Welcome to our music series featuring the best in fresh, exciting Irish music.

Every month, we'll profile a new (or relatively new) Irish band or artist, give you a flavour of what they're all about, let you know what they're up to lately - and most importantly, let you hear their music.

The fifth act in the series is Best Boy Grip.

WHO ARE THEY? They - or more accurately, he - is Eoin O'Callaghan, who plays live with a four-piece band. He's the main songwriter, though; "I was writing songs for years and keeping them to myself," he explains. "Then one day I woke up and I decided that it was time to shake the fear of rejection that had always stopped me sharing them."

WHERE IS HE FROM? Derry.

WHAT'S WITH THE NAME? It's a title of a crew member on film and TV sets. "A Best Boy Grip is the guy who helps light the scene in the movies," O'Callaghan explains. "Not as glamorous as the name would have you think - but that's why I always liked the title."

WHAT DOES HIS MUSIC SOUND LIKE? Being predominantly piano-based pop, we hear shades of artists like The Divine Comedy and Ben Folds in there; he says that critics have described it as 'jaunty, literate pop'. He's release several EPs and all sound slightly different, but they're tethered by a strong sense of melody and prominent piano.

WHO ARE HIS INFLUENCES? "Growing up, I Listened to bands like Nirvana, The Pixies, Ben Folds, Steely Dan and many more," he says. "I also have music teachers for parents - I suppose that helps!"

WHAT'S HE UP TO LATELY? He has just released new single 'Cops', and is currently undertaking a PledgeMusic campaign to raise funds for his debut album. 

WHY PLEDGEMUSIC? "I want to have full control over the final product," he explains. "Best Boy Grip is a cottage industry. I make all the videos myself and I produce all the tracks myself. With the help of the other lads, we record, engineer and mix everything too. Everything from gig posters to high production music videos is done in-house; it's a way of life for me, really. I just need the support from pledgers to make the release as good and as massive as I think it deserves to be and people have lots of cool incentives to become a part of it all." The link for the campaign is here.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT OF THE ALBUM WHEN IT'S EVENTUALLY RELEASED? "Jealousy, war, revenge, love, lack of love and weird fingers." We're in.

CAN I HAVE A LISTEN? Check out the brilliant 'Barbara' and new song 'Sharks' below, or hear more at his Bandcamp and Facebook pages.

 

 

Read our previous installments in the New Irish Music series: #1: Sunday School Sessions,  #2: Darling, #3: Elastic Sleep and #4: Binaries.