Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Roger D’Arcy
• What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Reply: Listening to The Shadows playing their huge #1 hit ‘Apache’ on BBC radio in 1961 – I was 5 years old – and my mother buying ‘A Hard Days Night’ by The Beatles on the day of release and playing it endlessly. My parents bought me a ukulele when I was about 8 – I would put the plug of my mother’s iron into the sound hole with the power cable dangling out and mime to The Beatles.
• How did your passion for creating music begin?
Reply: I vividly recall making up my own words to Monkees’ tunes as I could never get them right – to this day, I can’t even remember my own lyrics in the studio. Then my Grandad gave me an acoustic guitar when I was about 12 – he had bought it for himself but discovered he was left handed and it never occurred to him to restring it Iike Paul McCartney. I was completely hooked and started to make up my own tunes from the outset as it seemed easier than learning other people’s.
• What’s the story behind your current music project?
Reply: I had written about 30 songs since the first COVID lockdown which had started just weeks after the release of my previous album project, ‘The Road To Stameen’ (recorded in Ireland with local musicians). I live in Valence, a small town in France, and was introduced to fellow English musician and studio owner, Simon Widdowson, at a gig by local heroes, ‘TV Sundaze’. We share similar musical ideals and struck up an immediate friendship – Simon’s studio, Cream Tangerine, is just down the road and so with some local musicians and the guys from TV Sundaze, we recorded a couple of my songs at the end of 2024. We thoroughly enjoyed the process and pleased with the results, released them (Barbarians’ and ‘Torn And Tangled Banner’) on an EP.
We repeated the process over the summer of 2025, recording rough demos of about 20 songs and then selecting and developing 12 of them for the new album, ‘Footprints in the wet cement’ from which the current releases are taken.
• How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Reply: A folky, acoustic rock infused with alternative country and blues influences – a blend of Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen with an occasional touch of Nick Cave. Lyrically a little on the dark side as the songs explore life’s struggles.
• What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Reply: I have learned that I prefer to capture the spirit of a song rather than worry about perfection. The parts for the songs on the new album were all recorded in complete takes from beginning to end and mainly in one, occasionally two and only rarely three takes. Also, I have learned not to have fixed preconceptions, to let the songs develop organically and to allow the various guest musicians to freely express themselves on the day.
• What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Reply: A good sounding acoustic guitar, an iPad for writing down lyrics and a comfortable space. I try not to get involved in technical recording issues – I trust completely in my producer and fellow musicians.
• Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Reply: I have been captivated recently by the song of an artist who wound up next to me on a big Spotify playlist: Kid Lightning: ‘End of the Empire’.
• How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Reply: Most of my songs are directly based on my own journey through life and personal experiences – the others are based on the live’s and journeys of others I have encountered along the way or historical figures that have caught my attention.
• What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
Reply: To realise that’s it’s OK to make mistakes – that it is never too late to change direction – to enjoy the journey as best you can snd not to worry too much.
• What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Reply: That the journey is the most importantly part of life, not arriving at a destination – the value lies in the creative process, not the finished product (which is why AI generated music is utterly worthless)
• What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Reply: ‘Nuites de Fourviere’, Lyon, France – an open air Roman theatre overlooking the city.
• If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Reply: This is the hardest question so far and almost impossible to answer. I will say David Crosby – a difficult character by most accounts but adding his sublime harmonies to a song would have been worth any effort.
• Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
Reply: Spotify:
Patreon: https://patreon.com/crookedroger
• Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
Reply: To take my songs of the last few years on the road with a band of friends – I have nor performed live in public since October 2020 in Dublin at the album launch of ‘The Road To Stameen’ – and to make a live recording along the way.
• What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
Reply: As little as possible! Just that my songs are written and produced with sincerity.
