Colin Devaney is a musician, vocal coach and voiceover artist from Galway, Ireland. Colin started playing guitar at the age of 16, getting one guitar lesson on how to play a Barre chord before he realised he would have to play Love Me Tender by Elvis at the next lesson and just never went back.

He would busk on the streets of Galway on and off for around 4 years or so, the perfect environment to learn how to be ignored - while also playing in venues like The Roisin Dubh, the Cellar Bar, etc... supporting bands like Chris Pontius' band Scream for Me, the Minutes, and Damien Dempsey.

However, Colin realised that he wasn't breaking ground in Galway and, rather than invest in a vehicle, he emigrated to London at 22. Colin would spend nearly 7 years there, recording tracks, having fun playing gigs in all sorts of places to all sorts of people, eating absolutely everything and working all sorts of menial jobs to pay the rent on crumbling, horrible, cold apartments, finally settling in a warehouse in North London before realising he hadn't made any real progress artistically in years, A&R people ultimately saying they "didn't have any faith in the product" and PR companies refusing to market it.

Colin ended up doubling down into a career position in HR that ended up being absolutely dead end for him - until a text asking if he wanted to visit a friend in Vietnam after a particularly emotional meeting inspired him to give up the job, warehouse, friends and even music to be "a guy eating noodles" for a while, a description he says he stays loyal to, to this day.

On arriving in Vietnam, Colin was immediately thrust into the loving bosom of the Hanoi music scene through open mics and offered gigs pretty much immediately, which became his job. He was tipped off to more opportunities in Central Vietnam, and Colin was growing tired of the air pollution and 5am sleeping times, so he packed his life into a motorbike and drove to Hoi An and Da Nang, where he has lived for the last 3 1/2 years.

We conclude Part 1 of this podcast with a discussion about success and how Colin's perspectives on it have changed through the years.

#Music in the show is from his 2012 Album called 'This is the Sound'. You can listen to it in full on Bandcamp and if you want you could even do what i did myself and buy it for the price of your choice https://colindevaney.bandcamp.com/

In Part 2 coming next week we will discuss physical and mental health, tips for aspiring musicians, life changing moments, sobriety and gratitude among many other things.

Thanks Colin. A Top Bloke here in #DaNang #Vietnam.

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