Legendary Cork band The Frank and Walters spoke to radio DJ Keith Walsh in a Hot Press exclusive ahead of their Judge Roy Beans gig in Newbridge.

The Frank and Walters frontman, Paul Linehan, first spoke on how lockdown affected him as a musician, stating that "It was obviously difficult...but at the same time, I could focus on writing and recording my own songs. It was a very inspirational time for me as well because it made you reflect on life a bit more and made you do a lot of soul searching and thinking and that was kind of inspirational. So I think I got a good few songs out of it, none of them have seen the light of day yet, but they’re there.”

The veteran Cork rocker expressed how excited he was to be back playing live shows again, as he "missed it enormously". Although he has loved connecting deeper to writing music, there is a different energy that comes with performing in front of a crowd.

"When you write a song you’re expressing yourself at that moment and you’re trying to express new feelings in writing," Linehan explained.

"But when you come up onstage, you’re going through all of the feelings that you’ve gone through in the last 20 or 30 years, and for me, when I do a gig and relive those feelings, I find it therapeutic. I always feel brilliant after a gig, kind of exhilarated. It’s like therapy, and I did miss that."

The pair spent much of the interview reminiscing on the early 90's, when The Frank and Walters was thrust into the limelight and quickly rose to fame after signing a major record deal.

"We got lucky, we got a record deal and stuff, and it was a bit overwhelming because we didn’t expect it. The success was kind of a bit much for us at the time," he began.

"We always thought that we weren’t very talented and it was a joke that the record company was playing on us," Linehan joked.

Like many musicians who achieve quick success, Paul Linehan shared the struggles of fame the group encountered.

“What I found a bit funny is that you kind of you, when you got off the stage, you felt that you had to still entertain people and not be yourself," he exclaimed.

"The stage is one performance, but just being who you are is a different one. And trying to separate out the two of them is kind of difficult.

So when you come off the stage, and you’re talking to people and you feel like you have to entertain them. And its kind of tiring.

I decided just to be boring and not try to entertain people when I first met them. The effort is too much.  But I’ve learned to accept that that’s who I am, and I learned to be that person." he concluded humbly.

Following the interview, Linehan was joined by Rowan vocalist Dylan Howe for a palpably emotional performance of 2016 hit ‘Goddess Of Athena.’

Watch the full interview, with a special performance of 'Goddess Of Athena,' below:

For coverage of Judge Roy Beans' previous Summer of Music gigs, click here.