Funzo profile picture

Funzo

What's Spanish for 'I know you speak English'?

About Me


We are deadly:
Winners of the Trinity College Battle of the Bands!
Winner of the An Tostal National Songwriting Contest!
Winner of the 'Demo to Breakthrough' National Songwriting Contest!

"McDermott has the rare ability to make songs sound as if they don't quite belong to any genre, yet show touches of several working together for the greater good" Hot Press
"McD's talent and versatility belie his twenty-two years....Vintage pop music with originality and substance" Ronan Dempsey - UCD Tribune
"In a perfect world all pop records would sound like McDermott's." Caomhan Keane (www.oxygen.ie)
"Need to get away is one of the loveliest songs I've heard in a very long time." Fionn Davenport - Newstalk
"Unique song-writing and composition, originality, musicianship and professional potential are the hallmarks of Liam's music with homage to The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, This EP is beautifully composed combining sweet, sorrowful lyrics with a quirky edge and classic melodic harmonies." Mark Feiritear - The Axis Arts Centre
"Thankfully Liam McDermott is doing something quite different from his rivals." Jackie Hayden (Hotpress)
"A dream collision between The Beatles, Madness and the Beach Boys" Whelan's, Dublin
"McDermott is a rare gem" Deirdre Maguire - UCD Tribune
"Liam's music stood out from over 200 bands and artists because of both the high quality and the complexity of his song-writing." Colm Downes (Federation of Music Collectives)
"Funzo was created to destroy any other leading competitors" Urban Dictionary
"Irish thug meets The Beatles" Shannon
"Liam McD freaks me out" Will O'Donovan - Sony Producer
We sent a CD out to RTE a while back and TG4 rang us up and asked us to play two songs on their chatshow Ardan.
We opened the mainstage at the Trinity Ball '07 to at least nine security guards.
We got to the last 10 in Ireland in the Jacob's 2fm Songwriting Contest in Vicar Street.
We got to the last 12 in the National Student Music Awards
LIFE'S ALRIGHT AGAIN, SO IT IS - EP LAUNCH @ THE SUGAR CLUB
MUST BE MY EGO - WHELANS
DON'T KNOW WHAT TO CALL YOU - EP LAUNCH @ THE SUGAR CLUB
WE'RE FREE NOW (YEEEEW!)
STILL A FLIPPIN' BOY
NEED TO GET AWAY - BALCONY TV
WHERE THE HELL IS SHE
THE MANGO TURNAROUND
NEED TO GET AWAY - WINNING THE TRINITY COLLEGE BATTLE OF THE BANDS
WHEN I WAS BLEEDIN' KING

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/8/2006
Band Website: youtube.com/watch?v=chNekROQHAU
Band Members: Funzo refers to anyone who’s helped make this music over the years, whether in the studio or on stage.

Liam McDermott writes the songs, sings them, and plays piano and drums.

Past producers have included Andreas Nolan and Will O’ Donovan.

These days, Mark Woods produces the CDs and plays a load of instruments on the tracks, including guitars, bass, clarinet, keyboard, harmonica and sax.

When performing live, band members include/have included: Liam McD, Jonathan, Stigmund, Gav, Pinky, Big Mark, Little Mark, Brian, Jean, Sallay, Eddie, James, Andreas, Alan, Steve Kelly, Ronan, Danny Groenland, Damian Hillan, Kevin McNamara - that’s 18 members altogether by the way.
Influences: The Beatles - Stevie Wonder - Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Madness - The Beach Boys - The Streets - Abba - Oasis - The Turtles - Outkast - Lily Allen - The Kinks - Simon and Garfunkel - Queen - the Lovin’ Spoonful - Burt Bacharach & Hal David - Elvis
Sounds Like: Crash Test Dummies
Record Label: Unsigned Records
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Im Funny - vol. 4

Ever since I started posting my hilarious original jokes, I can't stop: Did you hear about the man who's been kidnapping women and pulling up their flies for them? Police are calling him Jack the ...
Posted by Funzo on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:33:00 PST

I’m Funny - Vol. 3

Funzo played the Battle of the Bands final on Saturday and we....lost, hurrah! We were told from the start that there would be two winners on the night, one acoustic act and one band, but as it turns...
Posted by Funzo on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:40:00 PST

Songwriting Tips

I recently attended an IMRO event called ’Songwriting Tips and Demo Dip Session’ with songwriting giants Pat Alger, Don Schlitz and Ralph Murphy. The idea was that everyone who a...
Posted by Funzo on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:58:00 PST

I’m Funny Vol.2

Considering the overwhelming response to my last blog (9000 hits, 93 crack ups and at least 17 tickled ribs), I’ve decided to post some more of my hilarious original jokes. And please, in t...
Posted by Funzo on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:30:00 PST

Im Funny

Before I crack you up by tickling your ribs and activating your funny bone, here's some stuff you should know: ----- We're into the final of the National Student Music Awards. They've sifted throu...
Posted by Funzo on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:14:00 PST

Cliff Richard vs. Damien Rice

Here are a bunch of nice quotes from the men themselves, taken from just one short interview each. Who's the bigger gobshite? You decide! Cliff Pictured here after an All-Star game of tenn...
Posted by Funzo on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:13:00 PST

10 Albums That Changed My Life! Part 2

Couple of things first of all: Thanks for coming to the launch a while back, hope yez enjoyed it. We're playing Whelan's on Wednesday the 30th of January, supporting Cocophone (I would link you t...
Posted by Funzo on Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:44:00 PST

Quick Announcement

I've just been offered The Village for Friday the 21st of December. It'll be our EP launch. It should be fun. Hopefully nothing goes horribly wrong between now and then. If anyone would like to b...
Posted by Funzo on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:40:00 PST

10 Albums That Changed My Life! Part 1

The following blog is dedicated to Eamo and Rob 10 Albums That Changed My Life! Part 1The one thing I get slagged about (I'm perfect otherwise) is my reaction to songs I like when I hear them - s...
Posted by Funzo on Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:09:00 PST

Hallowe’en - A Dangerous Time

"Halloween in this country is becoming more and more of a big deal every year and that will translate into more injuries, which can be devastating."A quote which I read two days ago on Yahoo's Newspag...
Posted by Funzo on Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:34:00 PST