Dublin singer Ciarán Moran has released his new single, Too Hard on Myself. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
During lockdown, Moran took a year to write, record and film his Life Inner City EP. Too Hard on Myself is the first release from it and narrates the environment in which most experience at least once in their lives,
Speaking about his inspiration for the EP, he says. "I was fed up, people in my area and around me seemed to feel the same,
"We got a bit "in" on ourselves and forgot our worth when reality paused for a while, writer's block was creeping in until I came up with a line of lyrics, "if these tears could build a perfect world then I’d cry", I didn’t want to write another sad-ish song but managed to fit a tiny bit of everything into it, faster hooks, faster flow and kept that real raw emotion too!
"I had loads of demo tracks written for Life Inner City that didn’t make the project, but never second guessed Too Hard on Myself. Once I began writing it, I was thinking, you know what?, Maybe I am too hard on myself, and I found my worth again, The rest of the EP came much easier to me after that"
Tell us three things about yourself?
I am a singer-songwriter Originally from the north inner city in Dublin. I was born and raised in a council house and I've been very lucky to tour and play alongside some of my biggest childhood musical influences, Including Damien Dempsey, Christy Dignam, Aslan, Bagatelle, Brian Kennedy and many more.
How would you describe your music?
Real, raw and authentic.
Who are your musical inspirations?
One of the biggest inspirations would be Damo Dempsey, Not only because of his skills with writing and melody, but from a very young age, I had the pleasure of meeting him many times while supporting him. His character and how he carries himself is something that I find as inspiring as his music, He's a real one! Christy Dignam and Aslan would be another big inspiration for me, With the amount of hurdles they came to, and jumped over, that's inspiring in itself, and then with their 40th Year anniversary this year. Longevity and continuity. It's unbelievable
What was the first gig you ever went to and the first record you ever bought/downloaded?
One of the first gigs I ever went to would have been watching my brother Keith and cousins perform in their band No Angels, It was at a huge festival when I was a kid, I cant re-call exactly where in Dublin it was, but it was like a family festival, But the crowd was huge! It was mad! Although I was young I can still recall a moment seeing everyone in the band smiling at the same time after the show! It was deadly!
My first record that I actually bought myself, would have been Plan B's The Defamation of Strickland Banks, I never really bought records before that, In fact, I don't think I ever listened to a full album before that. I used to just listen to songs that my Ma or Da would sing, or songs you'd hear in the car or on the radio, But that album in itself was genius, After hearing that album in full, I took to listening to full albums more! Not only did he create an album, I think he identified a new genre for himself which was really special and difficult to do! Genius.
What's your favourite song right now?
I love Liam Gallagher's song For What it's Worth. Its one of the first songs that I can say really relates to me in a personal way. As a songwriter, people always mention how a song you've written relates to them, and although I understood what they meant, I could never get attached to songs myself, until For What It's Worth.
Favourite lyric of all time?
"What's Love but a second-hand emotion" - Tina Turner.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life what would it be?
Sing All Our Cares Away - Damien Dempsey.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Music can be found on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, and on Bandcamp. For more consistent activity and releases etc, you can find me on Facebook or Instagram under @Ciaranmoranmusic.
