Darren Kiely: Millstreet's rising star continues on his path to the top
Darren Kiely is currently on a tour of Australia and South Africa. Picture: David McClister
Home for Cork singer-songwriter Darren Kiely is wherever he lays his hat. He’s presently back in his native Millstreet, having flown in from Nashville – his base when he isn’t touring. But considering how much of the year he spends on the road, the young singer can be regarded as a musical citizen of the world.
“Back before Covid, I was at home in Ireland. I gave up on college and decided to go travelling. I ended up in New York. That’s how I fell into playing consistently in pubs and bars," he says.
New York was just the start of his adventures. His exploits have taken him all over. He lived for several years in New York, drawn to its energy and sense of possibility. In a few weeks, he’s off to Australia and South Africa for an extensive tour After that, he will return to Nashville – the capital of American country music and the HQ of his record label. How far has he come since studying physiotherapy at the University of Limerick (he dropped out in his fourth year and would finish his degree remotely).
Behind all the hard work and those many, many air miles is a fierce desire to pursue a music on his own terms. It is a strategy that has paid off, with his confessional acoustic pop clocking up over 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone. Beloved by his fans, arguably quite obscure to wider audiences, he is a very modern megastar.
This is also a story that has its origins in the pandemic. Having come back to Ireland when New York shut down, he had the opportunity to focus on his writing – which led him to pen early songs such as and These searing calling cards showcased his raw, expressive voice and a talent for lyrics that are personal in subject matter (unhappy romances are a recurring theme) yet universal in reach.
“I came back [to Ireland] when covid started. I was doing more weddings and all that kind of stuff. And I was starting to write songs. Once covid was done, I wanted to go back out there. I knew I could play bars and stuff. I wanted to pave my own path.” After lockdown he packed his suitcase and crossed the Atlantic once more.
“New York was a place that had a kind of a good sense of energy. It offered me a clean slate. The shackles were off. I could go for it.”
Throwing off the shackles was the making of Kiely, whose music is influenced by childhood heroes such as The Lumineers and Hozier. He recalls going to a Hozier concert at the INEC Killarney venue and having his mind blown. He was stunned all over again last Christmas when he headlined the same venue, sharing his homespun folk pop with a sell-out audience. Four months later, he talks about the show as if it were an out-of-body experience.
“It’s unbelievable. It is like they were two different places. It doesn’t seem like the same venue. It’s like someone else did that,” he says, explaining that the idea of playing a 4,000-plus capacity hall would have never stuck him as a realistic goal.
“I was like, this is definitely a bit mad. Starting out, it wasn’t that I never even thought about it. It wasn’t even, like, ‘I don’t think I can do that’. It’s just wasn’t even on my radar.”
Kiely is laid-back and chatty. Yet behind his amiability is a steely ambition. A natural self-starter, he has followed the Ed Sheeran route of building his own fanbase rather than waiting for a record label tap him on the shoulder and promise overnight stardom.
An artist of the social media age, he’s attracted an audience through constant touring and with an engaging presence on platforms such as TikTok, where he will regularly stream impromptu live shows. It’s all about keeping your name out there and connecting with your audience, he says.
“There is this perception nowadays that the label decides whether you’re successful or not. I think maybe in the past they were more of a gatekeeper.”
He has found that record companies are more likely to come aboard when you’ve demonstrated you already have a following. That was the case with his label, Free Flight Records – created by Sony Music Nashville and focused on non-country artists.
“Labels were only interested in me initially because of whatever I done myself. They’re there to partner with something that has to be artist-led. When I see other people starting out and they’re looking to other people to change things for them – it’s the one thing that just won’t happen. If you’re not creating momentum or doing something yourself, it just doesn’t happen. That becomes very apparent once you’re once you’re in it, I think.”
He will release an album eventually, but is in no hurry to achieve that milestone. Kiely has put out a number of EPs while his latest single, came out in March and is inspired by his years in Limerick (it is named after an address in the city).
He has focused on singles because he feels it is the best way to spotlight individual songs. Chuck them all on a record and there is every possibility that tracks further down the running order end up being overlooked. With streaming, you can release a new tune every few months and give it space to shine.
“When you grow up listing to albums, there’s something lovely about that. I’ve out a couple of EPs now. Some songs have their moment. You always wish songs are more ‘known’. That’s the tricky thing: if you put out an album, how many songs may not reach people? If you kept it more consistent, would you keep people engaged more? Is that more exciting for the fans? People want to know there is something incoming.”
Raised in Millstreet, Kiely attended the local primary and secondary schools. His father is an accountant, his mother a nurse.
“Millstreet Boys National School and Millstreet Community School,” he says. “It’s weird. We have a convent school that is mixed until first class. Then boy’s school until sixth class. Then into a mixed secondary school.”
There was a lot of music in his childhood. “I played fiddle. I sang in a choir. But it wasn’t a case of ‘that’s the guy who sings’. I didn’t enjoy being out in front of people playing or singing, to be honest.”
He has built a loyal audience in Ireland. But his fandom is global – which is why he moved to Nashville. It combines the best of several worlds – it is a musical powerhouse yet relatively affordable by the standards of major America cities.
“You’re surrounded by a lot of unbelievable musicians, songwriters and producers. There is definitely a massive country music scene but a lot of those people are able to lean into other genres. It [Nashville] seems to be the most affordable place between New York, LA and Nashville. You feel like a small fish in a big pond. And you’re hoping that the talent of other people you can learn from, and they can kind of drag the stand up up a little bit, really in it. That’s inspiring to me.”
The key to his success to date is sheer hard work and his willingness to go out and play for a fanbase growing not just in Ireland but worldwide.
“It seems broad. You can see a little bit online that people are streaming the music everywhere. We’re going to Australia and and these places. There’s obviously an investment in doing that,” he says.
“But I’m kind of like, ‘why not?’ I love artists and bands that play live music and who you think would sound good live when you listen to their records. And it’s something I’m passionate about.
"Even though everything is online, to the extent that you can go and play in front of people and they can enjoy the live show, I think that’s the most artistic way of doing it. I love playing shows. We have a chance to do it. I mean – it’s mad.”
- Darren Kiely’s latest single is Muclair Road. See www.darrenkiely.com
