Dundalk native singer-storyteller, David Keenan talks to Culture about his latest projects and a bold departure from his acclaimed debut album A Beginners Guide to Bravery.
As the curtains rise over an illuminated figure, a packed-out crowd is ready to witness an extraordinary performance, signifying the end of a chapter for singer-songwriter David Keenan.
A sold-out gig in the Olympia Theatre in January 2020 served as the ideal opportunity for David to bookend the past five years of his musical career, condensing those five years and their culmination at the Olympia into an hour and 17-minute long film named Alchemy & Prose: a concert film.
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New Beginnings
For David, Alchemy & Prose: a concert film felt like an ideal opportunity to bookend that period of his life, and to shine a light on the musical community that was gathered within that period and put it into a film.
"I've just recorded my second album and I'm moving into a different space with it, so it just felt right." he said.
David, a natural storyteller, said that his journey so far has been full of serendipitous encounters that occurred and demanded to be told, with the film being the perfect opportunity to do so.
"It’s full of first-hand accounts, testimonies of the positive impact that music can make, it can create a community, it can help you actualise a dream and the story was there to tell,"
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Although the footage of the Olympia gig was only filmed in January of this year, it feels as though it’s from a bygone era, with crowds of people holding hands, singing at the top of their lungs alongside David and appearing almost as though they are one living organism with the band. The gig itself highlights a sense of togetherness and unity that people have been craving in recent times, and makes the restrictions we are currently living under feel all the more stark.
David describes this feeling as "live medicine" and notes that it’s something we’ve all been "starved of" in recent times.
In recent weeks, a member of David’s band, Gar Kane, also passed away, making this time all the more difficult.
Dedicating the film to Gar’s memory, David said: "[In] Gar’s presence, and that group of people, I’ve never felt so close to home,"
"His presence was in everything I’ve done the last few years, so to see him on stage, to show how strong he was… I’m just proud, I’m proud of everyone."
David, originally from Dundalk, came to Dublin to find a sense of belonging, "always longing to be part of something bigger than myself... for me the film just showcases that." he said.
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Community
Once he moved up to Dublin, David found a sense of community among like-minded people. The Organics, who are the folk part of David’s band, are all of similar age and found themselves in the city, trying to kick up dust together and make a name for themselves.
David hopes that the sense of hope and community he found will be the message that resonates with people once they watch Alchemy & Prose.
"That sense of togetherness, and look what we can achieve when we are together as a collective.
"The energy that’s harnessed at live gigs… it’s a testament to what music brings to lives and how it can change the course of your life, for the better, that hope, that it’s there for us when this thing passes," he said.
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According to David, the one constant throughout the film is the group of people involved. "Everyone was involved and trusted each other because we all wanted to make this thing happen ourselves, and it was all about inclusivity and togetherness and a real sense of unity among a group of people."
Since the gig, David has moved to Spain and life has slowed down considerably for the singer-songwriter.
The last few months have been a valuable learning experience, he said. "You can be so wrapped up just being that person on the road, it’s your whole identity, but if that’s ripped away, you’re faced with this question of 'who am I? Who am I really?
"I’ve had to adapt as best as I can and stay as creative as I can."
Evolution
Luckily David has been occupied with recording his second album throughout lockdown. His first album, A Beginners Guide to Bravery was released back in early 2020.
"Recording the second album was an incredible catharsis," he said.
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"Channelling all the frustration and confusion into songwriting… it’s a way of seeing things with focus and gaining some insight from it."
The new album signifies a departure from David’s previous work. "I recorded it differently, building up songs in the studio from the ground,"
"I wanted to do something different with this album," he noted. "There’s a character that goes around Dublin called Pete Short, a lot of the musicians would know him… he’s a beautiful guy, and he came up to me at the Olympia gig and he said to me, ‘it was great, but you can’t do that again, you can’t repeat yourself’."
"He was so right," said David, "repetition is just not something that I want to do."
A Beginners Guide to Bravery contains songs from the last five years of his life. "It was a real kind of brush stroke of how I’ve been doing things for those five years, and there comes a point where you think ‘I want to try something new’, I want to fill up the well and I want to evolve.
"I think that this new album is an evolution from the last one, and I hope the next one after this will be the same, and the one after that."
Alchemy & Prose: a concert film debuts on YouTube on Sunday, November 1st.
