Jay McDermott  plays guitar and is currently studying for a HNC in music performance.

Do you have any projects going on now?

Jay: I plan to do gigs on my own and get people in to help. With covid, it’s been like a year since I’ve done them regularly and I’m looking forward to doing gigs again. I have gigs with the college coming up, one next week.

How did your interest in music begin?

Jay: I’ve always had an interest in music, my mum introduced me to music at an early age. My Grandparents played instruments and it all started when my Granda bought me a guitar.

When were you first introduced to music?

Jay: There was always music in my house, my mum always played music around the house from an early age. Britain’s Got Talent and X-factor were always on the TV and I remember thinking that will be me someday.

Who are your biggest influences?

Jay: Queen, I love Freddie Mercury. He is my biggest influence for his showmanship and stage presence. I Love both Alfie Templeton and Amy Winehouse and anything 70s or 80s.

How would you describe your music?

Jay: It’s kind of all over the place. I don’t like boxing myself into one genre; I am influenced by Brit-Pop, Bossa nova, Orchestral music and even Big band.

Are there any artists you think deserve more recognition?

Jay: I think Chloe Moriondo deserves more recognition and Remi Wolf is pretty good. I don’t think people listen to music from the past enough; I wish more people had an appreciation for where influences come from.

What do you think of the local scene?

Jay: The local scene is fantastic if you can get the connections; I think live gigs in the town are insane. I think Derry is too small but it’s a good place to start out.

Who would you say some of the good local artists are?

I think Parker and Cherym are good and I think ROE is amazing. The musicians in this college and on this course are great too.

Do you have any guilty pleasure music?

Jay: I listen to a lot of white male manipulator music like The Smiths and The Cure. I like Billie Eilish maybe because I don’t think people expect me to listen to that kind of music.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years?

Jay: Ideally, I would see myself in Belfast or England, I haven’t quite decided where I would like to be in their local scenes. I would like to have my music out there and if it made one person happy, I would be satisfied.

What do you think of streaming music?

Jay: I don’t mind them, I think SoundCloud is a good place to start off. Money can be made if the music is good enough.

Katie studies HNC Music Performance. She plays guitar but is primarily a singer. She has been a singer all her life along with her mum and her sister at home.

What do you play?

I play a bit of acoustic guitar for writing music but I’m mostly just a singer. I’ve sang nearly my whole life, I grew up in a musical household as my mum and my sister both sing, so I’ve sung before I was talking.

It’s something I love doing. It makes me forget about everything else going on in the world.”

Who inspires you?

I have always grown up with 60s and 80s music with my sister and my mum and I love the likes of Freddie mercury – he is the dream.

More recently it has been the likes of Adele, Lewis Capaldi, but even local singers such as Matthew Crampsey from Culdaff whose flying.”

What’s your top three songs?

1. Somebody to Love by Queen
2. All I Ask by Adele
3. Somebody by Sam Writer

What’s your plan for the future?

I’ve always wanted to teach, so when I started music it all fell together in my head. I’d love to teach music in NWRC to teach people who actually want to learn music. I’d also love to be a session musician as music is my passion so if opportunities came that way I’d absolutely take them.”

How do you find NWRC?

I couldn’t fault anything about the music department here. It has everything you could ever want with all the studios and practice rooms kitted with everything you need, and even the lecturers who have been in the business themselves.”

Do you have any performances coming up?

I have a couple of original pieces coming out in the new year. I have a couple of pieces with two classmates and my own piece. We are also having a gig in the Grand Central Hotel soon.