DIGGING DEEPER
GEORGE O’HANLON NEVER GIVE UP...
I am songwriter, and musician. Keep playing, keep writing and don’t over think it. I never did too well in school, having tried and failed to do ‘real A levels’ I spent two years at a music college in Guildford. Music was my back up plan and if all else was to fail then I’d just keep working at the shop down the road, write songs that I might end up playing down the pub a couple nights a month to people who’d probably didn’t care. It was really the only thing I actually enjoyed. I met my manager (Lee) through my mate's band during my time at college and in January 2019 I played my first show in London at The Troubadour. We started to put a plan together and I went into a couple of writing sessions one of which I came out with “The Storm”. Words by George O'Hanlon
Then college finished and I was done with education I was back in a place of indecision. My mum said to me “keep at it with the music. Do it for 18 months and see what happens.” A lot of what I do ad how I’ve ended up here tends to be a result of seeing what might happen rather than having a desired outcome. September of that year my manager got me in touch with a producer (Charlie) at Dean Street in Soho. I remember walking in there the first time not sure what to expect, but we clicked and I was there every week from then onwards. I was working two jobs and the rest of the time I would spend in London recording or at home writing and by January we were ready to get them recorded with a band. Me, Charlie and my band went into the Fish Factory and worked flat out for two days we came out with 8 songs. 24
By that point we were ready to start playing gigs and got a few booked in, but of course coronavirus struck and we were left unsure of what was going to happen. I was 6 months into my year and a half of giving it a go, and I didn’t have a clue how I was going to make it work. I just kept writing and recording on my own sending my ideas out to Lee and Charlie. In July Lee called me to say that EMI wanted to have a chat which ended up with me signing with them in September. Since then I’ve finished two EPs and continue to work on new songs. This year I’ll be playing a bunch of UK gigs including Live at Leeds, plus London Calling in Amsterdam and the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg. My debut 4 song EP is out now (30th July).
