{"id":177345,"date":"2025-12-05T23:15:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T23:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/177345\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T23:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T23:15:16","slug":"longford-producer-jonathan-owens-behind-infamous-late-late-show-talks-music-and-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/177345\/","title":{"rendered":"Longford producer Jonathan Owens behind infamous Late Late Show talks music and television"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know his music. You know his name. Get ready for another year of the ‘Late Late Toy Show’!<\/p>\n

Granard<\/a>‘s Jonathan Owens has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the Irish country music scene as well as overseas.\u00a0He is also a musician and musical director for RT\u00c9 and TG4.<\/p>\n

With one of Ireland’s favourite Christmas traditions hitting the screen tonight, we hope you enjoy reading ‘Longford Leader’s’ interview with Jonathan from 2025, where he discussed his beginnings, career and his work on television.<\/p>\n

What\/who inspired you to start a record studio?<\/p>\n

My dad was a record producer. He was a session musician as well. Both my parents were musicians; they had a band. Music was always in the house. Being in gigs at an early age. Dad was working in studios. Occasionally, I\u2019d be brought to the studio because my parents would be recording. I probably picked up the craft of the various instruments, like the drums. Yeah, probably my dad would definitely be the person who introduced me to the studio. He would\u2019ve been encouraging me through my teenage years. I started in the bedroom with my keyboard, making backing tracks, and getting pieces of equipment. At that time, they were expensive. Not many people had them even in professional studios. I had my own bedroom studio and locked myself in there for hours, inventing, creating and then I became good at it. Whenever I started to get more of a feel, my dad started to use me for working on my mother and father\u2019s material, playing with their records, which led to other people\u2019s recordings when we started out. That developed into me wanting to start my own, from the age of 15-16; I was recording by 17. I had my own studio, which was a converted garage\u2013a functional studio where I could record them. It was all hard-disk and the equipment was much bigger than now. Everything is in one box. That was the start of it for me. I expanded on it all the time; invested in new equipment, as you do as you try to get better at your craft. You find the new gear or software to make your workflow easier, to get the job done quicker. When you create music, you can\u2019t sit on an idea. You want to do it now. You want your equipment to react immediately. That\u2019s where I was always a step ahead, thinking what is the next piece of equipment that I can afford. You were working all the time, reinvesting all the time, and that got me to where I am today. I still have my own studio at home. Twenty-five years of recordings, full-time, professionally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0\u2018The money raised on Christmas Day does save lives\u2019: Longford GOAL Mile to return<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you predominantly record country music, have you recorded\/produced or are you open to other genres?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m country music focused because, stemming back to my parents who were country, even when country wasn\u2019t cool, I was brought up on country. Other styles of music, I\u2019m into any style of music. I don\u2019t believe in any bad music. I don\u2019t believe in good or bad. If it\u2019s heavy metal to jazz, to hip hop and rock, if there\u2019s something in it. As a producer, you have to have an open mind. If I got locked in country music, the way country has progressed, it\u2019s become very commercialised where everyone could identify, it was getting very old. The rock and pop influence\u2013the more producers infused into country has rocketed with a younger audience. The modern technology brought into country which wasn\u2019t in my early days of country. Recording, I have done trad. I\u2019ve done pop. I don\u2019t produce bands. I\u2019m more one-on-one working with solo artists. I\u2019ve worked with certain acts that would be in a group in a trad sense, but nothing like a rock band or heavy metal. I\u2019m not really equipped for that. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t want to do it, but it\u2019s how my studio is constructed. People come with an original song, and play it on their guitar, and tell me what I can do with it. This is cool; that kind of beat can come in; we can take a breakdown section from a rock classic and infuse it. That\u2019s why I always listen to everything. My Spotify\u2013you wouldn\u2019t know what would pop up. When I used to listen more, touring more, I used to listen to music all the time and let it go in. The little ideas are at the back of your mind; it\u2019s a subconscious thing. It\u2019s in there somewhere. I believe it\u2019s from listening to different genres of music. Still today, I love all styles. Even when people say you\u2019re all country, I can produce pop and rock. As a producer, you\u2019re there for guidance. You\u2019re not there to tell people what to do. You do tell them what you think is best. If they understand, the goal, they trust your idea, and they go with it. And it works. The more I work with people and when people see the names that you work with, it gives you credibility. There\u2019s something right here\u2013maybe he does know or the man to go to? It\u2019s nice to know that, but I don\u2019t have that attitude with the person who comes through the door without the name. They are all talent sitting in front of you who could be the next big name. They might have something special that you don\u2019t have. You\u2019re collaborating then, which is more fun. If it\u2019s strictly you, it\u2019s all you. You have to bounce. The more people who throw ideas, the more chances you find something unique and special. Genre wise, I like all kinds of music and am open to the project. I\u2019m client-based; I\u2019m not out there selling my brand, as I have a strong client base and they keep rolling back to me. A new independent artist would come now and again, but it would be from country music. My name is more synonymous with the country acts, so I would be country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How long does a recording session for an album or song take?<\/p>\n

It all depends on the song and in my case, because I\u2019m a studio producer. I play drums, keyboards with modern technology with samples and virtual instruments. You can get the structure of a song in a couple of hours and minutes. You can paint a picture of the song, how it\u2019s going to be, when you\u2019re working with the artist. Then you recreate it with real instruments. Sometimes, the stock instruments are there. Sometimes, you collaborate with other musicians. That\u2019s where time can be lost on a recording. The old way was everyone comes into the studio in one day until you get it right. That still happens, but not every studio is the same. I\u2019m the centre. I produce, engineer, record and play. I suppose that 50-60 percent is me; the rest is the cream on top, the artist singing and additional players and instruments. I don\u2019t put a time limit on something I do. If I\u2019m waiting for a specific sound or something isn\u2019t right, I\u2019ll sit and wait for that musician to bring that. I don\u2019t put time limits on what I do. To get it right, there\u2019s a cut-off point because you\u2019ll keep tweaking. Sometimes, the artist will chip in and say can we do something there\u2013that can cause delays. I can\u2019t tell you how long it takes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What artists have you recorded for?<\/p>\n

Yeah, there\u2019s a list. I try to be careful. There\u2019s a huge client list and I hate people thinking that you look after the big guys, you only mention them. The most recent one is Nathan Carter, and I would\u2019ve produced Wagon Wheel, which was the breaking song for him. At the back of that, Derek Ryan will be up there; you have Cliona Hagan, Lisa McHugh. Jimmy Buckley, Robert Mizzel the 3 Amigos. Prior to Nathan Carter, Wagon Wheel launched me as well. I worked with Declan Nerney, Big Tom\u2013way back to the standard country. Larry Cunningham, Roly Daniels. A bit of TV with Daniel O\u2019Donnell. The Tumbling Paddies, working with them; they\u2019re not really country but they\u2019re folk-trad. Michael English, Gerry Guthrie, Claudia Buckley, Philomena Begley\u2013it\u2019s very wide. I\u2019ve pretty much worked with every country artist in Ireland, everyone in-between, new. That\u2019s experience that you can\u2019t buy or learn from a college course. That all stems back to my parents, from the kid that was brought up in the genre. I was meeting a lot of these artists from an early age. I had a respect for them. I would\u2019ve known their style, very importantly, and understanding how to work with people. When you work with an artist, every artist is different. It\u2019s like a client and a patient. Certain people like a certain way. You have to know all the little things that you know that you can push a certain button to get something out of them. It\u2019s like a manager in a football team to give them the best result. I found that working with the older acts to the newer acts; you get to know their dedication is to get the best out of what they have.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Would you consider country music to be as popular as it was a decade ago, or have you seen a change in musical tastes?<\/p>\n

Country music has always been popular. My living has been on country music. I do agree that it has changed; the sound has changed. I\u2019m in the centre of that, and am always trying to keep it current. It resonates with a younger audience, because you need a new audience, but you don\u2019t want to alienate the old audience. You want to keep the wider audience happy. Always 10 years, you do analyse. For me, 10 years ago was a flash. Right up to now, I\u2019m still really busy. A lot of those artists I\u2019ve mentioned are still producing and recording and as strong today. You have to look at it with events that are on, and you see the names at these events. That\u2019s a good indication as to what people are going to say. From the American side, you have the big artists coming over all the time, filling the arenas. It shocked me in the earlier days when I went to see some acts and thought nobody knew the lyrics, and 10,000 people are singing these songs. Whoa, this is amazing. It\u2019s not that you discredit, just that you\u2019re not aware. Underneath it, everyone is a country fan. There was a time where people were like it was too old.<\/p>\n

There was a snobbery, but there are friends of mine who wouldn\u2019t listen to country, but they go to shows. They go ask me about the acts, whether I recorded them. Go back to 15-20 years ago, no way. It\u2019s evolved and keeps evolving. I think it\u2019s coming full circle. There\u2019s only so far it can be pushed progressively. Then there\u2019s a new act that brings something to the table. The next person beside me may have that quality and change country music. I think country music is very strong. Speaking from myself, it\u2019s my industry, I\u2019m still involved. Country music has taken me all over the world. Got me to work with other artists, so I tour and play with bands. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m the musical director of The Late Late Show; that\u2019s not country music. There\u2019s part of me that I can bring. There are country specials on the Late Late. That\u2019s how it stems. Country was popular so RTE had it. It\u2019s as popular as the Toy Show. It\u2019s got me working with Michael Bubl\u00e9, Westlife, Rick Astley\u2013-all that\u2019s on my Instagram. It\u2019s brought me from producer to musical director; it\u2019s nearly similar. You\u2019re in charge of what\u2019s in front of you. When we work on The Late Late Show, it\u2019s a lot of fun because we\u2019re not stuck to the one genre. We\u2019re playing every type of music from whatever artist and have to work with them. It could be country this week; folk next week. As I say, about this wide knowledge of all types of music, it\u2019s all in there and times like that, you need to have that. They\u2019re things you need to pull out your bag and put on the table. And when you\u2019re working with a team, everybody helps each other. That\u2019s very enjoyable. That\u2019s a side to production.\u00a0I also work with the Opry le Daniel on TG4. That\u2019s a lot of work, because we prerecord 7 shows in a week. I\u2019m musical director for that. That\u2019s brought me to work with Daniel, but international acts like Charlie Pride, Crystal Gayle. For the mind, it\u2019s a lot of work but it kind of helps me with what I do. I\u2019m not just stuck 9-5 on one thing every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Longford Charity Shop has Christmas appeal for preloved toys<\/a><\/p>\n

How do you feel about AI starting to affect the music industry? Would you use it?<\/p>\n

Yeah. I take the positives on everything. There\u2019s a downside to it. People say things like it\u2019ll take this. I like to use it to your advantage. For certain things, I haven\u2019t used it really, if I\u2019m honest, but it\u2019s in the back of my mind that if I need a project to be a little different, I\u2019d consider it. Not to be all the time, I wouldn\u2019t use it every day to ask it for ideas. No. It would affect the brain; I have to create my own ideas. For a little help, it\u2019s no harm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What would you say to those in Longford who would like to get into record producing? Have you got any advice to share?<\/p>\n

Record producing is a wide span there. Musician, musical director, tour musician\u2013it spans across a lot of things. From record production, advice? It was always something I wanted to do. I still have my parents to thank for that. Dedication and respect for music, musicians, and people trying to learn their craft. That\u2019s something you have to respect as a producer. Take in all genres and respect all genres is a huge, huge thing. It\u2019s a tricky question, because it\u2019s different for everyone. It\u2019s a little bit of a calling thing. You can\u2019t just be a record producer overnight. The musician thing starts. For me, it was starting to play for music; listening to different types; trying to play tunes. The next stage was trying to make my own music with certain equipment, which is easy now. Next stage is working with people\u2013very important\u2013respecting genres. It\u2019s not always the case to work with musical people who are mutual to what you do. There are people who work way above what I do. You kind of shy back, so you encourage people you do what you do well. You don\u2019t need to be the best. You\u2019ve just got to work at it. Have a special quality that people like. If you have a good attitude, and you get on with people, that will overlook a lot of things in my experience. There are people who have the imposter syndrome, they can do better than me, why does he get to do that? It\u2019s hard work. I\u2019ve a lot of things to balance, but I\u2019m dedicated to it. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t switch off. If you want to be good at what you do, you\u2019re dedicated to it around the clock. If I\u2019m driving, I\u2019m listening to the radio going I like the sound of it. If something jumps out, that\u2019s working. That\u2019s developing your craft. The more music you listen to as a record producer, you have to stand up for what you think is right. It can become a stand-off if you know your idea is better, you have to diplomatically see. You have to listen to people. All ideas are on the table. A small idea can turn something around. My advice is to listen to people, respect people in any time of business; don\u2019t hole yourself in one style of music. Don\u2019t follow trends because you never know when you need something, someday, that was in your brain as a child. I have people say \u2018how do you know your song?\u2019 but my parents played it on the way to school. The more you can soak up the better.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You know his music. You know his name. Get ready for another year of the ‘Late Late Toy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[3864,96860,93,3182,61,60,23061,23062,3181,6085,15337,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-177345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-daniel-odonnell","9":"tag-derek-ryan","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-granard","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-late-late-show","15":"tag-late-late-toy-show","16":"tag-longford","17":"tag-rte","18":"tag-tg4","19":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}