Fergal Nash-Singer Songwriter-Limerick, Ireland

I grew up in a small parish called Kilcornan in Co. Limerick, Ireland, where I still reside. From an early age I had a strong liking for music and I started taking guitar lessons aged around 10. I quickly started learning a few easy covers such as "House of The Rising Sun" and "Knocking on Heavens Door." However it was when I went to secondary school in Copsewood College, Pallaskenry that I really started to develop. Myself and some friends formed a rock band called "Nemesis". This was in the early nineties and we were heavily influenced by the Seattle grunge explosion at the time, playing Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden songs, along with other heavy metal & hard rock bands such as Metallica, Guns n Roses & AC/DC. We also wrote a few of our own original tracks in that style and played many gigs locally. The band sadly disbanded when we all headed off to college, but it had given me the foundation I needed to pursue music in later life. After that I started to play around a little with writing my own songs, but wasn't that committed due to the distractions of late teen/early twenties life! However around the age of 27 when the whole going out novelty started to wear off I really started to get the head down and write some pretty good tunes, and actually finish them off as opposed to just coming up with a riff or melody and not coming back to it! I setup my own home studio and have written, recorded and released two albums from there, "Take it Over" in 2013 and "Pieces of Everything" in 2015. I have also gigged extensively, mainly in my own region go Southern Ireland to coincide with theses releases. Both are available online so check them out if you like! So there you have my background. What made me decide to do this? Sheer love of great music and a desire to create & perform some of my own, simple as that really!

My advice would be first of all take the time to hone your act before you start putting yourself out there. Make sure to write the best songs you possibly can, record them as well as possible and practice performing them live until you can play them in your sleep. The most important thing in giving yourself any chance of success is the quality of the music. I know it's a cliche but it is true. It doesn't matter what you look like or how many social media followers you have, if your music is crap an/or you can't get up on stage and perform it really well, people will quickly see through that and lose interest. I have done this myself. I've come across artists hyping the shit out of themselves online, checked out their music and been very disappointed. The result? I don't buy or stream their music or go to their gigs, I don't care how many tweets they put out every day. And I am far from perfect myself in this regard. I rushed my second album, and some of the performing and production isn't good enough, something which has been rightly pointed out to me by listeners and has cost me, so I regret that. But it has made me more determined to ensure any material I release in future is up to the required standard. So get your act together first. Then start sending material off to radio stations and newspapers. Keep it to one or two of your best songs, DJ's haven't time to listen to whole albums. And many now prefer digital files or Soundcloud links as opposed to physical formats there days so check that out beforehand. Try local first, they are normally more responsive than national. Get some proper pro photos taken, not some shitty pic from a phone. For gigs, target appropriate smaller venues initially. Maybe pay them a visit, drop in a CD. If you don't hear back give them a shout a week or two later. Build networks, and don't take lack of responses personally, people are busy. Play open mics, you're guaranteed to get slots there. Short yes, but better than nothing and they are normally receptive to original artists as opposed to typical bars, a lot of whom want covers. And whatever you do don't fall out with people! Don't send the DJ or venue an email insulting them because they didn't play your song/give you a gig. That means you have just probably destroyed any chance of them ever playing/booking you in the future and you don't want that do you? It's a hard enough bloody business as it is!

Yes occasionally. But I've have myself rehearsed to the point that they are rare and small. Mostly it would be singing an incorrect lyric or playing a wrong guitar chord. How I handle it is if I can at all I still keep going. If I forget a word or a line I just replace it with the first word or line I can think of at the time. Sometimes it fits ok, other times it doesn't make any sense but so what? Most people won't notice anyway and it's better than stopping and starting again. I really try to avoid this. As a punter it really annoys me if someone on stage is doing this regularly. An occasional mistake fine, but regular screwing up is simply not good enough and people will just switch off.

I'm am only a pretty low key unsigned artist, so to date I haven't really done any big tours. Primarily I play venues reasonably close to home so I don't have many overnight stays. That said one piece of advice I would give, and this applies to any gigs you do, make sure you are always fit and ready to perform the gig. Don't get drunk before (or even the night before) if it means you can't play as well as possible. It's all well ranting on about getting wrecked on the road, but if you're crap at the gig people won't forget it. And unless you are a big name, established artist (actually this can apply to them too but to a lesser extent due to name recognition guaranteeing at least a reasonable attendance) you are unlikely to get away with, many won't come back the next time.

I work with a PC based setup, using Cubase Artist DAW on a Dell all in one desktop. My hardware interface in the Alesis I/O 26. Other equipment includes a Rode NT-1A condenser mic, Behringer headphone amp, Marshall guitar amp, various guitars & instruments (won't list them all off!) One software plug in I use and highly recommend is Toontrack EZDrummer 2, a great programme for easily and quickly creating your own drum tracks. Upgrades probably required on the acoustic treatment side of things, need to buy a few absorption panels and bass bins.

Social media is the obvious one, however I think it's important no to over do it. People get sick of seeing artists on all day, every day advertising themselves. Spread it out a bit, and it's also no harm to give a shout out to other artists you might like, you'd never know they might return the favour and even if they don't you've lost nothing. Word of mouth. Go to open mics. Meet other artists and music fans, mention any upcoming gigs. I find local media and radio are very supportive if you send them music or gig promo so get onto them first, then try national/international, but this is much tougher as the competition is so intense, regardless of how good you might be. With local media you have the advantage of being from exactly the place they are most interested in promoting. Online radio is getting bigger and bigger, less agenda based and also specific genre stations, so target the right one's and get some tracks off to them.

Even though I have never been there, only seen on TV DVD, the Royal Albert Hall in London looks really cool, I love the round design and stage setup. I'd love to belt out an acoustic tune there with James Dean Bradfield or Noel Gallagher, because they are the artists I most try to emulate in what I do myself. No bullshit, just normal looking, simply dressed guys playing great guitar and singing great songs.

I have recently demo's a lot of new songs, around 25, in my own studio, some of which I am very enthusiastic about. Next up is to filter them down to the best ones with a view to going into a big studio and recording some of them for a future release. I am doubtful about doing a full album again in the near future as it is an awful lot of work, maybe a single first then an EP or something. Gig wise I play a local open mic every Tuesday night to keep the live performance sharp. Hopefully looking to book some gigs of my own, probably in the New Year. All info on my website link posted above.

Well as music is a very difficult career to earn a living from I also do some video production work, so probably that. it's kind of interlinked anyway as I film a lot of music events.

Hopefully some new songs and new gigs. Possibly my first ever proper music video to coincide with a single release if I can come up with a suitable idea and get it together.

Current listening? Royal Blood "How Did We Get So Dark", Noel Gallagher "Who Built The Moon?, Josh Ritter "Live at Iveagh Gardens", Ryan Adams, "Prisoner", to name but a few. Locally from Limerick check out Windings "Be Honest And Fear Not" and Anna's Anchor "Nautical Miles".