MacD on Music: Can’t See The Forest For The Trees

A few weeks ago, as some of you may remember, I mentioned an upcoming gig taking place in the Nerve Centre by Ethan Hollan.

The gig in question took place on the 1st April and, despite the date, was certainly no joke. Ethan’s first headlining gig was a brilliant night of incredible music and free t-shirts (for some). Backed by Dan Monaghan on bass and Daniel Havern on drums, it featured support from Polar Bolero. The day of the gig, I caught up with Ethan to talk a bit about how he’s gotten to this point.

Talking about his musical beginnings, he told me: “I started gigging in 2021, so I’ve not been at it for too long, but it’s quite nice. I started writing music in 2020. Lockdown gives you a lot of free time to do stuff, so I started writing music around the peak of Lockdown and then I started uni in September and it was just very full on, very real, so I decided I wanted an outlet for all the stress and stuff so I started writing music and really getting into it.

"I started on my own independently. I started on SoundCloud and then YEO Magazine from Belfast picked it up so that was my first ever magazine thing. It was in their first issue as well, so it’s quite a special issue for me, starting out back then.”

Next, we moved on to some of the best moments of his career to date: “I think, to start off, when I played for The Duncairn for their Take 2, during Lockdown.

"That was my first gig ever. I think it was November 2020, so just coming out of the rough parts of Lockdown. I had never really played in front of anyone before that, so it was quite nerve wrecking, even though it was just the team crew and it was a pre-recorded thing that was being posted on YouTube, but I was still pretty nervous and I think that performance alone really brought me out of my shell.

"The other achievements I’ve had, YEO magazine was a little tiny review at the bottom of a page, and then I got taken in Dig With It Magazine. They gave me a full page interview and it was honestly class. It was my first full-pager in a magazine and I was well chuffed about it.”

“I’ve had a few gigs now. I was probably getting almost a gig a month last year so it was just getting used to the sort of independent, D.I.Y. venues. It was really great. It probably built up a lot of experience to play this headline tonight. I feel excited and I feel kind of confident going into it. I’m looking forward to hearing everybody play.” About the Nerve Centre itself,: “I came here for the film festival a few months ago. I’ve never been to a gig here before.”

Ethan then told me about his new single, ‘Forest’: “I recorded that two years ago and I’ve just been waiting for the right time to release it and thought tonight, before the gig, would’ve been the best time. I’m really happy about it. It’s been sitting for a while and I’ve been super excited about it all year.

"It was one of those songs I wrote at the peak of Lockdown. I wrote the meaning of it on my Instagram and it. It was written during a quite isolating time, overlooking the trees in my bedroom window. It was that feeling of isolation and dissociation and wanting to feel nature again that inspired the lyrics of the song.

"The song is about not recognising yourself, no matter how much time you spend alone, and looking for a light to guide you, or someone to pick you off your feet and set you in the right direction.”

Finally, we spoke about what the (immediate) future held: “May 27th I’ll be playing at the HMV in Belfast. I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve been to a couple of cool gigs there. Then I’ll be hitting the city in May, recording a new track. It’s got a name, but I’ll not announce it yet.”

Ethan Hollan’s single ‘Forest’ is out now. He can be found on Instagram @ethan_hollan

Now, onto other, Jazz Festival-adjascent business.  At the time of this writing, I’m still in Finland, and on the 26th April I had the pleasure of going to a night of Poetry and Jazz by the Helsinki-based Finn-Brit Players.

The night featured recitals by Zachariah Chamberlaine, John Leo, Vladislav Nenchev and Mira Berglund as well as music by John Millar. The event took place in the NoName Theatre in Helsinki and was an incredible night of brilliant poetry and music. Anyone who finds themselves in Helsinki, try and catch one of their performances performance. You won’t regret it

More information can be found on their website www.finnbritplayers.com. They can also be found on Facebook and Instagram @finnbritplayers.