Eoin Harrington: "Relationships Intrigue Me"

Singer Eoin Harrington had his music featured on MTV's Made but stresses the importance of people buying artists' music. "I recently discovered a shocking statistic about the music industry: To make just $1, a song needs to be streamed 3,494 times on the new free service Spotify. To earn the U.S. monthly minimum wage, an artist must sell 2,044 MP3s on iTunes. Last year, less than 1 percent of the music available for sale online was actually purchased," he says.

His music falls between rock and Coldplay-esque paced arrangements, with softly moving vocal changes in a sea of rough-and-tumble rock. "I think, just the natural progression of living life, and gaining experiences intrinsically changes how music and writing is approached. Living in San Francisco has exposed me to many artists and opportunities to perform with, and see live performances of, very talented musicians. All that plays into inspirations for songs. But, for me, the process of sitting down at the piano or with my guitar and working towards that perfect combination of melody and lyrics that tell a story and evoke a feeling is fundamentally the same."

"I'm intrigued by music that has the ability to tell a story both lyrically and with the melody. If the listener is drawn into the stories I create, then I feel I've done what I sought out to do. Relationships, whether they be romantic or familial; experiences I've had and want to share; or just a tune that takes me to a place where I create a story and a world entirely new…all of these themes and subjects are interesting to me and motivate me. My earliest musical background was learning Irish folk songs from my mother and singing at family gatherings. My brother is also a musician back in Ireland, so it was rather a musical family. My mother also sent me to classical piano training. But music was a hobby, until I took up guitar. That was around the time I move to the US and I began writing songs and performing in bars. It is a tough industry, but when you can connect with an audience though something you've created it makes the hard parts worth it."

Harrington says the most exciting experience was playing with Pearl Jam's drummer. "I was doing an open mic in a small dive bar. Everyone in the place is just doing his or her own thing and this one guy comes up to the stage and sits right in front. Stops me after the first set and tells me he loves my stuff and asked if he could sit in. Flattered, I thanked him and said sure. I'm always game for a laugh. Before we play, I find out who he is. I of course can't believe that this guy actually wants to play with me."

EoinHarrington.com