If you ask DM members who they listen to most regularly, one of the answers you are likely to hear is FraDonaghy. While always active here at DM, and always creating and sharing his beautiful music, he remains one of the most private DM members around. That makes him a perfect subject for February's Spotlight Interview!
FraDonaghy is the internet name for Francis Donaghy, a 27 year old singer/songwriter from Belfast, Ireland. From an early age, he has always had an interest in all things musical. He grew up listening to his parents' music, pretending to be in a band singing along with his siblings. In those days, a hairbrush was his microphone of choice. His first experience with real instruments was when he was 11 years old and started music class in school. In Ireland, for the first three years of school, everyone learns the same instruments - the recorder and the keyboard. After that, if the student wants to continue on, an area of speciality has to be chosen. Fra chose to continue and decided to specialize in piano/keyboard. Eventually, according to Fra, he realized that was a bad choice! Realizing he loved rock music and he hated the class, he left the class altogether. He attributes that decision to the day the teacher announced they would be discussing The Four Seasons and she meant Frankie Valli and not Vivaldi!
While he left the class, he did not give up music. One year before, his brother had recieved an acoustic guitar as a gift. The guitar had been abandoned for months so Fra picked it up and soon taught himself some of the basics from a book. Over time, he became more familiar with the instrument and began teaching himself some of the songs that he liked to hear. At times, he would gather a few school friends and learn how to play some of his favorite band's songs from a TAB book. Most of his mates were listening to Nirvana, REM and Oasis and Fra admits he was too but he also liked to play along to The Shadows, Roy Orbison, Elvis and the like. Fra says "I guess singing along to my parents' music in my younger days shaped my taste as much as the current bands were shaping my playing style."
While he was still learning to play, he started experimenting with writing songs. He would write the words and add the chords above the appropriate syllables. He admits that leaving music school left him with little technical knowledge but it didn't matter. He began recording his ideas, usually just playing his guitar and singing into a Dictaphone so he would remember the melody later. Eventually, this became a very rough 21 song demo on cassette.
When he entered the University, he had less time for music. He "stepped away" from writing for about 6 years. Then, in July 2004, a friend sent him the link to a website where anyone could post their own songs. That is when Francis Donaghy became FraDonaghy - a member of DMusic. He posted his song "Belong" and a few of the older ones he had previously recorded. The feedback from DMusic was unbelievable and it re-ignited the writer in him. Fra was thrilled that people listened and liked what they heard. He also came to appreciate the pointers other DM members were giving him. He credits DMusic as a major turning point in seeing himself as a musician, and in helping him improve as a writer, performer and, according to Fra, a person. He has collaborated with some of the best undiscovered talent around, most notably Deane, whom he calls "the Lennon to my McCartney". They have worked on no less than 15 songs to date! He is also one of the most covered musicians at DM. There are 3 other versions of "Belong" on the site!
Since joining DM, Fra has begun writing steadily with over 60 complete songs written and most of them either recorded or in various stages of recording. He has begun to play live at open mics when possible which, he says, gives him that allows him the chance to see how his songs make the grade in front of a live audience. He has plans to branch out into other cities and is working on at least 14 ideas right now.
There have been so many great Irish artists. Are there any Irish artists who have influenced you?
Yeah, I guess so. U2 were at their peak during my teens, and while I was not really a U2 fan until many years later – I was very aware of their existence. Other than that obvious answer though, I really like listening to a guy called Luka Bloom – who mostly performs cover songs, but adds his own unique twist and really makes them his own. I’d list him as an influence because I have adopted his versions of both “When Doves Cry” and “Dancing Queen” into my live sets.
I also remember that when I first got an electric guitar one of the first guitar solos I desperately tried to imitate was “Whiskey In The Jar” by Thin Lizzy – does that count?
You're well recognized for your beautiful guitar playing. What guitarists have influenced or inspired you?
Thank you. There’s only one real contender here – Lindsey Buckingham. Sad thing is too that I only really discovered him about a year ago in all honesty. It happened by chance that a friend of mine, and fellow DMusic member, Songstress, sent me a few Fleetwood Mac live recordings, and when I heard him play “Big Love” I knew I had to learn how to play it. I think it’s great how he uses both amazing technical skills without sacrificing the melody or “catchiness” of the songs. Learning from him has really opened up my playing to a level I never expected to reach, and made me hungry to go on and learn more.
Before Lindsey though, I spent my formative years listening to bands like The Shadows. I’d record myself playing the rhythm guitar parts, and then play them back while playing the lead guitar over the top… with varying degrees of success!
Describe your recording set up?
This is where it gets very un-technical. Basically I use an 8 track recording program (Magix Music Maker) that I got free with a magazine. I plug all instruments and microphones into the PC via a USB pre-amp, and that is really all there is to it.
It does the job!
Where and when did you get your first guitar and did you give it a name? If so, what name?
My first guitar was never really my own. My younger brother had received a nylon string acoustic for Christmas when he was around 12 years old, but over time he abandoned it and one day I decided to pick it up and see what I could do with it.
The first one that I actually bought myself was when I was around 17 – from a second-hand store in town. That was my only guitar until recently when I splashed out on a semi acoustic so I could start playing at open mics.
I’ve never actually given a guitar a name to be honest. I’ve never had reason to call one.
How long have you been playing?
I started around the age of 14… and I am 27 now, so roughly 13 years.
If you could play at any venue in the world, where would it be and why?
I’ll play anywhere that will have me! I get a huge buzz just from playing at the open mic nights, so anywhere beyond that would just be a bonus.
Do you need to be inspired to write a song or does it just come to you from some other source?
It’s a strange thing, sometimes a song can jump out at me, other times I just have to wait patiently. The hardest part about writing for me is the lyrics. I can come up with melodies until the cows come home, but finding words that fit is usually a difficult process. When I say “fit” I don’t just mean in terms of syllables… I try to make the words mean something – at least to me if no-one else – and if they don’t seem right I can really stretch out the song writing process for months.. or in the case of a few torturous examples, even years.
Thankfully though with Dmusic, I have the option of asking other artists for help if it gets too much of a nightmare. The best person I know for filling in the gaps in what I can do is Deane. Many times I have sent her songs that are just musical ideas and she has added words and finished them off exactly how I would have liked to myself.
As far as inspiration goes though, it can come from any number of areas. Anyone who has listened to a few of my songs knows that relationships are a major theme, but even small things in life can have an effect on the songs I write. I remember one time I was watching an episode of “The South Bank Show” with Melvin Bragg interviewing Phillip Pullman, and I wrote a song about that, and then in my early days of writing I took the words from a story a friend wrote aged 7, and turned that into a song… so yeah, all kinds of everything can get me started.
It seems you are one of the most covered artists at DM. How does it feel when other people cover your music?
It feels great! I believe there are three other versions of “Belong” on the site now, as well as one other version of “Broke” – plus Deane recorded “In The Way” way back when I first joined the site. It’s amazing to listen in on how other people take your song and make it their own. First of all it shows that the song means something to someone else, and then on a more practical level (and this is especially true with “Belong”) it opens my own eyes/ears to alternative ways to treat the song too. After listening to the covers of that song, it has now evolved through three makeovers to its current, final condition on my page.
How did you first discover your vocal range and do you do anything to keep that range in tact?
To be honest, I have no idea what my vocal range is. I just try to sing, and see what happens. I have had comments from people in the past asking me who the girl doing backing vocals is, and I take great amusement from telling them that it is in fact me. I have no idea why I sing the way I do, but I can assure you (and Steven Davies) I have not been castrated or anything like that. I just stumbled on the fact I was able to sing by singing along to people like Roy Orbison, Neil Diamond, Elvis, Frankie Valli etc at karaoke nights. I actually won a karaoke competition once, but typically, the one time I win something, I had already went home and someone who was sitting at my table got the prize instead!
Are you or do you plan to make music your career?
If it happens, it happens. I think when you are a musician, or any kind of artist you have to keep your head in the clouds but your feet on the ground. Yeah, it would be a dream come true if I could make a living out of doing this, because it is genuinely something I love to do, but realistically – the chances of it are slim, so I have to keep doing the day job in the meantime.
Describe your experience at DM and how it has helped get your music to the listeners.
When I first signed up at DM the community response to my songs was extremely encouraging, they saw past the technical issues with the recordings and praised the songs – but at the same time offered friendly pointers on how to improve. While I am by no means the finished article, I have definitely improved a lot, both as a performer, and in terms of production, in the two and a half years that I’ve been here, and that is 100% due to DMusic. The confidence that this gave me, enabled me to let other people in the “real world” listen to my songs – and made the transition from playing in my bedroom to playing on stage regularly, a much easier one.
I’ll be honest though and say that with the recent changes to the site a lot of people who follow the link from the bottom of my emails are getting back to me, telling me they find the site difficult to navigate. I have explained how to stream and download more times than I care to mention, and I recently posted a “how to” on the artist overview page in the hope that it helps future visitors.
I bring this up here because you asked how the site is helping get my music to the listeners and as helpful as it has been to this point, I think we need to address this issue with the artist page as soon as possible. The music is after all, the reason we are here.
It is indeed and you can hear Fradonaghy's wonderful music here
http://doubleblind.dmusic.com/music/
My thanks to Fra for this interview. See you all next month!
Mary
FraDonaghy
ShadowMom
Rodrica
jd
KitRumble
Tattoomom
leflaw
