Turning downtime into his own time

David Geraghty tells Tony Clayton-Leahow he juggles a solo career with Bell Xl.

We can blame the parents for this one - bringing along a 12-year-old to David Bowie's Glass Spider gig at Slane in 1987 is one thing, but subjecting him to a Flying Pickets a cappella union meeting in the National Stadium two years previously is another.

It's no surprise, then, that David Geraghty - the bristly, compact multi-instrumentalist of Bell X1, and on this occasion purveyor of solo material - took off on a teenage journey that encompassed the combined musical texts of the aforementioned Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and Thin Lizzy.

It could have been a career in computer animation were it not for a then girlfriend deciding to bring Geraghty's musical talents to the attention of her classmate Damien Rice, who was then in the throes of forging out a rock star career in Kildare band Juniper.

When Rice opted to pursue the path of a sensitive singer-songwriter, the remaining members of Juniper changed the band name to Bell X1, an outfit that is presently resting until 2008, following the promotion and success of their most recent album, Flock. Such downtime leaves various members of the band working on their own ideas and projects. One of them being Geraghty's highly accomplished debut solo album, Kill Your Darlings.

"Kill Your Darlings was something I started pretty much straight away after Bell X1 finished recording Flock," says Geraghty. "I knew there was going to be some time between finishing that record and actually getting out and promoting it - the usual pregnancy period before the release of any album on a major label. A solo album was something I have always wanted to do; to be able to write and craft songs."

Writing and crafting are clearly areas of no small expertise for Geraghty. Kill Your Darlings is full of little but not insubstantial surprises: the way a tune might twist into something else; the way a particular instrument might want to go one way but which he redirects; the way a lyric could easily be commonplace but which he spins around. The impression one receives from the record (if not from its maker) is that Geraghty is a painstaking taskmaster who rarely cajoles songs into life. Is he something of a fusspot?

"What I am still in the process of doing is not to be so critical," he says, (which we take to mean a yes), "and for every single thing I come up with not to be too anxious to highlight its flaws. Sometimes I kill an idea dead in the water before giving it a chance to breathe. That's a habit I need to break. I suppose most creative people have that, but I was letting it hinder the joy of writing. What I think is more important, instead of putting something together strictly, is to fling paint to easel - although there are obviously other times when it's better to carefully creep up and sculpt. The distinction between the differing processes lies in the songs. There are certainly some songs that you have a good idea of how they should be dressed, with regard to the production and the sonic trimmings."

Does Geraghty reckon that the success in Ireland of Bell X1 will help his solo work? He is extremely keen, he says, not to be seen to be hanging off the coat-tails of their success (even if he has been an equal, pivotal part of it).

"In Ireland it's very much David Geraghty from Bell X1 - although to be honest it's not something I've wanted to actively promote - but the solo record is a statement of sorts. The intention is to tell people that these songs have always been there and that it's not just a project to keep me busy between Bell X1 records. It's something I certainly want to continue - I already have plans for album No 2, so I see it as being part of a solo career worked very much in parallel with the work I do in Bell X1. That's the way I'm looking at it and that's the way I ideally want it to exist."

Will all the people who say they're Bell X1 fans be at Geraghty's gigs? To presume that loads of Bell X1 fans will be curious to see him would be wrong, Geraghty posits. "I'm not going for the jugular and, as I say, I'm not going to hanging off the coat-tails of the band, so these are pretty much my own gigs and I'll be doing them in my own way - I won't be singing any Bell X1 songs, for instance. You also have to take into account that people who are fans of Bell X1 may not be fans of this album." With Kill Your Darlings, Geraghty says he didn't want to come out of the traps with all guns firing, but rather create a record that has as much shadow as light, and with a tad more mystery. Rather than for the record to reach for the sky, he implies, he wanted it to grow roots. Sounds like the mindset of a natural strategist.

"Doing the album I learned two things - one, that I'm a control freak; and two, that it was great to have something to sink my teeth into, to have a focused work ethic."

Kill Your Darlings is on Decal/Pinnacle. David Geraghty plays Róisín Dubh, Galway tonight; Whelan's, Dublin, Thur and Dolan's, Limerick, Sat