Josh Johnston, musical director of the Unitarian Church on St Stephen's Green
I became a musician because . . .I have a problem, which is that I don't see three dimensionally, so I was sent to various doctors to see what they could do. When I was eight or nine, a doctor recommended that I take up a musical instrument, and I took to the piano like a duck to water. I'm the youngest of five, so I grew up listening to my siblings' record collections and there was a very broad sweep of music: classical, jazz, rock and pop.
A career in music was always on the cards . . .College life in Manchester was great. I could have gone to Ballyfermot's Rock School but I did a degree course in Popular Music at Salford University, and I loved it. When I came back to Dublin, I did some work in radio on FM3, the forerunner to Lyric FM. When I go to RTÉ and play as a session musician with bands these days, I remember how much I enjoyed it. I'd love to go back to that some day, but playing takes priority these days.
I never meant to become a full-time organist . . .I'd been learning the organ for about five or six years and occasionally filled in for the organist in the Church of Ireland in Monkstown. I got a call from one of the congregation from Stephen's Green for what I thought was a one-off gig, and I'm still here years later. The term they use to describe me is director of music – quite funny, considering I was only ever asked to be organist, but it's worked out well for all of us.
It's not all church music . . .In the 1950s, the Damer Hall downstairs was the Damer Theatre, a stronghold of Irish language theatre where the first performance of Brendan Behan's An Giall (The Hostage) was performed – so gigs and other cultural events have always taken place there. We've started renting out the church for events and the money raised goes into our fund for restoring the 100-year-old organ. It's good to have other events on. We're quite an elderly congregation, although it is getting younger. If some of these gigs make younger people aware of the Unitarian Church – well, we're not going to stand at the door proselytising and being evangelical about it, but if their interests are awakened, so be it.
I get nervous before my own gigs . . .but I'm very comfortable playing other peoples' music, or accompanying someone. I've just come off tour with SJ McArdle and Keith Mullins, and I play in both of their bands as well as recording my own albums.
The best thing about my job is . . .the church has the most incredible array of exceptionally talented people in the congregation. We're trying to raise €250,000 to restore the organ at the moment, and it's extremely hard work because we're not a huge congregation, but we're all pulling together.
The worst would be related to the organ fundraising, too . . .Understandably, everyone has their own lives, so trying to focus people's minds is difficult. There's a world of possibility in the organ that we have, though, and that keeps me going.
Outside of music, I like . . .walking, but to be honest, if I'm not playing music, I'm listening to it. I just bought a house in Kilmainham after living in Dún Laoghaire for most of my life, so I'm really enjoying getting to know the city.
My main inspiration was . . .The Beatles, from an early age, but Billy Joel was huge for me, too. He's not a technically magnificent player, but what he did in terms of pulling rock, pop, jazz, classical together in a mainstream way – I always found that very inspiring.
The best career advice I've ever been given was . . .not to worry about what people expect. If you enjoy doing something, and it sounds good to you, then you won't regret it. That's the advice I've worked on for my entire life, and it hasn't made me rich, but it has kept me very happy.
In conversation with Lauren Murphy
