Christmas gift will be music to their ears

Date Published: 02-Dec-2010

By Denise McNamara

Can anyone remember a time when X Factor did not dominate house and country? Now, an enterprising duo has come up with a way of capitalizing on the cross-generational craze that is currently at fever pitch here after Dublin contestant Mary Byrne made it to the semi-finals.

The novel service will give aspiring singers the chance to record their own song in a professional musical studio and walk away with their own gift CD.

SongGift.ie is the brainchild of Galway musician John Colohan, and fellow Offaly musician Joe Egan, who will be known to music lovers in town if they happen to frequent the Quays pub.

John is the guitarist and singer with the Weightless Astronauts, and Joe plays with the band The Cosmonauts. They came up with the concept after people were approaching them about making once-off recordings.

But price was always the stumbling block. Day rates in a studio start at a minimum €400 and each musician will cost €250 to hire so a simple song could wrack up a bill of over €1,000.

John owns a studio in the Liosbán Industrial Estate, where he mainly records jingles, and has spent the past six years investing thousands of euro in top class equipment.

Joe’s studio in Clara, Co Offaly, is a residential studio, where the likes of the Blizzards, Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club and Liam Ó Maonlaí have all recorded albums.

They also share another studio in Glenageary in Dublin. The pair are studio engineers and producers by day and have a massive back catalogue of songs.

They decided to target this group of budding songsters by setting up songgift.ie, where you can record a song to perfect radio and CD quality for just €99.

“Having studios around the country, we thought it would be great to give people the opportunity to work with us, recording and producing their song at an affordable price,” John explained.

Among the clientele who have so far braved the booth for an hour was a guy who proposed to his girlfriend in a song. She later recorded a song for their wedding day.

Duets with friends can also be arranged. “It’s a great way of getting a professional recording that can be sent to record companies or auditions – one girl used it for her audition for a pantomime,” says John.

The SongGift.ie service is being marketed as the perfect gift this Christmas for music fans. Vouchers are available online, in Zhivago as well as at a stand in the Eyre Square Shopping Centre. For further details log onto www.SongGift.ie.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.