How a 'proud Norrie' from Cork bagged a Grammy

Cork native Cian Riordan talks about working with everyone from St Vincent to Slash and Lana Del Ray, bad behavior in the recording studio

Cian Riordan with his daughter Lyla in the studio. Cian says: 'Now that I have a daughter, I feel lucky to keep that relationship going through travel. I’d love to maintain that for my daughter and give her access to Irish culture.'

He’s worked with industry giants from Lana Del Ray to Take That but while his home is now in LA, Grammy winner Cian Riordan insists he will always be “a proud Norrie”. 

Having spent his childhood in Ballyvolane on Cork’s northside, the 40-year-old’s music dream started after the family relocated to the US. His dad had been working in Apple at the time which cultivated Cian’s interest in the technical aspect of the music industry. While studying chemistry in university, the Cork man decided to join a band. 

Cian then mastered the skills required to double up as a sound engineer and mixer in a bid to save the group an added expense. It was this can-do attitude that has led to his long and successful career as a sound mixer and engineer for some of the biggest stars in the music business. 

His recent Grammy win for St Vincent’s record All Born Screaming - which reigned supreme in the Best Alternative Music Performance category - has been a career highlight. 

However, Cian is not the only Corkonian to scoop a Grammy win this year. His namesake Cian Ducrot brought the coveted award home to Cork in recent months following a nomination for his songwriting and vocals in SZA’s 2024 single Saturn. The hit had been nominated in the Best R&B Song category. 

Cian Ducrot at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles last February where he won the Best R&B Song award for 'Saturn'. Photo: Randy Shropshire/Getty Images

Other notable Irish names include Ruairi O’Flaherty from Killarney who worked also on St Vincent's All Born Screaming. 

Meanwhile, Cork’s Kabin Crew found themselves longlisted for the award in the Dance/Electronic category for their viral hit The Spark. The catchy tune had been critically acclaimed after racking up more than three billion views on social media.

For Cian, while the recognition that came with the Grammy win has been extremely flattering, he has also stayed true to his roots. “My dad, John, is from Fairhill and my mum Eileen is from Farranree. I lived in Ballyvolane for the first eight years of my life so we are all Norries.” 

"I ended up in LA about 15 years ago as an apprentice under a bigger record producer by the name of Eric Valentine who’s done some pretty notable rock records in the 90s and 2000s. This was before I went out on my own and linked up with the artist St Vincent. 

"We’ve been working together for about seven years. We also won a Grammy in 2021 with a record called Daddy’s Home, in the Best Alternative Music category, which I recorded and mixed. 

Grammy winner and sound engineer Cian Riordan with St Vincent. The pair shared a Grammy win this year for 'All Born Screaming'.

"This past year we did a record called All Born Screaming which she self-produced. She won three Grammys after being nominated for four. One of those I qualified as an engineer for it.” 

Cian’s younger brother Sean, as well as his wife Emma and six-year-old daughter Lyla, are also thrilled with the win.

“My mum and dad came from big families. We have aunts, uncles and cousins so I’m still very much connected to Cork. We try and stay in touch which is a little easier these days with video chats but nothing beats flying home and tapping back in. 

"Now that I have a daughter, I feel lucky to keep that relationship going through travel. I’d love to maintain that for my daughter and give her access to Irish culture.” 

Working with some of the world’s biggest names in the music industry is just another day at the office for Cian.

“When you are recording with artists the studio is a private and secure place. This is really important as some of these people lead very crazy lives. It’s great to have such a normal working relationship with musicians like Slash who can’t go out in public without being recognised. 

St Vincent has been working with Cian Riordan for around seven years. Photo: Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images

"You work together, you drink coffee and chat. It’s literally like a day at the office. I really appreciate that side of the work as you get to see that very boring, very normal side of artists. There is no spectacle involved. Sometimes I forget. 

"Annie from St Vincent and I are good friends. Our families are friends. Then I'll go to a show where she is performing in front of 7,000 people and be reminded that she is a rock star. I am always really impressed with the people I work with.” 

He said that outrageous antics of rock stars in the recording studio are largely a thing of the past.

“With the advent of social media and everyone recording all the time, people tend to be a bit more conservative. You still get the odd disrespectful person. There are plenty of people who cannot be named. You get to see the real side of well-known people and sometimes there’s warts in that. 

Sometimes you ask yourself if this is worth suffering through for the art because they are very talented. 

"Music is different now though, even since I started a couple of years ago. There is just a lot less money in it and less resources. You can’t just rest on your laurels. If you are in record-making mode, which is the vantage that I see everything from, you can’t really dally around. 

"The money isn’t there anymore to mess around in the studio and do all the crazy stuff people used to do back in the day.” 

Luckily, the majority of celebrities have been respectful to Cian.

“Lana Del Ray is high art for sure. She’s very sweet and charming and exactly how you would imagine her to be. I wouldn’t claim to know her as well as the other artists I work with. However, I know a lot of people who are heavily entrenched in her camp so I hear a lot about the high-mindedness around her work and how seriously she takes it.” 

Cian enjoys the anonymity his role affords him.

“It’s fun to have those working relationships with artists you respect and admire. I worked on Slash and Guns N’ Roses records in the early days when I was cutting my teeth. Since I’ve been out on my own I’ve worked with Lana Del Ray. Last year I mixed some stuff for Jane’s Addiction and I did a Paul McCartney remix a couple of years ago. 

Slash. Cian says: 'It’s great to have such a normal working relationship with musicians like Slash who can’t go out in public without being recognised.' Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

"We like working in the shadows. People like me stay behind the scenes which I appreciate. However, I’ve seen the other side of how famous people have to live. My wife is good friends with Kristian Stewart’s wife Dylan Meyer. 

"They had a very private wedding for close friends and family which we attended. We were all at this Mexican restaurant and I was thinking it was amazing they were able to pull this off while keeping everything private. The next thing I knew there was a drone above our heads. It was TMZ taking pictures.

"These people can’t go outside without being chased around. It’s not a life I would want. I’m sure there are benefits to it but I appreciate the confines of our studio wall and our little protected creative space.” 

Meanwhile, fellow Cork native and conductor Elaine Kelly who was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Choral Performance, said she is still on a high months after the event. The artist held the position of Resident Conductor and Chorus Director of Irish National Opera between 2021 and 2004 before making the brave decision to go freelance.

Cian Ducrot and Elaine Kelly are two former students of Cork School of Music, part of Munster Technological University, who made history at the 67th Grammy Awards in February. Cian, who studied on the Cork School of Music conservatoire programme, won his first Grammy for “Best R&B Song” for co-writing artist SZA’s song 'Salum'. Elaine Kelly qualified with a Masters in Conducting from Cork School of Music and she became the first Irish conductor ever to be nominated for "Best Choral Performance".

“It was an absolutely incredible experience. Being nominated and even just being present at the Grammys was such an honour. The fact that they were recognising classical music was really extraordinary. The event surpassed all of my expectations. 

"I've been incredibly busy since that time. I thought I was going to have a little time off but I’ve ended up doing a lot of different work like sitting on panels and adjudicating. I’ve had the chance to speak about being female in a leadership position so there are a lot of interesting new things I’ve had the chance to try.”  

Elaine is keen to expand the accessibility of opera.

“I think the most useful thing we can do is inspire and welcome all audiences, regardless of their age, background and interests. When opera was written back in the day it was for the common people. This was their Netflix and their Disney. 

"In those days it was definitely more light. Everyone was sitting down and eating and drinking while this was playing out on stage. The overture was there to get people back to their seats and it got louder if the audience were still chatting.” 

Conductor Elaine Kelly during rehearsals with the Cork Concert Orchestra at St Aloysius School in Cork City in June 2016. File picture: Jim Coughlan.

She said there is an opera for everyone.

“People might think they won’t like opera but just like there is a television show for everyone there is an opera for everyone too. I try to make it as accessible and real for everyone as I can. I love doing contemporary operas because people can find it hard to relate to stories from hundreds of years ago.

"I always have to speak to audience members afterwards, especially people who have never been to an opera before to see if it was what they expected and if they could relate. Back in the day, operas were four, sometimes four-and-a-half hours long. However, as time went on they got cut more and more.

"These days nobody wants to sit through a first half that’s two hours long. Things that worked years ago don’t necessarily work now because we’re living in a different age. It’s all about adapting and realising what works.” 

Elaine is looking forward to the future.

Conductor Elaine Kelly in June 2016. 'People might think they won’t like opera but just like there is a television show for everyone there is an opera for everyone too.' File picture: Jim Coughlan.

“It's nice to come home and do concerts there, but I’m also excited about my debut in the Longborough Festival Opera. It will be in this beautiful big house with these open gardens. I'll be conducting the Barber of Seville there, which features such great music by Rossini. 

"I'll be there for about three months working on that before coming back to Ireland for the world premiere of an opera by Jennifer Walsh. There’s lots of work coming up for me which is really nice.” 

She describes the work as very rewarding.

“I started violin at the age of two-and-a-half. I never really enjoyed playing it by myself. It was always when I was part of this bigger sound and being one as part of that sound that gave me the most enjoyment. 

"There's something about having a large volume of people all playing together and this insanely incredible sound coming from them and what it can stir - be it classical, operatic, or pop. The best thing about conducting is you can do it well into old age. My hope is to continue conducting even when I’m 90.”