The Mining Co. is the musical project of Ireland born, London based singer/songwriter Michael Gallagher, who is releasing his new EP, Three Kings, via PinDrop Records on 29th November 2019. The EP follows the Frontier album that came out on 18th October 2019 on which Bob Fish concluded in his Folk Radio review:
Separating the detritus from the gold takes a steady hand and a heart dedicated to the task. The Mining Company and Michael Gallagher prove to be equal to the task on Frontier. His Andalusian odysseys have proven fruitful yet again.
He’s come up trumps again on this Christmas EP…Michael kindly agreed to talk us through the tracks which you can also hear in full below.
The album is inspired by a heartfelt love for Christmas and all the classic traditions of the season, Michael explains “I wanted to write something sincere and capture the Christmases I remember; the Nativity, ghost stories, gifts, family, and also the melancholy it brings, when you look back nostalgically”. These poignant memories combine with more recent Christmases spent in Spain, where the Nativity scenes that appear in every town have connected with something powerful from Michael’s upbringing in Ireland. In terms of the musical inspirations, Michael has been inspired by everything from Scrooge (Albert Finney version – check out that special Christmas photo, he really looks the part) to Johnny Mathis and Jona Lewie as well as traditional folk songs I Saw Three Ships, Holly and The Ivy and The Little Drummer Boy. Alongside these traditional and pop culture influences, Michael also drew inspiration from recording in Spain with his great friend and long-term collaborator Paco Loco, who brought in Spanish guitar for Ghost Writer and Holloway, Latino rhythms on Christmas No1 and Ghost Writer, as well as the children’s chorus on Long Way to Christmas, and the marching snare drum on Wild Gift.
https://soundcloud.com/the-mining-company/sets/three-kings-ep/s-Hk2qe
The Mining Co. – Three Kings EP (Track by Track)
1. Long Way To Christmas: The build-up to Christmas for me is the part I enjoy the most, I even prefer Christmas Eve to Christmas Day. This song is about not wishing that atmosphere of excitement and anticipation to end, and knowing the emptiness that is left after Christmas day. For me it feels like a mountain to climb to get through another year, another long road, leading to the joy of the Christmas season again.
2. Christmas No 1: This song was inspired by crooners of 70s Christmas songs, but using memories to the past from light-up plastic log fires, to the contemporary streets of neon Christmas lights adorning houses. It also refers to the loneliness Christmas can sometimes bring. Failed relationships and no one to share with can make the ceremony and decoration meaningless, and when all is said and done, nothing is as important as being with someone you love.
3. Wild Gift: Literally I was a ‘Little Drummer Boy’, I played the drummer in my school Nativity, I loved it, and thought it fitting to add the marching drum in this song, as a nod to my past. Wild Gift is about the biggest gift, the baby Jesus. The song is full of promise, full of joy and describes the original gift, expressed in the change of tempo in the chorus, which is upbeat and celebratory.
4. Ghost Writer: I love ghost stories around this time of year and wrote this song from the point of view of the ghost of a failed writer, bitter and twisted, a character like Ebenezer Scrooge. The ghost is taking his failings out on the living, while haunting and influencing us, while we write to our loved ones at Christmas time.
5. Holloway: One of the first cassette tapes my parents bought when we were young was Jim Reeves. His song ‘The Blizzard’ always resonated with me as a Christmas song, although it’s not. This song had a big influence in writing Holloway. As a family, we moved to London from Ireland, to Holloway Road, North London. With 5 of us children sharing one bedroom and discovering it was my parents leaving the gifts, not Father Christmas, it was easy to find our presents and play with them at night without them knowing. We did this long before they could wrap them and hide them for Christmas. Christmases here are probably my happiest memories.
The songs for Three Kings were written by Michael at home in London, and rehearsed and recorded in Andalucía, Spain in Autumn 2019 with producer Paco Loco in El Puerto de Santa María, Paco is acclaimed as a producer for his work with luminaries such as Josh Rouse, Gary Louris (Jayhawks), Josephine Foster and Hinds. Three Kings EP features guest musicians Jesús Cabral Herrera (bass) and Karlos Arancegui (drums) and the strings arrangements were composed and performed by violinist and composer Cristina Gestido.
Find out more here: theminingco.co.uk