Sweet Nothings

You know you’ve arrived when the broadsheets are wondering, well, where you went. And so it was that August saw the Irish Independent tapping its watch and wondering when Pat Byrne, recent Voice Of Ireland champion, would deign to give us his debut album. “Something needs to happen fast,” we were warned. “Not just for Pat Byrne’s sake, but for the credibility of The Voice Of Ireland...”

At this point, a mere three months had passed since the competition’s end. Today, ready to release his first LP, Pat Byrne shakes his head in disbelief.
“I was a bit angry about that. It was frustrating because I’d been working so hard, writing and recording non-stop. I had to take my time. I didn’t want to rush out a load of shite.”
With mentor Bressie by his side, Byrne was determined to turn in an original record that represented him well, not just toss out a bunch of covers whilst the iron was lukewarm. He’d come to The Voice Of Ireland as a singer who’d been earning a crust playing hits in student unions and pubs but he wanted his own material. Bressie understood this, and enlisted a Corona to help.
“As soon as I won, Bressie told me that he’d lined up Danny O’Reilly to do a couple of writing sessions in England with me. There were a lot of late nights over the summer. Bressie’s great with computers, so he’d a lot of tracks done already. Danny’s great with melodies. One of the bonus tracks was done in Danny’s house in Dublin, just the two of us together.
“The way they work is quite different,” he continues. “Danny is very acoustic. He’ll just sit down with the guitar and record stuff on his iPhone. Whereas Bressie would be very technical. It was great to have both sides – Danny’s knack for catching melodies and Bressie’s focus and determination.”
If by this stage the media were ready to send out a search party, they could have just asked The Modfather. Byrne was in Ripley, an unassuming Surrey parish that also doubles as something of a pop hub, with its famous Metrophonic studio and illustrious residents.
“I did half the album there, which was class. It was such a mind-blowing environment. There was lots of famous people around... I saw Paul Weller in an Indian takeaway!”
Please don’t dash the immaculately turned-out image we have of him and tell us he was rocking a shellsuit...
“No, he was looking very smart. Then the likes of Olly Murs, JLS, Sugababes were wandering around. I think the tracks for X Factor come from Ripley. They’re basically all there.”
If Louis Walsh is anything to go by, bigger stages are beckoning. The pop svengali reckons Byrne has what it takes to crack America.
“I wouldn’t say he’s even heard me,” he grins knowingly. “I’m being realistic, staying focused and seeing how it goes.”
He’s got his head screwed on – it wasn’t even turned by what we presume were multitudes of Voice groupies-in-waiting.
“There weren’t too many,” he insists. “You’d have a few private mails on Facebook but that was the height of it! I’m still with my girlfriend Maria!”
How does he assess his Voice Of Ireland journey now?
“We did it in October and it wasn’t shown until January so for those few months I was very nervous. I didn’t want it to be the X Factor, cheesy or annoying. I was never a fan of those shows. But when the first episode was aired, I was relieved. I was lucky that it was that credible. It was a great launchpad and this wouldn’t have happened without it. But now I just want to be known for my own songs”.

All Or Nothing gets a live airing on January 31 in Vicar St., Dublin.