Our Song of the Day comes from Dublin-based guitarist and songwriter, Kevin Fowley who is set to release his debut single Oh, Mongrel this November. We have the great pleasure of sharing the accompanying video which was shot on a Dublin beach one cold morning.
He is very much influenced and informed by folk music and guitarists of the Takoma/ American Primitive persuasion and Oh, Mongrel is Fowley’s first release from his debut EP of the same name. It’s fair to say that we’ve been looking forward to sharing this since he got in touch and we’re looking forward to hearing more from this refreshingly unique new talent.
Kevin Fowley on ‘Oh Mongrel:
“The title of the song comes from something Salman Rushdie said about The Satanic Verses. He called it “a love song to our mongrel selves”. This idea of humans as mongrels stuck with me, maybe because it called to my own experience of belonging to more than one culture, or maybe to none in particular.
“Oh, Mongrel is certainly not a love song, it’s a lament of sorts. It’s about conflict on different scales: internal and external, personal and global, micro and macro. It’s about clashing cultural identities and the act of othering – of viewing a person or a people as ‘other’, the whole ‘us and them’ mentality. The song doesn’t offer any resolution at all, but ends with the death of a dog.
“Oh, Mongrel is the first single from my debut record of the same name. Ross Chaney (John Francis Flynn, Subplots) arranged and produced the record. On this song, he also features on electric guitar and keys, with Patrick Cummins-Tipodi on bass.
“The video was shot on a Dublin beach in the small hours of a freezing November morning. The beach was pitch black when we arrived, then slowly became populated by curious dogs, their curious owners, and a group of (mostly nudist) retiree sea swimmers – brave souls. We were shooting the video as a single shot, and in the end, chap-lipped, numb-fingered, swollen-throated, the fifth take made the grade.
“I was very lucky to collaborate with an exceedingly talented and dedicated crew on the video – Peter O’Brien (director), Jar Finnegan (cinematographer), Keith Harrison (focus puller) and John Cutler (graphic effects).”
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