Podge Lane, the talented singer-songwriter from Cork, Ireland, has just released his latest album, Common Country Misconceptions, featuring an array of beautiful and uplifting tunes.
Following the success of his debut album, Outer Monologues, Lane continues to evolve his unique style in this sophomore effort. He delves deeper into country music, weaving unconventional storytelling throughout the tracks while staying true to his roots.
With heartfelt introspection, Lane reflects on various phases of his life, showcasing his impressive lyrical prowess against a backdrop of traditional country instrumentation. In Common Country Misconceptions, he explores recurring themes in country music.
Lane reminds us that even when we find happiness, it’s natural to feel the weight of expectation to maintain it. However, he gently encourages his listeners to accept that life will always have ups and downs and that embracing our humanity is a beautiful and necessary part of the journey.
Join us as we dive deeper into Podge Lane’s musical career and his latest venture, Common Country Misconceptions—an album that not only entertains but also enlightens us on the complexities of life and our ever-evolving emotions.
How long have you been making music and what attracted you to it?
I’ve been making music since I was about 17. I always had a love for music, but never actually gave it a go, or even sang, until a school show where I was asked to sing a Lumineers song.
Immediately I fell in love with…. well the attention. Then after my parents asked if I wanted a guitar, I began writing my songs, and that’s when I was hooked. I love writing music, creating something that wasn’t there, and being able to say “Hey I wish there was a song that said this” and then just doing it! I was writing every night, studying music till all hours, and that’s when I knew this was all I ever wanted to do.
What were your first project and the people you worked with and which year?
Well, the first songs I wrote were for school shows and things like that, and then I met a great group of musicians in college who inspired me to bring out my first two singles in 2018.
In typical me fashion, instead of using any song I had written to this point, I wrote two new songs in the studio called “The Dark” and “Move On”. They’re still out there on Spotify, on the deluxe version of my double EP “People/Break”. I am still so proud of those songs. As a jumping-off point, they nailed the Podge Lane mission statement.
Who or what inspires you or motivates you? And why?
I’m just like a musical pigeon, I take anything I can from anywhere I can. I am super inspired by music ranging anywhere from country to rap. It may not be obvious when you’re listening, but I love listening to acts like The White Stripes and Jpegmafia when writing or recording. They have that essence of everything that goes into the take, the good the bad and the ugly.
As for motivation, well I’m motivated by the idea of having a large back catalogue someday. I want someone to find my music and go “Woah I have a lot I can listen to here”. I love acts like Johnny Cash or Buffy Sainte Marie, which I’ve been a fan of for years but I am still finding new albums of theirs. That’s my motivation, to create a large body of work that travels.
What are your friends and parents thoughts on your career in singing?
Man, my parents were super supportive. When I got offered my college courses, I was going to do law. Me? A Lawyer? As a kid, you’re so scared to choose something that doesn’t have a “set” career path, but they always told me as long as I’m happy they don’t care. No one in my family plays music, I could be speaking French for all they know when explaining chords. But they supported me from day one. And I’m very lucky. (I better get unreal Christmas presents for this interview, everyone.)
What are some of the challenges you face in your career path?
Challenge-wise, I would say my demands or lack of demands I guess. I love capturing chaos on a record and leaving structures to fall away, and that can be very hard sometimes, which I understand. There is a method to the madness, which is why I play nearly everything myself on the album!
That and starting at 17, I felt like I was coming into music as a newbie while everyone else had been doing it for years. But both challenges made me grow as an artist, and keep me running for more, whether it’s getting better at bass for the next album, or learning new melody ideas, it keeps things fresh and exciting!
There’s always going to be a challenge, at every step, and while that can be extremely difficult, I try to find ways to work through those challenges and make the challenges work for me. Work smarter, and then work harder I guess. Man, that’s a lot of work. Then nap.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
It’s a give-and-take. As someone who digests as much music as possible, I get burnt out with the internet. However, I think if it wasn’t there I wouldn’t know half the music I know now. The good outweighs the bad in my head.
It allowed people to create and distribute without the need for labels and studios, which is great to help independent artists. I think it has made the music community bigger, spanning the globe, but also at times, because there are so many voices, people can tend to be more insular. When there’s so much output and people feel they can’t support those around them as there is only so much space, that can be a difficult challenge to navigate.
There’s good and bad to everything, but I think the more voices that get to be heard is a great thing, everyone should get to tell their own story. Maybe the internet is a space where you can find a voice you haven’t heard before, I try to find artists I haven’t come across before on Bandcamp, it’s important to keep exploring the music that’s out there. Because there are some incredible stories to hear.
Do you have any advice for aspiring songwriters?
Write. No seriously. Just grab a pen and paper right now, and right two lines that rhyme. Boom, you’re writing a song. Now do it again and play a g note underneath it on any instrument. You got a song. I know it sounds simple, but I feel like so many people say “Oh I can’t write until I have the right vocal technique, or mic or pedal”. Just right a few lines every day and you’ll see how easy it is. Write acapella, or with an instrument, you can’t play. But please don’t listen to people who criticize your snare drum sound, just write a song.
What is your current project about?
Common Country Misconceptions is a thematic and direct follow-up to my debut album “Outer Monologues”. While my debut album tells the story of awkwardness in youth, tough nights, and getting to a happy place in your life, CCM details the moment after the credits roll.
It’s just an album asking, “huh, I’m happy, what now, what do I have to complain about or write about?”. A lot because I wrote this album pretty quickly and in an almost fully realized burst.
I detail being in the wrong in an argument with someone you love and owning up to your mistakes, talking over people, and trying to find your “Common Sense” that people keep telling you that you’ve lost. It’s the little moments that you learn from after the big moments that led you to where you are.
What does this album mean to you?
It means a lot. I mean this in the least self-aggrandizing way, but I’ve never really heard a full album detail these thoughts. I’ve had songs or artists in my life touch on the weird inconsistencies in happiness, but not for a full album.
So it means I’ve accomplished a huge goal of mine with this album, and that’s having something for others to listen to and go “Oh he thought that as well? I thought I was the only one”.
What are your hobbies?
Playing Nintendo Switch, watching wrestling, collecting vinyl. You know, adulting.
What do you do aside from this profession?
I love all facets of music. So my main love outside of playing music is teaching music. I love showing songwriting techniques to people, and encouraging people young and old to write and create, that’s my big passion outside of the whole “Podge Lane” stuff.
What is one message you would give to your fans?
No, you’re not the only one, keep listening to music and keep being your big ole goofy self!
