Coolaney’s Stephen Gormley, already a young Glastonbury and Other Voices veteran, is another one of those BIMM music college graduates who is making an impact with his songwriting.
The Sligoman trades as Moon Looks On and will release the upbeat folk-pop single Carry You, Carry Me this Friday, 19th February, which is sure to augur well for his forthcoming debut album.
Just over a year ago, Moon Looks On released his previous single Friends Keep Dropping on AMS Records – a song that received widespread radio play in Ireland and the UK, with support from the likes of RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ 2fm, RTÉ lyric FM, Dublin’s 98fm, PlayIrish Radio, BBC Radio Ulster and Radio X.
Prior to this he had already been gaining recognition for his sound and was invited to play at St. James’ Church at Other Voices, a set that Irish Times music journalist Tony Clayton-Lea called “a revelatory performance.”
“Carry You, Carry Me is a reflection of what it feels like to be completely adrift in love – way out at sea and not a worry in the world. I was born on the west coast of Ireland and I spent a lot of my life living close to the ocean; there’s a draw to the sea that’s hard to explain but it gets into your bones and it never leaves,” said Stephen.
“The natural world has a mystical draw for me and I find myself constantly returning to these themes in my songs – even more so now that I’ve returned to my home county of Sligo where the ocean and the mountains are on my doorstep,” he said.
In July 2018 Moon Looks On was chosen to play in Dublin’s docklands for the official visit of Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Megan. Notable live appearances followed at Sligo Live, Electric Picnic, Westport Arts Festival, Knockanstockan, Somerset House in London and the renowned 2000 Trees festival in The Cotswolds, UK.
In June 2019 Stephen played no less than three sets at Glastonbury Festival.
From his performance on the Croissant Neuf main stage at Glastonbury, Moon Looks On was booked to play a number of tour dates in the UK and booked for the Polska Éire Festival in RudaŚląska, Poland that was due to take place on the 4th of July 2020, rescheduled because of Covid-19.
Despite the fact that 2020 put the brakes on Moon Looks On’s promising touring schedule Stephen is back with brand new folk material for 2021 and is intent on making it his most successful year to date.
