Jinx Lennon: 'Cork has always had an edge that Dublin doesn’t'

Jinx Lennon, one of Ireland’s most prolific songwriters, has released 14 albums with an average of over 20 songs per record. His witty and engaging titles are very much in place on The Hate Agents Leer at the Last Isle of Hope, his latest album, which features titles such as Stop Hiding Behind the Flag, Mad for Mass, The Snakes are Still Here St Patrick, and Unwanted Attention in the Gym.

As ever, the specific topics and subjects of the songs vary throughout, but the album has two main themes, as Jinx explained: “I don’t think you can be a proper writer unless you sing about what’s happening in your everyday life.

“My wife Sophie and my kids inspire some of the songs now, such as Cyndi Lauper, which is about getting out for a date once in a blue moon, or Mad for Mass or Meat in the Sandwich, which is about the pressures of domestic life.”

Tackling wider societal concerns drives a lot of Jinx’s work: “People need to speak out now about the issues while they can, because I can see a time that that will become harder to do — even in this country — as the world moves more towards division than empathy and less tolerance towards people fleeing hardship, that’s what the album title is about.

“I think it’s more important now to speak out at the risk of being attacked. You should be able to speak your mind as long as your views are not just poisonous, predictable, prejudicial tirades.

“McGregor in the White House on Paddy’s Day was awful to see, an angry leprechaun licking up to a poisonous bully about the horror of immigration. A big wolfwhistle about immigration in a land full of Irish immigrants, that’s pathetic and ridiculous and lethal hate mongering.”

Jinx doesn’t just write about these issues though.

“We had a bunch of people in Dundalk last summer trying to intimidate people outside a Sisters of Mercy convent [and former laundry] that had been designated to be a shelter for war refugees, so a bunch of us went out to show what Dundalk stood for.

“They were wall-to-wall flag waving and it looked ridiculous, all the flags looked fresh out of the packet like they’d just arrived from Amazon, and probably made in the Far East.

“The cover of the album is from those protests in front of the Sisters of Mercy convent. The building was getting a makeover at the time, which is why it is all white with industrial plastic over it. It looks a bit rough but it just suited what the album was going with thematically.”

While Jinx has been gigging as a solo act for over 25 years, he regularly has collaborators him on record and on stage. He has always made a point of giving developing artists slots and opportunities, and many musicians — especially from Dundalk such as The Mary Wallopers and David Keenan — credit his commitment to staying true to his roots as an inspiration to them.

“I like it if I’m being a decent influence on local musicians, said Jinx. “God knows how many times I was told I’d never get a gig outside town for singing in my local accent and now there’s local accents everywhere for good or bad.

“I appreciate people like David, he seems a complicated lad like myself, there’s humanity and self belief in his songs. Years ago, his band used to me in the Spirit Store in Dundalk. He used to watch my show and he’d say ‘it’s all folk music Jinx’ and I’d say ‘yeah it’s all stories’. In the distant past there were a few times folk music really resonated with me before I ever performed onstage.”

The idea of the power and resonance of music is close to Jinx’s heart.

“I work in a hospital for the past 25 years [encapsulated in his song Pushing the Patients Round].

“I got married to Sophie 14 years ago and we have a young family and it is very hard to get a balance. The music is a great pressure valve releaser and when I get into a semi routine — that’s the best I can do due to shifts and schedules and school — I can sometimes get my head space into being the musician.

“If you don’t keep an eye on it, it can get sidelined and it gets out of shape so you must keep the pen going. The whole thing is similar to an onion. I peel off the next layer and the music changes slightly. I spent 20 years until 1999 trying to write songs and not being able to put myself in person into the music with lyrical honesty.

“It was only through having to prepare myself for being a phone counsellor that I found the tools to be candid and to put the truth in the words. When I saw it was working onstage it was such a revelation that it was almost biblical.”

He references some songs from Cork artists that have always been favourites of his.

“I working in an electronics factory years ago hearing Happy Busman by The Frank And Walters blasting out on the radio, it was inspiring to me because it was the only odd and uplifting thing I’d be hearing at the time, I particularly liked that the words weren’t cynical. I also love White Cortina by Nun Attax, it was just mad joyous fun, especially seeing it on Saturday morning TV!”

Playing in Cork is something he looks forward to.

“My first gig was at The Lobby with yourself Ronan. You always get recognisable heads at the Cork gigs but they’re always varying faces each gig by gig, and heads that I haven’t seen for years sometimes come down from all over the place, which I like to see. Cork has always had an edge that Dublin doesn’t.”

When Jinx plays in Winthrop Avenue on April 4 — the day his new album is released — he will be ed by Wasps vs Humans, who he has played many shows with over the years.

“Carl and Linda are fellow spirits and have the hunger for the shows the same as myself and they are fearless performers. I appreciate how they have evolved their sound and they are an inspiration to watch so its a great pair up, the two acts together on the bill.”

The Hate Agents Leer at the Last Isle of Hope can be bought via jinxlennon.com. Tickets for Jinx’s show on Friday, April 4, can be bought at cyprusavenue.ie.