Sean Griffin

This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast is brought to you in association with the Strong Coffee Company. More from them in a bit. Welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast with Sue and Nick and today our special guest is Sean Griffin. Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment. Chatterbox, the best interviews with Nick and Sue. Chatterbox, the best news And now in Chatterbot, we're just lucky enough to welcome Sean Griffin.

Sean, hello. Welcome, sir. How are you? Hey, Sean. You're good. Thanks so much for having me. No, thank you. It's great. Great to meet you. And right, before we start talking about the album and the new single Space Girls, let's tell us, as it's the first time we've met you and you've been new to quite a few of the member stations, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and what your influences were and how you got here? Take as long or as short as you

like. It's up to you. OK. Well, I'm living in Kingston, New York now, which is in the Hudson Valley. Kingston was the first capital of New York. It was originally a Dutch settlement from the 1600s, so kind of old for the States. Yeah, I've been here a while, moved up from the Bronx.

Got started with music, you know, like a lot of us. When I was a kid, just grew up in a family. My dad was always singing. He sang barbershop and my mom played accordion and did some Irish step dancing. And we kind of just grew up with

that kind of thing. And all of us singing in the car and just being... always having a party piece you know to sing and when we'd have you know kitchen sessions or things like that growing up so just you know that was just kind of part of what we were used to and when i was uh like 14 started my first punk band started writing songs then um entered some battle of the bands at school and that things of that kind of Nature and then in college started a band called svelte,

which is very Brit pop kind of influenced at the time that was back in the early early 90s and and then Got into a band with my brother the ruffians Which is kind of an Irish punk Celtic punk kind of band and we started that back in 97 started doing shows in 98 and Been playing with that all throughout And this is my first solo record. So I grew up with obviously a lot of Irish music in the house and things like that.

And then also my dad loved 50s music, always that, and a lot of vocal standards here and stuff with barbershop, hearing songs from the 20s and the 40s and things like that. Really loved the 50s music. He always played it. So when I first heard the Ramones, Leave Home was like the first record that I really heard that I was like, wow, this just sounds like 50s music sped up. And,

you know, really liked that. And then obviously got into the Pistols and The Clash and then eventually The Smiths and The Cure, Billy Bragg and, you know, things like that. And then, yeah, like I said, all the Britpop stuff really liked, you know, Pulp and Blur, Oasis, Suede, Supergrass, all that kind of stuff. Absolutely great sound. It's a very exciting time when that all came out in the 90s. It was. It really put music up.

I think it was a bit lost. We had that sort of dance stuff for Tour Unlimited and that sort of stuff. And then brick pop came along and it was quite a breath of fresh air, I thought. It was a great sound for a few years. It really was. Yeah, it was wonderful. And yeah, and then obviously the Pogues and, you know, just Bothy

Band and Dubliners, things like that. And then, yeah, so just kind of that was my I'm sure there's a million things that influence me that I'm unaware of or haven't mentioned, but that's just some

of the things that kind of come to mind. Well, I wondered initially, and also looking at your T -shirt, before I even heard you speak, I was actually wondering if you were actually an Irish -American anyway, that there might be some quite Irish links in the past. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we've got pretty much both sides of my family, pretty strong Irish roots. Is there not more Irish people in New York than there is in Ireland?

Is that a fact? I don't know. If you go back to two generations, however many, however many generations they take it back to have that link, it was something really ridiculous like that. Is there not seven million in Ireland or is it not that many? I don't know. Anyway, yeah, so that's okay. I think Ireland's hovering around five million at the moment. And I know there's about 400 ,000 people of Irish descent in New York City. Between the country, we've got about

30 million plus. Wonderful. Yeah, so there's a lot. Like in London, there's about 800 ,000 people of Irish descent. Yeah, so it's kind of, you know, it's a good... So sorry. She has to say hello. She has to say hello to everybody. Now she's seen you. She's great. She's rubbing around and around our legs. So there we go. Yes. Bless her. That's Twinkle. So sorry. I was thinking that one day maybe we just put all the videos together of her meeting everybody. It's even

Susie Quattro and Pete Best of the Beatles. Everybody. So you're up there with them. And just Twinkle meeting everybody. I just think it'd make a great video. Yeah, so, you know, that was it. And still enjoying, you know, obviously new stuff, you know, always trying to hear new people, new things.

So nice about this record, this solo record has kind of forced me to think about this new business model with everything being online and social media, all that kind of stuff. So, you know, getting to check out a lot of artists just kind of seeing what they're up to. So the Space Girls

song itself. I must say, you close your eyes and the beginning, you could almost, and I was saying to Sue, cast yourself back to that era of the Beatles towards the end when they were sort of getting a little bit adventurous with the drug, not so insinuated for a minute you're into drugs of course if you were on LSD when you're writing it, but it was that sort of era of the Beatles and I thought Wow, this is really psychedelic and great. I've just talked to sound

effects. To me, that's how I interpreted it because people probably interpret it differently. But yeah, that was my interpretation of it. I thought it was really great. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, just studying music in college, you get turned on to all kinds of things, you know, John Cage and some contemporary Philip Glass and different things. So I really like the idea of, yeah, sounds. So we were really trying to go for like a lot of that, like just sound effects and different.

different kind of things. There was actually quite a lot more. Some of it kind of got cut out, but some of it was a little too wild. Oh, it's a shame. Maybe there could be some time, maybe when you do your vinyl or something or you do your deluxe version, that could be the

bonus track sorted. Yeah, I've always worried with the radio that they're just going to start right where the guitar riff comes in and like kind of not have that in the beginning, because some people don't have the attention span, sadly, to get through four seconds of something. No, we'll be playing it. It was great. Well, listen, it's a talking point that we've got, so hopefully... Maybe the Brits have a different way on their radio, because I like a good introduction or

a little soundbite or something on a song. I think it can make it. I mean, it sounded great, a lot of 80s songs, but no, I mean, it was great. You'll probably find over here it'll probably get played in its entirety, because, say, we're talking about it, aren't we? You know, it's working. It's working. And there's nothing like actually having a CD instead of downloading. Well there, thank you for saying that. So yes, we've got in our hands, we've got a beautiful CD album,

Sean Griffin, People Are Mad. Is it called People Are Mad? Well, it's the title track, you know, so it is the title track. But yeah, I mean, just we're all a little mad, aren't we? I mean, it's just, you know, kind of the Irish sense of, you know, redundancy of crazy, right? Some version of it. Where we grew up, I grew up in Connecticut initially. So we were by Danbury, Connecticut. And Danbury is known as Hat City. So people who were making the hats were always exposed to mercury

in the dyes. And they would act very crazy. And they got known as being the Mad Hatters. And that's where they had come from. So it was kind of funny. So just that idea of, you know, the next town over, it was like the mascot was the mad hat or is everything was the mad hat city and that kind of thing. So I guess it just kind of always planted in me and just, you know, I was prone to muttering it under my breath. People

are mad all the time. It was my way of just not going crazy or losing it or yelling at someone. I'd just be like. People are mad. You come out of it quite well, so there can't be mercury in the water as well, so you must be good. Could I ask about the lovely picture of your daughter on the CD? Oh yeah, that's my youngest, that's Maren. So she was in the video for People Are

Mad. So there's a line in People Are Mad and it says, people are mad, people are crazy, from the moment you're born till you're pushing up daisies. So we use the daisy imagery quite a bit. in the record, in the video, and in the song. So in the video, she is holding out daisies at the end. So we just kind of grab that snippet and use it. And it's funny because throughout the video, she's passing out daisies to people. So she's also kind of in a way, she's almost

like a little Grim Reaper. Even though she's youth. So it's got a couple different things in it. There's your youth and the rest of it. So there it is. That's Maren. She's my youngest. Youngest. She rules the roost here at home. Wonderful. You've done yourself proud with the CD. This is what a proper CD should be like. You've got the lovely picture of you on the front. You've got a lovely... Yeah, notes, we say, CD notes. Nice monochrome picture, black and white picture.

That's nice. The first thing I saw was the CD, the picture on the CD. Beautiful. Thank you. If you pop it off, there's another one behind it. Oh! Oh, wow. Hmm. Good. And on the back slope, as you know. Oh, there you go. And you also wanted to ask about that one. Oh, yeah. Could I ask?

We'd be thinking all sorts here. It's probably obvious, but... Track 80s. JFK. Is it obvious about JFK or are we just being brutes? It's actually about the airport and it's not about the man. Okay. So it's about summer love on a J -1 visa. So kids come over from all over the world to the states in the summertime and they get a three month visa, working visa and a lot of times summer love happens. So it's about summer love on a J -1 visa and then dropping someone off at the

airport. That's great at the end of it and then this person reflecting back on it and then You know as an older person and kind of thinking of it But then it builds and and and then the person saying come away with me and it gets quite You think the song is ending and it really builds like quite a bit. We've got great singers in it and we've got a harp It's quite orchestral almost. And it's the highest note that I sing on the record. I sing an E above high C on that.

one. It's like a yodel almost. The new Frank Ifield. That's another talking point. Just JFK. So there you go. So there's a British saying, JFK, what's that one about? There you go. Perfect. So we've got a lovely song and a story out of it. Yeah. Yes, it was nice. It kind of ties in with the Irish New York scene, which kind of I've always been part of. So it kind of pulls in, you know, JFK, the imagery and the airport.

and the whole thing. Wonderful. I'm going to say, well I shouldn't say it, but this is the best CD we've had brought to us so far and I'm being honest, best CD ever. Well packaged, very well packaged. Also, even having the package so I can put it back in there to keep it in good condition. Yeah, it's got a little pocket that, isn't that nice? Yeah, brilliant. And I should really put my little pin badge on, shouldn't you, really, for the interview? No, we didn't

even know this was coming, did we? I like having the badges and the stickers and the whole bit. I'll do it later. So what other singles have you got planned from the album? To be honest with you, we've done like... We've done five singles off the record. Oh, you better tell us

about them. I guess we started off we started off with people are mad and that was that was the first one off and we did that we worked out for a little bit and then Rocks off number 11 on there is actually kind of an extra track that wasn't with this producer and it wasn't really during this record, but I had it sitting around and The gentleman who had mixed the album, Paul Caldery, he had mixed the Pixie stuff and he also had done Echo Belly and he did the first

two Radiohead albums. And so I was just like, what would you do with this? And he just brought it to such a great level. So super guitar heavy. And we put that out kind of when this whole Oasis thing was coming back because I don't want to

toot our own horn. I think it rocks as hard as anything they've ever done that track and So that was the second single and then be my girl we did be my girl is kind of a big It's kind of a big power ballad in a way It's about someone kind of looking for a permanent relationship and Most of their friends are kind of moving on with their life and getting married. So we did that We're taking a quick break to talk about

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remove CO2 from the atmosphere. It takes two to tangle And two to present a radio show So here's Nick and Sue Your musical duo This is Nick and Sue with Cheddar Box Giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment And then we did Space Girls, totally took it

to a different place. And yeah, Space Girls, it's a really tough story. It's kind of autobiographical. I mean, every night, amorous space women come and take me away in their ship. And it's down to me to repopulate their planet. And it's been happening for decades now, and it's just... Yeah, we're getting there. We got a couple thousand. All very, very cute, just like my daughter. No, but I'm Jeezy. But yeah, so that was the next one. And then we just had That's All She Wrote

come out. That one just came out when the album was released on the 17th. That's All She Wrote was the focus track on April 14th. Oh, wonderful. What about Molly? Yes, what about Molly? Molly is very much an Irish bar brawl of a song. It kind of starts off like a ballad about how this person is heartbroken, but then he kind of gets worked up and punches the guy and starts dating the girl's best friend and flips over the tables and yeah, it's a bit of that. What about nothing?

So nothing is kind of new territory for me. It's a very thoughtful, kind of introspective ballad. It's about kind of unplugging from the world and just having time to yourself and kind of shutting things out, not feeling like you have to do anything. And some people see it as a breakup song. I kind of see it as more of a song about just stepping away from people who aren't really

doing things in your life that are good. or good for you, just kind of unplugging from it, stepping back and just saying, yep, I take my time myself. This gypsy girl, is there anything, any Irish links with gypsy girl? Yeah, sure. Travelling people. So that song is about an old man kind of at the end of his, towards the end of his

life. And he's just thinking back to this very beautiful, innocent moment he had with a gypsy girl where he just saw her and it was just taken by her her beauty and this brief encounter he did he loved and she she read his his palm and she said that he would always love her and But the relationship never really was and it just you know But he did like he's at the end of his life and he's thinking about this and this is what's capturing his imagination and kind of

in his twilight moments and Yeah, so she stole his heart and his wallet Yeah. That's a good one. Number seven. Number seven. Youth is wasted on the young. It's quite tightly. Youth is wasted on the young. That song, it was a real development. The arrangement, we really worked that one through. It had a very different feel and yeah, it was just that. I mean, just being a little older in life and just realizing like, yeah, these

are still the best days of our lives. you know you look back at the folly of youth and not just like the romanticized idea and just like all the fumblings and the mistakes and the rest of it and just saying you know this is this is a great time to be alive now and we have a great time of our life ahead of us and um yeah so just kind of a bit a bit of that i was lucky lucky enough reckless eric sang background on that song and that was quite fun have you got a favorite

on the cd That's kind of like picking your favorite child Well, we're both alright because we've had this from Chesney Hawkes We're both okay because although we don't have any children together. We've both got one So we're okay on that so but I have I have six I have six Beautiful we got three boys and three girls. That's perfect wonderful wonderful. Well, that's an album then isn't it? Do your children ever sing with you? I mean, just kind of at home. We haven't done anything.

I don't drag them into my stuff because it's just not fair to them. They're finding their own way. It could happen. You never know. They're getting a little older. The boys, the older boys are playing the guitar and the piano. I'm just going to say I'm sure at least one of them will go. It's got a law of averages says one's got to at least one's got to follow. It's going to be musical gene there somewhere that's naturally

there isn't it? It's got to be. So Sean Griffin, People Are Mad, the album and Space Girls the

single, they're both out already. as we're talking, and we've got a lovely quote here from musicnews .com. It's a stunning debut overflowing with character, humor, and pure sublimity. It's a nice little plug there, isn't it? Nice little plug. Yeah, I like that. It's a nice little quote. Yeah, I don't take compliments well, so you're probably, you know, hiding and turning red here, so. I get that. I like that. So, yeah. Brilliant. Now, what about coming to the UK to do some live

stuff? Have you ever done it before? Was it something you did? I was over in October. I was over in October around the first kind of singles coming out. I did six shows over in London and that was really nice. I'm hoping to get back over before fall at some point. That's my hope. Fingers crossed. Let's hope, you know, well, if you're using Heart Media again, obviously we get the press clicks. Yeah, well, hopefully we'll have a chat about that. We'll give you dates out and

things like that then. So, yeah. And if it is London again, at least we can make it. We'll come and say hi at the same time. Do you have any favorite venues there or locals that you like? Obviously the Royal Albert Hall's got to be the one, so you're working on that one of course. I was at the bigger venues, the O2, there are some quite good... Well tell you what, there is the one that keeps cropping up, that old St Pancras Church by King's Cross Station. St Pancras,

King's Cross St Pancras. Near Hart Media's office actually, there's an old church there they've turned into a venue. And quite a few of the artists we've interviewed are there, have played there, or are playing there, so that is a nice sensible sized venue. as well. We're doing a hope and anchor in Islington, aren't we, next Friday, to see somebody else we've interviewed a few times. So yes, we are getting a bit old for the

standing up stuff, of course. Apart from that, no. I really like doing shows at three o 'clock in the afternoon. We're not that bad yet, but I've been to matinees of West End shows. We're not quite that bad. I have my afternoon nap then. Funny joke. We could go and listen to Sean, then in the interview, you've got your daughter coming out giving daisies to everyone. Sorry, just that image in my head. Check out the video. So if you look at our videos, we've done proper...

music videos for all of the singles. And I have to tell you that they're quite the endeavor. So if you look at my name, Sean Griffin on YouTube or on my web page, which is SeanGriffin .rocks, so S -E -A -N -G -R -I -F -F -I -N .ROCKS, then you can seize the links to some of the videos. and you can see what we've been up to. But it's

been fun making those. Those have been a challenge at first for me, kind of getting used to doing that and looking at myself and saying, my goodness, I didn't know that was happening with me at this point. But you know, things, my march is on. What does your daughter think? Because her pitch is on the CD. Oh, yeah. You know, she hasn't said much. I mean, I showed it to her. I think she was like... slightly surprised but I think

she was pleased. Well it would be this day to the interview before he said goodbye that I would say we're doing the social media but you've basically done it so I think you said Sean Griffin rocks but he had chucked at them again so they're all ears so yeah so yeah good yeah so yeah my Instagram is whatever that is yeah so it's a Griffin g -r -i -f -f -i -n dot Sean is my Instagram and Yeah, and then as far as yeah, the web page is a Sean sen Griffin dot rocks. Yep. So Yeah, thank

you. And I'm hoping to get maybe vinyl pressed at some point. We're kind of waiting. Oh, you got cello vinyl, don't you? Oh, yeah. Well, to be honest with you Oh, wow Vinyl, isn't it? It's just opening a new vinyl. It's like opening a decent coffee, isn't it? It's just that smell of new vinyl. It's just, it is. It's one of those things of a certain era. It really is, yeah.

Hang on, Bose. I must comment. I love, Nick's just gone onto your website and the picture that's just come up, I love the pose with your hands and your trousers and your, and your, the pose, but you're leaning against a brick wall. That is beautiful. And of course, yeah, you mentioned Sean Griffin Rocks. Sean Griffin dot Rocks. Having said that, there's links to all your other social media there I can see anyway, so it's all there. Brilliant. Sean, wish you every success with

the singles and the album. I hope you do get over it, but every success in general. Hopefully we can have a chat again sometime. It's been great meeting you. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, look forward to meeting you when I'm over there. That's brilliant. Every successful. Take care, mate. Thank you. Thank you very much. Bye. Thank you.

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