‘There’s just an edge to this song’
Disappointed not to receive a music industry stimulus grant last year, Nenagh man Conor Fahy channelled his creative energy into a hugely impressive new single, which he released last Thursday.
‘Illiad’ is a powerful salvo from Conor, who said he was inspired to write the song after his application for the grant was met with a rejection email last November. “I was so disappointed but also couldn’t argue with the fact that those who received the grant were producing better quality music,” he said. “I was determined to up my game. ‘Illiad’ poured out of me the following day and the demo was completed really quickly in my home studio.”
The song title references Homer’s epic poem and the origins of Greek mythology. Conor draws parallels between one’s own struggles and trials of life to the stories handed down from ancient Greece.
“From a lyrical point of view, I think it just explains the resilience needed to carry on pursuing what you are truly passionate about, while also taking each failure - because there are many - as an opportunity to grow,” Conor said of ‘Illiad’. “And, in the process, you start to get those little wins that seemed impossible before.”
Having struck out in 2019 with his solo project ‘Dáwna’ – a nod to the Irish word ‘dána’ (bold) and also dawn, as in sunrise – Conor wanted a top-class producer and mixer to do justice to his latest release.
“Luckily, we have one of the best this country has to offer in Owen Geaney of Atlas White Studios here in Nenagh. Owen gave the production of this song more life than I ever could have dreamed of, and recording vocals in his studio and seeing him work his magic over the past few months has been so inspiring.
“The song was mastered by Randy Merrill (Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Dermot Kennedy) in LA, and I’m still pinching myself every time I listen to it! There’s just an edge to this song that I’ve been searching for for a while, and I’m excited to keep exploring that.”
‘Illiad’ is available to download now. Find out more on Conor’s Instagram page, ‘Dáwna_music’, and Dáwna on Facebook.