DIVIL

DIVIL is the sound of 3 childhood friends processing death, sickness and fatherhood.

For singer Danny Dempsey McMahon, guitarist Jocelyn Vance and bassist Conor
Cusack It’s a vital creative outlet , a place to explore pain and grief.
After spending the majority of their childhood together in the same primary and
secondary school (The year below folk troubadour John Francis Flynn and in the
same year as Gilla Band’s Dara Kiely & Daniel Fox), they hadn’t been in the same
room together in nearly a decade. Sadly, it took the death of Danny’s father Tommy,
for them to reconnect. Danny and Joc had spent their twenties making music in a
number of bands in Dublin and despite great talent, lacked the industry savvy to
make an impact.

Cusack, by contrast had spent his twenties in Dublin band & IMW alumni SPIES
before embarking on a decade long career as an artist manager working with Irish
folk duo Saint Sister & Morgana at legendary London mgmt firm ie:music.

The three had drifted away from playing music and each other, focusing their
attention on their careers and young family in Jocelyn’s case. In 2023, Danny’s
father was to fall ill, and he moved in to care for him. A precious time, it was during
this period he started to write songs again. In the pub the night of the funeral,
Cusack watched the other two sing Rocky Road to Dublin and was struck by the
intensely personal and deep musical bond they had and felt that when the time was
right that they should write music together.

The following month, following a routine chest X-Ray, Cusack was informed he had a
massive tumour in his chest. Cancer. In the wake of the diagnosis, as life ground to a
halt and treatment started, the three friends reconnected. The idea of starting a band
was floated and tentative steps were made. A room in Camden Studios was
acquired, and here they started to be open up musically. Danny shared sketches
written about his father, his grief and ways of coping and soon the three started
writing their own material together.

DIVIL I is the first 3 songs to come out of these sessions. Brutally honest,
they capture first hand their experience as they underwent these emotional lows.

Thanks A Million was the first song they wrote, juxtaposing the self-pity of a post binge depression with the nostalgia and escapism that only being in the room with your friends can bring. Orang Utan deals
with a different type of escapism, trying to make yourself feel better by doing all the
wrong things. Finally Chewing Gum, deals with grief and the moments along the way
that define you.

The band played their first show in March 2025 to a sold out Whelan's Upstairs. Their second show was on The Jameson Connects show at ATN.