Self-described as “a fusion of indie music and jazz,” the Dublin-born-and-raised singer-songwriter Jamie Noone’s journey to becoming a musician begins at home. “It’s the great tradition of sing-songs in the gaff, like singing old trad songs,” Jamie says of his background when he spoke with Post-Burnout. “That was definitely the initial draw to it: Luke Kelly blaring in the background on my dad’s busted CD player, like. [Laughs] Then, yeah, just being brought to pubs. Trad was definitely a big influence.

“Then listening to, like…you know, my ma would’ve been more disco-influenced. Gloria Gaynor, then, would be playing in the next room. [Laughs] My sister played piano, and my dad… – he’ll probably kill me for telling this story, but – …he would be one of the main people singing, but the man is in his own pocket with regards to timing. He tried to do bodhrán lessons in town, and he got asked to leave after the second lesson! [Laughs] He was fuckin’ up everyone in the circle! We were just kind of free-wheeling it! Then I picked up the guitar, eventually!”

Not long after, Jamie began crafting some original material. In 2018, he dipped his toes into the Dublin music scene by primarily playing pub gigs and showcases where he would sneak in a few of his songs amidst covers. Two years later, he took the next leap and began releasing his music online, starting with the track “Lip Service,” which was released in July 2020. Less than a month later, he moved to Berlin.

“I was living in my ma and da’s gaff at the time with my partner, because we all moved in together for the lockdown,” says Jamie, explaining the desire to move. “I kind of got cabin fever, as a lot of people did, and I knew that I wanted to record an album, and it was kind of grating on me that I hadn’t done a ‘big project,’ so to speak.

“So, I went over initially to do that, and, yeah, it was more affordable, and from what I understood, anyway, at the time… – I don’t know how different it is now – …was that there just seemed to be more freedom afforded to you, in terms of creativity, and that’s purely down to because there was more space to create, you know what I mean?

“There was more recording spaces. That’s no comment at all on Dublin, because Dublin’s always been… – and, I hope and think, always will be – one of the cultural epicentres in Europe, with regards to music. But we just had space over there. Still do. But now it’s turning into a bit of a kip at the moment, [Laughs] to be honest with ya, because of the politics of it. But, it was unheard of to be able to pay fifty quid for a room to rent, every week per month, you know? We didn’t have that.”

Choosing Berlin was not arbitrary. Before going over, there were already opportunities for accommodation and expanding his project, which endeared Jamie. “I had a few pals living over there, and a few musician pals, as well, [and] we were able to put the band together,” he explains.

“At that point, as well, I had an apartment offered to me, which was unheard of, really, so I kind of jumped on that. And I had been to Berlin back when I was 18 or 19, and I fell in love with the place. It was only my second time being in Berlin, though, was when I moved. Yeah, it still stands that it has that kind of looseness to it, that I still love.”

When Jamie moved, the COVID-19 lockdowns in Berlin were in a temporary ease before ramping up. His ability to find spaces tailored to his style of music was tempered as a result. “When I first moved over, it took me a while to kind of find my group. Find my scene, rather,” he admits. “Obviously, you have very heavy electronica and fuckin’ techno, and, as much as I do appreciate that, listening to my music, there’s not really that much of an influence in it! [Laughs]

“Although with that, I’ve collaborated with a lot of techno artists, which…there’ll be songs coming out, soon enough. It took me around a year and a half, and then I found the folk scene – the likes of James Michael Rodgers, Elsdeer, Mark Loughrey – a lot of good pals of mine. Phenomenal artists over there.

“There’s a bar called Space Meduza. It would’ve been a great, great meeting point for a lot of the independent folk music scene. Once I found there, and once I found the people there, we were able to bounce off each other, and they were able to show me different recording spaces and the like. That’s when I definitely felt more at home in the city, put it that way.”

Not long after, Jamie took the resources he had gathered and began working on his debut album, Day Parade, which features sincere lyricism dealing with Jamie’s prosaic and reflective musings on life. “With that album, I had an album written in Ireland, but my laptop…all the files got corrupted and I couldn’t get them back,” Jamie explains. “You know what it was? I left it up in my ma and da’s attic, and I left the window open. We went out – we went for two days – and it pissed rain, and I came back and it was in a puddle. I was like, ‘Ah, here!’ It was not ideal.

“But, you know, with that, it gave me an opportunity to kind of start anew. That’s where Day Parade was born from. So, all the tunes were, essentially, written within 2022, I would say; the ones that stayed on the album, because there were five or six different variations. I think I wrote around thirty songs for the album, and eight or seven of them made it onto the album. So, they would’ve all been from the perspective of Berlin and living in Berlin.”

When released in October 2023, Day Parade earned strong traction in both Ireland and Germany. In Germany, the album’s singles received consistent rotation on national airwaves. In Ireland, Hot Press lauded the singles by featuring them on their weekly “New Irish Music” lists throughout the year and spilling plenty of ink dissecting the experiences Jamie wrote about.

But despite this attention, Jamie feels that, because of the geographical distance from the mainland, he hasn’t made the dent in Ireland that he would like to have made. When we spoke, it was the eve of Jamie’s headlining gig at Little Whelan’s – a rare hometown return. “I haven’t put nearly enough time into Ireland,” he says. “As a songwriter, because I’m based over here and I’m gigging around Europe, it’s…

“Like, I even look sometimes at Spotify for Artists, and I’m seeing Belgium as my top listeners. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to a Belgian person about my music at all! [Laughs] But I love being back in Dublin. I love the scene, and, yeah, don’t get me wrong, as much as the city has its issues, I still adore it, like.”

Currently, Jamie is in the process of crafting his second album in Berlin. “I won’t give too much away about it, but it’s more, I would say – from my perspective as a songwriter – it’s more intentional, as the songs go,” he says of what to expect.

“The main kind of point of the second album was that I have to be able to play every song on either the guitar or piano while singing it, and it has a similar effect as a recorded and produced mix. I felt with Day Parade, I’m very proud of it, but I hid behind some of the production a little bit in it. So, I’m going to expose myself a little bit more with this one, I think.”

Fans can expect the new tunes to drop soon. “This year, there’ll be a couple of songs,” Jamie says. “I’m going to have three singles out this year, and, hopefully, the album next year. I’ll have a book of poems out this year, if you want to look out for [that].”

You can keep up with Jamie Noone and find his upcoming releases and social media accounts through his website.

Tune into POSTBURNOUT.COM Interviews… tonight at 21:00 (IST) to hear this interview in full. Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music Podcasts.

Aaron Kavanagh

Aaron Kavanagh is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Post-Burnout. His writing can also be found in the Irish Daily Star, Buzz.ie, Totally Dublin, The GOO, Headstuff, New Noise Magazine, XS Noize, DSCVRD and more.