A former Lacombe resident is seeing success as a drummer for a band in Ireland. Jordan Swanson and his band Late Night Pharmacy have received a grant from the Irish Government’s Department of Culture to produce and mix three singles.

“They released a package called Music Industry Stimulus Package and the idea of that was to help with the Irish music scene just because it was affected by the whole pandemic and a lot of stuff revolves around tourism,” said Swanson.

“There would have been people looking for writing grants, or full album releases, or just singles or small EP's. We pursued the EP we put in an application for the grant and then we were awarded. We ended up getting about €4,000,” he added.

Swanson who grew up in Lacombe and has fond memories growing up playing in garages with other local musicians in Lacombe and Red Deer area. For awhile he lived in Calgary playing with a band called Midwest Mindset. The drummer ended up moving to Ireland when his wife decided to pursue an education in the country. Through social media, he eventually started playing music with Late Night Pharmacy.  

The band has released the first of their three singles funded by their Music Industry Stimulus Grant called ‘Too Late for the Rickshaws’ through Hot Press Magazine a popular Irish publication. The band has also won a recording deal from a radio competition in Ireland.

“They awarded us two finished songs and then we play a show…They record a whole live show and then they give you a finished video at the end with one song recorded live off the floor. We ended up winning that just before the grant. You work with students on that project, so it's a bit of a slower process because they're learning as they go,” he explained.

However, Jordan has yet to perform in front a live audience with Late Night Pharmacy due to a band member change just before the pandemic hit. The ‘live’ show they will be playing for the radio competition will be their first show together as a band but with no audience members.

“There is going to be the sound crew, stage production, and maybe the other artists. Ireland's had a very strict lockdown. They've been really aggressive with how they've handled things, and for some people it's been good, I suppose. In others, it's been tough,” he noted.

Photo courtesy of Dan (@flystate_). 

Swanson enjoys the music scene and culture of Ireland but occasionally misses Canada’s wilderness and hiking.

“I kind of miss the wildness of Canada. That’s kind of nice. You can travel a lot of places here—not that you can't from Canada, but it's really cheap. You can jump on a plane where there's not a pandemic for €20 and go to Scotland, or pay €40 and go to Poland,” said Swanson.

Swanson hopes their next big step is touring the UK. Overall, the entire experience feels unbelievable to the drummer.

“You just can't imagine just living in in Dublin. I don't know like sometimes I just pinch myself. Well, just that we just won money from the Irish Government and are putting out music then, living in Dublin. It's all kind of all kind of surreal,” said Swanson.