Music from the Heart

In the midst of a global pandemic, and what we can only call a crushing year for so many, four musicians got together to kill some time by making music. It had been their passion individually for decades. And with what felt like never-ending lockdowns, the one thing they had was time. With diverse experience and backgrounds in folk, rock, hip hop and reggae, the music started to take shape, and Kandemic was born. With everything going on in the world, it became clear from the very start that Kandemic had a lot to say and a story to tell. As one lockdown was followed by another, the band kept writing and recording music. And six months and thousands of cans of beer later, Kandemic realised they had an album in their hands and a message from far beyond the stars.

Pete and Tom are two gentlemen, living and working in Dublin, Ireland. Tom has worked as an actor, songwriter, playwright, producer and theatre director over the years while Pete has written songs, played in various bar bands. Back in the 80’s Pete played bass in Tom’s spectacularly unsuccessful band. The band failed on such a scale that even in the age of the internet its name remains unrecorded and forgotten.

Following the release of their debut album, SMALL TALK, Soda Blonde are back with special stripped-back EP, I Still Have Feelings for You, out  via Velveteen Records. The EP features 4 beautiful, never-before-heard versions of 4 tracks from the album. The debut album from Soda Blonde may be called Small Talk, but if there’s one thing the Dubliners do not do, it’s mince words. Out earlier this year via Velveteen Records, the entirely self-produced album saw the group reflecting on their twenty-something experiences with refreshingly honest transparency.

One of the things music does is that it connects like-minded people. Sometimes, the connections are unexpected. And  the greatest art is born from nowhere. Isn't that just what musicians do in general, creating something from nothing? Perfect example of this unexpected collaboration are French artist Clint Slate and Scottish singer/songwriter Iona James. Iona, a nurse by profession, realized her long-time music dream by releasing her debut single "To The Moon" in January of last year.

Ballinteer native Fly the Nest (aka Stephen Cooper) started playing music at a young age, performing in various bands. He started solo project Fly the Nest two years ago, inspired by a life of moving from place to place. When not writing music for an advertising company in LA, he may be found working on his unique blend of film-inspired anthems, which he calls “cinematic rock.” Cooper now spends his time between Ireland and Denmark, and after a breakout year in 2021, has been tipped as one of the strongest rock acts to watch in Ireland in 2022.

My Twisted Heart is an alternative genre-blending singer-songwriter, and the brainchild of multi-disciplinarian musician Po Ki Ching. His life journey has seen him live both in Hong Kong and in Ireland, where he studied at UCC, in Cork. Developing an interest in singing and playing covers from a young age, while listening to canton pop, j-rock, and k-rock, his creativity blossomed when he met fellow Cork creatives Outsider YP and Kestine, with whom he formed ‘Outsiders’, a creative collective, in 2017. He has gone onto collaborate extensively as part of ‘Outsiders’, steadily contributing to their output since.

Elephant in the Room is an electronic/soul/pop duo comprised of Ireland natives Marty Mullally and Keenan Copas. The group has worked with a number of artists as ghostwriters and producers, most notably Josh Gray, co-writing and producing his track “Come Home”, which has reached over 370,000 streams on Spotify. After college they moved to New York City, where they have honed and refined the sound we hear in their most recent single,“Hollywood Hills''.

The Grey Merchant are a band from Blackrock, Cork, Ireland. They record, produce and release independent music. Their second album 'The Claude Glass' was released in February 2020. Now,  they are releasing ‘Mondegreen Blue’,  their latest single taken from a forthcoming EP due for release in early 2022. It is a rousing dynamic track about recovery and realising how far one has come from, moving on from a cinereal place.

Paul Callan from County Louth, Ireland, draws inspiration from a range of influences, the craft of the song with elements of surprise and ambiguous lyrics all come to the fore. Melody abounds though so be prepared to find yourself humming along long after the song is over. During lockdown, he set himself a challenge of writing and releasing a song each month throughout the year. See the world is the final installment of the challenge.