INTERVIEW: Conleth Kane on grief, joy, becoming his truest self and his Andy Bell approved EP, Erasure-esque
"I'll never forget my nerves as I peaked through the curtains and saw my childhood idol in the front row."
Fresh from a trip home where he went from “London iPhone on 1% battery” to fully recharged, multi award-winning independent singer and songwriter Conleth Kane has returned to the big smoke armed with a brand new EP, Erasure‑esque. A brand new EP so lovingly crafted that Erasure's Andy Bell himself gave it his blessing. That has to be the gay equivalent of being knighted, right?!
But beneath the glitter of 80's synths and the joy of giving iconic tracks a 2026 glow up, there’s a deep tenderness running through his story: the grief of losing his mother, the resilience of a queer kid navigating the hostile politics of 90's Northern Ireland and the pride of an artist finally taking up the space he always deserved. The super talented Conleth Kane serves pure homo historic excellence.
In this interview, he reveals his crush of the day, casually drops that Geri Halliwell introduced him to yoga and somehow threads grief, resilience and queer joy into one glitter dusted constellation so let's dive in head first!
DALEYPOP: Conleth! How are you?!
CONLETH KANE: I'm really good thanks Dale! I've just had some quality time at home in Northern Ireland with my dad. I always feel like I leave London like an iPhone on 1% battery and when I'm in my family home it's like sitting in a charger. I'm currently sat in Belfast City Airport about to fly back to the big smoke.
DALEYPOP: Oooh safe travels! For our readers who might not know you or your music (yet), can you give us a little introduction?
CONLETH KANE: I'm a gay, independent pop artist based in London (originally from Northern Ireland). I write my own music as well as covering songs that I wish I'd written or that inspired me as an artist, singer, and writer. I have performed all over the UK, Europe and even as far as Australia.
My new EP Erasure-esque is a body of work to celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of my all time favourite bands, Erasure.
DALEYPOP: Well I just want to say a huuuuge congratulations on your new EP being released into the world, and thank you for sharing your talent too! I love pop music and you're honestly super talented. Have you always been super talented and do you think anyone can learn to sing?! (Asking for a friend).
CONLETH KANE: Thank you! I'm really proud of Erasure-esque and my vocal delivery/arrangements on this particular record. I wouldn't say that I have always been super talented but singing and performing have always been a passion of mine. I trained at one of the country's most prestigious stage schools, ArtsEd (alumni include Julie Andrews and Will Young). I invested heavily in my craft and have worked very hard to get to this point. Can anyone learn to sing?! I think singing is a talent that you are born with, but I do think someone can learn to hold and tune and carry it well with certain techniques. I don't think that you can teach anyone a talent, but you can teach them techniques. I hope that answers your question.
DALEYPOP: It does, thank you! I met Julie Andrews in M&S once by the way and she told me that M&S do the best jeans. OMG no I mean Julie Walters! Anywaaaaaaay you mentioned to me earlier about finding a sense of freedom at performing arts school in London, can you remember the exact moment it first felt real and when everything shifted and you thought, "Yep, this is where I'm supposed to be"?
CONLETH KANE: Going to ArtsEd was a huge achievement for me. I felt like Charlie Bucket getting the golden ticket for the chocolate factory. I never missed a day in my 3 years. I absolutely hated high school in Northern Ireland. I was harassed, bullied and I believe that I spent many of my teenage years in a depression. I was a creative gay kid and I was being shoehorned into a generic academic lane in life and I struggled with it all. Not many people understood me. Everyone around me had boyfriends or girlfriends and wanted to be a teacher or a dentist or work in the corporate world. I didn't understand them and they didn't understand me. I was so incredibly driven to escape the big city.
Going to ArtsEd in London was truly life changing.
I felt celebrated, normal and accepted. I look back on it as some of the best days of my life. It wasn't easy though. The training was robust and tough.
DALEYPOP: I guess you've just touched on it a bit there, but as a young gay person growing up in an incredibly conservative Northern Ireland in the 1990's under an openly homophobic government, how did that environment influence how you understood yourself and your place in the world?
CONLETH KANE: The DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) were and still are dinosaurs. They blocked the passing of equal marriage at any given opportunity and they spoke openly about homosexuality many times on TV and radio, even promoting conversion therapy on huge media outlets like the BBC. Many of those publicly shamed the LGBTQ+ community were ultimately hit with their own scandals. There are generations of queer people who felt real shame as a result of extremely right wing and powerful politicians in Northern Ireland.
I was so eager to escape the madness of Northern Irish politics when I was younger.
DALEYPOP: I don't blame you. So what does Pride personally mean to you now then and would you be open to sharing your coming out story with our readers?
CONLETH KANE: I came out to my mother when I was 15. I was truly blessed with a loving and protective mother. She pretty much made me tell the rest of my family straight away as she was such a gossip. I was so terrified of telling her as she was my favourite person on the planet. I was the first gay person my mum had met. I lost her 8 months ago and I'm still picking the pieces up. Life is very different without her.
My mother showed me the true meaning of Pride-unconditional love. I miss her so much.
DALEYPOP: I’m really sorry, she sounds lovely and I know she’d be bursting with pride for you right now! Speaking of people who adore your work, Andy Bell has shown genuine love for your Erasure‑esque EP, right?! Can you tell us the goss?
CONLETH KANE: Andy Bell is the king of pop and I can't tell you how thrilled and relieved that I am that he has supported me and this project. He came to see me perform in a play in London in 2015. I'l never forget my nerves as I peaked through the curtains and saw my childhood idol in the front row. We met after the show and had a drink. We swapped numbers. I sent him snippets of Erasure-esque before it was released and he was so complimentary and encouraging. He had the EP news included in the official Erasure newsletter. I was so touched and grateful. The Erasure fan base have been incredibly kind and they have supported the EP too.
DALEYPOP: That’s honestly incredible! I love how you’ve given each track such a fresh, modern twist by the way. How did you find the balance between honouring something so sacred to you and still making it unmistakably you? And of course....which track is your favourite?
CONLETH KANE: I wanted to honour the original sound as much as I could. Why fix what isn't broken? It was important that I brought my own artistry to the table and to merge the sounds. Also, this songs were written and recorded in the 80's. It's 2026 so I fancied giving them a little makeover. Jon Dixon at 7th Heaven (the EP producer) is also a big Erasure fan and we both wanted to do the best job that we could and I believe that we achieved that. My favourite is Oh L'Amour. It's actually the 40th anniversary of that song TODAY!* That's a sign, surely!
DALEYPOP: Omg defo a sign! Working with producers (7th Heaven) linked to Cher and Kylie Minogue is iconic! Did those pop icons boost your confidence going into the studio?
CONLETH KANE: I have worked with 7th Heaven since 2021. They have produced all of my music since Covid. Before the pandemic, I was definitely more of a pop-acoustic style artist but when the world went into lockdown and I couldn't perform live, I sent my original song Proud to 7th Heaven to remix and I haven't looked back. They did the official Cher Believe remix and her recent hit DJ Play A Christmas Song too. They also produced The Slightest Touch for Steps on their most recent album. I trust Jon 100%. He is a wizard in the studio. I knew that the Erasure fanbase would embrace Erasure-esque once they knew that 7th Heaven were on board as 7th Heaven have done 2 remixes for Erasure. It felt a bit more in-house.
DALEYPOP: What did the creative process behind the EP really look like for you and how did those first sparks of inspiration transform into the final body of work and what did you go through to bring it to life?
CONLETH KANE: Creating the music and visuals is my favourite bit. Promoting it is the hard bit! The build up of excitement and gelling with other creatives to build the project is when I feel most charged and excited. I love everything from the recording and the music production to the styling, filming, photography and graphic design. I am very lucky to work with such a stellar line up of creatives too. I have got to the stage in my career where I very much nurture the creative process as that's when I really flourish and get a real satisfaction from what I do.
I found that creating this EP truly helped me through the pain of losing my mother. The EP was my grief medicine.
DALEYPOP: Your EP launch at the iconic Royal Vauxhall Tavern selling out must have felt like such a defining moment, was that when it truly hit you that this project hadn't just landed but fully connected with an audience? I’m such a believer in gay men uplifting gay men. We should be shouting about each other’s wins, celebrating loudly and taking up space together in the most unapologetic way, right?!
CONLETH KANE: That really was one of the best days of my life. I never thought that it was possible to feel that amount of joy after losing my mother. I felt a tidal wave of support that day. I'm very lucky to have such great friends and supporters too. I really invest in my friendships and my social circles. My two sisters live in Australia, my brother lives in America and my Dad lives in Ireland. My friends in London have almost become an extended family. I also had so many people that I had never met drive happy way across the country to attend. It was mind blowing. It was amazing that people came to celebrate the Erasure EP release and then discovered my other original work as a result.
DALEYPOP: So what does a usual day in your life as Conleth Kane look like?
CONLETH KANE: As an independent artist, I make a lot of phone calls and send a lot of emails. I start my day by making a really healthy shake from scratch, then I probably head to practice or teach a yoga class. It's my other passion.
Geri Halliwell introduced me to yoga back in 2001.
DALEYPOP: Omg what a wild sentence to be able to drop into conversation. I wish I could say Geri Halliwell introduced me to yoga back in 2001. So tell me, what’s your star sign and do you actually see yourself in its traits or have you carved out an identity that totally defies the cosmos?
CONLETH KANE: I would say that I'm definitely a typical Pisces. Sensitive and really in touch with my emotional side. I'm creative and empathetic too. These are all traits that I recognise in myself.
DALEYPOP: Vital intel, who's your crush of the day?
CONLETH KANE: Murray Bartlett is dreamy.
DALEYPOP: Oh you have taste. If Murray Bartlett even looked in my direction I know I'd start planning our retirement in Mykonos. Do you have any dates our readers should be popping in their diaries? Any Brighton shows maybe?!
CONLETH KANE: I'm performing at quite a few major Pride events both in the UK and abroad and I'm putting together a tour at the moment for an intimate acoustic show. My guitarist is going on tour with Sting this summer so I'm working around him to try and pin down some dates. It'll more then likely be a London date (or two), but I'd absolutely love to come to Brighton!
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