Biography | ||
27 year-old singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey is from Donaghmede on Dublin’s Northside. His earliest musical influences were the post-pub singsongs that his parents used to have at their home when he was toddler. Good, bad or indifferent - everyone had to sing. Today, his unique sound reflects the influence of traditional Irish Sean-Nós as well as his musical heroes, Bob Marley and Elvis Presley. When he was 16 Damien boxed for Dublin but he remembers not having many bouts, “I was 12 ½ stone and tall and there weren’t many others my age in my weight division at the time” he says. After completing his secondary education, Damien went on to the Ballyfermot “Rock School” (a college specialising in music performance and industry study) for 3 years. The school had its own small record label and star students were rewarded with a release on the label. Damien was chosen for that honour. However, he wisely declined the offer of a contract with the label. In 1998 after meeting Chris Byrne of Black ’47 who had recently opened “Rocky Sullivan’s”, an Irish bar in New York, Damien left Dublin at Chris’ invitation to perform at Rocky’s as well as pitch in behind the bar. He returned to Dublin after a hectic three months of working until 4 AM. He claims he came back to Dublin because the bars there closed earlier. His experience in NY is captured on the song, “NYC Paddy” that appeared on his first album. “They Don’t Teach This Shit In School”, his debut album, was released in 2000 and established Damien as a fearless and confrontational songwriter. His coherent and compassionate lyrics illustrate Damien’s understanding of the human dilemmas that we all face.
Zinc Fence biography"It's Important" His earliest musical influences were the post-pub singsongs that his parents used to have when he was a toddler. Good, bad, or indifferent everyone had to sing. Damien would watch the attention following the voices around the room and was glad that his parents had not noticed it was way past his bedtime. Today he sings traditional Irish songs and runs song-writing workshops for children and single parents from the poorer parts of Dublin. Damien has boxed for Dublin, and practised Kung Fu and Karate. But he has not always been too disciplined. On one particularly wild night he bit his tongue in half in a street fight. It was while he was in hospital recovering that he realised how much he wanted to pursue his own musical interests. The operation to stitch his tongue back on meant he could not speak let alone sing for two months. Damien left Dublin and spent three months in New York working in an Irish Bar on Lexington Avenue. A daily routine of working till 4am and feasting on dim sum helped him put on a stone for every month he was there (see N.Y.C. Paddy on the Album). The New York lifestyle was too excessive and he felt he’d return in a coffin if he stayed any longer. He came back to Ireland because the bars closed earlier. In 1997 he recorded and released a single called Dublin Town that went to number 18 in the Irish charts with little or no promotion. The single was the most played track on Irish Radio for two weeks and was the first commercial affirmation of Damien as a performer and artist in his own right (track 11 is a re-recorded version of that single). They Don’t Teach This Shit In School is set to establish Damien Dempsey as a fearless and confrontational songwriter. His lyrics are compassionate and coherant, he understands the human dilemmas that we all face. “ Someday we’ll be happy and free, in harmony, that’s right. Everyone will old hatreds kill, differences will unite. It’s important, it’s important, it’s important, to us.”
Damien Dempsey is from Donaghmede on Dublin’s Northside. After completing his secondary education Damien went on to the Ballyfermot 'Rock School' for two years where he studied musical performance as well as the practical side of the music industry. The school had its own small record label and star students were awarded a release on the label. Damien was chosen for that honour and the EP, 'The Contender', was released in 1995. In 1997 'Dublin Town', Damien’s first commercial single, reached No 18 in the Irish charts. Ireland’s HOT PRESS remarked that it was 'an underground anthem for disaffected youth and closet balladeer alike'. A re-recorded version of the song appeared on Damien’s first album 'They Don’t Teach This Shit In School', released in 2000. His next release, the 'Negative Vibes' EP, (2002) featured Sinéad O’Connor on the title track and led to an invitation to support Sinéad on her 2002/2003 Irish, UK and European tour. Damien’s second album, 'Seize the Day', was released in May 2003, in Ireland, on Clear Records via Sony and entered the charts first week of release at No. 5. It has since achieved double-platinum sales. Released in May 2004 in the UK on IRL, the album was awarded 'CD of the Week' in the Sunday Times and received enthusiastic reviews in the National and music press. Nominated in four categories in the 2004 Irish Meteor Awards, Damien walked away with two, the only 2004 double winner. A documentary, 'It’s All Good: The Damien Dempsey Story' by independent filmmaker Dara McCluskey, that followed Damien’s career progression up to the release of 'Seize the Day', was broadcast on Ireland’s national TV station RTE and shown at film festivals in Ireland and New York. During 2004 Damien toured extensively headlining his own shows as well as supporting Bob Dylan during the Irish leg of his European tour and making his debut appearances at The Fleadh and Womad. Damien has earned the passionate support of his peers, one of whom is Morrissey who invited Damien to support him on various UK and Irish dates as well as his autumn 2004 US tour. Morrissey went on to sign Damien to his Attack label, and 'Seize the Day' had its US release in October 2004. His third album 'Shots', is simultaneously released in Ireland and the UK in March 2005. | ||
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