Jimmy Monaghan


Jimmy Monaghan is an Irish musician from Belmullet, Ireland. He is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the anti-folk band Music for Dead Birds. He has also released music under various monikers including The Crytearions and Christian Bookshop.

Early life

He was born in Danbury, Connecticut, and moved to Ireland as a child. As a teenager he was an amateur boxer, winning four Irish national titles. He won a silver medal at the 2004 Four Nations tournament boxing for Ireland and received the Western People Sports Star of the year award the same year. During his time representing Ireland internationally he fought against the German amateur boxer :de:Gottlieb Weiss|Gottlieb Weiss.

Music

Monaghan has stated that his early musical influences were Irish traditional music and nu-metal. His first album with Music for Dead Birds, And then it rained for seven days, was released in 2009 by the Irish record label Rusted Rail. In July 2012 Psychonavigation Records released an album of his instrumental piano recordings under his Irish name Seamus O'Muineachain. The Irish Times reviewed the album positively, calling it "a tremulous if tranquil success." Bleep.com said of the album "He reveals ten tracks of delicately crafted classicism, a unique piano soundtrack indebted with heart-wrenching cinematic emotion." To promote the album he performed at The Electric Picnic festival in September, 2012. The song Shadowboxing from the album was put into rotation on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the song I Am Always in Your Power was used in the Emmy Award nominated series Beat Girl. Throughout 2012 he played drums for the Galway based folk band Yawning Chasm. In 2013 he released the lo-fi punk album I See What It Is And I Am Scared under the pseudonym 'The Crytearions'. The album found a following on-line from internet radio stations such as Dandelion Radio and music blogs including Tiny Mix Tapes. One review posted by thumped.ie called the album "Uncompromising, entirely unpolished and, in places, not entirely pleasant". In 2017 he produced and released the instrumental Cloves, the second album to be released under his Irish name Seamus O'Muineachain. The track Forest Frost was released to radio and broadcast by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. Shortly after its release, the album was The Irish Times New Release of The Week and was later featured on Star's End 2017 end of year list. In 2019 he released the album City of Lakes while living in Hanoi, Vietnam. The lead track Impossible to Know was broadcast on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and RTÉ Radio 1, while the track 'Ghosts' was included on Star's End 2019 year in review show. In March 2020, KEXP and KDHX premiered tracks from his fourth solo album Blue Moon Set. The album received a positive review in Rockerilla magazine and was featured on BBC Radio 6 Music. Several music videos were created for the album, including a video for 'Slow Closing Day' by Irish experimental film-maker Maximilian Le Cain.

Dramatic Work

His first stage play, Knock, knock, was performed in February 2011 by the Erris Performing Arts Group in his home town of Belmullet, Co Mayo. Later that year his radio drama Thumb was shortlisted for the RTÉ PJ O'Connor Award. In 2015 he appeared in a Maltese stage production of Butterflies Are Free which ran at Saint James Cavalier in Valletta.

Personal life

In 2016 an image of him cycling on the Aran Islands was used on an Irish post stamp.

Discography

With Music for Dead Birds
Albums
EPs
 As Seamus O'Muineachain
As The Crytearions
Albums
Compilations
Other