Ronan Furlong: "It's really great fun to try different sounds. It has to be authentic, not like you’re ticking a box"

"Blazed across a crimson sky, life begins its gentle road / Stars exploding in the night seed the heavens for our growth." So croons Ronan Furlong on 'Forged Inside A Dying Star', a rock ballad with an earwormy guitar lick and out-of-this-world lyrics.

Since releasing his sixth full-length album Elysium last year, the Wexford-based singer-songwriter has kept busy. Now, ahead of an April 8 show at Whelan's, he's back with a remastered version of 'Forged Inside A Dying Star', which was originally released in 2019.

"It felt very organic," Furlong says of the song's development. "Generally, if a song flows naturally like that, you’d hope that it means it’s melodic and harmonious and that people will enjoy listening to it. I find that the songs that you struggle with or really work hard at are not always the most satisfying to the listener."

“What you hope is that people would hum it after they hear it. At the end of the verse, I wanted it to sound grounded and very down to earth, even though the lyrics have a cosmic aspect to them."

The remastered 'Forged Inside A Dying Star' was produced by Brendan Carthy, a frequent collaborator of Furlong's.

"I think he’s a very talented producer," Furlong says. "He manages to find room for all the different elements and allow the various instruments to speak without sounding cluttered, which is quite a skill."

Carthy and Furlong were introduced by Furlong's former producer Michael "Mick" Egan, who suggested Carthy play drums for Furlong's 2021 album The King of Leaves.

"He’s excellent at the rock stuff," Furlong says of Carthy. "He’s a very busy man and he works with many, many different artists, so he’s able to turn his hand to nearly anything. I’m lucky to be able to work with him."

Carthy helped Furlong create a cleaner sound to accommodate the massive scope of 'Forged Inside A Dying Star'.

"I think if you want to explore some unique ideas in the lyrics, you need to leave space in the song for that," Furlong says. "If you clutter things too much, it can be overbearing. It doesn’t resonate with the listener."

And unique ideas he certainly explores. From Taoism and stoicism to Alexander the Great and the French revolution, Furlong gleans musical inspiration from his varied reading material.

“I read quite a bit: a lot of history, a lot of philosophy," he says. "So many songwriters write about relationships that have gone south or somebody that was bad to them... I just feel like that’s a very well-worn path."

Furlong's historical bent can be heard on 'The Road to Torres Vedras', the Iberian-tinged second track on Elysium.

"That’s about the Napoleonic army invading Portugal," Furlong explains. "They comprised their morality when they were supposed to be marching for such a positive message—the French Revolution—but the experiences of the soldiers that I read about, they ended up committing atrocities."

"Sadly, it’s a theme that keeps repeating itself all over the world. History might not repeat itself exactly, but it sure does rhyme."

Even though the subjects of his songs are far from average, Furlong makes sure to prioritise listenability in his writing process.

"The lyrics have to flow," he says. "It shouldn’t feel like work to the listener... It's great if they want to reflect on the lyrics a bit more, but if they don’t want to do that, it should still work as a song."

There's something for every listener to enjoy in Furlong's discography. On Elysium alone, he plays with elements of hard rock, progressive rock, and even reggae.

“I like to explore as many different musical genres as I can," Furlong says. "It's really great fun to try different sounds. It has to be authentic, not like you’re ticking a box."

Furlong's flair for genre-blending started with his very first guitar lessons. He learned to play from Grammy-winning Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela after a chance encounter at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.

"When I met them, nobody knew them," Furlong says of the duo. "They weren’t signed to a record label... They were just playing in the foyer of the Gaiety."

"I immediately knew these were incredible guitar players, it was so apparent to me. They were next-level skilled. I approached them after the gig to see if they would give me a few lessons. They were reluctant, but they did agree to meet me for a coffee."

Upon meeting up at a coffeeshop, Rodrigo y Gabriela asked Furlong to play his guitar then and there, "with loads of other people around", to get an idea of his skills.

"After that, they started giving me lessons. It went on for about a year. I learned an awful lot from them."

The lessons came to an end when Rodrigo y Gabriela began to hit it big.

"I wish them every success," Furlong says of the duo. "They’re very nice people, very genuine people. I was very fortunate to encounter them."

"They’re from a rock background, so a lot of their music is very sympathetic to the rock stuff. They were very interested in who I liked as a guitar player."

Furlong points to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Judith Priest as recent inspirations for his rock-leaning material.

"Sadly, rock seems to have fallen out of favour compared to where it was in the '70s and '80s," Furlong says. "It doesn’t have the same cultural prestige that it had, but I couldn’t care less. I love that music."

When it comes to making new sounds, Furlong prioritises his own process above any cultural opinions of the moment.

"The one thing you can control is the recording and the writing of the songs," Furlong says. "That bit I really enjoy, and it never feels like work."

“I record in my home studio, then Brendan will take the tracks and the stems and produce it and put it all together. That’s the process. I’m not sitting in the room with Brendan when we do it—it’s all done separately. He gets the songs once they’re completed, and then he’ll add his element and his production to it.”

Furlong never writes in the studio, preferring to use that space for sonically "embellishing" his work. It's when he's in nature that he feels the most compelled to create.

"I’m lucky I live by the water in Wexford," Furlong says. "I just go outside with my guitar looking at the lovely view, and the music starts flowing."

Speaking of Wexford, Furlong is looking forward to playing some hometown gigs this spring. He'll play Wexford Arts Centre on Friday, March 27 and Thomas Moore Tavern on Thursday, April 16. His Whelan’s show will land on Wednesday, April 8.

"I have a very simple setup," Furlong says of his gigs. "It’s just me and a guitar and a microphone, and there’s no pedals or anything. There’s nowhere to hide."

"By playing in a more stripped-down acoustic style, it allows the songs to breathe, and different aspects of the songs come to the fore. The lyrics are much more prominent when it’s just you and a guitar."

A deep connection with the audience is what draws Furlong to playing live.

"If you’re lucky enough to have an audience that are genuinely interested and will give you their respect and their attention and get into it, that’s a lovely experience."

"That’s the bit that’s really motivating, that you feel people are listening to the songs, connecting with them, and getting something out of it."

Tickets for Furlong's Dublin show at Whelan's are available now.

Listen to the remastered 'Forged Inside a Dying Star' below.