Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

The Opacas are a band whose principles lie in collaboration and positivity. The group is made up of talented musicians who had gone years without a steady artistic project, and their commitment to their work now is testament to the message they preach – chase your dreams as quickly and as fully as you can.

The impetus for the act came when co-founder Pat Boyle learned of the passing of a work colleague that was roughly his age, who is now set to be remembered on the outfit’s upcoming single.

An ode to Damon, this track will be the least on The Opacas’ debut album which is due in September. The song features the forty-odd voices that make up the Moycullen Musical Society choir, and it will be debuted live at the collective’s annual concert in St Nicholas’ Cathedral on March 10.

Pat explains the context of the piece and the inspiration he took from his friend’s death.

“I worked side by side with [Damon] for three or four years on this particular project,” he recalls.

“It was a bolt from the blue when he passed away suddenly in his sleep. It was a real wake-up call that you’ve got to live – if you’ve got any dreams, do it now and don’t wait because you don’t know what’s around the corner. That was the driver behind the whole Opacas thing. Go with what you have right now and get it done. If you’ve got a dream, follow it and follow it hard.

“It was a bit of a catalyst for myself and Mark. It was a sad time, but the band grew out of it. Johnny Carson had this saying about people always moaning that they don’t get opportunities. The fact it, in his experience, you needed to be ready. You need to have your script, your novel, your poem, your short story, your song – you need to have whatever your thing is. You need to be ready and then the opportunity comes. It’s not the other way around.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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