Jimmy Monaghan

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Jimmy Monaghan
JimmyMonaghanHRC.jpg
Monaghan performing at Hanoi Rock City, Hanoi, 2018
Background information
Birth nameJames Monaghan
Born (1988-02-25) 25 February 1988 (age 35)
Danbury, Connecticut, United States
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • drums
Years active2007–present
LabelsGhost Home Recordings, Rusted Rail, Psychonavigation, Dramacore
Website www.seamusomuineachain.eu

Jimmy Monaghan (Irish: Seamus Ó Muíneacháin) is an Irish musician from Belmullet, Ireland. He has released music as a solo artist, and as a member of the anti-folk band Music for Dead Birds. [1]

Contents

Music

In 2007, he formed Music for Dead Birds with drummer Dónal Walsh in Galway city. [2] One of the band's first gigs was a live performance on Anocht FM from the Roisin Dubh in August 2007. [3] Their debut album, And then it rained for seven days , was released in 2009 by the Irish record label Rusted Rail. [4] This was followed by the independently released The Pope's Sister , a concept album about the influence of the Catholic church in Ireland, in 2011, [5] Vitamins in 2014, [6] and Pagan Blessings in 2018.

He began releasing ambient instrumental music in 2011, with The Connacht Tribune writing in 2022 that; "Through five albums he has approached ambient, instrumental soundscapes with piano melodies, gentle guitar, percussion and field recordings – using his music to reflect the calm and space of the areas that inspire it." [7] In July 2012, Psychonavigation Records released his debut solo album Seamus O'Muineachain. [8] [9] The Irish Times reviewed the album positively, calling it a "tremulous if tranquil success." [10] To promote the album he performed at The Electric Picnic festival and Whelan's, Dublin. [11] [12] In 2013, his song Alone In Nature (Without Technology) was featured on an An Taobh Tuathail compilation released by RTE. In 2017 he produced and released his second solo album Cloves . [13] In 2019, he released the album City of Lakes while living in Hanoi, Vietnam. [14] In March 2020, KEXP premiered a track from his fourth solo album Blue Moon Set . [15] The album received a positive review in Rockerilla magazine, [16] and was featured on BBC Radio 6 Music. [17] Several music videos were created for the album, including a video for Slow Closing Day by Irish experimental film-maker Maximilian Le Cain. [18] In 2022, he released the albums Different Time Zones and Isthmus .

In 2012, he released an album with Aisling Walsh under the name Christian Bookshop. Hot Press wrote that the project was "an acoustic folk duo in the classic mode, with a decidedly lo-fi approach." [19] Also during 2012, he played the drums for the Galway-based folk band Yawning Chasm. [20]

From 2013-2014, he released a trilogy of lo-fi punk albums under the name The Crytearions. [21] Irish website Thumped called the project "Uncompromising, entirely unpolished and, in places, not entirely pleasant." [22]

Monaghan has stated that his early musical influences were Irish traditional music and nu-metal. [23]

Writing

In 2011, his radio drama Thumb was shortlisted for the RTÉ PJ O'Connor Award. [24]

In 2022, he began writing under the pseudonym Jay Honeycomb. [25] Working primarily in music journalism, he contributed to the webzine PopMatters , interviewing musicians including Mike Scott [26] and Eiko Ishibashi [27] .

In June 2022, he self-published the novella Post-Bliss. The Midwest Book Review called the novella "an evocative creation that challenges heart and mind on many different levels: psychologically, socially, ecologically, and ethically." [28] Self-Publishing Review reviewed the book positively, writing; "A raw and savagely contemporary novella, Post-Bliss by Jay Honeycomb taps into the fears and existential angst of today through tangential, subtle, and compelling storytelling." [29]

Personal life

Monaghan was born in Danbury, Connecticut, and moved to Ireland at the age of six. [30] He is of Irish and Italian descent. [7]

As a teenager, he was an amateur boxer, winning four Irish national titles. [31] He won a silver medal at the 2004 Four Nations tournament boxing for Ireland and received the Western People Sports Star of the year award the same year. [32] During his time representing Ireland internationally he fought against the German amateur boxer Gottlieb Weiss. [33] [34]

In 2015, he appeared in a Maltese stage production of Butterflies Are Free , which ran at Saint James Cavalier in Valletta. [35]

In 2016, an image of him cycling on the Aran Islands was used on an Irish post stamp promoting the Wild Atlantic Way. [36]

He is an amateur chess player. [37]

Discography

As Seamus O'Muineachain

Albums

EPs

With Music for Dead Birds

Albums

EPs

Singles

As The Crytearions

Albums

Compilations

Other

Bibliography

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References

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