After returning with his stunning comeback singles 'Walk It Off' and 'Somewhere To Land' last year, Irish singer-songwriter Mark Duggan is now back for 2024 to deliver his wondrous new offering 'Dance Myself To You'.
Bringing back more of that warm and illustrious folk-rock aesthetic he has been building for himself, 'Dance Myself To You' makes for a wonderfully rich and tender listen. With his distinctive vocal style layered across a sweeping production throughout, he is returning to the fold with one of his most heartfelt efforts to date here.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with him to find out more about his origins and what has been inspiring him most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
The first instrument I fell in love with was the guitar. A lot of people in my family play so it was always a sound I remember hearing at family occasions when they’d come out for a kitchen singsong. My dad had his guitars hanging on the wall so they were always a part of the house in my mind from a young age. I think the desire to get one myself and learn to play came from the initial excitement of properly listening to music. I became obsessed with the songs I was listening to and the guitar was the best way to make those sounds for myself.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
When I got my first mp3 player at around nine years old my dad had already put some music on it for me to get started. I remember Bruce Springsteen’s Lonesome Day and The Beatles’ Ticket To Ride were near the start and I was hooked. The mp3 player could only hold so many songs so I’d have to keep swapping out to get new tracks while also trying to have my favourites on it as well. I eventually got an iPod and just dove head first into their discographies to the point that it actually took me a while to get to the other artists that my dad had also put on the MP3 player with them. When I got to my teens I tended to do a mix of going through all the albums that my dad had and trying to find my own stuff through friends and what I heard about online.
What was the first album you remember owning?
I’m not completely certain what order they came in but I do remember a period of time where I ended up having a lot of greatest hits on CD. I had Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Hits, the Red and Blue albums, a Paul McCartney live in New York City gig, and The Rutles Archaeology. That probably shows how I was a bit singled-minded about those two early on in my music listening. The first records I owned were a bootleg copy of Pink Floyd’s Animals that was on pink vinyl and an original pressing of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
I think I’d have to go with Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road because it is as perfect as music can be for four or five minutes. I think it has such a brilliant structure and works in so many different arrangements. You want to be able to write a song that can stand that type of test and work no matter how you present it. The build-up from that opening piano and harmonica to the final sax solo is just magical. There are so many lines in the song that I'd be delighted to have written. It seems to me to be the perfect encapsulation of everything great that a song can be. If you ever see shots of the crowd during live performances of the song it has an effect on people that I want to be able to replicate. It’s the kind of song that becomes a lifetime companion and means a lot of different things to you over the course of that lifetime.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
I try to sit down with my guitar and a notebook as often as I possibly can and just see where it takes me. I try to collect as many lyrical and musical ideas before I sit down to have something to start with but sometimes starting off completely blank can be a good way to avoid going down familiar routes again and again. I don’t seem to consistently write either lyrics or music first but if I can get both to start to germinate at the same time it seems to make it an easier process. One thing I always try to do is get a version of a song that I can record to a voice memo as quickly as possible. I tend to rewrite a lot of lyrics and find that it is a much easier thing to do if there is a complete version of the song to listen to no matter how rough that first draft might be. It gives a decent idea of where it is the song needs to go and having something to play seems to get my subconscious working on ideas. I also have a list of possible song titles on my phone that I keep adding to. I sometimes find having a title first can make the songwriting process a lot easier to figure out where you need to take the song.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
A few Irish artists I’ve really been loving lately are CMAT and Junior Brother. I think CMAT’s last album was my favourite of 2023 to the point that I enjoyed it so much that I bought it twice. I’ve also been really into Maddison Cunningham lately and am a huge fan of the sounds she gets from her guitar and have been trying to use a bit more vibrato as a result. I also have gone back to listening to albums by The Jam and R.E.M. which has been nice to rediscover some of their stuff that I’d forgotten about. The 25th anniversary of UP was a great way back into those songs and I’d bought my dad Sound Affects for Christmas so I got to hear a lot of those songs around the house the last few weeks.
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Mark Duggan's new single 'Dance Myself To You' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.