The Munster Express - The Soundcheck

Adam Doheny interviews Fintan Scanlon, 25/06/2024

Scanlon busy working on new solo songs and first Superstar Nomads material in nearly two decades

Fintan Scanlon is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter from Waterford.

You may be familiar with the name; Fintan had a career as a classical musician in his 20s and 30s, playing both violin and piano.

He admits he was always “walking two lines” in his 20s—he always loved writing music—but didn’t have the freedom to prioritise original music over his career.

At that time, he was also in a number of bands such as Halves and Superstar Nomads.

His situation has since changed, and the release of Work In Progress in 2023 are the fruits of this. A folkly, acoustic theme is ever present, while electric guitar riffs and electronic drums appear to create a unique, ambient sound.

It reminds me of some of the more stripped back Pink Floyd stuff of the early 70s; “Hey You,” or “Brain Damage” spring to mind. Fintan’s classical background can be heard at times; reminding the listener that although this is his maiden solo effort, he’s no novice.

I became aware of Fintan’s music earlier this year; he supported Shane Barry in February in Phil Grimes. Although, I only listened to one or two songs.

Last week, I listened to Work In Progress from start to finish and—without exaggeration—was taken on a journey.

Left wanting more as the final note of “You've Gotta…” rang out, I decided to catch up with Fintan and find out when more will be on offer! I also wanted to find out what inspired him to create Work In Progress and how he went about it.

Speaking to the Munster Express, Fintan said, “some of the songs on the EP were written 20 years ago, and some of them are relatively new.

“I started working on it three and a half years ago. I began with the track “The Ghost,” purely as a way to teach myself how to record and produce. So, I actually have three different versions of that song!

“I came back to it and said, ‘I quite like that’ and came back to it again 6 months later and thought ‘this is rubbish…’ so I decided to record it again (for the third time), applying all that I had learned in the meantime.”

From there, Fintan decided to push on and work on the rest of the songs on Work In Progress. He recorded the whole EP himself from the comfort of his own home.

“I really started recording the EP as a way to learn how to do it. As the process when on I thought I might actually release this' but that wasn't the initial plan.”

Fintan said he spent so long in the studio recording loops, phrases and verses bit by bit. He realised that he was struggling to play a full song from start to finish: that’s when he decided to get out and gig the material.

He added, “I had to reverse engineer some of the songs that were written with no intention to be played live. Trying to figure out live versions of some of the songs with orchestral parts was tricky enough.”

Fortunately, Fintan’s family were “willing and able” to step in and help him out. His brother, David Scanlon is the bass player, his brother-in-law, Jody Briggs, is the lead guitarist and his uncle, Mark Scanlon, is the drummer.

Fintan’s EP launch sold out last year. Some of those performing on the night included members of the aforementioned Superstar Nomads.

That band has since been revived and are currently working on a new release. You can catch both Fintan and Superstar Nomads performing at Summer in the City, on O’Connell Street, on August 17th.

Fintan expects Superstar Nomads to release new music for the first time in over 20 years later this year. At the same time, he's also working on new songs for a second solo release. You can listen to listen to Work In Progress on all major streaming platforms now.