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Ciaran Gribben
INXS front man Ciaran Gribbin has teamed up with his Snow Patrol pals in a new music deal.
The Castledawson man has joined Polar Publishing in a deal which reunites him with former college mate Nathan Connolly.
Ciaran and the Snow Patrol guitarist studied music at Bangor Tech together and the singer did backing vocals on their hit Eyes Open album.
They nearly struck a deal on the Ulster man’s massive back catalogue of 250 songs four years ago when Ciaran was approached by Jonny Quinn, but they were both busy and it was put on the back burner until recently.
Ciaran, who supported Snow Patrol, Scissor Sisters and Paolo Nuttini when he was with band Leya, has penned material for artists like Madonna, co-writing her hit Celebration.
But he’s now signed up with his performing pals, opening up the American market.
The 37-year-old is already strutting on the global stage with INXS, which is currently taking a break from touring, and writing for artists in Asia and his adopted home Australia. He moved there with wife Donna to front the band and the couple now have toddler son James.
“I feel the time is right now for me to start focusing more on the USA market and with the team at Polar we are already planning a writing trip in LA and Nashville,” says Ciaran.
“Over the next year or so I expect my music to find its way into many areas, from TV to movies, adverts, pop records and games.
“I really feel as if I know the Snow Patrol lads well. I know that they’re honest and hard-working and they’ve built a strong team around Polar Publishing.
“The guys have always been supportive of me and my career over the years.”
He’s also expecting a buzz around Al Pacino movie Danny Collins, originally titled Imagine, about an ageing rock star of the Beatles era who goes in search of his long lost son. It’s due to be released this year.
Ciaran wrote the song which is Pacino’s character’s biggest hit, and got chills hearing him sing it.
“I was in LA a few months ago for the cast and crew screening and it really was amazing to see the movie. I never thought in my wildest dreams that a legend like Al Pacino would be singing a song I wrote in a movie.
“It’s the first time he’s sung in a movie and he did an amazing job,” says Ciaran, who also wrote tracks for U2 movie Killing Bono.
Despite the workload of the band and writing for other artists Ciaran says he’s still writing for himself and this year fans will hear a lot more from him.
“I plan to release a lot of music – I’m not sure if there will be another EP or a few singles or an album,” says the artist.
“I shot six music videos recently in Rio and Australia so I’m very excited about getting new music out there again,” he says.