Kyle O’Neill, also known as Boy M5, has been brewing up a storm since opening coffee shop Brú Lab in Glenview Retail Park in the Mountain Top during the Covid-19 pandemic. Kyle hails from the Watson family, who are behind a number of long-running and successful local businesses.

In his own right, it was no mean feat opening up a business in such precarious times and the niche coffee shop continues to attract a regular clientele. Now, the 28-year-old is preparing to extend his creative talents as he brings out a brand new single today.

100k streams

‘Roar by the Shore’ follows on from Mountains, which saw Boy M5 surpass 100k stream worldwide, being playlisted on both RTÉ and BBC, as well as being sought out by the music team on ITV. Written by Boy M5 and produced by platinum producer Ian Kelosky of Sub Studios, the track once again shows the versatility and genre-bending style of Boy M5 as an artist.

While it’s back to the future for Boy M5 who is now venturing into the ever growing 90s nostalgia popularised in recent years, the local man’s musical beginnings began many years ago when he discovered an acoustic guitar in a friend’s attic.

Speaking to the Donegal News, he said: “My best friend and I were going on an adventure through his attic when he found an acoustic guitar. I started playing around with it and soon found I had a knack. My friend told me I could take the guitar home and keep practising.”

From those early days a natural flair for music evolved, and Kyle soon had his own guitar and began studying music in the North West Regional College in Derry. From there, he went on to study music in Ballyfermot College of Further Education, following in the same footsteps as Lifford’s own Mickey Joe Harte and Irish sensation, Mundy.

Although Kyle doesn’t like to compartmentalise his musical genre, his own musical hero is Glen Hansard and his favourite song is ‘Falling Slowly’, and it is with this link which his stage name of Boy M5 derived. He cites his other major musical influences as including David Bowie and Queen. He also enjoys the music of Irish singer-songwriter Orla Gartland and Roe (Roisin Donald), a 19-year-old multi-instrumentalist from Derry who has her own brand of self styled ‘Grumpy Electro-Pop’.

Boy M5 shared the stage with a number of Irish artists including Dermot Kennedy and Kodaline. Then lockdown arrived.

“Lockdown and Covid was a nightmare for everyone, especially those in the music industry who just came to a complete halt. Like everyone else, lockdown enabled me to gain new skills and I got more involved in the production side of things.” To listen to ‘Roar by the Shore’ visit Soundcloud link: https://soundcloud.com/boym5/roar

bytheshore

See www.boym5.com for more information.