By Claire Corrigan
IT’S fair to say that for a town of it’s size, Mullingar has more than it’s share of musical talent with local artists known far and wide. Now, another local lady is making waves across the industry with her base and music-writing skills.
Tanya O’ Callaghan has done projects with greats from Ronnie Wood, Taylor Hawkins, The Coronas, The Foo Fighters to our very Bressie, and is currently touring with music heavy weights, Twisted Sister frontman, Dee Snider and US sensation, Jordan Fisher, the pro- fessional bassist has succeeded in carving out a reputation as a hugely successful musician in the States.
Topic managed to catch up the Mullingar native during her brief visit home for the holidays.
Daughter of well-know music promoter, Brian O’Callaghan, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree and Tanya was soon enthralled by the industry. “He has the best vinyl collection on the planet. He used to work in The Stables so I was reared around the scene, of all the bands I suppose. I’d be listening to all kinds of music.”
Working as an animal welfare volunteering at shelters from age 8 to 11, her family assumed the keen vegan would enter veterinary nursing but there was a different route in store for the ambitious teen.
The bassist first tried her hand at the drums and it was only through a lack of being able to get hold of a proper set of drums that she discovered her love for the instrument. “Ross Kennedy from Innate, Mullingar, gave me a couple of lessons when I was about 16 or 17. Then I went to do the FAS music course and they didn’t have a decent drum kit. I saw Niall Masterson play bass there and doing all this amazing stuff so I changed over to bass at that point and I never put it down. There was no bass in there at the time but the guitar teacher was very encouraging and helped me along.”
After that Tanya played with a host of local bands as she honed her skill. “The first band I was in was with was Johnny and Mick Cronin.”
She then left Mullingar to attend Newpark College in Dublin where she studied Jazz and World Music Performance. “I was playing loads of different styles and playing with bigger groups. Then I started gigging more in Dublin and started as a session musician.”
It wasn’t long before the talented youth was working with RTE house band where she performed on a multitude of popular shows including the Late Late Show, the Childline concert, The Voice, Your A Star, the Eurovision where she shared the stage with top names like Ryan Sheridan and Brian McFadden. “When I started sessioning in Ireland, or working as a ‘hired gun’ as it’s called, one of the first things I did was work with Brian McFadden and then I did the Childline concert and the Eurovision.”
Tanya was then selected to take part in The Heartbeat of Home world tour which was created by the producers and director of Riverdance. “It started in Dublin opening in the Bord Gáis theatre, and then we went to China, Europe, Canada and down into North America. Including rehearsals and pre-production I was with them for a year and a half. That was crazy, it was nine shows a week evey where we went,” she told Topic.
In 2008 Tanya took her first step into the US music scene after receiving an invitation to do a studio session with Maynard James Keenan from US rock band Tool. “I grew up being a huge fan of that band. I had met them in Glasgow and got talking to a mutual friend who were roadies and ended up going to Arizona to do an album with him which was amazing because I got to work with four of my idols. I wrote and recorded a bunch of songs with him in Arizona.”
Tanya continued to work with RTÉ and enjoyed a successful stint in London but knew her heart lay in the States and it wasn’t long before she returned. “I ended up going to visit LA for a while and giving up my apartment in Mullingar. I just woke up one morning and thought, “I need to do something completely new.” I was busy here but it was a gut instinct thing. I was really curious to see the LA music scene.”
She attended a music convention in Hollywood by herself in an attempt to make contact with people in the industry and forge out a career stateside. “I stayed out there for about six weeks and bounced around and went to a load of gigs.”
It wasn’t long before she ventured across the pond again, this time taking the band that she was currently playing with. “I brought them and we did a few shows. They didn’t want to stay and I did.”
Tanya then made several more trips while trying to work through arduous task of acquiring an Artist Visa. “I did work for RTE and I was in wedding bands and a bunch of different corporate things and I would just save up to go back. Each time I went back I would meet lots of different people.”
Tanya returned once more with Brian Hogan from Kila where they recorded an album with an English producer and she admits it was then that she realised that she wanted LA to be her new home. “I’ve been based there solidly for about three years. I still spend a lot of time on the road especially this last year, I’ve been on tour a lot with Jordan Fisher. He’s like a young Bruno Mars and it’s kind of like Pop/R n’ B, Soul gig. We toured all over the East Coast and Mid West from the Carolinas to Alabama up in NewYork and back to California for some shows, so we did a good run.”
She describes working with massive ’80s band Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider as “a ridiculous amount of fun”. “We started doing shows a view months ago and have been doing festivals and were in Chicago recently. I have been managing both those tours even though they’re almost overlapping. I’ve been pretty much on planes all year,” she laughs.
Tanya has no intention of slowing down anytime soon and will be attending the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) this month. “It’s the largest music convention in the world so me and the company that I’m endorsed go and do performances and signings and photo shoots and a whole kind of week of just madness for us. The base companies that I’m with for my guitars, we do stuff everyday with them, and then I’ll be back on the road with the tours. 2017 is going to be crazy”
