
hasn't got up with the band yet, you know, because we really haven't been gigging that much.
(04:31):
But, you know, we have played together and plenty of times she would get up and sing.
No problem to her, you know, she loves it. And these, well, I wish her every bit of success.
And I'm sure, no doubt, having you as a father, she's going to do very,
very well, both independently and with the family as well for supporting.
Just looking at the names here that you've toured, I mean, Meatloaf,
(04:52):
The Coors, Thaw Doctors, these
are all people that I would have loved to have met when I was younger.
What was it like touring? How did you end up touring with Meatloaf?
Oh, well, Meatloaf, my mother got me into Meatloaf in the late 70s.
And she took me to see him in Daly Mount Park in 1980.
And I said to my mam, I'm going to get up there and I'm going to be singing
(05:14):
with him someday, mam. I promise you, with him, I can see that happening.
And sure enough, 25 years later, I was singing on the stage with him in Wembley Arena.
So there you go. So that was kind of, you know, the fact that the dream came true.
Like it was kind of a lottery win kind of situation because it was so specific, you know.
(05:35):
Not really. If you look at the spiritual side, you were using the law of attraction.
You've seen your vision. You wanted it. You made your burning desire and you
wanted to play with meatloaf and you made it happen. and it's happened to a
lot of people in life when they stay with what they want and keep the vision alive. He must have...
Well, that was really the thing that.
(05:55):
You know, gave that the whole universe attraction thing some kudos because I
thought that's exactly what I did. That happened.
And the chances of it happening were so slim and so remote, you know.
Jim Carrey talks about that a lot.
This is what I mean. And I kind of get it because it only because it happened
to me personally. It just that happened. I mean, it's not a random thing to happen.
(06:20):
And McGregor, what did you ever look at his interviews? He says the same thing.
He said the law of attraction. he said he didn't know about it back then
but he used to visualize and it's very interesting actually because
the guy that was training him in used to get him to do a
lot of vision work he'd say now I want you to picture this I want to picture
your component in front of you and do this and he didn't
know why he was doing it but he listened and had trust in his his
(06:40):
coach and then he found out afterwards that his coach knew and was using the
law of attraction using the visualizations using these techniques and now I'm
hearing your story I heard a story yesterday of because someone else had the
podcast and I'd love to get Jim Carrey on to explain his story as well because
he says it when he was younger. He put a check. I know.
Yeah, I know. And as I say, that's the only reason I put any kudos into it is
(07:03):
because it genuinely happened to me. It just happened. That's brilliant.
What's happening now? So you're going to go back touring, I believe,
the band. Tell us a little bit about that. Well, you know, we kind of got together.
You know, the band had been going and the original lineup we put back together
together for an anniversary concert of our first album and we did three shows
(07:23):
together and then we did a kind of a farewell show.
But, you know, I think that was a bit too fine.
Yeah, well, it was a bit it was a bit premature because, you know,
myself and my drummer Jason were talking and just saying, you know,
why is everybody else out gigging and we're not?
What's because our songs are
great and our music's great and it's so accessible and we have great fun.
(07:45):
And you know if everybody's out
doing it why can't we you know so we decided we're coming back
now it's not a one-off gig on the 12th in Opium it's
just a return to being a
proper band you know so we'd start making records again and touring
again and you know and I'd be lying if I said it's going to take us a while
to build it back up to where it was but that's the plan that's the visualisation
(08:08):
now Absolutely put it on the vision board and you'll get it Dave that's amazing
I'm just looking here you're on the the Late Late Show and everything and that's three years ago.
I was on the Late Late with every presenter. I was on it with Ryan, with Ash and Gay.
Wow, I loved Gay Porn. Ash and Gay was great, yeah. We have a great treasure of a video clip.
(08:33):
Of you know a friend of ours put it together of please
welcome picture house picture picture house picture of
the different guys all saying it and it was it was gay and pat and and ryan
and it was really really good that's brilliant so what happened so how many
years were you guys together well we signed our first record deal in 1991 oh
jesus day well there you go and we we,
(08:58):
we kind of had different connotations and lineups and all that,
but we pretty much got the band properly right and together and released our first record in 96.
And that was after a lot of playing in pubs and playing everywhere that would
have us. We were a very tight band and we were a great pop sensibility.
So we told the radio that we'd give them a new single every three months and
(09:22):
that's what we did. And we did 12 of them in a row.
And is it difficult? How many people were in the band then?
Five. And three of us lived together. Three of us lived together.
Yeah, we all lived together at the same time. We were basically touring for
three years. I think we were home. The first year we started touring with all
those bands that you mentioned there.
I think we were home for eight weeks the whole year. We were just touring all the time.
(09:43):
So in perspective, put that in perspective for me. Does most bands tour for
three years or does it usually last 10 or does it last a year?
Yeah, well, there is that. Basically what would happen is an album would come
out and then you'd go and tour it. And the bigger the band, the longer the tour.
So, you know, you two arguably could be on tour for three years.
But we were only starting out and we were just went on supporter after supporter,
(10:05):
which as it turns out was a bit of a mistake, really, because we should have
been at home looking after, you know, the home turf.
But then paradoxically, it's not big enough to sustain you.
I mean, once you've sold out the Olympia a few nights and then once you'd sold
out the Cork Harper house, where else was there to go after that?
You know, that's true. So you have to do what it takes.
So what was it like living with three men surely you killed each other no we
(10:28):
got on great we got on famously we were best pals yeah so when we came home
from tour we kind of like said goodbye to the other two and went into the house the three of us,
lived together you know but we had lived together for years before that you
know we'd lived together since 1990.
So that was six or eight years into it it was no big deal and do you find then
because there was five in the band do you find that three years because you
(10:51):
were living together at home were making this music and then the other two guys
were losing out because you guys could have been at home having a session and just jamming together.
No, not really. No, no, it didn't work that way. Yeah, we were more like,
right, time for the pub, you know.
But in the interim then, those band members fell away gradually as the years went on.
And then for about 10 years, I have the band that I have now.
(11:14):
And then I put the original line back together for the anniversary record.
And then once once those shows were over, I'm back with the band.
So the Evolution album, for example, we got playlists on BBC2 Radio in London
with a song called Rules of Science.
And that was a, that was a big hit. And, and.
That was this band. So, you know, to say that these are new guys in the band,
(11:36):
they're not. They've been in the band for years and years and years.
And I just love the way we play together. We play often and that makes a big difference.
So talk me through the band members, who plays what and who sings?
Well, I'm up the front singing on acoustic guitar.
I've Jan O'Brien on keyboards and vocals and guitars. Jan is a great guy.
He's an amazing singer and producer as well.
(11:57):
And I think on the Evolution album, our drummer Jason was on it.
I sang on it and Jan and played everything else. That's basically it.
And then I've, a great guy from Finland, Esther Tatnan on guitar,
whom I've been playing with for, you know, 13 years more.
And then I have Pete Farrell on the bass and Keats played with,
with Mundy and Cathy Davey and loads of different people.
(12:19):
He's, he's kind of a stalwart of the Irish, of the Irish music scene.
And Jason Duffy down on the drums, who was with Lord of the Dance and broke, he was on four year tour.
Maybe it was more actually. He'd probably correct me. could have been
10 years they were touring all over the world with that show so you
know they're really seasoned musicians really really
good guys and then when you add that to the collection of
(12:39):
songs that we have you know it's a really really unbeatable team absolutely
it's it's i'm going to come see you guys as everyone always tells me the best
way to go see some band and music is to go see it live yeah you're coming on
friday then friday oh gosh i don't think i can come on friday.
Well, where are you playing on Friday?
(13:00):
We're in Opium in Wexford Street, right next to Whelan's Opium. I'm in York now.
You're in where? I'm in York. How are you? A few years ago. Yeah. Right.
That's the thing about internet, isn't it? You just don't know where anybody
is. You don't know where anyone is anymore.
I know I've often, people have wanted to book me over here for certain jobs
and they'd say, oh no, sure, you're living in Malahide, you're back in Ireland.
(13:23):
And I'm thinking, no, where are you getting that from? And it's on Facebook.
But because I'm not good with technology, I don't know how to change it back.
So I must be able to change it. I know. It can be a dark art trying to get Facebook
to do anything, but, you know, and again, it's a different landscape.
You know, it's not like we're going to go to the radio with singles and they
(13:43):
won't play it, you know, because there are lots of, yeah, it's just a different landscape.
But then there's other mediums, you know, some things are harder and some things
are easier than they were.
So would you not then work with the likes of influencers or people that have
built up, like whatever your age group is? You don't know who's listening to
you. Well, this is what I mean.
That's exactly what I mean. it's a different so you know that would
(14:04):
be a much more effective way of getting
your music out than going to radio stations for
example yeah there's just no point that's true we have
things worldwide now so with all this fame and success and going away i suppose
traveling you did say and you mentioned that you have a beautiful daughter how
did that affect personal life because you've got this level of fame and your
(14:26):
daughter and your wife or even before then was Was it not real difficult because
you're away from home for so long?
How did you find that? Well, it was, yeah. It was tough on everybody.
It was. I mean, obviously, you know, now we were having great fun.
There's no point in saying we weren't because we were playing our music.
We were touring. We were in front of a minimum of 12,000 people a night.
(14:46):
And we were having a great time selling lots of records and doing that. But we worked hard.
We were on the road a lot. When they say on the road, it's like on the road.
You're in a van driving on the road. And then we'd be doing things like this in the morning time.
And then we do the show at night and then sometimes an overnight drive.
You know or a very quick hotel stop hotel
(15:06):
being you know a clean bed you know admittedly for
the night but you know the feeling people say
that was it people think that it's it's
all glamorous and don't get me wrong there's plenty of good
things about being on the road but they don't realize the things
that happen behind it and you're just using a place to stop at
the night just to get somewhere for the following day stop yourself and
(15:27):
lucky if you could make it sometimes times i mean we had 11 hour
drives on each end of that sleep and then there was
one gig with the meat with meatloaf we just couldn't make it we just we
drove as fast and as long as we could and we just
couldn't make it it wasn't possible oh wow i
think they must have the timing or you just wrecked at this time no no we just
couldn't get there we we left the show the night before we drove as long as
(15:50):
we could we we put our heads down for three or four hours and then we got in
the van and drove again for another 11 hours and just couldn't make it oh my
gosh what kind of I was a fan of Meatloaf.
What kind of personality did he have? Well, he was a lovely man.
Very, very, yeah, very shy, unassuming, you know, quiet man.
Nothing like his persona.
Just a very nice family man, quiet guy, you know.
(16:13):
And very, very kind to us. I mean, he paid for our catering on the road and
fed us and used to sneak us in wine and everything.
And, you know, so he was very much, you know, you meet some people who are,
you know, up themselves. and then you would meet other people who are just musicians
like you that happen to have more success.
That's the way I put it. That's something that I loved about California.
(16:34):
Everyone that you meet, I know everyone has their own experiences when they
go places, but my particular experience, but you're meeting A-listers and they're
fantastic people, but they don't, like you said, they're humble,
they're nice. You go down, you have a coffee with them.
Yeah. They want, I always find very successful people want other people to do
well and they remember what it was like and they try to lift them up along the
(16:55):
way, which is really, really nice.
Yeah well there's that saying the bigger the star the nicer they are yeah oh
I like that yeah that's a nice thing you know because I've met really really
some superstars and they've been the nicest kindest people and then I've met
some people pop idol winners and are absolute nightmares you know.
Nightmares having the clue and and and tend to
disappear relatively quickly but and that would be one
(17:18):
of the reasons do you ever have doubt with them dave do you
ever say to them listen put their nose back in joint no it
wouldn't get that far we'd be like we're gonna go stand over
here bye but you know you know what
i mean you just get the toad you get toad off some people and but never
you know really successful people aren't like that no
you can't you can't get that how far and be a tundra
(17:39):
and arsehole all the time you know no i was listening to tommy fleming
having an interview he's on i think next week but i was listening to one of
his interviews and he says ireland is too small to consider yourself famous
you know it's such a small island and we're all the same type thing but it was
really nice of him to say because with the levels of success that he's had as
well um i thought it was nice give tommy my regards he's a pal of mine
(18:01):
oh i will i'll tell him that you're asking for him i was asking for him yeah
yeah of course i will he's a top man he comes across very nice on his.
We're just all musicians trying to get on with it that's the thing like you
say helping each other what can I do can I book you for a beer when you were
younger to pull the women did you ever just use the whole success,
(18:21):
for your little band going over to pull the women no no we were too busy we
were too busy you know and then don't forget then you know we went straight
into our second album so we had to go write that we recorded we had wrote it
on the road we had to get that done and it took its toll i mean the band initially disintegrated from,
the amount of work we were doing and then a serious
(18:45):
lack of reward i suppose for that work you know like if
you were coming home from a three-year tour and you could buy
your house out of it it's different than coming home and
still having nothing after all that work really and that's because we financed
the albums ourselves and then we we signed it to warners stupidly when and sunburst
came out and they made their money back in 20 minutes because they they sold
(19:05):
the to centra as an ad and then to this day they won't give us the albums back
and we made them ourselves.
So you know there's stupid mistakes you can make people forget this it's very
important lesson in the music business it's small m capital b right music is
great and you have to be good at it and passionate and touch people to music
but if you don't understand the business that,
Again, back in our day, nowadays, probably the business model is slightly different.
(19:31):
I suppose you didn't have the connections even for somebody that was perhaps
doing it, you know, a couple of years ahead of you that could have given you
the information, but you were figuring out life yourself on your own.
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. There is that. Yeah.
Look, I wouldn't change anything for the world. We had a great time.
As I say, we really had a great time.
Yeah. Well, please, God, going forward now, you're going to be,
if any of the listeners want to find out when you're on tour,
(19:53):
where you're going to be, what's the best way to catch It'll all be on picturehouse.ie.
We're just revamping everything, but we're basically playing a return show on
the 12th of April in Dublin, which is this Friday.
I don't know when your podcast goes out, but it's this Friday.
It'll be this Friday. It'll be, I would say, tomorrow, this particular episode.
Oh, well, then it's this Friday in Dublin. It'll be this Friday, the 12th of April.
(20:16):
It's going to be a great night. Absolutely great night. I'm really looking forward
to it. Oh, I wish I was in Ireland to go see you guys.
You'll probably get a blight for 8 euro it's not that it's not that it's just over here I'm,
I'm mental with my own stuff as well but I know I will definitely come see you
guys and I'll message you before I go and I'll get a photograph I'll chase you
(20:37):
around Ireland and perfect I had Paddy Casey on tonight and I told him I'm definitely
going to go see him he's brilliant,
yeah yeah I know Paddy we all know each other of course absolutely your hands
have crossed over the years,
absolutely oh that's brilliant okay so we know where to get you guys now and
I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time tonight I know you're
(20:59):
only after finishing working as well tonight so I really do appreciate you taking
the time to come on here and fill us all in but best of luck no problem thanks
so much thanks Ciara okay mind yourself bye.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.