
Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with Letterkenny singer Arn. to find out more…
Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I’m from Letterkenny, Co. Donegal in Ireland and I’ve been into music ever since I can remember.
My earliest memory of being obsessed any form of music was when I was around 4 years old and I’d replay a video tape of Enrique Iglesias’ ‘Hero’ over and over. It wrecked the oul doll’s head.
Then I sang in the school choir for years. Shoutout Jebus.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
My influences when I was a wee pup would’ve been like Slipknot, Korn and all the nü-metal stuff. On top on that I loved (and still love) that early 2000s pop-punk era. Pure American Pie music. It was my older brother Michael that put me on to the heavy stuff. Along with all this I’d have listening to some hip-hop, primarily Wu-Tang Clan. Wu-Tang is for the children.
Later it would have been Don Broco, Lower Than Atlantis and some RnB shtuff. They’re basically my influences now on top of some pop artists like Lauv and such x
How would you describe your sound?
Pure shite. A bit all over the shop with hopefully a good chorus x
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
My latest release was a song called Sunlight. It was the first song I ever made on my own. I had recorded and mixed a version of it a few years back and it sounded like pure and utter ass.
I always loved the song though and knew that it could be good if done right. It took me about a year of recording to get it right. I’d record a version and nearly finish it and go into a big huff and be like ‘I’m shite and this is shite and I hate everything’ and just delete it. Finally got a version I liked and now yous have it for your listening displeasure x
What’s your local music scene like?
It’s gaining momentum. In Letterkenny there isn’t much of a scene but people are trying to create one.
There’s loads of musicians from around my area that are fantastic and they’re being showcased in events like the Mouthpiece Open Mic Night in the Cottage Bar ran by Steven Crane, and Disturbance ran by Nigel Hegarty.
I hope the scene grows because there’s too much good music that hasn’t hit everyone’s ears yet.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
Gig, gigs, gigs. I just wanna play. That’s the whole point of this. Probably didn’t get enough attention as a child so I crave it on stage. That, and I love singing or at least trying to. Performing is indescribable. That feeling you get when people sing your lyrics back is euphoric. If you could put that feeling in a pill, people would be clean off their heads on it.
I’ve been writing recently as well so I plan on releasing a few lovelies this year but who knows when? Find out next week on…
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Loads. Lauv would be class. So would Post Malone. So would SZA. So would Mike Duce.
I love collaborating. I did a tune with my best mate Aaron Everything recently called Phone a Friend and that was unreal.
I like doing anything that’d be out of my comfort zone. Open to anything x
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
I get people to say Eat Yer Dinner. It’s important to eat so it is. Apart from that I love chatting pure brown in between songs so catch me bombing with bad jokes at a gig near you x
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
This is all I want to do. It’s unreal and performing is class so come see me and I’ll kiss you x
You can find out more about Arn. via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, TikTok, X (Twitter) or YouTube.