David Geraghty

by Dave Donnelly
By the time David Geraghty released his debut solo record in the autumn of 2007, he'd already been through the major-label motions with two bands. This time, he decided to go the independent route and released Kill Your Darlings on his own Decal Records. An expansive and sonically diverse indie rock record, Kill Your Darlings calls to mind his day job with Bell X1 as much as it does the string-infused world of another former bandmate, Damien Rice, yet Geraghty's solo work has a flavor all of its own, encompassing smoky club jazz, twee power pop, and college radio Americana. The mesmerizing mix calls to mind the work of Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake at times, and childhood idols David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen at others.
Better known as the lead guitarist and all-round multi-instrumentalist with Irish rock underdogs Bell X1, David Geraghty had tasted heartache when the band's previous incarnation, a hotly tipped act named Juniper, had disintegrated on the eve of recording their debut album on the whim of enigmatic vocalist Dodi Ma, today known by his given name Damien Rice. Following Rice's departure to find himself in rural Italy, the four remaining members, at the urging of a supportive label, regrouped and weathered a storm which saw PolyGram incorporated into the Universal Music Group empire. They recorded their debut album, Neither Am I, with Australian expatriate Nick Seymour, founding member of Crowded House, but it performed below expectations upon its 2000 release.
Follow-up Music in Mouth fared much better in 2003, making hits out of Juniper era compositions "Tongue" and "Eve, the Apple of My Eye," the latter making an unexpected appearance during a pivotal moment on the hit U.S. television series The O.C. In October of 2005, Bell X1 produced their best received album to date, Flock, and it became the band's first U.K. release in March of the following year, yielding hit singles "Flame," "Bigger Than Me," and the comic, sympathetic ballad "Rocky Took a Lover." Immediately following the recording of Flock, Geraghty began working on his own solo project, assembling bits and pieces of songs he'd been writing since joining the band while at university. He recorded ten songs between breaks on the band's tour with the help of friends, including viola and violinist Cora Venus Lunny (daughter of folk legend Dónal Lunny) and singer Clare Finglass.
Following the release of the concert CD and DVD set Tour de Flock in June of 2007 on the band's own Bellyup Records, Bell X1 went on hiatus for the remainder of the year, allowing Geraghty the solo act time to headline the 2moro Tour, hosted by national radio station 2fm, ahead of Ham Sandwich and Concerto for Constantine, a supergroup featuring former members of the Frames, Turn, and JJ72. Single "Fear the Hitcher" preceded the album in June, and Kill Your Darlings debuted at number 21 in the Irish Album Charts upon its release in September of 2007. Singles "Kaleidoscope" and "Ragdoll" followed.