DAVE GERAGHTY is best known for his role in delicate local indie heroes BellX1, but in recent years his solo career – both under his own name and under the moniker ‘Join Me In The Pines’ – has taken precedence.
Geraghty’s life is a little different to the old days: while BellX1 recently did an anniversary tour, much of his time is spent focusing on cinematic soundscapes, including the Academy Award-nominated short film ‘The Crush’. Alongside that niche, the singer-songwriter has allowed his creative juices to flow through engaging with his long time friend, Belfast creative Mick Major, who’s encouraged his redirection into a more soulful, funky outfit.
“It’s lovely having to join the dots in somebody else’s mind,” Geraghty says of his cinematic work. “I feel unburdened by not having to produce lyrics; it’s a new lease of life and energy that I can just pour into making the music as it’s supposed to be, fitting the visual. It has to carry the emotional intensity of what’s on screen. It’s insightful.”
“I watch movies in a slightly different way now. There are potentially four projects lined up on the cinematic side, and the last couple of films I’ve watched have been research, so I have an ear on the score. I’ve just been doing it if I’m into the project, which is great, but there is an analysis going on.”
There’s been a crossover between the music for movies and Geraghty’s wider work. “Since doing The Crush, I went into the IFI to see it as part of an Irish Short Films showing, and one of them was by Roy Spence. He made many films back in the 70s, and they were real pioneers in home-made sci-fi special effects. I thought that was so good, and I ended up using it for the slight sci-fi feel for [new single] ‘Feels So Heavy’. We built the video around an edited down version of the film. It was a great happenstance that it all came together.”
Despite being a solo project, primarily, Join Me In The Pines has taken on a collaborative bent for the newer material. “Paul [Noonan] does the majority of the lyric writing in BellX1, and I guess there’s that melting pot of everyone’s input and influences. The latest album isn’t just me, I’ve got this symbiotic relationship going on with Mick Major.”
“He really encouraged me. We have two very different albums, but I’m on his album and he’s on mine. There’s a lot of common ground to our friendship, but near the beginning of Monomania [the latest album], I got the chill about trying to pull another album out on my own. I just wasn’t up for it again.”
“Mick asked me to send the songs across, and I did, and he loved where it was going. He kind of brought all his knowledge and his own thoughts on where it was he thought I should go with the style. When we talked about it, he helped me embrace my new direction, and ignore the echoes of what came before.”
“I know I’m not Bowie, but I want to do that thing where I go from style to style and execute it really well, like he did. I’m embracing that. I’m not claiming to have reinvented the wheel, but this album is definitely not like anything I’ve already done. It was also the result of a friendship blossoming, and I think there’s a newfound energy that comes from that, from thinking outside the box together.”
