frankie: Eugene McGuinness

Eugene McGuinness is one to watch out for. The British singer-songwriter is one to watch as well, as the buzz builds surrounding the recent release of his debut self-titled long player. But it’s the 22-year-old’s mischievous streak that would make you watch your back when hanging out with him.

“We had dancers on one of my videos who were doing all these really amazing elaborate things,” he says. “And I’d interrupt them and say, ‘Sorry, that looks really good but can you just do this?’ and I would make up some really shit move like something out of Napoleon Dynamite. Whenever they do something shit in the video it’s because I told them to.”

Eugene himself is not much of a dancer. “I’m too tall. And I’m from London. I think the English reserve comes into play. Whenever I start dancing I’m very much aware I’m dancing. I can’t relax unless I’m completely out of it, but that’s not dancing that’s just some sort of mild fit.”

Eugene’s wicked sense of humour rears its slyly-grinning head throughout his music. His nostalgic skiffle-punk balladeering first courted critical acclaim with the release of last year’s mini-album The Early Learnings of Eugene McGuinness. His recent full album proper picks up where that left off, with more light-hearted and surreal story-telling about the dark and sweaty side of life.

“I find absolutely everything funny,” he says. “If someone puts the right spin on it I’ll be in stitches. Even the most terrible things. But I don’t set out to put humour in my songs. It’s just a habitual trait. Often I’ll be writing about something that’s not particularly pleasant and the only way out is to say something tongue-in-cheek, a sarcastic kind of thing which doesn’t fit the mood at all.

“But that’s just in the upbeat songs. Whenever I’m in a sprightlier mood what naturally happens is I start being a bit stupid. Like this interview for instance - I’m on fire, I’m wicked here. Usually I’m terrible. It’s cos I’m hungover.”

Born in London and brought up in Essex and Ireland, Eugene says he had a playful attitude growing up. “In school I always used to pick on people who were like twice the size of me. And I’d always get away with it and run off, laughing. It was never bad fights, just playground stuff when you’re playing football.” He laughs. “I was always just really annoying.”

After considering studying fine art, Eugene instead went to the Paul McCartney-founded Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts, the same establishment that produced The Wombats. But he found the university’s approach to music to be completely at odds with his own.

“There was nothing really going for me in London, so the idea of going to Liverpool to study music sounded quite appealing at the time,” he says. “But I had no idea what studying music would actually entail. I realised that I don’t agree with the idea of studying music at all. You start thinking about it in a very cold and contrived way. I did, anyway. I don’t want to slag that place off. It probably works better for classical music, or theatrical stuff. But it wasn’t for me. For me it was more about the city of Liverpool and the music scene that was there outside of that cocoon.”

Signed to the UK’s renowned Domino Records, home of Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys, Eugene obviously hasn’t suffered without the training. With descriptions like ‘one-man Arctic Monkeys’ being bandied about (“They are the best band in the world, but what I do is pretty different.”), Eugene’s currently enjoying his next big thing status. He proudly reports that “people are liking the album” in his native UK and talks like a caged animal about his upcoming solo tour and support slot with Goldfrapp.

“It’s nice to be busy again,” he says. “For a couple of months I was just waiting for the record to come out. People would ask what I was doing and I’d say, ‘Nothing, but I’ve got a record coming out, it definitely exists.’ But now it’s out and I get to do gigs and interviews like a famous person. Glorious. One can’t be trusted without the routine of a tour. I just end up upsetting people.”