MacD on Music: Me and Oisin Magee

A few months ago (Valentine’s day, to be exact), as regular readers may recall, I interviewed Oisin Magee, aka Sanchez, prior to the release of his album ‘Burgundy’.

Oisin had been living in Korea for a few years but now is back, having put together a full band for his current tour.

I was lucky enough to be invited to his stop in Derry, where he played Bennigan’s two Fridays ago. I caught up with him before he took to the stage and we talked a bit about his current activities.

The show itself was electrifying, featuring support from Seeds of the Oak Tree and Selador (who have, without a doubt, one of the city’s most exciting frontmen, Stephen Whiteman).

Both groups played excellent sets that really got the crowd going prior to the main event.

For his live shows, Oisin has assembled a brilliant live band made Paul Mooney on bass, Domhnall O’Doherty on drums, Franck Sauvion on guitar and Conall McCool on show-stealing guitar, the band really managed to capture the Sanchez sound, and the songs from ‘Burgundy’ sounded just as good live as they do on the album.

Their closing number, a cover of ‘All Along the Watchtower’, left the audience wanting more.

The night of the show, I was chatting to Oisin about what he’s been up to the the months since our last interview.

He told me “We formed the band since I came back from Korea. We had a gig in Lurgan, where I’m from.

“That went pretty well, and we’re just looking at more gigs, more opportunities to support people and to be supported.”

I asked him too, about how the album (Burgundy) was doing: “It’s done pretty well. I kind of wished I’d pushed it a wee bit more, maybe spaced out the things a little bit more, but overall, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It sounds pretty good.”
We spoke a bit about putting the band together.

He told me they’ve been playing together now “about four or five months.

Thankfully the music had all been done, so it was an easy process, to send them the songs, tell them what key it’s in. They’re all phenomenal musicians.”

The album itself featured mainly just Oisin, Dan Lloyd and Jon Amey. Speaking about their part in the creation of Burgundy, Oisin said “They were teachers, like me, in Korea, two boys from England, and they expressed interest in my music, to say they liked it and stuff, and then we just ended up recording an album.

“I had a lot of songs ready to go, so that helps, when you’ve nothing else to do but write.”

Our chat moved on to the topic of our fine city: “Derry’s a wonderful place. I love it.

“I feel like I’ve sort of been distanced from it, obviously, physically and emotionally, but I’d love to get back and intertwine with the people again, and the culture, the places.”

High Praise

Finally, Oisin had high praise for the opening acts on the bill that night. About Seeds of the Oak Tree, he said they’re a “brilliant, brilliant band and I’m very humbled that they’d take an opening spot for us, and obviously Selador, who are a very established band.”

Between the three acts that played that night, it’s sure to be a night not to be forgotten (depending on how much you had to drink).

Now, onto other business. This Friday features not one, but two not-to-be missed gigs.

In St. Augustine’s (the church on the Walls) Mary Coughlan is playing. As someone who’s seen Mary live twice (once solo, once with Francis Black and Sharon Shannon), I can guarantee that this is going to be a good show.

The other gig was the subject of last week’s column.

'Sports Against Suicide' event returns to help local charity CALMS

MacD on Music: Rock the Boat

Rock for Choice 2022 is taking place in Sandino’s and features Lunch Machine, Dose, Tramp, Sister Ghost, Cherym and a DJ set from Soak.

It’s another guaranteed great night and is raising money for a very important organisation, Alliance For Choice.

As someone looking forward to both gigs, it’s going to be a tough decision to make.

Time permitting, I’ll hopefully be able to make it to both shows. I do like a challenge.

Anyway, back to Sanchez. He can be found on Facebook and Instagram @sancheztunesofficial. Burgundy is out now and available on all good music platforms.