At home with The Mighty Stef

Having lived for a while in Chicago before transferring to his open-plan apartment in North King Street in the centre of Dublin, the Mighty Stef obviously has a penchant for inner-city life.
“Yeah, I suppose that’s true”, he admits. “I like the hustle and bustle, being in the thick of things. It’s the kind of environment I grew up in and feel most comfortable with.”

His abode, which he shares with his girlfriend, is a modern apartment about 10 years old. He moved here about a year ago.
“When I moved back to Dublin there weren’t a lot of options, so there’s really no specific reason why I live where I live,” he admits. “Much as I enjoyed the Chicago experience, Dublin is Dublin. I’m originally from Kevin Street, so I’m not very far from the patch where I grew up. Living in the centre of town is second nature to me.”
So how is he on the noise front?
“There are families with young kids on either side of us, but nobody has complained about me playing music too loud,” he says. “During the daytime I write music here, so it’s great to have such sympathetic neighbours. No matter where I’ve lived, I’ve done my songwriting at home rather than a studio or wherever. I wouldn’t bring a band in. That would be unfair. I’d love to have a separate room to work in, but that’d probably add another €700 to the rent.”
Although he does a bit of cooking, it’s not quite to a level that should worry Kevin Dundon. “I’m not very good, but I enjoy it,” Stefan laughs. “I have this mongrel dish which I call Pasta a la Murphy, made from pasta, tuna and a few vegetables.”
Stef likes having a range of nice boozers to hand.
“It’s great to have them on your doorstep, instead of having to walk into Temple Bar or up to Wexford Street. My favourite is Frank Ryan’s in Smithfield. A lot of people like The Cobblestones, but I think Frank Ryan’s shades it for me. The staff are great, and they always play good music.”
Because of a lack of space, Stef gave his vinyl record collection to a friend to mind.
“I haven’t seen this guy in about eight years, but I have it on good authority that they’re still in good nick,” he tells us. “My girlfriend has a good record collection that we shipped back from the US at great expense. I’ve actually started to buy vinyl again, although we don’t have anything to play them on. I have an Apple Mac which I live off for whatever music I want. Our CD collection includes stuff like the MGMT album Oracular Spectacular. I’ve also been listening to Tom Waits ahead of his visit to Dublin.”
Like his vinyl albums, Stef has had to move his books elsewhere, in this case to his parents’ house.
“The most recent book I read was The Wanderers by Richard Price,” he reveals. “It’s like the books that were made into films in the late ‘70s about gangs on American streets in the ‘60s. It has very vivid imagery and cultural references to the kind of music they listened to then, like Dion and The Belmonts, stuff I really love. I wouldn’t claim to be hugely well-read. If I go into a bookshop I’m more likely to head for the cult fiction section. Sometimes I’ll judge a book by its cover or by its name.”
Stef’s collection has biogs of rock acts like The Rolling Stones, Keith Moon and Tom Waits, and All The Rage by Ian McLagan of the Small Faces.
“I’ve got one by Donovan, which my girlfriend got signed by the man himself. I tend to be more interested in the formative years of artists, and really relate to how they struggle to get their careers on track.”
He prefers to get out of the house when bored, rather than resort to the TV or DVDs. “There’s something wrong with the signal here, so I can barely watch Fair City and the home channels. But I’d rather go to the cinema or to the pub than stay in watching telly. I don’t have a radio either.”
In fact, Stef seems to be remarkably exempt from the modern need to have everything, and seems quietly content with his lot. Nor is DIY likely to feature on any future CV. As he reveals, “I worked in construction for a builder called Paddy Brady when I was about 19 and he told me I was much better at the destruction end of the job than the construction part of it! I’ve a good strong back, so if you ever want a wall knocked down, I’m your man!”
Alongside a Danelectro guitar he was given by his mate Com Rutledge from Humanzi, his most cherished possession is a newspaper photo from 1990.
“The shot shows my da scoring the winning goal against Bohemians in the semi-final of the FAI Cup for the non-league club St. Francis. Unfortunately they were beaten 3-0 by Bray Wanderers in the final, but it was great for them to get so far.”
Then there’s the piece of artwork that Stef would like to own but doesn’t.
“I was in love with a painting of a big skull on a black background that used to hang behind the bar in the Voodoo Lounge. I contacted the owner Dermot Doran just before it closed down and offered to buy it. But he said it was really very precious to him and part of a set of three. Sadly, they threw a big hooley on the night the place was closing down and somebody fuckin’ robbed it!”

The Mighty Stef will be at Whelan’s, Dublin for three successive Thursdays from July 17.