CREATIVITY: Local musician Liam O'Connor this week talks about the music industry, his creativity during lockdown and future projects. Photo: Michelle Crean

This week journalist with the Killarney Advertiser Sean Moriarty is 'In Conversation' with local musician Liam O'Connor about the music industry, his creativity during lockdown and future projects.

Local musician Liam O’Connor turned lockdown into one of his most creative periods to date.

Like all musicians, he found himself out of work in March and believes he won’t return to live performing until late this year if not early next year.

Named last year as 'Ireland’s Most influential Accordion Player' at the Irish Entertainment Awards, Liam enjoys a hectic schedule - something that did not change over the last four months despite being unable to play live.

His last gig, alongside Dermot Kennedy and special guest Irish rugby coach Joe Schmidt, was the annual St Brendan’s College concert on March 11.

The very next day the country went into shutdown - but instead of feeling sorry for himself, he turned his attention to several projects that had been put on the long-finger as he was previously too busy.

“It was no harm to get out of the rat race,” he told the Killarney Advertiser. “Lockdown became a creative time.”

Liam has put the finishing touches into an album with the RTE Concert Symphony Orchestra which he hopes will be released later this year.

“This was a project that fell by the wayside but I am glad to say we are putting the finishing touches to it now,” he said.

He also hopes to release a single with a song he previously recorded with Boy George.
‘Am I Losing Control’ featured on Liam’s first album ‘Tico Mystico’ which was released in 2010 but the collaboration with Boy George has never been released as a single.

“It has been a creative time for me – I have been fine tuning stuff,” he added.

The work was recently remastered at London’s famous Abbey Road Studio where The Beatles famously recorded their 'Abbey Road’ album that gave the studio its name – it was previously known as the blander EMI Recording Studio.

“All of my albums have now been remastered at Abbey Road,” he said. “It is an amazing place to work, and you get to meet some very talented people there. Of course I could have got them remastered locally - why go to Abbey Road? Why not?”

If that wasn’t enough he has also taken on a new job as a music educator. He has joined the Government’s Music Generation programme, a scheme backed by Bono and U2 to open music education to everyone regardless of background or status.

He will start with the Kerry Education and Training Board, as music teacher/educator in September.

His usual busy schedule at this time of the year would include weddings, pub gigs and a few nights a week performing at Celtic Steps at Killarney Racecourse.

As he is registered for tax purposes he was able to avail of the Government’s COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment of €350 per week for the duration of the shutdown.

“I am thankful that for the first time ever the Government were able to put money in the pockets of the self-employed who hit bad times,” he said. “Not many people would say it but I think Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Simon Harris did a very good job.”

An advocate of mental health well-being Liam has shown that even in the darkest times, creativity continues and life can be very busy even when there is nothing happening.

“I am a total believer in the power of the positive mind,” he said.