He said , “Dave… they were never going to have a Killiney boy in the band”!

I was talking to a musician friend about this.

“I got a few messages in the last week about work. You know what it’s like (being a session musician), every time you see a message or see a call come in you get your hopes up". We are often living from month to month as musicians, waiting for the phone to ring, to see what might come in. 

“So who called?”, my friend said 

"Well, first there was this Irish singer songwriter who sent a message, someone whom I rarely see or hear from. Could this be….No. The message was one asking for me to vote for her onto an IMRO Board of Directors" (she would actually be perfect).

“Anyone else?”

“Yeah then I got a WhatsApp group message from The Frames, a group that was set up from the time of our Ballintubbert gig in 2018. It was asking if we could learn a Velvet Underground song for the upcoming Frames gigs 2023. I thought….oh really? I wonder am I back on the gig after being put on the naughty step for something that was none of their business? No, it turned out that it wasn’t supposed to include me and they obviously hadn’t re configured the Whattapp group members.” 

“Isn’t exclusion the new bullying?”, he said jokingly.

“Well, I’d say, sometimes inclusion is the new torture!”, I replied

“Any others?”

Yes! one of my favourite types of drumming is Afrobeat, inspired by the late Tony Allen who played with (the even later) Fela Kuti. Yankari are one of the best Afrobeat bands in the business and a friend of mine messaged me to say they might need a drummer for a spell and would I be interested! 

“Woah! That’s good, right?”

“Well, I said of course I would if I could, and to pass on my number to the band leader. And sure enough he called and he suggested going to go see them live. But I’m not around that night, I’m gigging abroad. So the phone went a bit dead then. They say, you have to be at gigs, or gigging, to get gigs!”

“I’d say that one might still happen” said my friend.

“Then there was the singer who called me to know if I knew a good drummer for a new project he was part of…”

“Wha? He was asking you to recommend a drummer??”

“Yes, I said what the fuck are you doing, asking me about who I could recommend for a drumming gig, when I am a professional drummer. He said, ah, no offence, but I think we are looking for a ‘younger drummer, maybe like, one of your students?’. 

“Fuckin’ cheek”.

"'Let me get my Zimmer frame so I can get my address book for you I said'". 

"Miaow", he miaowed.

"What do you mean 'Miaow'"?

“Then, going back to that time just after Covid, I received 9 emails from 9 different songwriter/artists asking me to send a price quote for album studio work. They were all applying for some new Arts Council grants, the Agility Award. Only one of them got back to me in the end and employed me out of the 9. That was tough. I was so excited. I already had the money spent! ( a potential total of about e6000?).

“Well there was that one gig from 9 to be thankful for”.

“Yeah, it’s all about how you look at life in general.  I’m very much a glass one/ninths full type”.

“Surely there have been others who bore fruit recently?”

“Yes. I suppose every other message is actually an offer of work. And I’m so lucky to get these calls.” 

“Very lucky, but a bit complainey.”

Miaow.

PART 2

In memory of Christy Dignam, rest in peace. 1960-2023

It is with great regret that I hear of Christy’s passing and love the courage he showed in his last years fighting the illness he had. I remember seeing them on Top of the Pops and thinking that it wasn’t just U2 that ‘made it’ internationally as us aspiring musicians were worrying was the case. It was Aslan who really gave us hope, not U2. There was something more tangible about what they had achieved. The band I was with at the time was called Wild Cherry Tonic and we had our own TV success winning a nationwide talent competition on RTE. The judging panel included the lovely and dearly missed Uaneen Fitzsimons and Dave Fanning. Aslan were rebels and very much working class idols. We were more from a middle class background but were enamoured and inspired by their gutsy swagger. Anyway, I found myself stacking shelves for the opening of Virgin Megastore back in the early Nineties. It was around that time when it felt

we, Wild Cherry Tonic, had missed our chance. Many record companies called the flat we lived in but we were too stoned or hungover or hungry to get it together to reply or meet their various A&R men. A friend called in to Virgin and said that a new band out of the ashes of Aslan (Precious Stones as they were called 1991-93) were looking for a drummer and would I be interested in going up to their place and doing an audition. Would I wha’? Yes please! I was so keen and a big fan of theirs. I arrived out at their rehearsal place above a dentists in Finglas. It went well musically I felt and I headed off that night on the bus home, and eventually back to stacking those Virgin shelves. A few weeks went by and I asked our mutual friend who popped in why they hadn’t been in touch yet, and did they have the right number? 

He said , “Dave… they were never going to have a Killiney boy in the band”!  

Brilliant!