Eoin Shannon On the Making Of ‘Hello Forever’
What was the creative process like for this particular album?
These songs were like a gift, like if someone had whispered them in my ear and they just appeared in my head, I only created the lyrics for most songs and vocal melody, the person who brought these songs to life was Larry Magee a fantastic producer, with his amazing musician skills.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for 'Hello Forever?'
“Dark November” was one of the first songs I had written, it came to me one morning, from somewhere dark deep within my core, it meant a lot to me to be able to get this beautiful writing into a song but the structure was all wrong so it was a challenge more for Andrei Sorokin the amazing guitarist to be able to work with the melody and lyrics I created. He helped me rewrite it and put it into a better structure. “Dark November” is a very special song all thanks to Andrei.
Can you talk about any standout tracks on 'Hello Forever' and what makes them special to you?
“Hello Forever” is a special track, as it is about me and a wonderful ex of mine, who I really care about and the relationship ended but it wasn't goodbye it was ''hello Forever''as we are still very close friends.
“Dear Daddy what would you do” is also another special track, David Murray who wrote “Everybody Got Crazy in them” and myself were having a conversation about fathers and how he would love to communicate with him now and then and pray to him.
My father had passed away in 2011, and out of nowhere as we were emailing each other I was giving birth to this song. I really love the music created by Larry Magee and the amazing backing vocals of Kesha Parish.
Can you tell us more about you as an artist?
There is a lot of talent in my family, my Uncle Tim is an absolute genius when it comes to songwriting and making music, and we used to listen to his albums growing up I remember one of the first times I heard him I got mixed up I thought I was listening to Christy Moore who is another talented Irish musician. My mom said no that's your Uncle Tim I was blown away.
His son, my cousin Tadgh and my brother Darragh are both two amazing guitarists and singers. Who both love the same type of music: Bob Dylan, Mick Flannery, Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.
I have another Cousin, Darragh who taught my brother how to play the guitar he's very handy also.
My inspirations come from Jim Croce, Johnny Cash, Kate Wolf, Luke Kelly.
At the moment I listen to the band Vast, Blaze Foley, Mick Flannery, Ryan Adams, Patrick Park, Sean Rowe
All fantastic Artists and Songwriters.
How do you see the role of collaborations in the music industry, and how do you envision engaging in collaborations in the future?
Collaboration is very important especially for me, I am working on future projects at the moment with fantastic musicians such as FHUR, an Italian-born artist living in London. The music she creates is just unreal, a dream to work with. Her music should just blow up one day and I can't wait till it happens as she really deserves to get recognized as an Artist and she deserves it.
Another artist I continue to Collab with is Chanele another amazing artist who I could totally see becoming big in the world of music. She is also a massive talent, reminds me of Lisa Hannigan/ Cara Dillon but brings an amazing modern Irish style also brings a nice chill haunting vibe like Phoebe Bridgers. Kesha Parish is another artist I have worked with that I am a big fan of.
