No gigs, but Plastic Cowboys keep the creativity flowing

Splinter, debut EP by Plastic Cowboys, out March 12

The Plastic Cowboys won’t be able to generate the high energy they usually enjoy with live audiences for some time, so instead they are going to record as much music as possible this year.

The Plastic Cowboys are a Westmeath three-piece who have been identified as ‘ones to watch’ and who describe their sound as “a mix of ’90s to 2000s indie music, with elements of 70s punk in there as well”.

That’s the description offered by the bass player, Darren McCarthy, who’s from Gaulmoylestown, and who told the Westmeath Examiner about the background to the band. The other members are Joe Monaghan from Ballinalack and Ciaran McGann from Athlone, and this is how the trio started working together.

“I was doing audio work on documentaries for a non-profit called Cuala Foundation (run by Susan McKeown) and audio pieces for singer songwriters,” said Darren, “and through that I met Ciaran, because he had started to work on a project for Cuala as well, where he was going to write some songs that I was going to record.”

That project didn’t get off the ground but the lads kept in contact: “He sent me demos and stuff that he was working on,” said Darren. “Shortly after, I started working in Wavefarm Productions, a studio in Dublin, and he sent me an EP that he had put together himself, and asked me for feedback on it.

“It was good but he’s not a mix engineer, he’s more a songwriter, so I suggested he should come in to the studio and we could record some pieces together, and I could make an EP for him with Kevin Brennan, who runs the studio.

“One thing led to another, and we had a great chemistry in the studio, and a good working relationship, so we decided to just turn it into a band, because we were already doing everything together when it came to the music, so we said we might as well make it official.”

That was two of the three members, and Joe was an obvious choice as drummer, as he had Darren had gone to college together and had played in various bands on the Mullingar music scene.

Darren said: “When I left CBS Mullingar in 2013, I started a PLC in Cavan and that’s where I met Joe. From there we ended up doing our Bachelor’s degrees together in Tralee.

“We played in several bands before and had done the whole Danny’s circuit, and that kind of thing, but we had never been in an originals band together – so we needed a drummer and I suggested Joe to Ciaran. Ciaran met him and we started practising, and we just clicked – there was chemistry there.

“We asked Joe if he’d be interested in becoming a full member and then when he did, we hit the ground running.” Joe said the three Plastic Cowboys are a good mix: “Ciaran would have ideas – he’d have very clear vision of what he wants – and he’ll approach Darren and me and we’ll give our spin on it.

“Ciaran writes all the material, I’d provide a backline with drums. I have a sound engineering background as well, the same as Darren, and we’d work together deciding on arrangements and tones and the style of instrument we want, depending on the track – that whole creative process.”

Darren says their sound is “not overly aggressive”.

“It wouldn’t be overly influenced by 70s punk either, especially the new EP, but we had a single called ‘That Was Cool’, which was very influenced by that, mostly because Ciaran and I grew up listening to bands like The Clash and The Ramones, and then the more pop element came from Pink Floyd and The Beatles, and we mashed everything together.

“Something we try to do is keep our influences there but try not to be copy cats or overly influenced by them; we try to make everything as original as possible.”

The Cowboys (asked to explain the name, the lads were coy: “We like to keep that one to ourselves,” said Ciaran) have three singles on Spotify:– 99, which came out in 2019, their latest single, None Like You, came out in December 2020, and they are releasing their debut EP, ‘Splinter’, on March 12.

They’re on most streaming services and on YouTube as well.

Like everyone else in entertainment, the pandemic has hit them too: “Covid-19 disrupted our plans a bit. In early 2020 we had just played the Whelan’s Ones to Watch festival and we’d done some live sessions on RTÉ radio, so we were just starting to get going,” said Darren.

“But Covid put a halt to it, so we took everything into our own hands. For the EP, all the guitar and bass was recorded in my house – I set up a home studio – so Ciaran and I recorded all the guitar and bass and then at Daylight studios in Dublin, with Fiachra Kinder, we recorded the drums.

“Our plan for this year is to record as much music and possible. As soon as the lockdown lifts, we’re going to record another EP, so the plan is to do between two and three EPs this year and get the music out there.

“We can’t do live gigs so we’re trying to keep the interest growing as much as possible and we’re also trying to keep our own creativity going as much as we can.”

Joe, whose father played with The Monaghans, added: “It’s been tough getting things done recently, but we have definite plans in the pipeline, and especially with the current EP. We put two years of work into it, and we feel we have, in terms of production and sound and the whole creative process, come into our own sound, and it’s exciting to see something we’ve spent months coming to fruition.”

Darren, who also has music in the family – his cousin Jamie McKeogh is in Jig Jam – said the band would like to thank Kevin Brennan, who runs Wavefarm – he did all the mixing for our EP, and George Hooker, who did the music video.

NEW EP

Splinter is the upcoming EP by the Plastic Cowboys.

The EP deals with issues such as mental health, escapism and hangovers.

The lead single, 'None Like You', was released in December and has amassed some 3,300 streams on Spotify and the music video has garnered more 3,500 views on YouTube.

Follow the Plastic Cowboys on Facebook.