The Early Learnings of Eugene McGuinness and Other Stories
Young, fresh-faced, talented musician and humorously charming, Eugene Mc Guinness, you’ve got our attention: we are listening! With his tours around the UK and promises of shows in Australia soon, he should be able to hold our attention until the August (Australian release date) release of his full length Album Early Learnings of Eugene Mc Guinness
Eugene has begun to build a solo career for himself in the singer/song writer genre with his own flavour of glam and “different noises”. He claims his new album as a little bit weird “I mean it’s not me attempting rocket science or anything. Everything on it is me, but we threw a lot of different noises on it too, it doesn’t really just fit into the folksy singer/song writer thing. There is more noise that what people would expect from a solo musician”.
Getting into music when British pop was booming played a significant role in the journey for Eugene Mc Guinness. Even though most young people got a guitar around the same time as him, because it was the cool thing to do. He was still listening and forming a love for music through random car rides with his parents where his dad would cycle through his collection of music like The Beatles and Bob Dylan.
As he is gaining more and more attention, Eugene has access to more and more levels in the complex music industry ‘game’. Keeping it simple is the way he plays it, enjoying post recording random gigs and festivals. As he caught up with The Dwarf recently he was on his was to a festival in Brighton (UK) called The Great Escape; “Yeah, it’s only a small festival, but it has been around for while. At least I wont be up to my knees in mud, it will be like on a street somewhere, less romantic but more enjoyable”.
If you notice a Eugene Mc Guinness gig poster in your town try and find him a few hours before the show, be wary: he has a self-professed loathing of “that time between sound check and actually playing a gig is mind numbingly boring. It’s just a dead period of the day that you don’t know what to fill with, and you have to be careful not to get hammered”.
To create a piece of music it is as if the artist is inventing a new world and inviting everyone to be a part of it for as little or as long as they like, Eugene recognises this as the best thing about music. “I really like just being able to write music…but seeing someone’s reaction to it, is the best thing”.
The creation process is always different from artist to artist and for Eugene it is about just writing when the time is available and right. “Sometimes it comes at the most inconvenient time. So I just try and write as often as possible, then I’m not really worried about the outcome. The really good stuff just kind of leaks out”.
But, back to the ‘music industry game’ Eugene offers advice for young up and comers; “There are people who will bend over backwards to get where they are. Which is ok, but you shouldn’t let it affect the music that they are doing. Don’t force music in a certain way to suit certain criteria or agenda. You should be honest and open with what ever music you do”.
Finally, Eugene reflects on his journey to where he is now and openly shares about his childhood tragedy of losing his pet parakeet during the 1998 World Cup. “It flew away during the game and was just roaming the street of Essex. Maybe I’ll come across it some day. I’ll just see it on the street; we’ll look at each other and go ‘Do I know you from before?’ I’ll look at its feathers and it will see a freckle on my leg and go ‘oh my god it’s Eugene!’”
