 The term ‘signer songwriter’ is to make some people
want to round up all the acoustic guitars in the country and celebrate Bonfire Night early. But the likes of Jamie T,
Kate Nash have redefined the genre, with their witty observations and quirky
melodies. New boy on the block, Eugene Mcguinness will no doubt make his mark
with his debut single Monsters Under The Bed, which tells of the joys of trashy
TV when unable to sleep.
“Most people
when they hear singer songwriter, when I hear the term singer songwriter, I
just picture some man in a cowboy hat,” reckons Eugene. “It
means some thing completely different now.
A couple of years ago, if you asked somebody if they were a singer
songwriter, they thought you were like David Gray, now it kind of means Jamie T
or Jack Penate So, I don’t know. It’s just kind of a funny term because there
are all sorts of singer songwriters and it means so many different things. I
don’t really see myself as a singer songwriter, I’m a performer. I’m a performer boy songwriter!”
He may be another one to hail from the capital, but
Eugene insists
that he is not consciously trying to fit in with any trends. “It’s very easy to get roped into certain
types of trends and movements. I’m not saying I’m opposed to certain things. I
don’t think I kind of fit in with anything that’s going on at the moment, I’m
just not really part of any niche or scene. I think it’s very honest music that
I’m making. It’s got intent to it. Whenever I listen to Kate Nash or Lily Allen
or Jack Penate, or whoever, I like it, but it’s not what I’m doing,” says
the 21 year-old. “It’s cool because I
prefer the stuff that’s going on now, like things that are perhaps more
unusual, than say what was happening six years ago. Obviously, you’ve got rubbish people still,
but these people, they’re doing something very interesting, but I don’t think
I’m part of anything like that”.
Born in London to
Irish parents, Eugene
considered music to be nothing more than a hobby until the age of seventeen
when he realised he wasn’t doing anything else.
“It was like an obsession. I
didn’t force anything, it wasn’t any sudden idea. It was just like I have this
now. There’s no going back because I spend far too many time on it!” he
says.
Deciding that music was definitely for him, Eugene packed his bags and headed northwards for Liverpool, where he studied for three years. “I didn’t want to stay in London, not particularly. I just didn’t feel
like I going somewhere, starting something fresh and Liverpool
seemed like an exciting place to go”.
Before going solo, Eugene had been in various groups, but not
with much success. ”I was probably very
unbearable. I just wanted to keep doing
new songs. I was very good with the process of touring the same thing and
playing the big money songs or any thing like that”, he recalls. “That
never really worked for me, I just always wanted to mess around and get as many
songs on as possible. So bands in the
past never worked out. I’d always wanted a million miles an hour and people
don’t normally want to keep up”.
Following the Monsters Under The Bed single Eugene will release a mini
album intriguingly titled The Early Learnings Of Eugene McGuinness. “So many instruments I play on the record
were probably bought from The Early Learning Centre it was a kind of an in joke,”
explains Eugene.
So what can people expect?
“People have
a look at me and think ‘oh singer songwriter’, another ‘oh look he’s writing
about television and stuff, just another one of those’, but a lot of the record
sounds quite classic in a way, I think so anyway,” says Eugene. “The
songs picked for it, some of them are very upbeat and the majority of the songs
sound… part of it reminds me of old show tunes. The melodies sound quite old. I
suppose mostly its got that kind of feel, the single is very everyday life and
all that stuff. I think it’s important
to write about other things as well. You don’t always need to write about The
Jeremy Kyle show in the song, you know.
There are songs on the record are a bit vague. I just write about things that I feel should
be documented”.
Thanks to radio support from respected DJs and
tastemakers such as Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens, as well as a slot at this
year’s Glastonbury
this unsigned artist won’t remain unsigned for long.
"I’m taking
it as it comes,” states Eugene.
“Things tend to just fly around and there
are some people who are keen, I think. I
think everybody’s just waiting to see if people actually like my music. If it
does happen and people take it to their hearts, then you’ll see me again. I’m
very excited. I’ve already got the next record entirely planned out in my head!”
Monsters
Under The Bed is out now and The Early Learnings Of Eugene Mcguinness will be
released on 6th August.
For
more info: www.myspace.com/eugenemcguinness85
Words:
Helen Duong
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