Interview With Ryan O'Shaughnessy

Interview with Ryan O'Shaughnessy

Irish singer/songwriter Ryan O'Shaughnessy stormed onto the music scene back in 2012 when he wowed the Britain's Got Talent judges with his self written song entitled 'No Name'. 

O'Shaughnessy continued to impress throughout the show performing his own pieces including 'First Kiss' in the semi final and subsequently finished 5th in the Grand Final.

Since then, the Dublin man has enjoyed notable success, touring various different cities, playing numerous gigs and festivals and working on his own albums and EPs.

Speaking to me in an exclusive interview for 'View from the Stands' Ryan told me about his BGT experience and what he's been getting up to since then!

"Applying for the show was actually a funny story! After I finished school I went on a holiday with a bunch of my mates to Magaluf and I had basically just started songwriting at the time and never played any of my songs to anyone before but I played 'No Name' for a few of my friends when I was on holidays and they were like "Jesus Ryan where did you pull that out of?!", so they put me into it, they signed me up and I performed in Belfast first before they called me up and told me I had an audition in front of the judges over in Blackpool. And to be honest it all went extremely quick, I was in a constant state of shock because I never thought I would get that far."

I guess the saying 'What happens in Magaluf, stays in Magaluf' didn't apply in Ryan's case but it was definitely for the better! As he said, it all happened for him in an instant and before he knew it the show was over and he was left to find himself as an individual and a solo artist. He is currently over in Toronto, Canada at the moment working in various studios and also on a tour of the country.

"I actually decided to come over and visit my brother who lives over here because I hadn't seen him in a while and things worked out really well actually. I hooked up with a manager over here and he organised me some gigs for Canadian Music Week and some Irish Showcases. So everything just clicked so I'm going to stick around and continue to work on the album that I have been working on for the last two years and see if I can get anymore flavours for it this side of the ocean."

As is the case with many artists who take part in Talent Shows such as BGT etc, it is up to the singers themselves to progress and make opportunities for themselves to continue making music. However as Ryan will explain his experience was a little different when he finished on the show. 

"After Britain's Got Talent, I kind of fell on my feet because Sony picked me up to do a record, so I did my first EP which was really good for me. I mean, in 2012 alone, I must have played about 20 festivals in the UK and Ireland. But what happened then was, Sony said that they wanted me to write another album within a month, but for me, I couldn't write an album that quick and I basically said that I was going to sit back, enjoy myself and do a bit of travelling, take gigs as they come but more importantly make sure my debut album is a good one."

That lead me on nicely to my next question. When Ryan auditioned for Britain's Got Talent he was at the tender age of 19 having just finished secondary school in Ireland. Most of his friends went on to University while he was on the show. So... was he under pressure?

"Yeah definitely. I felt like I was under a lot of pressure simply because it happened so quickly. Everyday I had a long list of things to do, managers bringing me from place to place, interviews, all these kind of things, so yeah it was a lot of pressure, as well because I hadn't fully recognised the kind of artist I wanted to become."

But three years on, Ryan firmly believes he has now found his niche. And is thoroughly enjoying things over in Canada working with various different songwriters and is getting lots of studio time. And of course he is working on his debut album, which he hopes will be released in the near future.

He will be playing the following venues on these dates:

8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th July - The Cameron House Residency

25th, 26th July - The Beer Festival

Find him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MrRyanAcoustic?fref=ts

Follow him on Twitter @Ryan_Acoustic

Download his EP on iTunes and watch out for his debut album.

EOIN!