Two years on from the release of his debut single “In The Dark”, Kerry producer Caolan Ryan has today dropped his debut project LOVE, a six-track collection exploring the depths of the creative process, written following his return to Dingle after living in London. Inspired by the likes of HAAi and George Fitzgerald, the project follows news of his signing to London label Origins Inconclusive at the beginning of the year, and after playing a critical role in the release campaign of Ten Days, the latest album from British DJ sensation Fred Again….. .
Caolan first met Fred in a pub whilst living in London, as the pair lived very close. After spending the evening chatting about music, they kept in touch, and when it came time to co-ordinate the roll-out for Ten Days, Caolan offered Dingle as the ideal spot for a secret set.
“Lucy [Hickling, creative director] wanted to do 24 listening sessions in 24 time zones, and I said I’d love to do one in Dingle. I’d mentioned it before and showed them pictures of Dick Macks and the scenery, so when we had the opportunity we jumped on it; but they were only going to come if the weather was nice” Caolan recalls of the events of last September.
“We’d had one of the worst summers ever, we got no sunshine, but that morning there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, it was 22/24 degrees, and I took a video of a blue, blue sky, and sent it into the groupchat and it took off from there. I couldn’t explain to anyone what was happening. My phone was going ballistic, people asking if he was coming, but I didn’t say a thing.
"People started arriving in Dick Macks from everywhere, some as far as Belfast, but once he put his first post up I’d just start winking at people if they asked. Then I played the intro set, he came in after that and it was a big surprise to everyone. It was one of the best days of my life.”
@warnermusicirl When @Fredagainagain arrived in Dingle, Ireland to play Dick Mack’s pub ??? #fredagain #tendays #fredagainagainagain #ireland #concerts #dj #fredagainlive ? original sound - Warner Music Ireland
‘I’m really proud of having been able to bring that to the town, and it’s been brilliant for Dick Macks too. They've always helped me out with music for gigs and stuff, anytime we got good weather just throwing a quick gig together, so to be able to give them that back was class. They had Deep Dish play there a few days ago, which followed on from Fred, because they got a chance to prove they could do it and how amazing it looked, so it’s been class. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster of a ride but it’s been incredible.”
Caolan sat down with Goldenplec to discuss his early exploration of electronic music, thanks in no small part to his Dad, figuring out how to make real “songs”, developing LOVE, and one of the project’s best tracks ‘SOMEBODY’.
Was music always an important part of your life growing up?
“Music has always been in my life. My Dad was probably the biggest reason for that, he’s worked with a lot of different artists like David Gray and a lot of the band side of stuff, not so much electronic stuff, but I grew up around David Gray especially and just going to gigs and sound checks and getting a taste of the music which I was always mad into. I got my first set of drums when I was about six years old, thanks to Dad, so I was hooked onto that always.
"As the years went on, I started to explore more electronic stuff over time but it never went anywhere until I was about twelve, when I got my Dad’s laptop, got up Ableton, and started working away on some stuff. They were terrible, and thankfully the laptop is broken and I can’t listen back on them, but that's how it all began."
Why did you go down the electronic route rather than joining bands?
“I don’t really know. I guess it was just the fact that I had Ableton on the laptop, and when I was looking up different ways of doing things on Ableton a lot of it was using electronic music as an example so I was drawn to that quite naturally as a way to learn. At the same time, I’d started getting into artists like Martin Garrix, and Ben Böhmer, who were both amazing.
"I remember a lot of Böhmer’s stuff, in particular, I used it as a way to learn how to do things on Ableton. Gradually I started to fall more and more in love with it and I found myself only ever writing electronic music. I’m 21 now and it’s only really now that I’m really figuring out my sound and how my brain works, but I think that’s also part of the fun of it all. A part of me hopes I never really figure it out, because it’s the exploring and trying new things that’s exciting”.
You started at 12, at what stage did you start putting compositions together and work on “songs” that you were proud of and that people could listen to?
“Probably only when I was in sixth year in school. It took me a while to really figure it all out and start to think that I wanted to have a proper crack at music. For the first few years, you might get one idea and be able to work it into something you think is class, but it’s not really that class, it’s just slightly better than the other crap you’ve made so far, but it was probably around fifth and sixth year that I started to understand music as a whole and to start mixing and mastering songs rather than just throwing things together with a small bit of structure and calling it a song.
"I’m still learning to this day, I’m getting a chance to learn from so many great people and that’s what I’m most grateful for at the moment. I’m very fortunate to be in the position where I'm meeting lots and lots of new people all the time. Not just artists, could be anyone who just has a bit of advice and are willing to give me suggestions on tweaks. No one had to give me a hand, but that’s what’s so great about music. It brings everyone together, it doesn’t matter if you’re making millions or just doing it for the fun of it. Everyone can do it together.
Did you start putting stuff out on SoundCloud or was ‘In The Dark’ the first thing you ever released?
“I’m not sure really, I think I had another SoundCloud account with loads of terrible songs on it, and I deleted them all before I put up ‘In The Dark’. I remember throwing it up through Distrokid, but I think I did have a different account but I think it’s all gone, I hope it is anyway!”
When did you decide to start working towards releasing an EP?
“I think it was really around November of last year. I started getting ideas and there was a very long list of 30 second clip ideas and basic outlines of songs that were all in the same realm, which I thought there was a load of potential of where I could take each one. I met Phil and Annette from Word Up in November and we just chatted about everything from life to music and it was lovely. I took their numbers, swapped Instagrams and stuff, and then in January I played a festival in Dingle and they reached out after that and I spoke to Phil over the phone and we both decided to start working together and making a plan of action.
"That’s when I decided to start cracking on the EP, but there were still tracks on it even today where I still feel like I want to add something to it, even now on the eve of release, there was so much left behind but it leaves us something to work with for the next project. A lot of work went into this EP, but a lot of it was Phil driving me to want to do more and more and give more and more of myself, and I'm really happy he did because it’s been a mad adventure."
When did you start working on some of the oldest tracks?
“Weirdly enough, I’d say two of the six tracks started in January or February, but the one with Jafaris we started only about 6 weeks before it was released. I remember making that track and I didn’t know what to do with it but I loved it, so I sent it to Jafaris to see what he said and he got back saying it sounded great and to leave it with him.
"I remember I’d gone to the label saying he’d do it even before he’d agreed to any release strategy; but we were very lucky to get him and I’m delighted. It was a mega fast process, mainly because the song was supposed to come out two weeks later, but even though you think I’d have had them all locked in nice and early there’s three right there that are relatively last minute. Then the others stemmed from last summer, so it was a process and a half but it was all for the fun in creating."
Could you tell me about how one of the new tracks, ‘SOMEBODY’, came together?
“Yeah that was one of the ones I started working on last summer. I was listening to a lot of Overmono and stuff like that and it was just seeing how their sounds could develop over a period of a three-minute track, and seeing how a track can develop from one tone at the start to something completely different."
"With ‘SOMEBODY’, I had the idea of wanting something to really mutate within the track, and when people hear it I really hope they recognise it and really enjoy it. The start of the track is punchy, but by the end of the track it’s something more beautiful. It was really just about having fun with it and seeing where I could take these songs."
What do you want people to take away from the project?
“I got a massive sense, while I was creating all these sounds, a big sense of freedom. A lot of fun in them, and also something people can relate to. There’s a bit of feeling in them, while some are purely dance-y. I just hope people enjoy it, whether out for a run or relaxing at home, I just hope people get the sense of adventure and a bit of messing around, I hope that comes through on the project.