Seán Feeny grew up in a household in Donegal full of twelve-string guitars, tin whistles, and fiddles. His father was a singer and musician who loved Irish trad, sean-nós, and folk acts like The Dubliners and The Furies. His mother loved the beat groups of the era, like The Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

While Seán played around with his father’s instruments as a child, joined choirs, and picked up the guitar for himself as a teen, he didn’t fully commit to his self-described “number one passion” until later in life.

“The urge was always there to do something original,” Seán says of getting into music when he spoke with Post-Burnout, “and I suppose I dabbled a bit first in college and put it by the wayside, and dabbled a bit here and there with different things with performance and singing for charitable things, and things like that.

“But I suppose, Aaron – and this is why it fits into the whole sentiment behind your website and why you do this – I focused on academia and getting a job, and I ended up training as a broadcast and newspaper journalist, and ended up, for years, working as a newspaper journalist.

“Then, while doing all the everyday stuff – from a lot of court reporting, to subediting, and those things – when I could, I had a great passion for supporting local artists, you know? Because I was working for a local paper and supporting local acts over the past two decades, I wrote a lot about music on the side, beside all the everyday stuff that had to be done for a newspaper.

“I ended up in another field in more recent years, in arts marketing, and still had the opportunity to support artists from a different perspective. But I found more in recent years, the urge to get that creativity out was still there.”

Seán credits being ensconced in the music world for work as a catalyst for his plunge, saying, “It’s a blessing and a curse, Aaron, going to gigs, because you’re sitting there, and you’re admiring these talented people on stage, but then, you also find your mind wondering, going, ‘I need to do this.’ I had something deep down there that I needed to get out.”

While admitting to some initial trepidations concerning being too over-the-hill to begin a music career, Seán also says, “I’m that far removed from it that, when I was doing it, I was excited in the recording process and excited to put it out. I was very strict about working behind the scenes and not telling too many people.”

Seán enlisted the help of his friend and local producer and musician Orri McBrearty to help the tracks he conceived materialise. The two worked together on the five or so tracks Seán had written, with influential references to Ennio Morricone, to Tron soundtracks, to Irish folk.

“I love folk songs and the old folk rites, but I definitely wanted to do something that felt modern and give it a modern twist,” Seán says of the intent behind his sound. “I would say the best way to describe the sound is ‘Irish-themed or Irish folk songs disguised in popular arrangements, so to speak.’”

Released today, “1969” tells a story of late-20^th-century Ireland as inspired by the front page of the Irish News from August 11^th, 1969 (the day that Seán’s parents got married), which was gifted to him by his uncle and which hung, framed, in his office.

Interestingly, “1969” was actually one of the last songs Seán had written, but there was an urgency in its release which put it to the top of the pile. “It’s coming out on a very important day,” Seán explains. “My parents’ wedding anniversary, and, not to get too heavy, but, like many people, your parents go through health issues, and I just wanted to make sure that they were both there.

“I, obviously, got their seal of approval when it came to the song, because it’s so personal, and I was glad and relieved that they liked it, and that’s why it’s going to be extra special to put it out on their anniversary.”

Focusing on this front page caused Seán to reflect on the totality of events which surrounded his parents’ wedding day and their future implications. “Obviously, it paints a picture of a day and a week that was pretty significant in Irish history,” he explains. “There’s even a joke in the family that my parents get married and, the next day, The Troubles break out! [Laughs]

“So, that’s that kind of Belfast/Northern sense of humour, Aaron, that, despite it all, they still have a great sense of humour, despite everything they’ve been through. That kind of maybe led me to think of family members, people that grew up and lived through those times. Thinking about everything they had to endure, and they still have such a positive outlook and a great sense of humour.”

Part of the aim of this meditation on where we are and how we got here is to remind people of how, even though we endure unbelievable hardship, our character remains. “Obviously, it’s a very personal song, but, hopefully, a lot of people can relate to it, as well, and see that it’s a very positive song,” Seán says of his aim.

“Just to show, ‘This is where we were all at one stage, just over fifty years ago, and how are things now?’, and kind of reflect on that and see the positive sides of it. After all of that, we’re still here, and things are still, thankfully, moving in the right direction, in the grand scheme of things, and, hopefully, I hope people can see the positive message in the song, as well, Aaron.”

With the release of his debut song, Seán plans to continue releasing the other music he and Orri have crafted, but is realistic in his approach. He admits that, being an adult with a wife, kids, and a full-time job, he can only commit so much of himself to his music, but what he can give, he will give it his all.

Concluding, Seán says, “I have a good friend of mine. I watched him on stage just recently, saying, ‘You’re never too old to do this.’ As long as you have a love for it, and get great enjoyment out of it, putting it out there, and getting it out of your system, I would tell people just to go for it.”

Seán Feeny’s debut single, “1969,” is on all streaming platforms from today. You can keep up with Seán and his music 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.