Sometimes all it takes is one song. Whether it is a melody, arrangement, lyrics or a voice. Or in the case of Peter Doran’s Clockwork (off his sixth album All The World Is Runing On A Mystic Code), all four combined. I was sold. Don’t even remember how I found it while researching Irish music in the lead up to my last visit to Ireland in May 2025. All I know is I had to get him to come to Kilkenny and film, and so he did. During Kilkenny Roots, Peter Doran recorded Mystic Code and covers of Midlake’s Van Occupanther and Metallica’s Bleeding Me.
“Music got into my brain and into my heart and shaped my life in a profound way.”
“Music has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. My Dad is a big music fan and growing up, our home was filled with the sounds of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Marillion. They were the big ones. He had small briefcases filled with cassette tapes, I can still picture them. At some point I would take ownership of those black and maroon cases and start adding my own favourites to the collection.”
“Down the street, a neighbor a few years my senior would loan me albums, to help widen my musical horizons. I remember listening to the Black album by Metallica repeatedly on cassette over the course of the few days it was in my care. It was such a sacred thing then, to be completely wrapped up in this music. It got into my brain and into my heart and shaped my life in a profound way.”
“When I was still much too young to understand their songs, I fell in love with Guns ‘N’ Roses. I clearly remember running around my boyhood sitting room thinking I was Axl Rose, with GNR Live in Tokyo blaring out of the TV! I think this was before I ever picked up an instrument. I found the whole art form intoxicating for some reason. Still do.”
“Hearing Metallica play Bleeding Me was a near religious experience.”
“At around the age of 11 I began playing the electric guitar, inspired by an older cousin. Around this time too, I was led by a friend of my Father’s, to instrumental guitar artists like Joe Satriani , Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, Stevie Ray Vaughan. This was my education and I studied it deeply, spending 1000s of hours absorbing the music and learning to play as much of it as I could from guitar magazines.”
“At 12 years of age I saw Metallica live in concert in Dublin’s Point Theatre (Now Three Arena) and it absolutely blew my mind. Hearing them play Bleeding Me, one of the songs I’ve chosen for my The Influences session, was a near religious experience. I’ve always loved this song. It’s quite dreamy and cinematic for a metal band, and then gets heavy as hell for parts. I’ve seen Metallica many times over the years and they will always hold a special place in my heart, despite my own music being from a different end of the musical spectrum.”