When Chordblossom came into existence, it was always our aim to shine a spotlight on the artists and bands that make up the music scene in Northern Ireland. We’ve been doing it for over ten years now and one of our favourite methods is our Introducing feature.
Put the kettle on, curl up on your sofa and and join us for a quickfire Q&A with some of our favourite new musicians. Who knows, maybe you’ll even discover your new favourite artists.
This iteration of Introducing features the musical talents of The Davids who just released their latest single ‘Every Second Counts’.
What was the inspiration behind your artist name?
Jos: The band was originally started by Callum Baine and Aaron Beattie, they both happened to share the middle name David, so they landed on The Davids. It sounded solid. Kind of like a weird cult or a dodgy law firm. Callum’s away over the water now, but the name stuck. It still feels right, and honestly, rebranding felt like way too much effort
Sorry, that’s not the most exciting origin story. We should probably come up with a fake one that’s a bit more interesting.
You’ve just released a new single. How did it come about and what does it mean to you?
Aaron: ‘Every Second Counts’ came together around the end of last year, it was definitely one of the more ‘natural’ ones in terms of process, it was built quite organically, I was just messing about on the acoustic until the chord progression started this momentum to which lyrics began to roll over the top of it all, it did come quite quickly and was sent to Jos (bass), in a very rough and quite unclear voice note. From there we took it to the rehearsal room a week or two later and everything just landed perfectly. Obviously parts were still quite shaky and rough, the song was originally a lot longer but just before recording we cut all the fat off it and were left with a much tighter version of the song.
When I write lyrics there is something quite subconscious about it, I’ve never really sat down with an idea of what I want to say or how I want to say it, it all just seems to pour out over the song. I say it’s subconscious because at the end, when I read them as one, they always hit home a bit and it does end up being something personal to me, or
someone else in the band, it’s usually just whatever I’m feeling at the time, that’s probably what I’ll write about.
For us, ‘Every Second Counts’ is a song about presence, or the lack of it. It’s about those horrible stretches of time where you allow the days to blur together and you’re not really present. The lyrics definitely do reflect on how easy it to miss moments that matter, caught in circles of distraction, regret, or emotional distance. It’s not preachy or
anything, more like a reminder to ourselves to actually be in the room, to notice what’s happening, to say what needs said, and to not let any time go without meaning.
Have you any more releases or studio time lined up for later in the year?
Harry: Yeah, we’ve been writing a lot. There’s definitely more coming, but we’re not rushing it. We’ll definitely book some time in the studio later this year to see what sticks. We’re not trying to rush another release just for the sake of keeping busy. It’s more important to us that it feels genuine, like it’s actually saying something. Sometimes that
takes a bit of space, a bit of living in between. I can confidently say that more is coming, and it is on the page to release again this year, or early next year, but we’ll see what happens. We’re just trying to keep it real and not overthink it too much. Let the songs lead a bit.
Tell us about your song writing process.
Aaron: Our writing process tends to follow a pretty natural pattern, ‘Every Second Counts’ is a good example of how it usually goes. It almost always starts with Aaron on the acoustic, just him in a quiet room somewhere, getting a rough shape together, lyrics, melody, basic chords. There’s usually no pressure at that stage, just seeing what wants to come out. Once something feels like it’s got legs to run, he’ll send it over to the rest of us, usually a rough phone recording, and we’ll give it a thumbs up if it clicks for us.
From there, it moves into the rehearsal room. That’s where it starts to take proper shape. Everyone throws their flavour into it, rhythm, tone, feel. We don’t over arrange too early on, we try to let the song take shape naturally, with everyone pulling it in slightly different directions until it feels right. Once it sounds half-decent, we’ll take it out and play it live.
That bit’s really important for us, playing the songs live. It’s like the final test. We can rehearse something a hundred times and think it’s solid, but the second we play it to a crowd, we find out what’s actually working, and what isn’t. There’ve been plenty of songs we were excited about that just didn’t land live. You feel it straight away, the drop in energy, or people just not locking in. And that’s fine, we let those ones go. But other times, songs really come alive on stage. Maybe it’s the room, or the crowd, or just something clicks. Some of our favourite songs only found their real voice through gigs. You can’t fake that kind of feedback.
Occasionally, something will just appear from nowhere in the rehearsal room, someone will play a riff or a drum groove, and we’ll all jump on it and suddenly a new song’s happening in real time. Those moments are rare, but they’re the best ones. It feels more like a band then, like we’re all tuned into the same thing at the same time. That spontaneity is something we’re always chasing, even if most of the songs come out of more solitary moments first. But yeah, we try to keep it collaborative. Even if a song starts with Aaron on his own, it’s never finished until everybody’s had their say. That’s important to us. We want songs to feel like us, not just one person. If it doesn’t feel like a band, what’s the point?
Who were your favourite artists/bands growing up? Have your influences changed over time?
Jos: We all came into this with different musical baggage, which is probably why things sound the way they do. I guess the core influence we share are artists like early Coldplay, Jeff Buckley, Bono, Springsteen, Neil Young, people who write with feeling and let things be raw. That stuff shaped a lot of how we approach songwriting, not just trying to sound nice, but trying to say something that actually sticks.
Then you’ve got Joel, our guitarist, who grew up on metal and the heavier end of rock, big riffs, big noise, the whole lot. It’s miles away from Jeff Buckley or Coldplay, but it brings an edge to the band we’d be missing otherwise. There’s a heaviness to the way he plays, even in the quieter stuff. And Harry, our drummer… no one really knows what he listens to, at this point we’ve stopped asking. I think he likes the Foo Fighters? I’m not sure, he just turns up, plays what the song needs, and somehow always gets it right.
The clash of taste keeps it interesting. There’s always a bit of push and pull when we’re writing or arranging something, trying to land somewhere between heart and grit. We don’t try to sound like our influences, but we’ve definitely borrowed their instincts. If it feels real, we keep it. If it doesn’t, we bin it.
What’s been your favourite local release from the last twelve months?
Jos: Probably “Park It” by Esmeralda Road for a single, it’s totally stuck with us. They’re doing something super cool and clearly putting the work in. It’s always uplifting seeing a band from here doing their thing well and getting attention for it.
For an album, we’d have to say Hand to Mouth by The Wood Burning Savages. That one made an impact. There’s a lot of energy and weight behind it, and you can tell they care about what they’re doing. It’s the kind of record that makes you want to plug your guitar in.
It’s been a solid year for local releases. Nice to see bands actually pushing forward and not waiting around for permission. There’s a lot of acts we definitely look up to.
If you weren’t musicians, what line of work would we find you in?
Joel: If we weren’t musicians, we’d probably be stuck doing what we do now, Aaron does some electrical engineer type job, security cameras and stuff, Jos delivers papers for the Irish News, I clean up eggs in a factory and Harry works in Sports Direct, selling shoes or something. It is very difficult to imagine not being musicians though, it’s been a part
of our lives since the start.
If you could collaborate with one artist or band from NI, who would it be and why?
Jos: Probably Charlie Hanlon, we’ve seen him live a few times and just really rate what he’s doing. His songwriting’s class, and there’s a real charm to it that feels super real without trying too hard. Would be cool to see what could come out of a session with him.
In general, collaborating with other acts from Northern Ireland is something we’d love to do more of. There’s a lot of good stuff happening here, and everyone brings something different to the table. Whether it’s writing, recording, or even just bouncing ideas around, it’s cool when you get out of your own bubble and create something new with someone else.
It is intensely difficult to be successful in the music industry. What does NI need to do to invest in/develop to boost your chances?
Aaron: Yeah, it’s tough, everyone knows that. But Northern Ireland’s got a lot going for it too. There’s proper talent here, it’s genuinely mad some of the things the local bands are doing at the minute. What’s missing is the support to take it even further, it feels like you can reach a ceiling sometimes, more venues, more opportunities to get your name out there, more people willing to back something from the start instead of waiting until it’s already taken off.
Something to just help bands grow without having to leave, if there were more chances to record, to play, to actually be heard, it’d make a real difference. That said, there are people doing great work to change that. Folks like Lewis Nevin at NuMuze, he’s out there building something from the ground up, creating space for new artists to be heard. It makes a massive difference when someone actually believes in what’s happening here and tries to nurture it.
What does success look like for you?
Joel: I think just making music that we actually believe in, stuff that feels real and has a bit of weight to it. If we can put something out that connects with people, that means something to someone other than ourselves, then that’s a big win. We’d love to make a proper album at some stage. Not just a bunch of songs thrown together, but something that feels like a full picture, where every track says something that fits into the bigger idea. That’s always been the long-term goal.
We’re not chasing stadiums or anything like that. If we can keep playing gigs, keep writing, maybe build something that lasts, that’s enough. Being able to make music and not have it feel like shouting into a void. That’s the goal. If it ever gets bigger than that, great. Any musician has that want, but we’d rather it grows slowly and stay real than for it to blow up and lose what made it matter in the first place.
You’re going out on tour and can have anything you want on your rider, what would we find on yours?
Harry: Probably not as exciting as you’d think. San Pellegrino sparkling water, preferably cold. A kettle that works, some vocal zone, plastic sandwiches, beers of course.
Nothing too mad though. We just like the basics, and maybe a few things to make it feel like we’re not just in a cold backstage room.
Where and when can we next catch you live?
Jos: Can’t say too much just yet, things are still getting finalised and it’s all a bit hush hush for now. But we’ll be out in Derry, Dublin, Belfast, a couple things in our books across the last few months of the year. Best thing to do is keep an eye on our socials, we’ll post everything there as soon as we’re allowed to. If you’re nearby, come down and say hello.
If you enjoyed this feature and fancy discovering some more new artists, we suggest you jump on over to our archive of Introducing pieces.
If you are a band or musician based in Northern Ireland interested in taking part in our Introducing feature, we recommend submitting new music to us via our Contact page and if we enjoy it, you’ll no doubt hear from us.
