ST. BISHOP
Blending his roots in rural Ireland, soul and electro-pop, as confidently as he tackles issues of sexuality, gender identity and radical self-acceptance, St. Bishop’s music flourishes with unapologetic charisma. Writing in a self-confessional, autobiographical style, the songwriter channels these issues into his writing and through this he’s able to process and comprehend his own turmoils. The thoughts often tumble out in a disordered manner yet in time, they are organised and formulated into conventional pop structures.
After joining BIMM Dublin, he applied himself fully to his sound and began collaborating with long-term producer Sean Behan. Between the two of them they sculpted the St.Bishop sound, a very personal song suite with power-pop sensibilities, aligned to contemporaries such as Charli XCX, Troye Sivan and SG Lewis. Early memories of listening to contemporary composers such as Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder via formative teenage tastes including Mika, Scissor Sisters and P!nk have culminated in honest and powerful pop songs.
Since performing under the moniker St.Bishop he has always been an “out” musician and admires his peers and contemporaries who are unapologetically authentic to who they are. By utilising a platform and standing up for those who may not yet feel strong enough to stand out, he demonstrates a conscious duty to his fans and listeners.
The result is propulsive, powerful songs that carry St. Bishop’s stories carefully within them. ‘Good Intentions’, which premiered on the 405 as “expectedly epic” is a bold declaration of validity, a refusal to be labelled and limited by those around him. Hovering synths crash in time with St.Bishop’s adamance not to mask his true self, finally broken above his shame. “I’m getting better at being myself”. A strong mantra to form the basis of his musical output.
Preceding single ‘Porcelain’ also shed light onto the young artist’s struggles with his own anxieties, likening the feeling to awakening in his body to struggling for breath. However its chorus is a far more obvious declaration of love, lust and a willingness to love without fear of ridicule or backlash.
These initial releases were quickly accompanied by slots at Electric Picnic, The Ruby Sessions and Sofar Sounds Dublin and Knockanstockan; garnering the attention of The 405, Hotpress, Born Music Online, The Last Mixed Tape and BBC Radio Ulster along the way. In the summer of 2018 St. Bishop reflected on the various self-acceptance issues he has struggled with since being a teenager. A realisation that encouraged St. Bishop to press the pause button on things for a while, in order to focus on looking after himself and building a better relationship with himself. This enabled the electro pop artist to delve into his art, songwriting and vision, taking ownership of how he felt, and how he wanted to present those feelings to the world. 2019 saw St. Bishop relaunch the project with an unshakable confidence underpinning every move. Over the last twelve months, he has been collaborating with some of Ireland’s finest producers; Sean Behan (A Place Called Kai, LAOISE), Adam Redmond (Search Party Animal, All Tvvins) and Daniel McIntyre (lullahush, AE Mak, ELKIN) to name a few.
Sleep It Off was released on November 15th via Veta Records with acclaim from Variance Magazine, CLOUT Magazine, Golden Plec, The Last Mixed Tape & The Vinyl District to name but a few. Tipped as one of Ireland’s best live performers & a breakout act of 2020, St. Bishop moves with precision & confidence as he enters into this next chapter of his work.
2020 saw St. Bishop rose from the ashes of a year that changed everything about our industry and released pop banger ‘Dreaming’ in the later half of the year. This track was St. Bishop’s most commercially successful one to date, garnering over 150,000 radio impacts and receiving praise from most national stations - RTE 2fm, iRadio, BBC NI, Cork’s Red FM, Spin SW, Spin Radio, Play Irish & Northern Sound to name but a few. The track also went on to get recognition from Nialler9, The Last Mixed Tape, GCN, Hot Press, Golden Plec, MCD, IMRO & many other music publications.
Following up this success St. Bishop closed out 2020 by releasing a stripped back arrangement of Dreaming in December 2020. Collaborating with up and coming music video direction Ben Kavanagh - the pair created a beautiful visual that encapsulated the raw emotional undertones portrayed in the track.