About

Hi, I’m Carl Deighton of Gap Year and I thought I’d like to tell you a bit of how Gap Year came about.

It all started just a few years ago. I woke up one day and decided it was about time I seriously started trying to do something with the songs in my head; songs that had been my constant companion for many a year and that I had been writing and playing to myself for far too long. So I went out and bought myself a portable studio, tuned my Yamaha acoustic and began the process of recording some songs. When I’d done that I gave a few CDR’s out to a few friends who were very supportive and thought there was definitely something there worth pursuing. Before I could say ‘recording in a studio’ I found myself in a studio in Dublin recoding some demos with a bunch of musicians and well known and highly regarded producer, Stephen Shannon, whose production credits include Choice Music Prize winner Adrian Crowley’s album ‘Long Distance Swimmer’.

After a few days’ hard work and a lot of fun I arrived home with a 3-song demo, some new friends and a commitment from everyone to go back into Stephen’s studio to record what was to become Gap Year’s debut album, ‘Life’s a Show’. It was a steep learning curve for me, someone who had never set foot inside a studio, played in front of an audience or even played with other musicians! But it all worked out pretty well.

After finishing the album I was able, with the help of singer-songwriter Max Greenwood, who played piano and keyboards on the album, to put together a great band and we played a few gigs in Dublin including a terrific launch of ‘Life’s a Show’ at Whelans. Since then gigs have been few and far between but I have been back in the studio with Stephen Shannon and recorded and finally released a second album, ‘Live It Like It Is’.

So, why the name Gap Year? Well, a gap year is supposed to be a time out from what you’re normally doing to try something new and maybe get a fresh perspective on life. In my case I’ve taken a gap year or two out now to try and get that fresh perspective. We’ll have to wait and see how it turns out…………!