Continuing the wave of Irish talent that we’ve featured here in Amplify Music Magazine over the past year, we are pleased to present one that is a newcomer for us. With the disarming name of Friendmaker, we can say that this is a band you will want to be hearing more from after the first listen of their new single ‘You, Me and Everything Else’. Based in Carrickmacross in Monaghan County, near the border with Northern Ireland, this indie rock/ neofolk collective blends a rich storytelling approach and melodic richness.
Today is actually the day for its digital release. Downloading from Bandcamp is the surest way to ensure the band benefits from your support and hey, tomorrow is even Bandcamp Friday, so if you haven’t already picked this up today out of excitement, do show your support through your actions. This is a great listen and a great introduction to a band who demonstrates great songmanship, solid melody and balanced harmony within their music. You could say this is grounding, you could say that this is introspective, you could say that this is sweet melancholy – but one thing is for sure, this is stunning and powerful music that is inviting and develops throughout the song, transitioning from acoustic guitar to a full-band cinematic sound.
Friendmaker is composed of singer, songwriter and producer David Marron (Sanzkrit, Somefinn) on vocals and guitar, as well as Maolíosa McMahon (vocals and keys), Paul Finn (guitar and vocals), Paul Markey (bass) and Fintan Marron (drums).Their debut singlewill be released on March 3. This endearing and infectious indie-folk offering is accompanied by a stark meaningful video with cinematography by Darren Finn and Fiona Marron and choreography by Orla Sheridan and Paige Cunningham.
‘You, Me & Everything Else’ is a reflective folk meandering that wilfully loses itself to a darker undertow. It is a moment in thought. The pause before a new chapter. A love song about the other love, the one they don’t write about. A love beyond the initial spark and the early excitement. A love that requires you to reveal more of yourself than just the curated ideal. A love that invites you to learn more of self and asks you to lay bare your innermost truths. Will they still like the real you? Will you?
“We like creating songs where every note and every lyric is carefully considered, but we also like embracing the accidental stuff. We like to make songs that have a familiar warmth before bringing the listener with us to darker places. Then we use melody and humour to keep the listener there forever! Ha! but yeah we’re just a rock band making the kind of music we would want to listen to. We live for those floaty moments when a song begins to magic into life,” says David Marron.
After Marron’s previous band Sanzkrit ground to a halt, Marron found himself trying to fill a void by playing guitar in a few bands DJing, doing graphic design for bands and running an Arts Festival. Even though he was keeping busy in creative fields, he felt he was still ignoring a big and important part of himself. He notes, “Music was solely personal therapy for dealing with difficulty. It wasn’t something I really felt like sharing at that time.”
For David and Friendmaker, it would take a global pandemic and an unsold car to get back on track, diving deeper into music with the isolation of the lockdowns spurring him to be more social in his creativity. But he was also faced with a fateful choice: “In early 2020, I had saved a few quid to upgrade my car. If lockdown hadn’t happened, I definitely would’ve changed my car and I don’t think any of this new material would exist. Thankfully the money I had saved for a car was instead invested in proper recording equipment and so, over six months, I built a studio and began writing and recording. New ideas flowed seamlessly. The new environment was inspiring and the songs kept coming. I was writing the best music I had ever written and you’ll be glad to know my car is still hanging on too, but just.”
On the video, Marron notes, “I used the lyrical themes as a jumping-off point for a tangential narrative. We’re introduced to a confused character, confronted by two temptress figures inspired by the Selkies & Sirens of Celtic Folklore. In this context, they represent opposing poles of thought, the left brain, the right brain, certainty and doubt, the proverbial two paths. Our character is drawn to sea as his mind dances in thought between harmony and chaos. He seeks control of the inner turmoil and through that journey realises as he nears his point of breaking that it is the very obsession of control that errs his equilibrium and that it is in the actual relinquishment of authority that he finds an inner peace….. for now anyway. At the end we leave our protagonist where we first met him. He knows similar difficulties may lie ahead but experience will leave him better prepared for battle.”
On March 3rd, ‘You, Me & Everything Else’ will be released via the band’s own imprint House of Strange Vinyl and will be available everywhere digitally athttps://bit.ly/34VFBaw anor ordered directly from the band at https://friendmaker.bandcamp.com/track/you-me-and-everything-else
CREDITS
Written by David Marron
David Marron – vocals, guitar
Maolíosa McMahon – vocals, keyboards
Paul Finn – guitar, vocals
Paul Markey – bass
Fintan Marron – drums
Recorded and produced by David Marron at Samhlaíocht Studio, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan.
Additional recording, production and mixing by Darren Clarke
Mastering by Peter Montgomery
Artwork design by David Marron, Photography by Fintan Marron
Video written, directed & edited By David Marron
Cameras, cinematography & additional direction By Darren Finn & Fiona Marron
Choreography by Orla Sheridan & Paige Cunningham
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