David Geraghty
Words: Aoife Summerville
Not only a member of one of Ireland’s most popular live bands, Bell X1, David Geraghty is also recognised as an multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter, who blesses our ears once again with the release of his new album Komorebi, a journey into synth sonics that evoke artists like Prince and Bowie.
“The inspiration comes from estrangement, and the main message would be positivity and hopefulness that people can find a way of shrugging their shoulders and go onwards and upwards.” Komorebi, a Japanese word for sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees, perfectly encapsulates the essence of this album, “I think we should use music to deal with either the ripples, or the tsunamis that people are experiencing in their lives.”
In recent years, David has also been composing music for film and television, including the Oscar nominated short The Crush and You're Ugly Too. Later projects such as The Vasectomy Doctor won awards at The Richard Harris International Film Festival, Still Voices Short Film Festival, and Offline Film Festival. With all of these achievements, David continued to advance his musical credentials by completing an undergraduate course, majoring in composition and the study of classical piano last November, where he described the experience as “a real literary mental awakening and really enjoyable to formally learn an instrument, such as the piano, where I got up to grade 8 within the 4 years”.
David’s interest in the piano goes back to his late teens; “I found it really interesting to learn Beethoven or Mozart pieces and to learn the physical nuance of playing some of the stylistic decorations from each era”. The love and appreciation for music was inherited from a familial sense as Geraghty goes on to explain how his parents met “from being in a folk covers band named after a pub they used to rehearse across the road from. My mom was also involved in local pantomimes and musicals”. As a result, David was no stranger to showbiz. “As a kid, I would play with my cars on the sitting room floor and my mom would be ironing or watching telly wearing a wig for one of her parts, practicing her lines and singing, it’s a very vivid memory I have of her multitasking, because she was so multi-talented”.
When asked what he wanted this album to convey to the world, David responded, “the worst thing that can happen is that somebody maybe feels isolated or alone going through stuff, which is where the uplift and the positivity in this music comes from. Although David considers himself as someone who would “gravitate towards deep conversation with someone” he says that when it comes to curating songs, he finds the instrumental part easier than the lyrical element. “The ideas are already there in the instrument, you need to organise what it is that you’re saying and then get to the point at just the right time without being too vague or too concise.”
Juggling between being a member of a band while also releasing his own music, it would be understandable to think that it makes the dispersal of creative ideas harder. Who gets what song? However with David, he says it’s all about timing. “There’s a Bell X1 album coming up and I’ve got songs that feel like they’ll suit the general vibe and direction that the album’s going in, and then with Komorebi, that was a group of songs that I wanted to put a fence around, because I felt like it was a body of work with a nice balance of heart and exposure”.
Being a part of a band while also releasing two albums under his own name facilitates the opportunity for David to perform to a crowd which is exclusively there for him as opposed to the band. “It’s really lovely to be able to stand on stage at my solo gigs and be present in the moment and really appreciate it”. In the age of social media and coming back from the fractured night life scene since COVID, Geraghty admits that “the live scene is something that needs to be worked on and developed because it is tough out there. It’s like the music, the artefact, has lost its value because of streaming sites. The cost of living makes it impossible to just nip out to a number of gigs during the week.”
While the cost of supporting artists in a physical sense may be a strain, being able to come together in a venue is greatly rewarding for the artists, and the crowd. “When people do take the opportunity to see you live it does mean so much more. I always make a point of saying to everybody in the room, “thank you so much for being here”, and I genuinely mean it.”
This in itself reiterates the essence of Komorebi as a whole, a fascinating exploration of themes around celebrating joy and sense of belonging with our tribe, all under a glorious synth pop umbrella.
Komorebi is out now on vinyl, CD and digital through Bohemia Records.