Q&A: Niall McNamee’s ‘Glass and Mirrors’ is a Dedication to Beauty
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
Photo by Nathan Magee
NIALL MCNAMEE’S DEBUT ALBUM IS ALREADY HIS MOST PERSONAL—Released on October 10, Glass and Mirrors ranges from songs written when McNamee was just 17 to songs written most recently during the process of wrapping up the album. With Glass and Mirrors, the Irish singer, songwriter, and actor presents some of the most intimate stories he has lived so far.
The album presents McNamee’s take on elements of traditional Celtic music. From passionate strings to a humble yet fervent soul that only the Irish bring, McNamee nails an authentic representation of classic inspirations like Christy Moore. Just check out the fiery “Magpie With A Mullet” for an illustration of McNamee’s full embrace of his Irish heritage.
Glass and Mirrors opens with “Clapham Wine.” It is led by McNamee’s piano playing which is notable as perhaps the most tender aspect of the entire album. There is an audible familiarity in the way McNamee approaches piano, as if it has just been him and his keys on this epic journey of love and loss. A good example is the video for "Another Life" which is simple with McNamee surrounded by his band as he plays the song on piano. And that’s all it needs to be—uncomplicated because it’s heartfelt.
The greatest strength of Glass and Mirrors is McNamee’s dedication to beauty. He cites Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as inspirations, saying, “I only have to turn those songs on for a second and the string arrangements and the bands nearly bring me to tears.”
His attention to beauty is clear in the general energy of the album. With its impressive instrumental depth that is both calm and booming, it would make the perfect companion for a warm evening at home. Beauty is also present in McNamee’s lyrical representation of the relationships that shape us, and the admiration for one’s physical environments. Overall, Glass and Mirrors is classy, detailed, and a wonderful introduction to Niall McNamee.
The way McNamee describes his relationship to music is humble, saying, “I feel like a football fan who just follows that, and sport, and going for a pint with mates, and being a normal enough bloke. Then there’s this other side of me when there’s a guitar and a piano.”
“It feels like a totally different version of myself. I’ve never felt like an artist. It’s always just been part of me. I think that can happen with Irishness as well. Some of the best musicians I know have never thought about doing music as a job. It’s just something they do, like talking or storytelling. They turn up to a pub, get out a fiddle or a guitar, and they’re the best musician you’ve ever met,” he says.
Starting on October 16 at Duffy’s in Leicester, McNamee will be touring the UK and Ireland until December.
Read our conversation with McNamee below about key tracks off Glass and Mirrors, the inspiration of living in London, embedding personal experiences in his music, and hopes for the upcoming tour.
Photo by Nathan Magee
LUNA: How are you feeling with the album release approaching?
MCNAMEE: It’s exciting. It’s nice to have a capsule of time when this was made. I’ve never recorded an album before, it’s my first one, and I didn’t know exactly what the best way to go about it was. It’s had loads of different forms. The tour will finish about three years to the day that I actually started recording it. I’m glad we took the time to get it right.
The artwork, videos, and all the people who’ve played on it—that’s what’s great about it. Whether it be the photographer, the person who did the artwork, my manager or agent, so many people have put time and effort into this. That’s something I’ll always be so grateful for.
LUNA: That’s very kind of you to recognize it’s a team effort. I love what you said about it being a time capsule. I always think about music in that way as well. Something got you through a tough time, or something was playing on a happy occasion. It’s a very unique form of art that we get to make many memories with.
MCNAMEE: Absolutely. Some of the songs were written when I was 17, some of them were written the day after we thought we’d finished the album. I wonder sometimes how many of the stories I would remember if I hadn’t written songs about them. There is a danger to being a songwriter, I think. Pain from the past can last longer in your brain because you’re singing about it. But there are so many different songs—some from really dark sometimes, some from electric, brilliant times. I try to remind myself that all of them passed one way or the other. Whether I was down or up, they were just moments.
LUNA: A big part of the album is your experience living in London. I often think about how physical environments have a huge role in who we become. A much bigger role than we realize, I think. Through the process of creating this album, did you find it had any effect on your relationship with London?
MCNAMEE: I didn’t realize it until my manager described that if there was a theme to my songs, it would be geographical. There must be something about place names because in nearly every song, there’s a mention of somewhere. Because of the time I spent in London, falling in and out of love with the place, the people, and friends, everywhere now has a memory attached to it. That’s what “Moon Belongs To You” is about. It’s the street signs, roads, and buildings that you attach immediately to a memory. It’s like when the moon reminds you of someone—you can’t really escape that.
It’s funny how so many of the songs I love, and so many of the artists I love, have had their time in London. There are lots of songs about that tough, beautiful, gray, wet town that seems to attract people. I’m not from London, but the way I feel about it is that I can slag it off in the way that anyone would slag off their own hometown. But if someone else was to start slagging it off, I would feel a bit of pride in it. I don’t know why. It’s not perfect, but it feels like it’s mine.
LUNA: I like what you mentioned about your favorite artists having their own memories with the city. London is obviously historically potent. Just energetically, so many lives have been lived there, so many stories. Do you feel like that part of it has an effect on anything?
MCNAMEE: I think so. What’s interesting about London is that the majority of people aren’t [originally from there]. Everyone has a story to tell about how they ended up there and why. It’s very rarely random.
We live in, maybe not a better world, but [in the past,] there would have been far more extreme and sad reasons that people would have been in London and had to build a life there. We’re not that far away in history from a time that if you left where you’re from, you’d probably never go back because it would take so long. When people used to move away from Ireland to America or London, they used to hold a funeral for them when they were alive because they’d never see them again.
There’s definitely something about that struggle, but what’s great about London is the moments that are good. When there’s success, you feel like the king of the world. It feels all the better because you know how difficult and rough it’s been. It can be such an unfriendly city, but when you’re in the middle of it, you feel like you are someone. You feel like you’ve made it.
There’s lots of stuff I love about living in London, and yet the idea of growing old there makes me so sad. It’s odd. I guess there’s always something with London where it’s not forever. Everyone’s there for their little time in history. That’s odd because then there’s automatically a feeling of no one really knows where they’re going to end up.
Photo by Nathan Magee
LUNA: I mean, do any of us, no matter where we are?
MCNAMEE: I suppose that’s the thing. Being organized and knowing where you’re going is overrated because it can all fall apart. You could meet the love of your life when you’re 19 and have kids. Then one of you gets ill and it’s over in a matter of seconds. I suppose you just have to go with it and not overthink it.
LUNA: There’s a song on the album called “Another Life” which I’m reminded of. It’s my favorite on the album, especially the lyric, “I left my heart in another life.” I was reminded of it listening to you speak because I know that song came from a place of doubt.
MCNAMEE: I appreciate that. When it was written, we were really pushed for time. We had to get a specific song done on a day and we were getting the album finished. And I get so distracted. My producer said when he gets a big influx of money, he’s going to build a play area for me in the studio. So I had tinkered around on the piano with the idea of “Another Life” and he liked it enough to go, “Do you know what? I know we had plans for today, but go and finish the lyrics. We’ll just do it.”
From the moment I started writing it to us finishing with the recording was about three hours. It really was quick. That seems to be one that’s connected with people. There are loads of people that come into your life and you wonder how things would be different if you’d gone down that path or this path. You don’t want to think about it too much because it could probably drive you mad. I think everyone has those people in their lives, don’t they? Everyone wonders what it would be like if someone was there who isn’t anymore.
LUNA: On the note of what things could be, I’m reminded of the song you wrote about your grandparents, “Clones Fireman.” That’s a story of destiny. They were led to each other. It’s beautiful, and it’s a balance of how much we can predict and how much is just meant to happen.
MCNAMEE: That could have gone so differently. That’s the thing with Irishness as well. So many people are brought up with the idea that one day, they’ll leave in some form. It’s kind of changing now, but everyone has a bit of a time away. It’s almost like we have our own religion and part of that is we have to take some time in the desert or whatever. That could have gone so differently. Back then, if they hadn’t found each other, they would never have seen each other again and probably would have faded into the mist of time and memory. As it happens, they did meet.
My granddad was a great man, but he was a normal man. He did what everyone did. He worked and he raised a family. But when he died, I felt like, “God, he did have an impact on the world.” We all do. I don’t think we realize it.
LUNA: We definitely do. Even if it’s just giving birth to the next generation, that’s enough.
MCNAMEE: It’s huge. I think it’s easy to look not too far into the past and think that those people didn't have the technology we have. It seems like a different world, but it’s not that long ago, really. You realize that as you get older. You grow up thinking your grandparents have been around for 200 years, but [then you realize their lives] weren’t long after the war or the rebellion. That’s good for hope because the world’s a scary place and you realize people crack on.
LUNA: You wrote “Clones Fireman” when you were about 17. Why was it important to include on the album after all these years?
MCNAMEE: It was always such an important song to me and I’ve always played it at gigs. I think I felt a bit of pressure. I wanted to get it right and give it its day in the sun because it’s important. “Rose of Marylebone” is similar, songs I’ve had for a while. There comes a point where you go, “If I don’t release this, and I release loads of other songs, does it fit into a set list again?”
There was a good chunk of time, weirdly enough, where I didn’t play my granddad’s song. I don’t really know why. There’s a gorgeous music video coming out for it which is different from the other ones. It’s all drawings and it’s animated. It encapsulates the whole story and I’m looking forward to sharing that one.
Photo by Nathan Magee
LUNA: I was thinking about how it’s your grandparents’ story, but it’s told through your perspective. It’s their story, but there are so many parts of you telling it in this specific way. What are some quintessential elements of yourself that you always tend to insert into your music?
MCNAMEE: I want people to understand what they’re about, or have a clear vision of what it’s about to them. Hopefully honesty. Getting a story across. I want beauty in it. Some influences are Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. I only have to turn those songs on for a second and the string arrangements and the bands nearly bring me to tears.
I read the other day that, on average, songs released now are about a minute and a half shorter than they used to be. I sometimes listen to songs that I love from Sinatra and The Pogues and think, “God, if they were making that now, this bit that I’m loving wouldn’t be in it. They’d have cut it to get to the point.” Now, everything’s so disposable. I don’t want people to listen to my songs in 15 years and think, “I know what era that was written.” I like songs that last the test of time. Paul Weller’s like that. I want something that lasts and can be relevant in a few years, not just now.
LUNA: The best music is music that evolves with you.
MCNAMEE: Of course.
LUNA: You have a tour coming up. What a wonderful way to end the year. What are you looking forward to?
MCNAMEE: I love touring. I know some people don’t like being away from home, but I love it. This is what it’s for. When me and my band go on tour, we make sure we have fun. It’s going to be amazing playing the songs and getting to meet people and show people the album. But on top of that, I feel like the best way you can do it is by essentially having a road trip. Make sure you enjoy yourself and experience places.
I’ve been used to singing five, six days a week in pubs when I was younger on shit microphones to people that don’t want to hear me. To sing your own songs on a stage is a dawdle in comparison.
What will be tough is that I’m filming a TV series at the moment. I’m really loving it, but there are going to be days where I’ll finish a gig, then get on a flight at 6:00 a.m. to come back to Ireland to film. That sounds stressful, but it’s a bit of a buzz as well because you’re doing both. If you can do both and make it work, why wouldn’t you?
LUNA: I mean, if it’s aligned with your purpose, you make it work.
MCNAMEE: Exactly. There’s one thing I like a reaction to, and it seems to happen because the songs are honest. You know, I’m not the smartest bloke on Earth. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve been heartbroken and sad. I’ve been happy and I’ve been stupid. I hope that when people leave the gigs, they feel vindicated. I hope they feel like they’ve been let off the hook a little bit, and that they can go, “You know what? Life’s complicated, but we crack on.”
