Drum rolls please… ladies and gentlemen… it is my honor to introduce you to the one… the only... TADHG COOKE! You all know how much I love explaining how to pronounce artists names but this one really gets me riled up. Tadhg’s name is pronounced like “tiger” but without the “er.” Tadhg said “A nurse from Northern Ireland pleaded with my parents not to name me Tadhg, because at the time the Troubles in Northern Ireland were pretty bad, and the word ‘taig’ (which is how they would pronounce Tadhg up North) was used by the Loyalists as a derogatory term for all Nationalists. The Loyalists would scrawl on Catholic/Nationalist houses slogans like K.A.T (kill all Taigs) and Taig's Out (well, that's more self-explanatory). Luckily for me, the peace process was reaping rewards by the time I was hopping across the border to appear on the BBC in Belfast and Derry. The wounds are still fresh though and you always see nice people wincing in anticipation when they attempt to pronounce my name in some unnatural way in order to avoid making it sound like ‘taig’.” Tadhg went on to say “There's some kid on Nickelodeon according to a myspace fan of mine who is called Tadhg. He's only a kid, but I'm hoping that he will be tremendously successful thus negating the need for translators, and decreasing the chances that DJs will have a heart attack when they see my name.” My psychic intuition leads me to believe that Tadhg Cooke, who plays with David Geraghty of BellX1 in his spare time, will become a household name first, thus making life easier for the Nickelodeon kid- not the other way around.
As much as I would like to continue discussing the origin of Tadhg’s name, I believe I am duty-bound to talk about music or something. So, now that you know how to pronounce who I am talking about-let’s get down and dirty.
The first song that I became addicted to and featured on Episode One of The Merry Andrews Show by Tadhg is called Know You Hate Me. According to Tadhg, he had the guitar riff for the song for a while, but the lyrics just would not come. He said “So I was playing it over and over for days. One day I was playing it in the kitchen for someone and just started singing what became the first verse, ‘I know you hate me, but I don't mind, 'cause I stole your money, yeah I robbed you blind’, in a jokey country voice ... and suddenly I realized that was it. That was the starting point - as soon as I dropped the cod accent. I scrambled to write it down, and the whole song fell out like that. It's weird the way songs arrive like that. Writers often talk about the craft of songwriting, and we all have our own methods of chipping away at the rock, but when a song falls out like that, almost in one, you start to wonder how much control you have over these things!” It seems as though Tadhg is pretty lax about his writing process but do not be mistaken- he treats it like an art form that you have practice in order to flourish. He said “I love emails and treat them with the same respect that our parents or grandparents would have treated letters. The best way to get out of a writer's block is just to write. That sounds obvious, but it really is that simple. You have to write. The catch is that you have to write without censoring yourself. You must let the words flow and ignore how cringe worthy, embarrassing, bare, honest or stilted they are. Often if you write a few pages worth of material, you can cross off the first few paragraphs - it's only when you get into the flow that you really start getting interesting and maybe even honest. Everyone has their own little methods for greasing the wheels. But writers know that you have to keep writing as often as you can. It's like a muscle. Use it or lose it.”
Even I often compare Tadhg to Damien Rice, and you might too, but when I asked him how he felt about this comparison he jokingly said, “It makes me want to scratch my eyes out.” He then went on to say “No, not really. Damien's meeting movie stars, kissing beauty queens, making platinum selling albums and has reached the top of his game, so comparisons with him are flattering in one sense. We're both Irish, speak a bit of French, own Lowden guitars, and come from roughly the same part of the suburbs west of Dublin city...but that's where the comparison ends. I'm taller than him, and write in an entirely different style. I suppose people see the guitar and singer and assume that's all there is to it.” His inquiring mind continued to ponder...”I wonder, is this the start of a trend? For years, any half-decent Irish band was touted as the "new U2"... Are we going to be touted as "the new Damien Rice" from now on? Now there's a kiss of death. You've just got to keep writing and following the muse, and try to ignore all the sensationalist stuff people come up with.”
Tadhg explained that his favorite slice of the musician pie is touring-when he doesn’t have a gig the following day, of course. He said, “I really love getting out there and playing live. I've just come back from a short trip to Germany where I was supporting BellX1 (who, ironically used to play with Damien Rice…) in Munich and Cologne, and I had some solo gigs in between. To be able to play live is a real thrill. You come back from these shows feeling really invigorated. Everything is crystal clear in your head. Suddenly you know what's right in a song, or what's wrong...” Tadhg will succumb to his love of touring the moment his new album is finished. “As soon as that's done and dusted, we'll be hitting the road as much as humanly possible. It's high time I got over to the States and played a few shows. I've never played outside of New York, so I'm excited about that prospect. I would like to play in Japan. I released Wax & Seal over there at the end of 2006, so it would be lovely to get over and do some shows. Maybe I could meet Bill Murray and have some Santori time, or perhaps even meet Scarlett. Although now that she's released an album we're competitors and potential nemeses. So perhaps dinner is out of the question,” said Tadhg.
As thrilling as dinner with Scarlett and her nice rack would be, I’m way more anxious about hearing Tadhg’s newest single. The name of the song is Out Of Reach, and it will be on that album that is keeping Tadhg from coming to a city near you. He pulled his inspiration for this song from sitting on the front step, slowly baking in the sun, and watching little specks of dust move slowly through the air as if they were the sun’s rays themselves. He said, “Something had been filtering through my writing for a long time - no matter where I was or what I was doing. It was a constant. There are some feelings, states and emotions that you can never lose or shake-off, and it took me a while to realize that that can be wonderful - and that it was something that I did not want to lose. For me, it's a really intense song, and one I get lost in - it always feels fresh... so I'm excited to be releasing it as a single. But I also realize that it's a slow tempo tune, so I don't know if the radio stations will pick up on it. I hope they do. My stuff is slow-burning in a way, which doesn't suit today's trend for instant hits, and instant burn-outs.”
Despite all of the exciting happenings in Tadhg’s career right now, like all musicians, Tadhg has had his fair share of performances going awry. He said, “We had an incident recently, while on one of Ireland's biggest morning radio shows. It would make musicians weep. We arrived at the radio station an hour and a half early - as instructed. We sound checked, and struggled trying to get the sound engineer to mic us up properly. Anyway, the sound check was fine, so we relaxed and went off for an hour before being called back for our slot on the show. When we eventually started playing, all was going well - when suddenly it sounded like Dave's voice was coming from a cathedral. The engineer had turned on the reverb mid-song. This is wrong on so many levels. I frantically gestured to the engineer to cut the reverb... which he did after another few seconds... and then as I joined in with Dave, the idiot faded the effect back in again! It was awful. I was so glad to get out of there that day!”
Keep up to date with this one pumpkins, he’s going to put on a demonstration of musical wizardry that I know you will not want to miss. As a token of appreciation for his tunes you should all bring him one of those frozen “Dr Oetker” pizzas, they’re his favorite!
FOOD FIGHT!
You will love Tadhg Cooke if you love: Colin Hay, Bob Dylan, and Snow Patrol.
Video One: Know You Hate Me
Video Two: Out of Reach
Video Three: Rid of Her
Tadhg Cooke on Myspace.
