The Academic's Craig Fitzgerald: 'Travelling can take its toll when you’re a homebird like me'

Craig Fitzgerald from The Academic

I was born in the Coombe Hospital and grew up in Inchicore with my mam and dad and older sister for about 10 years. Then when my little sister came along we moved to a small village just outside Mullingar in Westmeath called Killucan.

My mam still lives there in the house I grew up in and my dad lives near my childhood home in Inchicore so I’ve been lucky to keep a great connection with both areas — but I’ll always shout for Westmeath in the football.

One of my earliest memories is in St Michael’s parish playschool in Inchicore. I remember they had this really old beaten-up scooter that I was obsessed with and played on every day until one day they replaced it (probably for my safety) with a brand new swanky scooter. They made a big deal presenting it to me and I just remember erupting into tears and trying to run out of the building.

I’m not sure if I was born to be the person I am today. I think for most people, you are a product of your environment and your experiences. It feels more that I learned it gradually over the years. Like a lot of teenagers, I had no idea what I wanted to do and wasn’t exactly brilliant in school.

I always feel like I caught the last bus to get into music. I remember when I was in school, I used to hang out with Matt from the band and he would have his guitar with him a lot. It wasn’t until I quietly hinted to my uncle, who also played music, about maybe learning how to play. But to be honest, I hated it at first. I struggled to get the hang of it, and I quickly gave up but my uncle didn’t give up on me. He gave me a Beatles chord book and told me to practise with it. And that’s when something changed for me.

I started experimenting with the chords and before I knew it, I quickly ended up making up my own tunes. The moment I realised that I could write a song, it all clicked for me and I felt then like music was something I was born to do.

When it comes to the greatest challenges I’ve faced in my life, being away from my family and friends for extended periods of time has been tough. Missing big family events and milestones is never easy. I’m quite Irish in my sensibilities and I like being rooted here.

Let’s just say, I’ve spent more time in hotels in Paris than I’d like to admit, but sadly, I’ve yet to even see the Eiffel Tower up close. Travelling can take its toll when you’re a homebird like me but it’s all part of the gig. I should probably have my own time zone by now. I always remind myself that these opportunities to travel the world and experience new things are not to be taken for granted; they make me appreciate the places and people I love at home even more.

Without a doubt, my proudest achievement would be the time when our debut album Tales From The Backseat hit the number one spot on the Irish charts. For four lads who started writing those songs in a garage after school, we never imagined we would ever make it this far. Not to mention the fact that we made that record as a completely independent act. It was a true labour of love.

My girlfriend says [my greatest quality is] patience. I’m not sure if the band would agree with that but that’s what I’m going with.

My girlfriend has a totally different kind of job and is completely unphased by the shitshow that the music industry can be sometimes. It’s great to have her perspective on things, she can really see the wood from the trees.

The life lesson I’d like to pass on is that you’re never more important than anyone else.

It’s simple but the best advice I was given is ‘don’t take yourself or life too seriously’. Over the years I’ve struggled with worrying over what people are thinking of me or something I said in a conversation, it’s difficult but important to remember it’s never as bad as it is in your head.

I’d like to be remembered as kind, hardworking and thoughtful. If I could change something from my past, I’d probably go back to transition year and not straighten my hair so much; it wasn’t a good look.

I do my best to make a change on an individual level but I feel like I could always do better [with climate change]. I try to dress in secondhand/vintage clothes as much as possible and try to avoid fast fashion.

I make a pretty good smash burger. I’m fairly chaotic in the kitchen and most of the time the fire alarm goes off, but the burgers taste great.

Me and the guys in the band are always floored when we get the opportunity to work with our heroes and the fact that the likes of The Rolling Stones and The Pixies would let us share the stage with them is always mind-blowing.

To be honest, the housing crisis is something that gives me a huge amount of anxiety. It gives me a lot of hope that there are people out there like Rory Hearne who are pro-actively trying to do something about it.

Even if I had taken a different fork in the road, I think it would have ultimately led me to a career in music. I have always been drawn to the studio and have spent a lot of time learning and honing my skills in music production. I likely would have started in a studio as a coffee boy and worked my way up from there to becoming the go-to producer in the business. Let’s be honest, the real dream is to retire somewhere in Kerry one day and become a piano tuner.

• The Academic’s second album Sitting Pretty is released this February on EMI. They play the 3 Olympia on March 10. More information on theacademic.net.