Debut album from Video Blue
LONDON based Dundalk born musician Jim O’Donoghue Martin has just launched his debut album.
Performing under the name Video Blue, he has taken the well trod path from art college to music.
Having studied art at Limerick School of Art and Design, he moved to London in 2010, first working for the Tate Gallery, and he is m now working for a small art company in north London by day.
However, he saves his creatively for his free time as he says: I have of late been solely producing sounds rather than images!’
‘Music is my place,’ he continues. ‘ The last time I exhibited some visual art was actually in LSAD two years ago.’
He credits his mother for getting him involved with music in the first place. ‘I went to piano lessons between the ages of seven and nine, but didn’t have an immediate grá for it.’
His early ventures into music saw him playing the tin whistle via Comhaltas lessons after school and his first live performance will always go down as being the Louth Fleadh!
‘But things clicked with my love for pop and rock at the age of 13,’ he recalls. ‘I started learning bass and guitar. I set up a band with my best friend Gavin at the age of 16, and eventually moved to London with the same band.’
‘In our late teens and early 20’s we were all around Ireland playing in any room that would have us. We were called Blind Pilots. In 2007 we played in The Spirit Store 10 times.
They band released a number of singles and EP’s before dissolving and about 2 years ago. ‘ That’s when Video Blue was born,’ he says.
He remains close friends with his former band mates and still collaborates with them. ‘I released a split 7-inch record last summer with Gavin (his musical moniker is ‘ Trick Mist’) and we played gigs in London, Manchester and Dublin to promote it.
‘I see Ronan McGeough, who was our bass-player, on a weekly basis. He lives up the road from me and is doing very well as a painter now ( he is also part of the LSAD-alumni).
He sees similarities in the visual arts and music. ‘ Art and music tingle the same receptors within me and my gig attendance and gallery visitation levels are pretty much 50/50!’
‘Art colleges are famously breeding grounds for bands,’ he continues. ‘I reckon it’s the like-mindedness and the openness of that art school experience that makes people want to work together. And a very obvious avenue for that is shared musical taste.’
‘I’m big into Brian Eno as a producer of sound and as a visual artist, and his practices and methodologies can be applied to both areas. He’s definitely an inspiration.’
His painting degree show was all about comparisons in the composition of music .
Jim has just launched his debut album, ‘Love Scenes’ which is available on Spotify and iTunes.
He also played at the official St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Camden, sharing the bill with Kila and RSAG.
Then there are gigs in Sheffield and Manchester before he returns home for a gig in the Bello Bar, Dublin on April 21 and The Spirit Store on April 22.