Enda Mulloy of the Biblecode Sundays told David Hennessy about his new solo music, reaching number seven in the charts and trying to be someone who does things rather than just talk about them.
Well known for playing bass with The Biblecode Sundays, London-based musician Enda Mulloy has just released his second solo single with chart success.
From Mulranny in Co. Mayo, Enda co-formed the well known London- Irish band known for songs such as Drinking All Day and Maybe It’s Because I’m an Irish Londoner.
The band have shared the stage with the likes of Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy and The Cranberries.
Batten the Hatches Down, released late last year, was the first taste of Enda’s first solo album, Rainbow Frogs in Midlife Crisis.
He has followed that with Bridge out of your Heart, which was released on Friday 21 October and gone to number seven in the UK charts.
Enda has told us before that releasing a solo album was never on his radar, but he felt moved to create something with the material that he had written and continued to write when The BibleCode Sundays decided against any further recording following the passing of drummer Carlton Hunt in 2017 and the subsequent departure of lead singer Ronan MacManus.
Enda told The Irish World: “After the BibleCodes split up, I didn’t know what to do really.
“Andy was writing his books. Ronan went off doing his own thing.
“So I thought, ‘I better do something’.
“So I started writing an album.
“And I wrote lots and lots of songs, and I scrapped a lot of them.
“I worked with Michael Smith and RYP Studios in Rayners Lane and I went to him with songs that I thought might be alright- And we worked on them slowly because I’ve got two kids, etc- And eventually we finished an album of ten songs.
“And then we released a single last December, which got to number one in Ireland with downloads, number four in the UK, and it was about three and a half days away from getting number one in Ireland for Christmas- Until Elton John came along.
“But then I planned to release another one in March.”
So what happened? Ronan returned to the BibleCode Sundays and the reformed band played a big St Patrick’s Day gig at Powerhaus this year. The band have another Powerhaus gig planned there for 5 November.
The band have spoken about their intention to record a new album but Enda reveals that is more in the long term due to the band members’ individual pursuits.
“Ronan came back but again, we’re all grown men and it’s difficult.
“Ronan still has his bits, and Andy still has his book he’s writing, Green Bloods.
“That’s not dead in the water. It’s just dormant for the moment.
“The BibleCodes will always be there.
“So I decided, ‘I better release another single because I’ve got nine more’.
“So we released this one and to my satisfaction, we got to number seven in the UK,” he told us when we caught up with him in Buckleys Bar in Queensbury on Saturday, just the day after its release.
“That was massive.
“I’ve had a hit in the UK.
“I would have never thought.
“Obviously, things are different than they were in the 80s.
Enda jokes, “If I had a number seven in the 80s, I’d be living in the Bahamas by now.
“Not gigging in Buckleys in Queensbury, but that’s how life is.”
A powerful ballad about love gone wrong, what made Bridge out of your Heart the song Enda wanted to make his second solo release? “I wrote the song quite a number of years ago after a particular breakup, and it was hard for me.
“When I was writing that song, it was that line that came to me.
“It says, ‘I’m trying to get out of your heart’.
“And how you get out of anything is normally a bridge.
“So that line came to me, Bridge out of your heart.
“Most of the music that I love has got emotion in it, either really subtle and they’ve got an understatement or they’re thrown at you quite aggressively like, ‘This is how I feel’, being abrasive about it.
“So maybe this one came out like that.
“The chords are quite simple like that, nothing imaginative about them really,” he laughs.
“The lyrics have got a series of repetitions about it but it means something. It’s not throwaway words which a lot of pop songs have, this doesn’t.
“Everything that was written means something so maybe that’s different.”
So what is next? “We have another single ready.
“It will be coming out soon and myself and Paul Gallagher will be going to Ireland to record the video for that at some point.
“Hopefully the album be out then after that.
“I’m in no rush to do anything.
“I have no intention to go on the road with the album or do anything, I just want to make whatever I’m making as well as I possibly can.
“There’s no question there’ll be another album. I’ve got another 30 songs ready to go.
“And there will definitely be a BibleCodes album down the line, but it’s gonna be down the line.
“All of those things are going to happen but just in time.
“There is no space for a six piece band in London in pubs or venues anymore, like there used to be.
“So we’ve gone to two pieces or one pieces.
“We’re gonna play a massive gig on 5 November in the Powerhaus in Camden and we’ve got two huge supports.
“We’ve got Cronin coming from Ireland and we’ve also got Ed Bennett.
“Ed Bennett is going to be the next big thing. I’ve played with Ed, a great lad.
“But in terms of myself, I’ll just focus on this album, and then when it’s all done I will definitely focus on recording another.”
Having played in a band for many days, do you like being a solo star or being centre stage? “I’m a bass player, Dave,” Enda answers without hesitation.
“I’m a bass player. I like being in a band.
“I don’t mind making my own music but I like being in a band. I like being the bass player.
“I like to control the band and the way it goes and that’s my thing.
“Of course I’ll do some other things but I’m a bass player, for sure.
“I got to number seven in the UK chats today.
“I grew up watching Top of the Pops and we got to number seven in the UK charts today and I’m very proud of that.
“My father used to say, ‘There’s two people, those who do talk sh*t and those who do sh*t’.
“And I’m trying my best to be in the second category.
“My ambition is to make whatever I’m doing be the best I possibly can. And not to be half arsed about anything.
“So if I can do that, I’ll be happy.”
Enda’s musical career began with his family band, The Mulloy Brothers who were known worldwide.
“I used to tour America when I was 14, 15 years of age with the Mulloy Brothers.
“I used to have to get permission from my headmaster in school in Achill and ask if I could go and he always said, ‘You’ll get a better education with the Mulloy Brothers than you would with me here’ so he used to let me go. He was a lovely man.”
The Mulloy Brothers band came to an end in 2018 when Enda’s father Tom passed away.
“I’m sure those guys who have gone before me would be proud now that I’ve got to number seven the charts in the UK today.
“I’m sure they would be happy.”
Bridge out of your Heart is out now.
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