Sean Duggan

Story

Music as an art form. Professional pianist, hobbyist singer/songwriter and producer.

Profile

Instruments

Genres

Influences

Languages

What is music to you? What does it give you?

Music to me is partially a rather vain and shy attempt to help other people understand me, and partially a way of helping me understand myself, in a vague, broad, difficult to translate-into-words sense. It's my vessel of passion and emotion. I've never felt the way I have listening to certain songs than I've felt, say, looking at visual art, or reading a book.

What is your music dream?

I just want people to hear what I have to say through this medium. Music is nothing without listeners.

If you could change the world - what would you start with?

I feel like I'm always on the outside looking in; I would leave the world to its own devices, and simply try to exist within it.

Which is the most memorable song from your childhood?

The Script - We Cry has always stuck with me. Reminds me of long car trips and my mother.

Who are your favorite musical artists or bands?

A unique, very small artist I found on the internet named "Worrywort" has to be my all-time favourite. His music and visual art is so vulnerable and relatable (at least, to me) in it's themes, and it is easy to see he is clearly musically gifted. Apart from Worrywort, I am also a big fan of Sufjan Stevens, Angus and Julia Stone, Gregory and the Hawk and Radiohead.

What inspires you to make music?

A very specific, very situational feeling. Music just... comes and leaves me whenever it wants. For me to say I am in complete control of what I write would be a blatant lie.

What is the message you want to send with your music?

Everyone is vulnerable, nobody is perfect, emotions are what makes life worth living, and feeling alien is okay; you are never always entirely alone.

How do you feel when you perform in front of an audience?

Anxious. When I play, I seek approval from the audience. I know my music is not what most people hear, especially because of my musical structures and the self-taught way I play and write. Because of this, when the audience smiles, nods or claps, I feel completely validated; I am good enough.

How do you see the musicians’ reality nowadays? What could be improved?

Specific parts of the music industry is highly over-saturated, such as hip-hop, rap, electronic, and the recent wave of lo-fi sampled hip-hop. It is more important to stand out than to be good at a specific generic style, in my opinion. As bad as it may sound, I wish the music industry was less saturated, and I wish that more record labels would drop the corporate, cold way of viewing artists. Give the lo-fi bedroom musicians a chance; you could have a David Bowie, an Elton John or a Bob Dylan on your hands.

What do you think of Drooble?

Musicians facebook! We shall see.

What frustrates you most as a musician?

Other musicians telling me what to do. It simply doesn't work; I write and perform in a different "language".

Do you support your local scene as a fan? How?

Specific bands, yes, of course.

What qualities should a musician nowadays have in order to get their music heard by a larger audience?

Originality, relatability and vulnerability. One of the most recent acts to conquer this are the duo "Twenty One Pilots".

Share some awesome artists that we’ve never heard of.

Obviously Worrywort! I also have to recommend Carvist. A quick trawl of the back-catalog of Bandcamp will give you some very interesting, undiscovered acts.