interview ~ daniel donaghy ~ gin palace

Bursting with energy upon the release of their debut EP, Gin Palace lead guitarist Daniel Donaghy sat down with us to talk world domination, his evolution as a songwriter and their whirlwind journey up til now...

Hi Daniel! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us. How’ve you been? 

It's my pleasure! I’ve been great, it’s been a busy year for Gin Palace and we have an EP coming out, so I can’t complain.

To a lot of people, Gin Palace will feel like an overnight success story. Did you expect to have such a buzz around the band so quickly?

 Absolutely not! The support we’ve had right from the start has been incredible, we couldn’t have expected anything like it but we’re feeling very lucky for the support.

I was lucky enough to have been there at that first sold out headline show in McHugh’s basement last year. The energy in the room was palpable, how did it feel having so many people singing your lyrics back to you?

That gig was an amazing night for all of us. To have people singing our songs back to us at our first ever gig was almost unbelievable at the time, I think we’ll always remember that one.

There’s a real sense of something building around the band at the moment, do you feel that yourselves? 

Yeah we really do, there’s a certain energy in the group that we’ve all noticed and we’re really excited for what’s to come.

At your headline Voodoo show you were joined by your little brother’s band Red House, a lovely gesture and another fantastic band. What’s it been like watching him set off on his own musical journey? 

 It’s been really cool to see, I’ve been watching him develop as a musician for years now and to finally have the opportunity to share a stage with him has been wonderful.

It’s impossible to discuss Gin Palace’s future without delving a little into your history first. For those who have been watching your career up til now, they may forever link yourself and Joel (McCracken, vocals/rhythm guitar/brass) with your former band The Remedy. You started as kids, built a loyal following over the years and left us with ‘Different Class’, a proper tune, especially considering how young you were. What did you learn from your time in The Remedy? Have you given yourself a chance to reminisce since forming Gin Palace?

The main thing The Remedy taught me was that music should be about the fun of it. We were just a few guys having a laugh in that band, we never took ourselves too seriously and for me, that’s how music should be made. I think Gin Palace is a more developed outfit musically though, and I’ve really been enjoying the opportunity to experiment more with more diverse sounds. But I’ll never forget where I got my start!

Where do you feel Gin Palace fit into the current Northern Irish musical landscape and are there any bands from here that you’re into? 

I feel that Gin Palace have diverse enough sounds that we fit nicely on to a lot of bills on the NI scene. And there are more bands than I could name from Northern Ireland that I’m into at the moment, but off the top of my head I love what Paul and the Meanie are doing, we’ve gigged with them before and they always bring a great show. I love some of the sounds that Jealous of the Birds is making, and Wood Burning Savages have been bringing some of the best live shows around for as long as I can remember. And between Kitt Philippa, Strange New Places, Gender Chores, SOAK and loads others, I love how many LGBT+ artists are coming out of NI at the minute – it’s really cool to know that we have a diverse music scene here. And there are always the classics – I’ve seen Foy Vance, Duke Special and Emerald Armada live all in the last year and you don’t need me to tell you how great they are. I’ve left so many great bands out – the scene has too many class acts at the moment!

So the debut self titled EP is out now. You don’t mess about! What can you tell us about it?

You know us Taylor! I really love the sounds on the new EP and am super excited for everyone to hear it. It’s more musically developed than our first two singles with a good amount more of Joel’s signature brass, and I think it gives us a really good opportunity to showcase the slower side of our music whilst keeping the energy that makes our music what it is – I’m really looking forward to people hearing this side of our sound.

How important was it meeting Darren (Mercer, bass) and Josh (Lown, drums)?

Only as important as having a bassist and drummer! But to be serious, Josh and Darren have contributed so much to our sound – we very much write as a group with Joel as a lead songwriter, and so their contributions make the rhythm section what it is – if it grooves, you can guarantee that’s the work of those two.

Okay, picture the scene. We’re back in the Pavilion Bar, Ormeau Road. You look in the window and see 16 year old you and 17 year old Joel singing your hearts out, learning your trade, not even old enough to be in the place. What would you say to those kids? What advice would you give them?

Don’t push yourself so hard! When I was that age I thought I was going to be the best musician in the world before I even turned 18 – I had no idea how much learning I had to do. I only feel like I really know the ropes of live music now after doing it for 8 years, so I’d tell myself to chill out, enjoy it and not worry too much about knowing everything when you’re still young – you’re there to learn!

What gigs do you have coming up this Summer? 

I’m afraid I’ll have to keep that to myself, but keep yourself updated on social media – you’ll not want to miss what we have planned.*

Finally, what are your plans for the future of Gin Palace?

Keep gigging and making great tunes! After this EP we want to take some time away to write some new songs for you all, and we want to gig as much as we can over the summer as well. Then we’ll be straight back in the studio to record some lovely new music for you all – we don’t intend on slowing down any time soon.

*Since this interview was recorded Gin Palace announced a headline show at The Empire Music Hall, Belfast. See here for more details.