Listen to Circles here:- Terry Mostyn
Terry Mostyn on MySpace
You were brought up in a musical family. Can you describe your early musical influences?I was, everybody sang, played or was a comedian, my early influences where those gatherings at my grandparents table. There was some great talent, they where hard working people who enjoyed being together and longing to pass on their songs and traditions to us younger ones. My next CD has a few songs I wrote with that table and those gatherings in mind.
When and how did you get your first "big break" in the music biz?
I'm still waiting LOL ... being able to write, sing and perform is the big break in my opinion, I get to mingle with the crowd and when someone says " I like a certain song, it makes it all worth while.
You played in a great many bands in the 60's and 70's. Care to tell us about them?
The late 60's thru the 80's rock and roll was the thing to do, traditional music fell off as the loss of elders in the family caused people to stray apart. Bands came and went as did styles of music,Yes , Kansas, Jethro Tull, Beatles, Deep Purple, Zepp all where the whirl and I enjoyed covering these bands but the second I hear pipes or some old traditional tune I"m back at "The Table". Funny how it all comes back to full Circle.
At what point in your career did you decide that your ambition was to become a singer-songwriter?
At a very early age I was writing trying to tell stories, but how I hated English class. I wrote a song in my mid-teens that's on my Circles CD { Remembering, } I forgot about the song till my son Patrick heard it on a terrible cassette tape. I was in my Tull era then and it does have that blend to it.
How important are traditional and contemporary Celtic influences in your music?
For the last 15 years or so I've gone back to more of a folk rock feel to my writing and music. I love the old songs there the stones I walk on to write today.
What inspired the title of "Circles"?
I was playing and writing in a rock band trying to be Celtic and was going nowhere. I started going to Celtic concerts, festivals and realized I should go back to my roots, I like where I am now, it works for me. My Circle!
Who do you like to listen to?
That's a good question: Tull, The McKrells, Dougie, Flogging Molly, Hair of the Dog, The Elders, Donal , I could go on for a bit and yes even opera. An uncle always listened to it and turned me on to some great singers, couldn't understand a damn thing but the power in the vocals blew me away. I saw Mike Bolton sing opera on TV he was great from rock to opera .....whoa!
Where would you most like to perform?
Carnegie Hall , anywhere in Wales, maybe in Mostyn, I played in Ireland last April did a pub gig in Dingle, sat in between sets with Kevin McKrell of the McKrells at Clifton Station,Galway and the Hotel D in Dreagha, my mom's a Brennan there from Galway, so that was pretty special to me.
Any plans to visit the West Coast?
Yes, I 'd love to play at the 2009 Left Coast Eisteddfod in August .
Is there any particular song or performance or piece of art that you're most proud of?
Yes," Way Of The World " the words to this song came very easy, it tells of world problems and an easy solution This song is close to my heart and I have an acoustic version I play live that might go on my second CD even thought my 1st cd has a big production style to it of the song, we'll see.
Do you have any particular musical or artistic goals or creations that you really want to achieve in your life?
Waking up and playing music everyday is my goal, there were some good players and singers I knew that have passed before there time, to me each day is another blessing.
What's next for you?
To record my next CD with my youngest son Patrick at his new studio in Pittsburgh Pa Mostyn Studios He'll engineer... we'll both produce, we worked together on my 1st CD and I enjoyed it . Being told cut let's take that over or "You can do that better, Dad" kinda makes me think back to how many times I've told him that (100's ). We work well together and I look forward to working with him. We might even take in a hockey game and a few pints.
Iechyd Da!!!
I'm still waiting LOL ... being able to write, sing and perform is the big break in my opinion, I get to mingle with the crowd and when someone says " I like a certain song, it makes it all worth while.
You played in a great many bands in the 60's and 70's. Care to tell us about them?
The late 60's thru the 80's rock and roll was the thing to do, traditional music fell off as the loss of elders in the family caused people to stray apart. Bands came and went as did styles of music,Yes , Kansas, Jethro Tull, Beatles, Deep Purple, Zepp all where the whirl and I enjoyed covering these bands but the second I hear pipes or some old traditional tune I"m back at "The Table". Funny how it all comes back to full Circle.
At what point in your career did you decide that your ambition was to become a singer-songwriter?
At a very early age I was writing trying to tell stories, but how I hated English class. I wrote a song in my mid-teens that's on my Circles CD { Remembering, } I forgot about the song till my son Patrick heard it on a terrible cassette tape. I was in my Tull era then and it does have that blend to it.
How important are traditional and contemporary Celtic influences in your music?
For the last 15 years or so I've gone back to more of a folk rock feel to my writing and music. I love the old songs there the stones I walk on to write today.
What inspired the title of "Circles"?
I was playing and writing in a rock band trying to be Celtic and was going nowhere. I started going to Celtic concerts, festivals and realized I should go back to my roots, I like where I am now, it works for me. My Circle!
Who do you like to listen to?
That's a good question: Tull, The McKrells, Dougie, Flogging Molly, Hair of the Dog, The Elders, Donal , I could go on for a bit and yes even opera. An uncle always listened to it and turned me on to some great singers, couldn't understand a damn thing but the power in the vocals blew me away. I saw Mike Bolton sing opera on TV he was great from rock to opera .....whoa!
Where would you most like to perform?
Carnegie Hall , anywhere in Wales, maybe in Mostyn, I played in Ireland last April did a pub gig in Dingle, sat in between sets with Kevin McKrell of the McKrells at Clifton Station,Galway and the Hotel D in Dreagha, my mom's a Brennan there from Galway, so that was pretty special to me.
Any plans to visit the West Coast?
Yes, I 'd love to play at the 2009 Left Coast Eisteddfod in August .
Is there any particular song or performance or piece of art that you're most proud of?
Yes," Way Of The World " the words to this song came very easy, it tells of world problems and an easy solution This song is close to my heart and I have an acoustic version I play live that might go on my second CD even thought my 1st cd has a big production style to it of the song, we'll see.
Do you have any particular musical or artistic goals or creations that you really want to achieve in your life?
Waking up and playing music everyday is my goal, there were some good players and singers I knew that have passed before there time, to me each day is another blessing.
What's next for you?
To record my next CD with my youngest son Patrick at his new studio in Pittsburgh Pa Mostyn Studios He'll engineer... we'll both produce, we worked together on my 1st CD and I enjoyed it . Being told cut let's take that over or "You can do that better, Dad" kinda makes me think back to how many times I've told him that (100's ). We work well together and I look forward to working with him. We might even take in a hockey game and a few pints.
Iechyd Da!!!
Very informative interview. There's a lot to be learned from Terry Mostyn, in all aspects of life not only from a musical perspective
ReplyDeleteListen to his music and you'll find it compelling and memorable. Great stuff!
ReplyDelete