What motivated you to become interested in music and song writing?
When I was around 6 or 7, my mum would always be playing old rock songs, music from the 80’s like Guns and Roses, Bon Jovi, a bit of Blur and sometimes Pink who is from a later period. That made me want to play music. I was given a guitar when I was 9 years old. I didn’t have much of an attention span so I gave up after a couple of weeks.
When do you start up again?
I tried again when I was 13 and gave up that time too. I didn’t really start taking music seriously until I was 15 and I have kept going since then.
You had some support at home?
Yes my granda helped me. He organised for me to get lessons every Wednesday and Saturday morning, this was during Covid, where we would take a trip to a friend of his house and his friend would give me lessons. This was in the summer during Covid and would get a lesson and then when I would get home I would practise.
His friend had a good feel for the guitar, he knew what he was doing, he had toured with Roy Orbison years before, and he taught me the basic chords, things like that.
What about support at school?
I was posting videos on TIK TOK and I had just started and I wasn’t very good and most of my friends let me know how bad they thought it was. I was just doing very basic strumming patterns and very basic chords, but my friends were not in any way supportive. Now 6 years later you see them all on Instagram and they are all trying to learn to play an instrument. So I am way ahead of them now.
Was there any support from the teachers?
I went to Boys Model and I ended up being part of the choir. The choir was very good and we won quite a few competitions, there was a big choir competition and we won it three years in a row. We performed at Croke Park in Dublin. We got to travel, going away on a few trips. I have very fond memories of being part of that.
Did you learn some skills doing that?
You learned a little about performing, singing, a bit about music, although a lot of what we did was team building exercises, but the choir fell apart during Covid for obvious health reasons.
What happens after that?
I started writing songs, and by that time Star Studios had been set up. I would go down and record covers, I would do a lot of practise their and eventually I started to write my own songs. Some of them are up on Spotify and I am working on an album at the moment.
Where to now?
I’m 4 songs into my album and I’m hoping to be finished by the end of the year and I am just trying to develop my skills, playing, singing and writing.
You can find Ethan Horner’s material at the link below
