Derry singer songwriter Patrick St James bringing it all back home

The Manchester-based musician says he is delighted to finally get the chance to showcase his latest work before his home crowd on the final night of his upcoming tour.

Patrick McDonagh (St James is his adopted stage name) has been making a name for himself in the music circuit across Britain since he moved there seven years ago and had been honing his writing, singing and performance skills when COVID impacted the lives and livelihoods of artists among others across the globe.

Patrick, who is from the Buncrana Road area of the city, said: “It came out of nowhere for everyone. Every plan I had just went out the window; everything was put on hold. I was planning releases, a tour and everything was just halted.

“Luckily I must have been one of the first in the country to play show again - I played one last summer and it was just insane getting back on stage. Pre-COVID I’d done a row of shows and then had some time off and then COVID happened so when I got that chance I just crammed a few more in during the summer, playing Manchester Pride and some others as well... It’s been a long two years.

“I spent a lot of the first and second lockdowns writing. I had COVID really, really early on and no-one really knew what it was. It was really scary. I was in self-isolation when Boris closed the country. I didn’t know what the situation was outside these four walls. It was definitely an experience. No-one knew what we were dealing with.”

But COVID wasn’t the only health matter the talented Derry artist has had to contend with over recent times. “In the first lockdown I wrote a load of songs that ended up being shortlisted into an EP. The EP is called’ Mood Swings and Roundabouts’ because I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder - it was just before the first lockdown.

“I got the diagnosis and we went into lockdown and all the hospitals had stopped doing appointments properly, so I just ended up waiting a long time to get treatment, and the only way I knew how to deal with anything was to write. Music was the only thing that kept me going. I was in a really bad place for a long time and I think it was a lot longer than I realised as well.”

Patrick said he didn’t really know much about the condition to start with. “I did have the suspicion and it was me that brought attention to it and that was where the diagnosis came from. It was such a scary, scary time because I didn’t know what was going on with me, and living with mania is a horrendous thing. Even now I’m about a year and a half, two years into the diagnosis and I still don’t know enough about it, and if me that has got it doesn’t know enough about it then people who’ve never heard of it... there is just a massive stigma. And I get it. It’s kind of being made into this crazy character by TV and movies and so I understand why people don’t get it, I didn’t and I was living with it for years without realising.”

Talking about bipolar disorder openly during performances, in interviews and on social media has been a personal choice for the singer-songwriter. And sharing his experiences has provided solace to others who can relate.

Last summer when Patrick performed live for the first time since the first lockdown in Manchester, and recalls: “At that show I really opened up. I didn’t plan on opening up as much as I did. I t was the release party for the first single I released - ‘Begging’ - which is about pleading with my partner very early into the diagnosis, I didn’t know what I was dealing with, and that was my ode to him to please stick with me because I don’t know what I am doing and I am trying my best. A few people individually from the crowd - the room was full, it was sold out, and one of them was properly crying- spoke to me about it. [The woman who was crying] Lockdown had taken a toll on her and she was battling with her own mental health. It was an experience I didn’t expect that.”

Patrick said the restrictions put in place over the past two years had unexpected benefits for himself, like many others. “As much as it was an awful experience going through that not knowing what was happening, the world shutting down, I was here for it, I needed it at that time. I think it changed everyone and a lot of people it was for the better because we were all at burn out.”

Patrick’s sound has developed dramatically since his early days singing at the piano. “I have gone from that to performing with a backing band to now I am doing this kind of pop / dance material, not too far out of the world of the likes of Erasure. I like to explain it as somewhere between Years and Years and Lorde with a little bit of Adele in there.

“I have signed a record deal so I am putting music out through them and I am about to go on my first ever tour which has been a long time coming. The thought of doing it is insane. I keep thinking in my head, the last show of the tour is in Derry, when we have played that last track in Derry that tour is going to be over and it’s going to be done, and I am anticipating the feeling of coming off stage in Derry and knowing that I have done it. I need that. Having lost my career the past two years I am craving that feeling of being part of the industry again and I think that’s pretty general for all musicians at the minute.”

Patrick said there is always something special about performing at home. “The Derry show is definitely the one I am looking forward to the most. It’s the smallest show that I am doing and I am really excited to be doing it in the Grand Central. The room is going to be full - there’s five or ten tickets left. I’m just really excited to show people what I have been working on because they haven’t had the chance to see it and that is partly on COVID and partly on me. That is going to be a highlight of the year that one.”

“This is the first Irish show at all in about four years. I don’t play live that often it kind of scares me a little bit I don’t know where the motivation is coming from but I am just ready.

*Patrick St James’ tour kicks off in London on March 24 and ends at the Grand Central in Derry on April 2. Tickets are available via: fatso.ma/VvtS

You can follow him on the following social media channels: Facebook: www.facebook.com/PatrickSaintJamesOfficial Instagram: www.instagram.com/patricksaintjamesofficial/?hl=en and TikTok: tiktok.com/@_patricksaintjames