Respect The D

Something in the way they move…

ith a decade as one of Dublin’s more intriguing singer-songwriters under his belt, D. Cullen has decided to strip it back for his latest tour.

Which should prove something of a new sensation for the man behind Alright, The Rising Tide EP and the recent She Is Song, given that Cullen has long been exploring new ways to write old tunes.

“I’ve been obsessed with music since as long as I can remember,” he says. “I practically came out of the womb singing!”

Just back from a nationwide tour of Ireland with his band, Cullen is keen to see if his latest collection of tunes can stand on their own two feet. Without all the bells and Wurlitzers of an all-the-way-up-to-11 band.

“All the truly great songs still sound great on a lone guitar. I grew up in a very music-loving household, with my parents raising me on a steady diet of ’90s-era MTV and their fiercely impressive CD collection…”

Which may explain why some of Darragh’s all-time favourite songs include old favourites such as The Beatles’ Something and Kate Bush’s Why Should I Love You? alongside more recent wonders such as Glen Handsard & Marketa Irglova’s When Your Mind’s Made Up and Wyvern Lingo’s Aurora.

“I started playing guitar at 8, and then performing with it at 10,” he finishes. “And the damn thing has never left my hand since…”

Ahead of his February 3rd Whale show, and with his new album, Sing My Story, Tell My Song, just out, D. Cullen took time out to reveal the songs that still inspire…

The Beatles Something
My first introduction to guitar was seeing a Beatles tribute band play; the amazing, Wicklow-based Classic Beatles. My dad was working with them when I was 8, and happened to invite the John and George over for a jam session. I was transfixed by their guitars, and ended up buying one with my communion money shortly after.
It’s impossible to pick one Beatles song, but Something is today’s favourite. Tomorrow will be something different I’m sure!

Scott Maher The Sun Came
Scott is the John in the Classic Beatles, and around the time I first started playing, he released a beautiful solo album called Cartoon Moon. His songwriting was always a huge inspiration, but even more importantly he showed me that you could make high quality music on an independent level, which was a huge thing to learn as a kid! It made music seem like a viable life, and not just a pipedream. This song us a stunner!

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova When Your Mind’s Made Up
Once is a movie I fell in love with when I was a teenager, and I’ve gone back to it a lot recently whilst writing the music for Heartstring. The gut-wrenching passion that Glen Hansard brings to his vocals was a huge influence on my character Keith, and I think there’s a hint of Marketa Irglova’s fierce stoicism in Bláthnaid Daly’s performance.

Kate Bush Why Should I Love You?
I spent a 4-hour bus journey listening to this song and only this song on repeat when I was about 19. I think it’s a masterpiece. The story goes that Kate Bush sent a version of this song to Prince, asking if he’d play guitar on it. When he returned it, he’d wiped out the entire track bar her lead vocal and the drums, and replaced it with hundreds of layers of guitar, keyboard, bass and backing vocals. It’s a melding of two of the greatest, most singular pop artists in history and I adore it.

Foo Fighters Times Like These
My beloved Foo Fighters. The Foo’s have been my favourite band since I was 11, and have taught me so much about songwriting, arrangement, performing and life in general. I’m still reeling from the awful news of Taylor Hawkins’ passing. I love this band so much and it breaks my heart that the world has been robbed of his talents.

Wyvern Lingo Aurora
I’m as obsessed with finding new music as I’ve ever been, and one of my absolute favourite albums of the 2020’s has been Bray-natives Wyvern Lingo’s Awake, You Lie. Aurora is a highlight from the record, giving all three members a moment to shine brilliantly.

D. Cullen gets raw and naked at The Whale on February 3rd, tickets here. More on the lad here.