Four-piece indie rock band Shenanygans answers 10 questions

Shenanygans were founded in early 2023 and bring together a fresh and strong set of energetic music to keep people wanting more.  

Four-piece indie rock band Shenanygans answers 10 questions about their music, inspirations, and their greatest achievements

Shenanygans are a four-piece indie rock band from Solothurn, Switzerland. Two Irish frontmen Daniel and Kaylem Hannon-Barry are both born and bred in Limerick, who share vocal and guitar duties, are joined by a rhythm section consisting of Swiss drummer Tom Brunner and Swiss-Polish bassist Lucky Luki, who is also a member of renowned Polish band The Fruitcakes.

Founded in early 2023 they bring together a fresh and strong set of energetic music to keep people wanting more.

We chatted with Daniel Hannon-Barry who is from Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick all about his band Shenanygans!

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Can you tell us about your childhood in Limerick?

I grew up in the surrounding rural area of Abbeyfeale, a small town on the border of Kerry, steeped in hurling, football and traditional Irish music. I attended Dromtrasna National School and went to St. Ita’s College, one of the three local secondary schools at the time. I spent my teenage years involved with the Glórach youth theatre in Abbeyfeale as an all-round performer singing, playing music, dancing and acting which helped fuel my passion for performing. Later I moved to Cork for college and got a degree in Applied physics and instrumentation in CIT and from there got a job in Cork which carried me to Switzerland. 

Where does your love of music come from?

I grew up surrounded by music. Most people in my family either played music or sang or danced or all of the above. I started learning guitar by myself when I was 12 years old after getting an acoustic guitar for my birthday and since then a guitar has always been close at hand for me. For every occasion we would gather as a family and play music and sing for each other.

It wasn’t long after that when I started joining trad sessions in the local area with my grandfather which I had never really learned how to play with before joining so I had to learn how to listen and figure out how a tune goes on the fly to be able to play along.

It was a very sink or swim education in guitar playing but it gave me incredible experience for the future where I would join my family playing some gigs around the area and even playing for St. Patrick’s day in Orlando, Florida together just last year.  Playing with all these musicians who loved the music they played and enjoyed the experience of playing together gave me a love and appreciation for all kinds of music. 

Who are your greatest inspirations?

My family introduced me to a variety of amazing musicians when I was learning and the more they showed me the more I learned from them. I was told that when I was a baby I couldn’t sleep unless Cat Stevens was playing on the stereo by my cot and later in life I found myself singing along to his songs without having heard them in years. The first guitarist who really inspired me to learn how to play like they did was Eric Clapton.

His style and technique always captivated me and listening to him led me to a bunch of blues/rock musicians like BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy etc. From my parents and grandparents, I found a love for The Police, Meatloaf, Roy Orbison, the Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Fureys, Christy Hennessy, the Cranberries and Kate Bush. Nowadays I find Hozier, John Mayer, Grizzly Bear and many other artists inspirational. I try to listen to as many different genres and ages of music because I find something wonderful in all of them. 

How would you describe your music style?

My music style is a bit all over the place because of having such a broad spectrum of influences and that’s not just from me but from all of the members of Shenanygans as each of us has a unique set of influences that shaped our music. I guess it would fit into indie rock/pop or alternative categories nowadays. 

Do you have any advice for any new and upcoming artists?

As an upcoming artist, I would say you have to love it to do it right now. Because it takes a lot of work at practicing, writing, recording, learning and trying and failing repeatedly and still having the drive to try again. When you are in a band you need to be able to collaborate well with the people you are working with, to remove your ego when needed and know that all of the members are working towards the same goals.

You need to surround yourself with people who are all willing to put as much effort in as they can to make the band work. Most importantly you need to connect with other artists. Not just musicians. You need to connect with photographers, graphic designers, producers, videographers and many other kinds of artists and help promote each other’s work to help every artist succeed. 

What has been your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement so far was starting Shenanygans with my close friends Lukas and Tom from Switzerland and later bringing my brother Kaylem, who grew up in Shannon, into the band and writing and recording and producing our first album together all within just under 2 years and now getting the opportunity to share the results of this project with everyone with our upcoming tour in Europe and a tour in Japan. 

What has been the most challenging part of your music career? 

Finding the time and money to produce an album while working full time. That’s not just me, that’s everyone in Shenanygans.

We all have day jobs that we have to work around to make this happen and a lot of personal time gets sacrificed as a result. 

What exciting projects are you working on at the moment?

On Friday the 23rd of Feb we released our first single “Count on Me” from our upcoming album “On Monte Verita” which we will release later this year. We are touring in Europe and in Japan this year to promote this album. We are also already planning and writing for the 2nd album which we plan to record in Autumn/Winter of this year. So all of that is very exciting for all of us and keeps us busy. 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I’d love to say I see myself working on music full-time with Shenanygans but it really depends on how much support we can get and how lucky we can be. It’s not easy to break through in music nowadays but we’re going to give it everything we can to try and make that happen. My mother has a candle lit for me so she assured me we’ll be grand. 

What do you love most about Limerick?

I love the culture scene in Limerick. I think being from Limerick has given me a life steeped in culture and wonderful people. Apart from a quick visit to Donkey Fords, my favourite thing about coming home is being able to relax back into the people that I know and their familiar mannerisms and sayings that are always on my mind and on the tip of my tongue but held back from an international audience. 

Presave link for Count on Me Count on Me available on all streaming sites from February 23 – 24.
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