Jimmy Monaghan
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jimmy Monaghan (Irish: Seamus Ó Muíneacháin) is an Irish musician from
Belmullet Belmullet (, IPA: bʲeːlənˠˈwʊɾˠhəd̪ˠ is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of 1,019 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony of Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. It is the commercial and cultural heart of the barony of Erris, wh ...
, Ireland. He is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the anti-folk band Music for Dead Birds. He has also released music under different names including ''The Crytearions'' and Christian Bookshop.


Early life

Monaghan was born in Danbury, Connecticut, and moved to Ireland at the age of six. He is of Irish and Italian descent. As a teenager he was an amateur boxer, winning four Irish national titles. He won a silver medal at the 2004 Four Nations tournament boxing for Ireland and received the
Western People The ''Western People'' is a weekly local newspaper published in Ballina, County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland. It was first published in 1883. The newspaper was part of the Thomas Crosbie Holdings group. Thomas Crosbie Holdings went into re ...
Sports Star of the year award the same year. During his time representing Ireland internationally he fought against the German amateur boxer Gottlieb Weiss.


Music

His early musical influences were
Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...
and
nu-metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu m ...
. In 2007, Monaghan formed Music for Dead Birds with drummer Dónal Walsh in
Galway city Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
. One of the band's first gigs was a live performance on Anocht FM from the Roisin Dubh in August 2007. Their debut album, '' And then it rained for seven days'', was released in 2009 by the Irish record label Rusted Rail. This was followed in 2011 by the independently released '' The Pope's Sister'', a concept album about the influence of the
Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in Ireland. In July 2012, Psychonavigation Records released his debut solo album Seamus O'Muineachain. ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' reviewed the album positively, calling it "''a tremulous if tranquil success.''" To promote the album he performed at
The Electric Picnic Electric Picnic is an annual arts-and-music festival which has been staged since 2004 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. It is organised by Pod Concerts and Festival Republic, who purchased the majority shareholding in ...
festival and
Whelan's Whelan's is a pub and music venue in Dublin, Ireland. Profile Numerous international artists have played at the venue, including Jeff Buckley, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Kate Nash, Townes Van Zandt, Damien Rice and Allen Toussaint. The pub was ...
, Dublin. The song ''Shadowboxing'' from the album was put into rotation on the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
and the song ''I Am Always in Your Power'' was used in the Emmy Award nominated series ''Beat Girl''. Throughout 2012 he released songs under the name Christian Bookshop, and played drums for the
Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
based folk band Yawning Chasm. In 2017 he produced and released his second solo album '' Cloves''. The track ''Forest Frost'' was released to radio and broadcast by An Taobh Tuathail. Shortly after its release, the album was ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' ''New Release of The Week'' and was later featured on
Star's End :''Star's End is also a 1974 album by British composer David Bedford and a 1982 novel by Glen Cook.'' ''Star's End'' is a weekly, five-hour-long new-age music radio show broadcast by 88.5 WXPN, the University of Pennsylvania's radio station, i ...
2017 end of year list. In 2019 he released the album ''City of Lakes'' while living in Hanoi, Vietnam. In March 2020,
KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the no ...
and KDHX premiered tracks from his fourth solo album '' Blue Moon Set''. The album received a positive review in '' Rockerilla'' magazine and was featured on
BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
. Several music videos were created for the album, including a video for 'Slow Closing Day' by Irish experimental film-maker Maximilian Le Cain. His fifth album '' Different Time Zones'' was released in January 2022.


Dramatic work

In 2011 his
radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
''Thumb'' was shortlisted for the RTÉ PJ O'Connor Award. In 2015 he appeared in a Maltese stage production of ''
Butterflies Are Free ''Butterflies Are Free'' is a 1972 American comedy-drama film based on the 1969 play by Leonard Gershe. The 1972 film was produced by M. J. Frankovich, released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Milton Katselas and adapted for the screen by Ger ...
'' which ran at Saint James Cavalier in
Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...
.


Personal life

In 2016 an image of him cycling on the
Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; gle, Oileáin Árann, ) or The Arans (''na hÁrainneacha'' ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony of Aran i ...
was used on an Irish
post stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
promoting the Wild Atlantic Way.


Discography

As Seamus O'Muineachain ''Albums'' * '' Seamus O'Muineachain'', 2012 * '' Cloves'', 2017 * '' City of Lakes'', 2019 * '' Blue Moon Set'', 2020 * '' Different Time Zones'', 2022 * ''
Isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...
'', 2022 ''EPs'' * ''Stamford, CT. Circa 1941'', 2014 * ''Blood Apple'', 2015 * ''Unnamed Cafe, Hoang Hoa Tham, 2018 * ''Sycamore EP'', 2021 With Music for Dead Birds ''Albums'' * '' And then it rained for seven days'', 2009, Rusted Rail * '' The Pope's Sister'', 2011 * ''
Vitamins A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrien ...
'', 2014 * ''Pagan Blessings'', 2018 ''EPs'' * ''Black Tides Falling'', 2010 * ''Your Brand New Life'', 2015 * ''Nail & Tooth EP'', 2017 ''Singles'' * "English Weed/What A Waste", 2015. * "Summer in Suburbia/Untied", 2020. As The Crytearions ''Albums'' * ''The Crytearions'', 2013, Dramacore * ''I See What It Is And I Am Scared'', 2013 * ''These Songs Hate You'', 2015 ''Compilations'' *''The Crytearions: Selected Recordings from the Album Trilogy'', 2016 Other * Christian Bookshop, Owl & Hat Records, 2012 * Spain, 2016 * Korea, 2019


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monaghan, Jimmy 1988 births Living people Musicians from County Mayo Irish male singer-songwriters 21st-century Irish male singers Irish people of Italian descent