Limerick composer Paddy Mulcahy on being inspired by unexpected sounds

AN UNEXPECTED sound has caught the attention of composer and producer Paddy Mulcahy. One most people would find irritating - the creaking sound of a dishwasher’s door.

With the help of an empty coffee cup and a spoon, he reproduces the sound to the best of his ability.

“When I open it down, it creaks like this,” he laughs. “I was actually gonna fix it, spray the hinges and fix it. But then I thought ‘No, no, no, I can't get rid of the sound’. I need to record it first, I love that sound. It’s like something underwater, you know.”

Best known for his use of piano and synthesisers and classically trained, the Limerick city native has sought out his own styles through various experiments with electronic music over the course of the past decade.

Through his compositions, Paddy explores a world of atmospheric and relaxing sounds, where sometimes notes twist and turn, offering some unexpected elements to the listener.

With his new electro-acoustic ambient project, Dialect, he invites us to take a walking tour of Limerick city.

“Dialect is a project that I've actually wanted to do for a really long time. It is pretty much an audio diary of Limerick city, capturing urban and nature landscapes.

“It’s a collaboration with Creative Ireland. I had just planned for it to be just field recordings but I thought then that it would be suitable to both my style of piano of soft ambient music with field recordings. There’s a kind of communication between the two,” he explains.

He continues: “The recordings are going to be only in Limerick, nowhere outside of Limerick county or Limerick city.

“I'm working in collaboration with Shane Vaughan, who is a local filmmaker. He's a really close friend of mine, but we've also been working together for like 10 years. He is creating time lapse videos from around Limerick, at the locations where the field recordings have been taken, so there'll be a visual representation of the sounds you're hearing.”

In the early 2000s, Paddy was heavily inspired by the early wave of EDM - electronic dance music.

“Artists like DeadMau5 or The Bloody Beetroots had kind of started creating this weird electronic dance music,” he recalls.

“And I remember the energy in that music gelled with me a lot and inspired me. I was so obsessed with the sound and the structure of it, the presentation of the sounds.”

After growing up in a household filled with rock music and surrounded by guitars, he says this new sound intrigued him.

“This sound of synthesisers and drum machines was so new and so different that I was just captivated by that. Having a background in piano, I thought ‘I can definitely do that’. I'm not making rave music now but definitely an interesting sound of electronic music. And one that suits my character,” he says.

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Paddy also enjoys throwing in the occasional joke in his compositions. Although, he is not sure if anyone but sound engineers would get them.

“There are some little jokes in my music, it’s not obvious and maybe not everybody will get the joke. But there are kind of elements of it that are not usually how something would be done. It's like ‘Oh I'll do that as a joke’, and maybe a couple of sound engineers will understand,” he smiles.

Paddy’s most recent work, Angel’s Share, was released in August 2022 on the XXIM Records imprint at Sony Music.

The 12-track album showcases the composer’s most advanced compositional and recording techniques to date, featuring violin and drums.

Aside from his own projects, Paddy has also provided music for international commercial adverts, for companies such as Deliveroo and MADE.

His music has also featured at Cannes Film Festival, London Surf Film Festival as well as the London Fashion Week.

This might sound surprising, but the composer points out that there is no message behind his music.

“It's for the listener to have an opportunity to feel something. I really want people to understand my approach to music and how I feel about the way something could make somebody else feel, which, I know sounds convoluted.

“I feel so protective of the fact that my music can be emotive and can make people feel a certain way, and I would like that to be understood and reciprocated,” he explains.

His biggest fans are his friends, those who have been supporting him throughout the years. Although, he says his family doesn’t necessarily understand what he does.

“I wouldn't say they don't support it, but they don't fully understand it. I wouldn't get the emotion that I want them to get out of it. Or maybe they do and it's a big secret,” he smiles.

On a brighter note, there are a lot of people who understand his “invisible” message.

“There’s a lot of people who really understand and feel the music, they feel the invisible message and it’s great support for something that’s so niche.

“It's really inspiring and really comforting to get that support,” he says. “To those people who are reading this and listening, thank you.”

In Limerick, the artist feels like there is a chance or a possibility to do anything - if only we would seize the opportunity.

“We could do anything. We could make great sports, we could make great music, we could make great theatre, great art, great nightlife. It can be unbelievable. It can be the best city in the world. If there was a bit more cohesion in certain departments where decisions are made,” he says.

Funded by Creative Ireland and Limerick Arts Office, Dialect is a project by Paddy Mulcahy and Shane Vaughan.

The premiere of the audio-visual project will take place in Spacecraft Studios on Mungret Street. The event will start at 8pm on Friday, December 1. Free admission.