Keith Mullins goes solo with new album

Date Published: {J}

Corofin native Keith Mullins launches his debut album The Great Atlantic this month. The talented songwriter will be playing at 3pm in the GAF café, Eglinton Street, Galway City on Saturday, February 20 and later that day, he will be in Canavan’s, Tuam. Keith’s busy weekend will be rounded off with a show in The Crane Bar, Galway on Sunday, February 21.

Keith and producer Liam Caffrey recorded The Great Atlantic in a round log cabin just outside Tuam, where Keith’s friends Larry and Olivia live.

“We ended up being stuck for somewhere to record, we were supposed to do it in Dublin,” Keith explains. “The week that we’d planned to record, the studio wasn’t available for two days. I rang Larry and said ‘we want to do the drums on the first two days. Do you mind if we do it in your house?’. He said ‘yeah, cool. Come down’.”

Larry, a highly accomplished guitar player, joined in with the recording and The Great Atlantic was born.

“Two days turned into three days, and three days into four,” Keith recalls. “We ended up doing the whole album there. We got it all done in about a week; some additional things had to be done – some violin tracks, some backing vocals – but we did them all in my house in Dublin.”

Keith’s emergence as a solo artist came about after his previous band, Pier 19, broke up.

“There was a point where we had stopped rehearsing, we had stopped even hanging out that much and talking about music with each other,” he says. “I was still writing songs, that’s what I enjoy doing most.”

When it came to his new project Keith had thought about calling it The Great Atlantic, but was wary that the name might mislead potential punters.

“The only thing that changed my mind was if I was advertising a gig and people turned up and it was just me, they might be like ‘oh right. I thought it was going to be a band’. As well as that, they are my songs so why not put my own name on it?”

Keith juggles his music career with a busy working life but he never ignores the creative impulse.

“I try and play my guitar once a day, if I can at all, for an hour or two,” he says. “I’d always be trying to write songs but most of the time it either comes or it doesn’t. You could be there for two months and you won’t write a line and then, suddenly, in a night you write three songs. It definitely comes and goes, the ability to do it.”

One of the most affecting moments on Keith Mullins debut is As I Walk You Home, a slow-burning, heartfelt love song.

“I wasn’t going to record it at all,” Keith recalls. “I had demoed songs by myself and given them to a few friends. They all liked that song so I said I’ll give it a chance, I’ll record it.

“It was literally the day we went to record it, I played the song to Brian, the drummer He did the drums and they were great, and we added bass. Larry Kelly added this great guitar part; Ciara Delaney sang over it. All of these layers on top of it; it ended up being one of my favourite songs on [the album].”

Keith’s willingness to push himself in the studio has led to a more assured approach in his live shows and he now comes across as a more confident performer than he did during his days with Pier 19.

“Even though I was a singer in a band with four other people, now it’s a completely different thing,” he says. “I feel a lot freer on stage; I used to be very self conscious. I still am a bit but nowhere near as much. It’s great to just get up and lash out the songs. That’s the most enjoyable part really, playing live to people.”

Keith takes a keen interest in all aspects of his music career, right down to designing the album sleeve for The Great Atlantic.

“There’s a great website I go on to a bit called Deviant Art,” he explains. “I came across a guy and I really liked his art work, everything about it. So I cheekily downloaded some and pieced it together in Photoshop, put up the writing and designed the lay out. Then I e-mailed him and asked could I use it. He didn’t charge me or anything like that, he was glad to support another artist.”

While this is an example of an online community that benefits artists, there is also the reality of file sharing and free downloads that make it difficult for musicians to make money from their craft. Keith, however, is pragmatic about this.

“I’m OK with it,” he says. “I don’t mind people downloading my music for free or sharing it, or burning CDs for friends or whatever. The only important thing is that the music gets out and if people enjoy it, brilliant. It’s not about money, although it would be lovely to be in a position to live off music, and that’s obviously my goal. At the end of the day I’m making it so that people can listen to it.”

With a winning debut to his name, Keith Mullins is about to embark on a busy touring schedule that will hopefully see him build a deserved fan base. It does, however, mean time away from work but Keith is clear about the path he’s chosen.

“It’s a great thing when you have an album and someone gets a buzz off it,” he enthuses. “Working in an office doesn’t matter to most people; I don’t go into my job going ‘I’m so great, I get to help people’. I’m doing something that other people are enjoying and, in a small sense, it’s making their life a little bit better. It’s a great thing to be able to do – not that I’m Mother Teresa or anything!”

Keith Mullins plays Canavan’s, Tuam on February 20, Doors 8pm, Admission €10. He is in the Crane Bar on Sunday, February 21, Doors 9pm, Tickets €10.