Niall McNamee: "There’s an influence that comes from playing with shitty speakers in pubs"

What do you get when you mix a football lad, a genre-defying musician and an actor who demands the spotlight on both screen and stage? Niall McNamee. That’s what you get!

To call him “multi-faceted” would be a criminal understatement. Musically, he’s an incredible talent. He has sold out shows across the UK and Ireland, and supported the likes of David Keenan, Melissa Etheridge, The Wolfe Tones and The Dubliners.

In his early acting career, he starred in Romeo and Juliet in the West End. Plenty of shiny film and TV parts followed; he has a fight scene with Jackie Chan and a starring role opposite Pierce Brosnan to boast about.

However, Niall isn’t one to boast. He’s incredibly down-to-earth, more so than ever on his debut album Glass And Mirrors, set for release shortly vis his own label, Wellboy. He describes the record as “a diary” of his adolescence and early adulthood.

“When it was finished, there was a weight lifted off me,” says the singer, “which I think I had before I’d even begun thinking about an album. I’m really proud of it as a symbol of who I am, as a person and an artist.”

In terms of the subject matter, it’s a hell of a mix.

“There’s an influence that comes from playing with shitty speakers in pubs,” McNamee smiles, “and having to sing louder and faster to get anyone to take notice. And there are other times where I’m in more melancholic, reflective mood, which comes from being on my own, singing songs to myself.”

The sound? He manages to blend alternative rock (à la Arctic Monkeys and Oasis) with Celtic and folk influences, resulting in a style that belongs to him and only him. Tracks like ‘Magpie With A Mullet’ feature an array of Irish traditional instruments, including Rónán Stewart (currently on tour with Aaron Rowe) on uilleann pipes. “No one can resist uilleann pipes!” Niall says.

However, plenty of tracks are far more intimate and vulnerable.

“There’s a song on the album called ‘Clones Fireman’,” he explains, “which is about my grandfather moving to England and meeting my grandmother. After he passed away, when I tried to sing it, I couldn’t get through the song. But I remember Christy Moore saying, no matter how emotional a song is for you, your job as the performer is to not get too wrapped up in it. You have to carry the message. The emotion isn’t for you, it’s for everyone else.”

Niall McNamee. Photo: Nathan Magee

He says his favourite track on the album is ‘The Moon Belongs To You’, a dreamy heartbreak ballad. Apparently, the influences on it were clear to listeners.

“Someone at a gig told me, ‘It’s not a love letter to anyone you’ve been in love with, Niall. It’s a love letter to Shane McGowan and the Pogues,’” he recounts with a laugh.

The singer praises ‘Fairytale Of New York’ and ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’, saying “they’d be hard to beat”, but he looks forward to playing them live. He’s excited about the tour, which he’s looking forward to as “the best road trip ever”.

“I hear a lot of artists complain about touring, but I absolutely love touring,” says Niall with a grin. “I get to play and hang out with my mates, and get these songs out to people along the way. We don’t tend to tour sensibly; we find our way to each town, have a laugh, have a load of pints and properly go at it on stage.”

But the tour won’t just be pints and craic. It is a validation for his inner child.

“Sometimes in the midst of all the stressful bits about music, you forget the person in you who was younger, who wanted to be the musician that you are now,” he notes. “I’ve always had this vision. And I know it’ll be grand.”

CALL FOR CHANGE

Meanwhile, in his guise as an actor, Niall plays Ireland goalkeeper Alan Kelly during the 2002 World Cup in the hugely anticipated film Saipan.

“I’m a massive football fan,” he says. “I spent a good few years of my life travelling around Europe, watching Ireland play. And then to put on the Ireland jersey and make believe that I’m a footballer, that was unreal.”

While Niall is a humble character, he is still incredibly aware of the big picture. I ask him about the “give Israel the red card” banner held up at the Ireland v. Hungary match.

“Despite what’s happened in the last couple of years or so, what Israel is doing to Palestine isn’t a new conflict,” he says. “It’s just gotten worse. But Irish fans and Celtic fans have always been pro-Palestine, and against genocide, so I was really proud that the fans did that. They probably got fined for it and all sorts, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s what they should be doing. Football’s governing body should be doing more. It shouldn’t be left to just the fans.”

Along with his identity as a football fan, Niall says his role as a musician gives him the opportunity to call for change — though he describes it as an obligation rather than an act of bravery.

“I’m not the biggest artist in the world,” he reflects, “but once or twice a year in each city, I get the chance to have a platform. And what else would I use it for?”

When asked what it means to take that step, he shrugs.

“There’s been a Palestine flag around my shoulders at many a gig and I’ve never had a problem with that. What I’ve been surprised at is how many people think it’s bravery,” he explains. “It’s the same kind of thing as at the football. We’re doing the bare minimum of what we can do. There’s nothing extraordinary about speaking truth – what’s extraordinary is that the governments aren’t doing anything. Irish people have always been on the right side of history, but the government needs to pull its finger out.”

• Glass And Mirrors is out now.