Return To Fender

Meh

aving hit the ground gunning back in 2002 with her award-winning debut album Night On My Side, by rights, Gemma Hayes should be a gold-plated, top-of-the-poppermost star today.

Living in LA back in 2010, GG interviewed the girl from Ballyporeen before an El Rey Theatre gig, and it felt like only a matter of time before the US succumbed to this disarmingly charming if intensely private singer-songwriter.

It was not to be though, and Hayes carved out her own path, akin to Liz Phair’s Tyler Durden, falling in and out of love with the music industry along the way. Getting married in 2015 to millionaire Stuart Musgrave Jr – heir to the Cash & Carry chain – having become parents to Max the year before, in truth, Hayes doesn’t exactly need to gig 8 days a week to pay the rent.

And that means the lady only steps up to the mic when she has something she really wants to sing.

With a fifth studio album due this summer, Hayes makes her Wicklow debut at The Whale on Saturday, June 22nd, one of only a handful of live dates this year.

To mark the occasion, we asked the tripper from Tipp for her desert island discs, and a few words on where and when the Elvis bug bit…

I was the youngest of eight children and found myself as a kid in a house full of teenagers with varying tastes in music.

I remember hearing Davey Spillane blaring from one room and Iron Maiden blaring from another. I loved the different feeling each type of music would conjure up in my head and heart.

Once I reached my own disillusioned teen years I would sneak into my sister’s room and play her acoustic guitar. Then place it back exactly as I found it. Eventually she realised what was going on and actually gave me the guitar to keep. That changed my life.

I then began playing every hour I could even in the middle of the night if I couldn’t sleep.

I reckon my sister’s gift at that point is the reason I became a songwriter.

Fleetwood Mac Gypsy
Even as a kid Fleetwood Mac’s Gypsy made me feel nostalgic for a life I hadn’t lived! Stevie Nicks is one of my all-time favourite singers and writers. To this day, this song resonates deeply with me.

Kate Bush Cloudbusting
This song is perfection for me. There is so much texture instrumentally and primal rhythm throughout. I love how emotionally raw it is. Kate is always fresh and so brave with her music and production.

The La’s There She Goes
I was 14 and completely in love with a boy who wore a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt, although I didn’t know who that band was at the time. I remember being in an arcade with this boy and The La’s There She Goes was playing in the background and I was sure life couldn’t get any sweeter!! This is such a hooky, simple song. It still makes me smile, so does the memory of that first kiss.

Nick Drake Place To Be
I always feel so much more grounded and deeply nourished by Nick Drake’s music. It’s pure and has the power to bring you back to yourself. My day is made better by listening to even one of his songs.

Sparklehorse Most Beautiful Widow In Town
It’s just beautiful and odd, and full of heart. The writer Mark Linkous made broken things sound so beautiful.

You can find out more about Gemma Hayes on her website here, Instagram here and Facebook here. You can find out about her Whale show on Saturday 22nd right here. This interview first appeared in May 2022.