Listen "TPOE 186: Seamus Fogarty"
Episode Synopsis
Irish singer songwriter Seamus Fogarty released his third album A Bag Of Eyes on Domino Records on November 6. We talked just before its release about how it was created, having been borne of the London-based artist "growing weary" of the guitar. We discuss his journey over the past ten-plus years, with detours along the way courtesy of the late Willie Meighan of Rollercoaster Records and King Creosote's Fence Records.
A little from the press release: A Bag Of Eyes is a wholly different sonic prospect to 2017’s much-lauded The Curious Hand. Weary of the guitar, and seeking something darker than its predecessor, he chose to lean more heavily on synths and drum machines, and additionally, to self-produce. “It was about creating and exploring new sound worlds,” Fogarty says. “Experimenting with new ways of incorporating electronics into the songwriting process, and in some cases dispensing with conventional songwriting processes altogether.”
There is industrial judder, slacker-fuzz guitar, a cacophony of saxophones. On one track, ring-modulated drums kick in with oscillating fury. Another moves from 90s’ shit-hole grunge venue to sleazy jazz joint in four minutes. Whilst on a third, a synth is deployed with the express purpose of sawing the listeners’ ears in half, Fogarty attests. However, beneath them lie fragments of melody, image, drone; a flicker of banjo, an electronic pulse. “I like to purposely make music that clashes with the more traditional stuff that I do,” he says.
A little from the press release: A Bag Of Eyes is a wholly different sonic prospect to 2017’s much-lauded The Curious Hand. Weary of the guitar, and seeking something darker than its predecessor, he chose to lean more heavily on synths and drum machines, and additionally, to self-produce. “It was about creating and exploring new sound worlds,” Fogarty says. “Experimenting with new ways of incorporating electronics into the songwriting process, and in some cases dispensing with conventional songwriting processes altogether.”
There is industrial judder, slacker-fuzz guitar, a cacophony of saxophones. On one track, ring-modulated drums kick in with oscillating fury. Another moves from 90s’ shit-hole grunge venue to sleazy jazz joint in four minutes. Whilst on a third, a synth is deployed with the express purpose of sawing the listeners’ ears in half, Fogarty attests. However, beneath them lie fragments of melody, image, drone; a flicker of banjo, an electronic pulse. “I like to purposely make music that clashes with the more traditional stuff that I do,” he says.
More episodes of the podcast The Point of Everything
TPOE 373: Ways of Seeing
05/11/2025
TPOE 372: Rory Sweeney
29/10/2025
TPOE 371: Laura Elizabeth Hughes
22/10/2025
TPOE 370: God Knows
15/10/2025
TPOE 369: Inni K
01/10/2025
TPOE 368: Remembering Talos
24/09/2025
TPOE 366: Junior Brother
10/09/2025
TPOE 365: TRM (The Redneck Manifesto)/Jape
03/09/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.