By Geoffrey Rowlands


Most of us have had our heart broken by someone we loved. But few among us have the talent to transform this despair into a song which effectively became the springboard to pop stardom.
“All I Want is about my ex-girlfriend going on holiday with her friends and coming home with a new man,” said Kodaline singer, guitarist, keyboard player and songwriter Stephen Garrigan. “Every song on our debut album, In a Perfect World, is autobiographical either in terms of myself or the band as a whole. But All I Want was particularly difficult to write.
“It happened over three years ago but took about two years for me to actually write the song. I’m one of those people who take a long time to get over things.
“I was just staying at home feeling utterly miserable. Writing the song took a weight off my shoulders. The lyrics were agonising to write because I thought she was the girl I was going to spend my life with. But it ends positively in that I say I’ll find someone else.”
All I Want was originally among the songs on 2012’s The Kodaline EP. It was the Irish quartet’s first chart entry under their new name. They had initially formed in 2006 as 21 Demands.
“We began as a trio. I joined with (guitarist) Mark (Prendergast) and (drummer) Vinny (May) when we were teenagers. We had an amazing start to our career. We came second on a TV talent show and self-released our song, Give Me a Minute. This became the first independently released track to top the Irish singles chart.”
The boys failed to capitalise on this early success. “We were too young. We played a few gigs but didn’t really know what we were doing. We also couldn’t write good songs which were representative of ourselves or our experiences. We quit music to find jobs or go to college.”
In Stephen’s case, he was supposed to be studying law and economics but spent little time in the classroom. “It was soul-destroying. I was going through a bad time in my life anyway and playing music was the only thing that made sense. I began busking and playing small venues around Dublin although my parents thought I was still in college.
“I’d kept in touch with Mark and Vinny and we eventually decided to give the band another try. We’d changed as people but still wanted to make music. Our friend Jason (Boland) joined us to play bass and we became Kodaline.”
The Kodaline EP attracted enough attention to earn them a nomination for the BBC Sound of 2013 poll. Two more records, The High Hopes EP and Love Like This EP, were issued earlier this year before In a Perfect World was released last month. The album topped Ireland’s chart and has so far peaked at number three in Britain.
“I worried about the album before it was released. I listened to the songs and wondered if I should have done different things with them. But it’s an album which is filled with honesty and I’m very proud of it. Thankfully, people seem to have connected with the songs and the response has been great. I hope this means we’ll get the chance to make more albums in the future.”

in brief

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey is not in the best of shape at the moment. The 43-year-old singer suffered a dislocated shoulder when she fell while filming the video for a remix of her hit single, #Beautiful.
The video was directed by her husband, Nick Cannon. Although this prompted the prospect of marital repercussions, Mariah apparently felt the accident was her own fault.
Despite also cracking a rib and chipping her shoulder bone, Mariah returned to the set and finished the video after receiving hospital treatment.
Less than a week later, with her arm resting in slings which were colour co-ordinated to her glamorous gowns, Mariah performed four songs during a charity concert in New York’s Central Park. She appeared as a guest of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Major League Baseball All-Star Charity Concert which benefitted the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund.

Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi is another prominent artist helping with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
Jon and his band have performed at all kinds of fundraising events since the devastating storm struck America’s mainland last October. He has also been financially generous in his own right. Jon recently announced a $1mn donation to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund.
“As a native New Jerseyan, it’s been heartbreaking to see all the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy,” Jon stated. “I’m happy to make this donation to offer real help to the residents of my home town of Sayreville and the nearby, low-lying communities as they rebuild their homes and lives.”
Bon Jovi is currently on their Because We Can world tour promoting the band’s US chart-topping 12th studio album, What About Now. The entire LP can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=6azOedCkVOQ.

Steven Tyler

The passing years take their toll on everyone, even seemingly indestructible rock stars. So it is that Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, who turned 65 last March, will join many of his fellow old age pensioners by undergoing knee replacement surgery.
“I’ve had so many operations on my knees,” Steven reflected. “It’s miraculous that I’m still able to walk. One of my knees is really giving out so I’m having the replacement surgery later this year.”
Steven plans to use his enforced three or four month recovery time working on songs for what will be his first solo album. “It’s not about being unsatisfied by my work with Aerosmith. I just have some musical ideas which wouldn’t really fit in with the kind of songs fans expect to hear from the band. Making a solo album seemed like the best way to develop these ideas.”

78violet

78violet are sisters AJ and Aly Michalka. Known as actresses and models as much as musicians, the girls signed their first record deal as long ago as 2004 when barely into their teens. They originally performed as AJ and Aly before switching to 78violet in 2009.
2007’s Potential Break Up Song has been their biggest-selling single to date. But the girls failed to follow this success releasing just one more single before taking a five-year break from recording.
They finally returned to the studio in late 2012 to record songs for their forthcoming fourth studio album, the first as 78violet. Lead single, Hothouse, was written around one line of lyric from a song which was discarded as not good enough.
Their self-financed video runs for 7 minutes 45 seconds, the opening 3.30 of which effectively acts as a spoken introduction to the song. It can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=xlIcZTU4X78.

Yung Lean

Swedish teen rapper Yung Lean is offering a free download of his Unknown Death 2002 mixtape. All twelve tracks can be heard and downloaded at (no www.) mishkanyc.bandcamp.com/album/unknown-death-2002. The download is given in exchange for your e-mail address which will be added to the MishkaNYC mailing list.
Links to other mixtapes by MishkaNYC artists are posted on the Bandcamp webpage.