How Dubai gave voice to this Irish singer

With the summer season nearly over and outdoor venues opening up, you need to a) make sure you’re vaccinated, b) wear your mask and c) check out Gari Deegan live on stage.

The singer/songwriter was a finalist on The Voice Ireland in 2012 and has since toured Ireland performing alongside artists like John Legend and Olly Murs. Despite enjoying his time on the road, Gari decided to make the move to Dubai, on a bit of whim, to see where his music can take him here.

And Dubai hasn’t let him down. “I’ve gotten to meet so many amazing people who have given me some amazing opportunities,” Gari told City Times. “Dubai is such an international hub and when the good times come, the opportunities are endless if you put the work in, and put yourself out there and look for it.”

Gari has definitely been busy. Since moving to Dubai in 2013 he’s hosted and performed at some pretty big events such as The Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix, the BBC Good Food Awards, the Moto Grand Prix of Qatar, Dubai Rugby Sevens and lots more.

Soulful, entertaining, effortless and entrancing, Gari’s presence on the stage feels authentic whether he’s singing an original or a cover.

Gari is currently working on an EP which he plans to release later in the year but make sure to check out his Instagram to get a taste of what you could see live.

We caught up with Gari and chatted about the facets of music in times of Covid, reality TV and social media.

Starting Out

“I was obsessed with singing. I always sang and I annoyed everybody. Everyone hated me in my house because I never shut up (laughs). So I always knew I wanted to sing.”

Musical Influences

“I grew up listening to Stevie Wonder. I love singers with soul like Jennifer Hudson. If we were in the car on a family drive, my mum used to have Dolly Parton and I’ve often got told that sometimes, when I sing, there’s a country element in there. I do love country music and Irish artists, like Mary Black. Both my parents love Whitney Houston too, so I listened to that a lot.”

Soulful Sound

“I’m definitely a soul, R&B and pop kind of artist. People used to always tell me that I don’t sound like a white person — especially an Irish white person (laughs). I don’t know where that came from, because my family all love music but I’m the only singer, bar my aunt. My mum used to dabble a bit, but I’m the only one who pursued it.”

Reality TV Music Shows

“The Voice was enjoyable but there was a lot of stress with it. I remember part of our contract was we had to set up a Twitter account. Once you came off a live performance, you went straight to this engine room and you had to check and interact with tweets. They warned us, you’ll have 99% positive tweets about your performances, and you’ll have 1% nasty, horrible stuff. Everyone used to scroll past the good stuff and look for the bad, to see what people were saying. That affected a lot of people. I used to laugh at it. It didn’t affect me too much. But the whole process was stressful. You’re manipulated quite bit. After that I was like, no, this isn’t for me.”

Social Media and Music

“I go through phases with social media. It’s very important for work. I get most enquires through Instagram. I try not to take it too seriously. Some people are obsessed with it. Lately I’ve been trying to spend less time on it. I try to keep it as real as possible. You see a lot of people not being themselves. Where as I like to think that what you see on my Instagram is me — whether you like it or not.”

Covid & The Creative Process

“A lot creative people and musicians on social media said that they haven’t been motivated during lockdown. It’s weird. You’d think that Covid and lockdown would create more motivation but it killed my motivation. I had all this time but for some reason… I was doing covers at home but I don’t know why I didn’t have motivation or inspiration. I did write one song.”

Tonight will be out in early October and the EP will follow hopefully by Christmas.