by Eric FitzGerald
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IT is 20 years since Mundy recorded his debut album with producer Youth. That album, ‘Jellylegs’ on Epic Records introduced Mundy with hit songs ‘Gin and Tonic Sky’ and ‘To You I Bestow’ which featured on Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet.
Mundy has released his music independently since then on his label Camcor Recordings. ‘July’, ‘Mexico’ and his version of ‘Galway Girl’ are anthems for the Oxegen generation of Irish kids, many of whom see Mundy live in concert these days when he tours the US and Australian immigration hotspots.
Mundy reunited with London based Youth for his new album and the resulting recording finds the singer/songwriter right smack back on top of his game.
“Its like coming full circle and I am feeling inspired again,” Mundy told Limerick Post Newspaper.
Youth, real name, Martin Glover is founder member and bassist with eighties band Killing Joke, (‘Love Like Blood’). Youth’s production credits are a dizzying range of sounds from dub reggae, techno, trance to hit albums from Wet Wet Wet and The Verve. He worked in the Stock, Aitken & Waterman hit factory and produced Dolores O’Riordan’s ‘Are You Listening?’ album.
Mundy found Youth very inspiring to be around
“His house is full of books and paintings. He is fearless when it comes to creating a song.”
Youth asked Mundy what music he was into and simply looked up the tracks on Spotify and suggested that they should make songs like those. On a tight budget, the duo took Mundy’s new songs, worked with drum loops and produced and recorded the album in a matter of days. The songwriting was done on instinct without any time being wasted on the small details or agonising of the deeper meanings of the songwriting.
“The muse hasn’t got time to wait around. You don’t have to understand the song straight away. It could take weeks to fully understand the meaning of the song. Its art so don’t be afraid to splash on the canvas” is the advice Youth had for Mundy.
The resulting album is simply entitled ‘Mundy’. A rebirth of sorts, and a smart commercial decision to stick your name on the front of the album to remind people you are still around.
The realities of the music business today dictated that Mundy had to tour extensively to fund the writing and recording of the album and then joined Pledge Music to build up the finances to get artwork, publicity and manufacturing in line for the record release.
“Its the closest I felt to working as a prostitute”, laughs Mundy.
With Pledge Music Mundy got fans involved in the project by creating offers of house concerts, handwritten lyrics, guitars used in the making of the album, a guided tour of Dublin and of course a copy of the new record.
The house concerts sold out and Mundy even got a price for a set of plectrums he used in the studio.
Mundy has a great new album and is very excited to be taking it out on tour. It has been a battle to get the funding. “Any good accountant would tell you to give up the job.”
But his recent touring has brought him around the world. Since the recession he has been getting gigs out of Ireland, many of these shows are in Sidney, New York, Perth, San Francisco and Chicago. Irish people who have left the country in the last ten years make up most of his international audience.
They know his songs, they saw him play at Oxegen or Electric Picnic and they sing along to every word. Mundy describes a gig in Freemantle, near Perth
“There were 500 people in the venue, this was their little bit of home. Every single lyric was sung especially ’10,000 Miles Away from Harm’. There was a mighty power in the songs and it was like a healing experience between me and the audience. Its the closest I’ve ever felt to being a music troubadour, like Woody Guthrie or Christy Moore.”
‘Mundy’ the album is out now Camcor Recordings. Mundy and band play Dolan’s this Saturday May 9.
