Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Portumna native Johnluke’s debut single, Already Been Told – a folk-pop ballad that painted an immediate picture of the 20-year-old’s powerful vocal range and talent for writing emotive, choral hooks.  Five more singles have followed, with another, Otherside, lined up for release towards the end of the month.

As it stands, the singer-songwriter has dozens of tracks lined up and ready to go, amassed from self-funded recording ventures in the likes of Finland and Spain. All of which gives an idea of how much work has gone into Johnluke’s first year.

“It’s not always been there,” he says. “I’ve had to work hard for it. I could name 100 bad songs I’ve written. The last few months now I went really hard… I have 30 songs recorded from today – all produced. So, I have a big year coming up now hopefully.”

“My dream has always been to sell out arenas and nothing is going to stop me getting there. I don’t care what age I am. The main game is always going to be that more people see my music.”

East Galway has produced plenty of great acts through the years, and Johnluke was introduced to music around the area from a young age. His sound and influences, however, extend beyond Portumna.

“I started playing the guitar when I was about seven, but I’ve been singing all my life,” he says.

“It’s always just been music. I grew up in the Loughrea Drama Theatre and I was in and out of the East Galway Comhaltas as well. That was where I picked up the guitar a lot. I was forced to play in groups, and I learned quickly.

“When I got into school then, my way of processing things and getting any emotion out of me was through music. A lot of my songs – they’d be kind of deep songs, but I bring my own pop twist from people that I’d look up to like Ed Sheeran, or country-pop like Garth Brooks. Paolo Nutini comes in there too. There weren’t many musicians around [where I grew up] but I found it wherever it was.”

The contemporary singer-songwriter faces a very different set of challenges to those of days gone by. A quick scan through Johnluke’s social media will show how much work goes into the promotional side of his music. The aim is to attract more ears for the songs, but he invests significant time and money into video content to make sure everything that goes out is high quality.

Pictured: Johluke….prolific producer of songs has new single out now.