Hi Fred, Thanks so much and it's my pleasure! Yes indeed, Just released the brand-new EP and I have been so blown away by the response to it. I am living in Cork, Ireland with my wife & two kids and lucky enough to be a full-time musician and to play some incredible tours every year that brings me around the world, I started off playing in bands when I lived in Spain at 19 years old and never looked back.

After years of playing in bands I decided to go solo and released a single called 'The Hearts Reminder' which went to #1 in the Irish Download charts, so I followed it up with an album release called 'When the Stars Align'. This project was a little bit more laid back from my usual Hard Rock releases under bands I fronted such as 'The Voodoos' and 'The Oddities' and after the release of my solo album I wanted to go back to my Hard Rock roots and teamed up with world renowned producer and guitarist for German band Avantasia 'Sascha Paeth'.

We immediately connected in the studio, and we created a full album together which is due for release in March 2023 called 'Peace in the Panic'. The recent EP release features 4 tracks off the upcoming album release. When performing live it's a 5-piece band and we call ourselves 'Mark Daly & The Ravens' but the releases are simply under 'Mark Daly'.

It's honestly so incredible touring with Geoff and I know how lucky I am to watch and learn from such an amazing professional. His mentality and attitude on tour has taught me so much about life on the road. Geoff has been like a mentor to me over the years and has given me such valuable advice and I owe so much of all the great things that are happening now to him.

Like a lot of new releases coming out right now this one was written during lockdown, and I wanted to take the opportunity of having so much spare time to create these new songs and pour 100% of my heart into it. My main goal with these songs was to be raw, honest, emotional and not be afraid to show my insecurities in these songs. I usually would try to write in riddles and with this entire new album coming out I just wanted to put it all out there and not be afraid of writing so honestly.

Thank you so much! I have always struggled to sit into a particular musical category which I think is actually a bad thing when it comes to trying to get onto playlists on Spotify or reaching out to radio etc. With this new album I find it leaning more towards Hard Rock and having just enough sprinkles of blues and soul to make it sound new and interesting. I love both Classic Rock and Modern Rock so I wanted to create something that would sit in the middle of those two sounds.

Avantasia released an album called 'Moonglow' in 2019 which featured Geoff Tate and I remember listening to it on the day of its release and thinking this production is mind blowingly good. Geoff spoke to me about how incredible Sascha was to work with and I immediately got stuck into listening to more of his work and decided to set my goal that we would work together on my next record. Like a stalker (ha-ha) I flew to London to watch an Avantasia show, and Geoff brought me backstage and introduced me to Sascha, When I got back home to Ireland I started working on some brand new songs and sent Sascha some really raw acoustic demos...

Luckily, Sascha loved the acoustic demos and the fact I sent something so raw that we would be able to work on this project together and both have so much creative input into the creation of these songs sealed the deal. I flew to Germany and began working with Sascha and immediately knew that it was the best decision ever! His creative input and the way he was able to get the absolute best out of me was so amazing and I can't wait for everyone to hear this new album we created together.

It was a song that just poured out of me one night at home after a very difficult day. My wife was at work and when she came home I played her the song (plenty of tears were shed) and I told her it was too personal to release, and her exact words were "that's why you should release it." So, we teamed up with an Irish Autism service and did a big launch and donated all the funds made to those services that helped Noah so much when he was going through his diagnosis.

When I perform the song live it honestly takes my breath away seeing the reaction that people have to it. I don't think I have ever performed it and looked at the crowd to see people cry. Talking to people after the show and sharing stories and experiences is so incredible and really shows the power of music.

He is doing great and thanks so much for asking! He actually came on our UK tour in early 2022 and absolutely loved it. He loves all the guys in the band and if it wasn't for school he would be full-time on the road with us (ha-ha)

The release date is actually March 17th (St Patrick's Day) but also the start date to our tour of Germany so we thought that would be the perfect time. As I mentioned above, It was a lockdown album, and the songs are straight from the heart. This feels like the album I had been waiting my whole life to make and now that it's done I could not be more excited. Expect some hard-hitting Rock songs and even a traditional Irish styled song and of course a ballad. I also have a deep powerful song called 'Messiah' that in my opinion is the best track on the entire album and one that I can't wait for everyone to finally hear.

I absolutely love writing and creating in the studio, but nothing compares to absolutely rocking out on stage and getting completely lost in the music on stage.

It was an incredible experience, and I loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, we were on at the same time as Alice Cooper (ha-ha) so our show wasn't exactly packed but it was such an amazing time and we got to see so many incredible bands live.

I find there are always so many obstacles when it comes to the music industry and the biggest challenges I have faced over the years is doing everything independently, I recently signed a record deal with One Opportunity Records in the U.S., and I am so grateful to now have a team behind me who really believe in me and want to take all those pressures off me and continue to build on the amazing momentum we have built up over the last few years.

As a kid I would listen to my Dad's CDs which would be Thin Lizzy, E.L.O, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin which I think gave me such a great start (ha-ha). In my teenage years I got into System of a Down, Linkin Park, Staind and after that I really got into Pearl Jam, Audioslave, Nirvana, Foo Fighters and more. I listen to so many different types of music but have recently been influenced by Highly Suspect, Biffy Clyro, Blue October, Avenged Sevenfold and more.

It's so amazing! We live in different countries, and we don't even get a chance to rehearse, We just meet up for tours and immediately have a connection and always have the best time together. I am so grateful to work with such incredible musicians.

Everything from CDs, Downloads, Tour Dates, Music Videos etc can be found directly from my website www.markdalyofficial.com and then all of our adventures and madness can be found on

Instagram & Facebook: @markdalymusic

Thanks so much Fred! Really appreciate it