On day ten of this year’s Music Interview Marathon, we speak to solo artist pMad who shares the challenges of working as a solo musician and the importance of hope.
Artist’s Name: pMad (Paul Dillon)
Genre: Goth Rock, Post Wave, Darkwave
Founded: 2021
Originated From: Portumna, Co. Galway, Ireland
Discography: Who Am I (single, 2021), Medicine (single, 2022) & Sisters (single, 2022)
How would you describe your music?
It has been described as lots of things by lots of people. But that is not the question, making it all the more difficult. I have mixed so many different genres of music from so many different pieces of music I have put together over the years that it has probably moulded into an 80’s type goth rock style.
Although through the album, you will get the feel of some metal, alt-rock, synthwave, etc. So really a wide variety of influences to my style of music.
What is your musical creative process like?
Not sure you could call it a process, the future albums/song will be a process. But it has taken years to get this far. The process seems to have happened in two stages, one taking years. Now and again recording bits and pieces of songs, lyrics, riffs and basslines, telling myself someday it will all be put together.
Fast forward to a pandemic and stage two, the magic of technology and pulling all the bits and pieces together into a sometimes coherent form and making a song out of it. People tell me they hear this and that influence in each song and they are all correct, just so much influence from so many different styles, genres, artists, that it is what it is.
How did you come up with your artist name?
pMad was quite simple – it is the initials in my name and I always thought that would be my artist name, just the artwork has changed over the years to what we finally have now.
Who influenced you within the music industry?
I am a huge music fan and totally new to the music industry other than a consumer of it. So not influenced by anyone in particular, except the artists. I consume music of all sorts daily, new, old and of all genres, I love it.
My musical influences are so broad and I think it will come across in the singles and album. Dark goth, new wave/80s, metal, indie and alt-rock. I’m a sucker for a bass line.
I was a big Cure-head in the day and still Goth (The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, etc), that looked out of place at Indie ‘A House’, Fugazi/Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr, loving Tom Waits to Suicidal Tendencies. Varied inspiration coming out in what I create, I hope.
Have you performed live much and what was your favourite gig to play at?
Being a pandemic creation, I have never had the pleasure of gigging. So looking forward to the days that we do. So much put into producing the music, that I do not want to be on a stage without giving a great show to the customer and they go away each night saying, ‘I enjoyed that, that was a good night’ – the exact thing I say when I come away from a good gig.
So that will take time to perfect and as a solo artist, even harder. But I have ideas and will work on them and hope my thickness in attitude comes through in putting it together.
What is the best thing about being a musician?
Good question because I am still just a new artist!! It is therapy for me, I just lose myself in music, whether it is other’s music or my own. The best thing about it for me is that I create music that I love for me. That is the most important thing, I know what I like and I like what pMad has created. I believe if I like it, maybe some other people might also.
There surely has to be someone out there that has a similar taste in music to me that wouldn’t fill too many stadiums but that is not what the main aim is for. If it was for fame or favour I would not be creating this music. I create for myself first and I think a few others may also like it too, well hopefully! Being a musician gives me the chance to create music to my liking, wow, when you say it out loud, where will it lead?
What’s the biggest problem you’ve had to overcome so far as a musician(s)?
Strangely enough, the time the pandemic gave me to create pMad has now been taken away from me. Everything is just so busy and as a one-man show, artist, agent, promoter etc and all that goes with real life, time is a full-on event at present.
What plans have you got coming up this year?
No goals no visions, but have lots of pMad music to release, about five or six singles, two EPs and an album, a couple of extended versions and a few remixes.
My latest single, Sisters, is my take on those we love and gone too soon. They don’t go away very far, they walk beside us every day….. having left such an impression on us! They are still loved, still missed and a very important influence on our lives.
The song is a simultaneously intense, dark, brooding and yet hopeful. Showcasing high-energy guitars and an organically authentic drum line, Sisters is a emotionally warm indie rock song that boldly presents a post-punk / rock sound and lyrical style. As always I have the listener thinking, with my powerful lyrics, this time on the love and loss of those closest to us.
What is your ultimate dream as a musician?
I am not a dreamer, very much a realist. I know my limitations and am not afraid to ask for help. So if I am to dream, I will need lots of help. As I said, I have the songs ready to go and will do the work of ten to get them out there, but ultimately it will be the power of others, the belief of others and the money of others that will decide if a dream can be created. I hope so, pMad is all about hope, not dreams. Hope is attainable where dreams will mostly always stay as dreams. Hope takes hard work, Hope requires great faith, Hope will come from within. We all need a bit of hope, sorry, if that knocks the dreamers, I don’t mean to, but I feel hope will bring your dreams into reality quicker than just dreaming. If that makes any sense. Believe in yourself, you can do this!
You can find out more about pMad by following him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
If you’re in a band or a musician and would like to appear on this blog, please contact me and I’ll forward you an interview template.
Also, check out my other Music Interview roundups from 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021.
