Growing up within a multi-generational family of musicians who partook in the local session scene in rural Donegal, Seán Molloy spent many a late childhood night ensconced within the traditional beltings filling the smoky and sweaty public houses.

As a child, Seán was taught the tin whistle, but it wasn’t until he began autodidactically learning the guitar in his early teens that he realised writing and playing were something he truly enjoyed.

At this point, Seán was in what he calls his “emo phase,” and he began crafting some dark originals that he would never show to the world. “It was probably my own way of unpacking my life,” Seán says of these early songs when he spoke with Post-Burnout.

“I learnt the main chords, and then I would just be writing bits of songs. I have a whole box full in my house of not-a-lot-of-good lyrics that I wrote from the ages of thirteen to seventeen, and I’m like, ‘One day, bits of that will come in handy!’ [Laughs] Not quite yet! I haven’t figured it out, yet!”

Eventually, Seán’s love of guitar was supplemented by his love of the ukulele. Although when reflecting on it now, he can’t quite remember what inspired him to change. “I actually think it was because my first ukulele cost me seven euros that I thought, ‘This is going to be it!’,” he laughs while retrospectively speculating on the switch.

“Then I just fell in love with it, straight away. I was like, ‘This is unreal.’ A nice little instrument that you could carry about with ya. No hassle with it, like. I picked it up quite quick, as well. Some people find it hard, but I thought it was quite an easy instrument to pick up. Even with guitar, it felt like it took forever to get anywhere.”

Throughout his teens and into his twenties, Seán performed as a stand-in player for local acts, but didn’t initially consider becoming a solo artist or fronting a project of his own. But with a song close to his heart that he wanted to share, the idea became appealing after meeting with the Donegal-based producer and artist Ross Tones.

“It’s actually a funny one, because I literally met Ross a couple of years ago at an art exhibition of a mutual friend,” Seán says of how his solo career came about. “I didn’t know him at all, and someone said, ‘You’ve got your ukulele with ya?’ to me, and he was like, ‘You play music?’ A friendship began then, and a couple of months later, he was like, ‘You should come up and record something.’”

The two began working on a song that Seán had written about his experience with sexual assault. “This single was funny, because I had no expectations…I still have no expectations,” Seán says of his debut single, “It’s Not Your Fault,” which came out last month. “But once it actually went out, I was like, ‘OK, this is what I’m doing now.’”

While dealing with the delicate subject matter, Seán ultimately feels the song is one of hope and resilience for survivors. “When I wrote the song, I needed to hear those words coming out of my own mouth,” he says of his intent.

“When I was writing the song, I literally remember sitting in my sitting room, the dog was asleep on the couch, probably annoyed at me because I was playing ukulele for hours, and the moment when I went, It’s not my fault, that I ended the song on, was the moment I realised that events in my life weren’t my fault.

“When I sat with that for long enough, I brought it to Ross, and he was like, ‘Other people need to hear this,’ and I was like, ‘I know other people need to hear this, but I don’t know what to do with it!’ And I’m glad now that I’ve put it out into the world, and I have spoke about why I wrote it.”

Proceeds from the single will go to the Donegal Rape Crisis Centre. This decision was not only to raise funds for the branch, but also due to Seán feeling that there is a lack of awareness of the Rape Crisis Centres outside of Dublin.

Explaining their goal, Seán says, “I’m hoping to do a few different things to raise money alongside that, because I feel like the majority of money goes to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, and, therefore, the ones on the west are probably the worst funded.”

Seán Molloy’s latest single, “It’s Not Your Fault,” is out now. You can keep up with Seán through Instagram.

Tune into POSTBURNOUT.COM Interviews… tonight at 23:00 (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.