An Unlikely Fellowship

Before we ever dreamed of writing songs together an unlikely friendship grew between us. A 21-year-old Dubliner and an old git of 58 years, a Londoner now settled in Ludlow.

That friendship started on family walks talking about movies. We both know the script of The Lord of the Rings by rote. We’ve watched Love and Mercy, the biopic of Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, many times. Also, Team America: when Rod suggests that Finn should record yet another take of the vocals to “convey the meaning of the lyrics” Finn’s response is “Feck you, Hans Bric! Do you have any idea how fecking busy I am?”

And there’s the cheese. That’s the drug of choice for O’Reilly and Vincent. The only drug we use apart from the occasional pint of Ludlow Gold, from the local brewery, to wash it down. We are both addicted to local Shropshire and Welsh cheeses. Beauties like Perl Wen and Hafod. When we are deep into writing songs we take along a bag of cheese. Even Shropshire Blue, to lift the music into new dimensions. But that stuff’s hardcore. It can feck you up.

More recently, when the writing’s over or it’s time to leave the studio, we chill in front of rockumentaries on Netflix. The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir – about his friendship with Jerry Garcia in The Grateful Dead. Finn is a dedicated Deadhead. Also, The Defiant Ones about the unlikely friendship of Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine. At one point Dre says, “Music is a young man’s game.” Something Rod should listen to.

Away from the music, Finn coaches at the local cricket club in Leinster and has been known to play the odd game of golf. Rod is working through his third novel but has very little time now as he’s learning cinematography and film editing to make the videos for O’Reilly and Vincent.