Noel Egan On the Making Of “You'll Chase My Blues Away”
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind "You'll Chase My Blues Away" and the story it tells?
“You'll Chase My Blues Away” was written at a low point in my life. I became a born again Christian in 2019 right before the pandemic. I joined a church called Foundation Ministries in Ennis Ireland and became a worship musician. I started producing around 2021. The pandemic had claimed the life of one of my church’s head pastors, the late Apostle Chinwe Obadeyi who was a gifted worshipper and encouraged my musicianship. I was devastated at her loss as we all were and in 2022 my mental health kinda spiralled out of control for a time. In the midst of all this tribulation, I wanted to leave God and the faith. One evening around the time of my 44th birthday I remember having a breakdown. The first thing I went for was the guitar that Apostle Chinwe gave me and I wrote the song then and there in about five minutes. I am fairly prolific in terms of songwriting and try to choose the best ones. With “You'll Chase My Blues Away” I knew I had a good one. I decided that in the middle of 2023 I would try rewriting it on the piano. I recorded it in December of that year and it went into production in the early months of 2024. I released it on Spotify in May and that's how it happened.
Were there any challenges or obstacles you faced while creating this single?
The challenges I faced were kinda from my own self esteem. I kind of abandoned work for a time because I fell prey to an online music promotion scam in 2023 and it deflated me for the rest of the year. I only released two singles that year. I was fully sure I would quit audio production. But then I listened to my back catalogue and thought that my successes were not bad for a rookie producer. I had gotten on several playlists despite poor promotion activity on my part. So it gave me the impetus I needed to record again and redouble my efforts.
Is there a particular message or theme you hope listeners take away from "You'll Chase My Blues Away?"
I suppose my message is a Christian one. Never give up on God and never give up on yourself. He is faithful and will carry you through no matter what trial you face. Nothing is too hard for God to do. The fact that I am here today being interviewed by music magazines tells it all. Always have faith, your best is yet to come.
Can you tell us more about you as an artist?
Yes, I play drums, bass, keyboards and guitar and sing of course as a church worshipper. I started recording around 2022 I released The New Creation EP at the end of that year which featured another piano song called The Devil's Lie. My most successful song to date. I would consider some of my own songs to be orientated towards evangelism and some towards honest discussions about Christian faith issues that come from my heart having known Jesus and been in the church. I think that there are harmful perceptions out there that you have to be perfect to be a Born Again Christian. I hope that my songs kind of break those perceptions. God is loving and faithful and that's what I wanted to portray in “You'll Chase My Blues Away.” Also I realise I am learning and that I haven't it all together all the time, and sometimes I get it wrong. But you got to keep going because you are never going to write anything good unless you can be content with writing the not so good songs. Keep trucking and it will come to pass by God's grace. That is what I am about.
What role do you feel emotions play in your music, and how do you channel them into your performances?
Very Important. I believe that music is an important vehicle for emotion otherwise it's no good. I always tend to get my best inclinations to write when I am alone in my apartment processing the weeks events. I start with my acoustic guitar usually and just churn out the first chords and vocal melodies that come to me without censorship. Stephen King says to write with the door open. I believe that that is totally important for songwriting as well i.e. I let the song be what it wants to be. If it wants to be twenty chords and two minutes long, so be it. I just facilitate it.