Ahead of the release of his new single, Solarr, and to celebrate the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Series, Cork musician Talos (aka Eoin French) performed an intimate concert in the otherworldly surroundings of Mitchelstown Cave.
Ahead of the gig, we sat down with the performer to chat about his creative process, how he minds his mental health while creating an album, and the visuals that inspire him.
First, though, we wanted to know the intricacies of gigging in a cave.
With an ethereal sound well suited to the surroundings of stalagmites and stalactites, French has become comfortable with the acoustics of Mitchelstown Cave, having performed there during Clonmel's Junction festival, and RTÉ's Subterranean Sessions: Songs from Beneath the Surface of the Earth.
"I know every nook and cranny," he agrees, laughing. "I always thought bringing gear down would be a disaster, and it's tough, but it's not crazy difficult. The sound in there is super unique which is a bit wild, so the sound engineer will have a fun evening but, for us, it's just such a mad place to play. It'll be fun."
Fans of Talos will be familiar with the musician's affinity for visuals, with each venture becoming more artistic than the last, whether it be gigging in a unique venue or creating an unusual album cover.
"I do all the artwork and, up until this record, I did it all on my own," he explains. "Peadar Gill did the most recent artwork, Dear Chaos, with me which was sweet - it's nice to have someone to bounce stuff off."
"It's a funny one," he continues. "When I'm making the albums, I'd always have a folder of images on my desktop that I'd open every so often while I'm writing. There would kind of be a clear idea as to what the visuals should be from the start, but I suppose it never ends up as I imagine.
"We had really specific references for this one," he adds. "There's a painting by a guy called Pieter Bruegel called Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. The themes in the painting were just about people's indifference to things happening, I suppose.
"It was an experience that I had while I was making the record, and that everybody probably had over the past three or four years, where we all, individually, went through a lot, but I realised that it's your stuff at the end of the day. and the world keeps spinning - and that's quite a comforting thing in a way.
"There's a representation of Talos, which we only realised at the very end of making the record - a little bird - which was a bit wild.
Greek mythology is a running theme in French's work, with the name Talos referring to the bronze guardian created by Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention and blacksmithing, commissioned by Zeus to protect the island of Crete from invaders.
"That primarily came from my grandfather who had a real interest in Greek mythology, had lots of books, and was a really intelligent guy," he explains.
"In general, the name of the project and everything else is probably more to do with where I'm from and my family and the people I had in my life more than anything else. I don't claim to be any sort of scholar or even that educated in this, but I found a number of stories that really rang true. They're timeless."
"Funnily enough, the story of Icarus was one of the first stories I was told as a child, which was quite terrifying actually," he laughs. "It was a mad choice to pick as my first story to have. It was probably the first thing that I heard and remember being kind of moved by it."
Speaking with French, it's clear that, to him, being a musician is an inevitability. Less of a choice and more of an unavoidable calling. That being said, the work doesn't always come easy, and he's recently had to build a routine to help him through the process.
"I hit a lot of walls with regards to... I wouldn't call it writer's block - I think I have writer's block every day, and I don't think that goes away - I think it was a confidence thing. Doing this album gave me a 'why' again, and it was a very simple one: it's just what I do.
"The self-obsession," he continues, laughing. "Maybe that's a bit harsh. Like, it's very rewarding, obviously, but it's also lonely... or isolating is probably the better word."
Going forward, the Cork man hopes to take on more collaborative ventures, if only to get out of his own head.
"With a record, 90 percent of the time you're sitting there in a room on your own making stuff, you have a couple of people to soundboard off, but I was really lucky with this record. I don't think the project is a solo project anymore, I don't know if it ever was.
"I work with Ross Dowling on everything and with this record, there were like 20 people or more that contributed to the album. That's been a gift and probably how I'll work moving forward. The more people I can work with, I think, the happier I am."
"Not to sound like a bumper sticker, but I do a lot of meditation," he adds, "which I only got into over the last three years. Wim Hoff is a good thing too, cold water stuff, and then I suppose it's different for everyone but I need really rigorous scheduling or else things begin to slide."
Of course, all routine goes out the window once touring begins, and then there's the issue of battling stage fright - something he has been working on with voice coach Irene O'Mara.
"This is miserable," he jokes. "No, weirdly enough, I've been talking to a few people about all of this recently, just randomly. Obviously, I love it but I don't think it's that... I think it's just one of those things, this is just what I do.
"I don't think I have a choice, personally, this is just it. It's not a career. This is what I do regardless. If I was on a desert island I'd be hitting rocks together."
"Which is great," he adds, laughing.
To find out more about Talos' new single and upcoming gigs, click here.
