A New Life: Jill McCullough gave up a great job to promote Irish indie rock band, Indian. Michelle McDonagh finds out why.
Many people are passionate about music, but there are very few who would give up a great job for the love of one particular band. But that's exactly what Jill McCullough did.
From the first moment McCullough heard Irish indie rock band, Indian, perform live in the Róisín Dubh pub in Galway nine years ago, she was hooked.
McCullough is so determined to ensure the band's unique blend of talent gets the recognition which she believes it deserves, that last September she decided to give up her job as a buyer for Hartmann's Jewellers in Galway to promote the band full-time.
She explains: "It was a huge change. I had an absolutely great job that I enjoyed so much. I met great people and travelled to fabulous places like Switzerland, Monte Carlo and Japan to buy beautiful jewellery to sell to people and make them happy."
While most people who make a major career change end up earning more, McCullough says it has never been about money for her - it's about her strong belief that more people out there should get to hear Indian's amazing music.
As the band can only afford to pay her expenses at this stage, McCullough also works a few shifts a week at the Blackrock House Hotel in Doughiska, which her husband of seven years, Brian Murphy, runs.
She fits her shifts in between driving around the country trying to set up gigs, interviews and - toughest of all - to get airplay for the band.
It's not an easy job, but despite all the knockbacks and long hours waiting to talk to radio and television people, she remains determined to make Indian the successful band she believes they deserve to be.
"Everybody knows how tough an industry it is, but I never imagined it would be so hard to get people in the industry just listen to the music. No matter how hard it is to get them to listen, though, I am not going to go away, this music is just too good."
For somebody like McCullough, who has such a deep passion and love for good singer/songwriters, it's frustrating when a band like Westlife brings out an album of Frank Sinatra songs which gets airplay on every radio station in the country when genuine talent, she believes, is being ignored.
"Frank Sinatra had such respect for the songwriter whose song he sang that he always kept the seat to his left free after the gig and nobody else could sit there but the songwriter.
"There does not seem to be that same respect in the industry today," she says.
Indian's lead singer, Joe Hunt, lyricist and keyboard player Martin Harte and drummer Christy Behan are all from Sligo where their manager, Aidan Mannion, owns the Record Room music shop in Sligo. Guitarist Pat McManus is from Monaghan and bass player Leo Donnellan is from Galway.
Three songs from their first album, Show me that Chihuahua again, made it into the charts about nine years ago and the band was selling out in the Róisín Dubh, Galway, and Whelan's in Dublin - but after this initial hype nothing happened.
The first gig McCullough promoted for Indian took place at the Taibhdhearc, Galway in August last year.
Since then they have also played in the Empire in Belfast, the Sugar Club in Dublin, the Róisín Dubh in Galway and Blackrock House Hotel.
Their next appearance will be at a free gig in the Róisín Dubh on Thursday, December 9th.
The band released their second album, Blue Flowers, in April and despite the fact that it is only available in a handful of shops in the West and has received no national airplay, it has sold 7,000 copies.
McCullough is frustrated that no shop in Dublin took the album, although it is being sold in Galway by Mulligan's, Redlight and Zhivago and is also available through the band's website at www.indiantheband.com.
In November 2003, the first track from the album, 'Cities', was shortlisted down to 1,000 from 11,000 entries worldwide in an American Billboard magazine song competition. The song eventually made it into eighth place in the top 10.
Following appearances in Galway and Derry in December, Indian are going back into the studio to record a four-track mini-album which they will produce themselves before embarking on an Irish tour.
McCullough adds: "I know Indian are not the only great band out there, but there is something very special about this band, in Martin's songs and Joe's delivery, they just have it.
"These are timeless songs about real people and what happens in their lives, they can soothe you and uplift you."