The Life Of Ryan

Ryan Sheridan took the long way here from Monaghan – via Manhattan and Glasgow. Sheridan, whose debut album The Day You Live Forever is due for imminent release on Rubyworks, left Ireland for America at the tender age of 16, performing as a dancer with the Riverdance ensemble.

“I was the youngest one there,” he recalls. “The first time out of Ireland, straight into the States, touring for three years, then we went to Manhattan, on Broadway for two years. It was such a culture shock, there were loads of things to write about. You can get lost in that city if you want. My confidence grew, definitely. It was very hard to leave, but I went to Glasgow and started a band, came back from Glasgow and left the drummer behind, and that’s when I met my partner in crime.”
That partner in crime is one Artur Grazcyk, a Polish percussionist whose turbo-rhythms – played on a cardboard box with optional cymbals – perfectly compliment Sheridan’s devilish strumming hand. Forget your standard singer-songwriter trappings, this duo’s style of attack comes from learning how to hold a crowd while busking on the thoroughfare.
“When you’re playing on the street, you’re playing for your living,” Ryan says. “Artur got the box because he didn’t want to bring a big drum-kit, but there was just some connection straight away. Rhythmically it tied in very strongly, very tight.”
His former occupation as a dancer, Sheridan admits, has a fair amount of impact on the hyper-rhythmic elements of his songwriting.
“Absolutely. And I was a traditional fiddle player with Ceoltas too for years, so there’s always a bit of a reel in there. See, I don’t consider myself a singer-songwriter: it’s a very high-energy kind of vibe. Playing in the street was the best move I ever made. You play, you know what works and doesn’t work, you start tightening up your set, it’s all a big practise.”
Consequently, when Sheridan moves indoors to more orthodox venues, a captive crowd is easy meat. A recent stint supporting The Script in big venues was near nirvana.
“Give it to me and let me rock out,” he says with a grin. “I absolutely loved every minute of it. I was getting far too used to it. Usually when you’re doing support slots they don’t give a shit about you really – you go on, you do your thing and the sound man turns it up halfway, the house lights could be on – but The Script took us in, the crew set up the stage perfect for us, we had a big banner, they lit it up, lights flashing, the sound was fully up – I felt like it was my own gig. Three nights in the O2, and at the last one I didn’t want to go off the stage at all, I was only short of losing my mind. I’m lucky I had a guitar on, ‘cos if I didn’t I’d have been crowd surfing.”
When it came to committing that live energy to tape, Sheridan chose to work with critically acclaimed solo artist and producer-about-town Joe Chester.
“He kept it very raw and organic,” Ryan explains, “we never overdubbed everything. He uses old-style effects, that old-style tape echo. I don’t think anybody expected what we came out with, because there were only two of us playing on the street, but we brightened up the sound and added piano riffs: I always want to make every song epic, for some reason. I’m delighted with the way it came out.”
Sheridan’s songs certainly translate well to radio: his single ‘Jigsaw’ has been played off the air for the last six months.
“I can’t believe it,” he says. “ It was released in September and it’s still being played. Not a lot of national radio plays a lot of Irish stuff.”
Presumably he’d be in favour of the Canadian broadcasting model, whereby national radio is obliged to play a percentage of domestic artists.
“Absolutely. Our culture is music and dance, and we’re being fed Rihanna five times in an hour, and then Adele – the slowest song on the radio.”
Sheridan seems to have vaulted that particular barrier, due in no small part to a fruitful partnership with the Rubyworks label, whose roster (Fight Like Apes, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Mary Coughlan, Gavin Friday, Sinéad O’Connor, Wallis Bird) suggests a miniature version of the Island label in its prime.
“Rubyworks were perfect for us. The way we looked at it, we were hopefully a big fish in a small pond. And Rodrigo Y Gabriela had done so well, broke America and whatnot. They’re hands-on at all times, it’s a very close relationship, whereas I imagine if you’re on a big label you get lost, it takes two days to get a five-second answer. But Rubyworks is a team.”

The Day You Live Forever is released on Rubyworks on May 6. Ryan Sheridan is on tour throughout May and will be performing at Oxegen in July.