Acclaimed composer, producer and performer Stephen Shannon releases his debut solo album, Fathoms later this month.
Over a music career spanning two decades, Shannon has released music as Mount Alaska, Strands and Halfset; as a film and TV composer, his recent projects include Claire Dix's forthcoming film Sunlight (with regular collaborator Matthew Nolan), TV drama The Ex-Wife and Kim Bartley's documentary Pure Grit.
Stephen celebrates the release of Fathoms with an album launch concert at Dublin's National Concert Hall on May 19th, where he will be joined onstage with an ensemble including members of Crash Ensemble, as part of the NCH's Metronome series.
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We asked Stephen for his choice cultural picks...
FILM
I watch so many movies, new and old, but my favourite film of all time is The Wicker Man (1972). People often describe it as a horror, but to me it's a musical - most of the main characters actually sing a song. I love the score by Paul Giovanni, it has so many wonderful and inspired moments. I’m a huge fan of film scores and often have to rewatch a film again to pick up the story because I become too focused on the music. Recent films I’ve enjoyed include An Cailín Ciúin, After Yang and Everything Everywhere All At Once.
MUSIC
My taste has evolved so much over the years and I can say with certainty that I don’t have a particular favourite genre of music. As a teen, I started out loving bands like The Smiths, but then progressed into punk as a student. I think my real love began when I discovered electronic music and my gateway drug was Brian Eno. I discovered many of his albums in post-party deep listening sessions in the 90s: albums like Ambient 1: Music For Airports and Another Green World are among the most wonderful I’ve heard. I also bought my first synthesiser around that time and became obsessed with making drones and arpeggios. I still am. My favourite artist at the moment is Rival Consoles. I'd highly recommend his current album Now Is, and his best album is Persona, especially the track Untravel.
BOOK
I have so many unfinished novels on my bedside table. It can be hard to put yourself into someone else’s imagined space when not fully convinced of what they’ve created. Given a choice, I prefer to read non-fiction and my most recent reads are The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson, a fascinating book about the murder of a family member and the impact on the author’s life.
I’ve always been interested in history, particularly Irish history and I’ve just finished A Short History of Ireland’s Famine by Ruan O’Donnell. An interesting book about that dark period in Ireland - it’s hard not to get angry reading it.
THEATRE
The most recent production I saw was Tara Flynn’s solo show Haunted at The Peacock. She spoke candidly about her experience during the Repeal Campaign and the impact it had on her life. It was entertaining, funny and very moving.
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TV
Succession. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a TV show before with absolutely no likeable characters. I love the dialogue as these people try to outdo each other at being assholes. I really like the title music and score by the brilliant Nicholas Britell, who also composed music for Andor, another favourite TV series.
GIG
The most recent live show I attended was Chequerboard at The National Concert Hall, where he performed new music from his forthcoming album alongside older songs. I’ve always been a huge fan of John's music and have had the privilege to record and collaborate with him in the past.
I’m very excited to be performing a launch show for my new album Fathoms there on May 19th. On the night, I’ll be playing with a group of musicians that includes a string quartet from The Crash Ensemble who are incredible players. I think it will be very special.
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ART
My favourite artist is Goya. I remember travelling to Museo Del Prado in Madrid to see his work, particularly the paintings from his Dark Period and my favourite painting of his is The Dog.
There are many artists in Ireland now who I admire. My absolute favourite is Aideen Barry. During lockdown she invited me to collaborate and I helped to create a sonic space for some elements of one of her shows. Her work is compelling, imaginative and ambitious.
RADIO/PODCAST
My favourite podcast is The Soundtrack Show, which interviews film composers about their work on film scores. The best recent episode for me featured an interview with Hildur Guðnadóttir about her work on the Tár soundtrack. She is one of my favourite composers. Her work on films such as Joker and the TV series Chernobyl are ground-breaking.
The best radio show in Ireland right now is John Kelly's Mystery Train on RTÉ lyric fm. Always eclectic, surprising.
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TECH
Well, this is very nerdy, but I’ve always been interested in synthesiser plugins. I own a few real synths that I use regularly and have always thought that they have a sonic edge over the plugin versions you buy online. Recently though, these are running a very close second. Companies like Arturia are creating emulations of old synthesisers that are very convincing.
THE NEXT BIG THING...
This is rather biased, but I’m married to one of my favourite authors, Sinéad Gleeson. She previously published a non-fiction book called Constellations and several anthologies. She has just written her first novel which is coming out next year. I'm excited for everyone to read it.
Stephen Shannon launches Fathoms with a concert at Dublin's National Concert Hall on May 19th - find out more here.
