Gareth Dunlop Shares How His ‘My Kind Of Paradise’ Video Came About After The ‘Good Old Irish Weather’

At the start of Gareth Dunlop’s video for “My Kind of Paradise,” he isn’t in paradise. He’s not anywhere at all. In the visual premiering here on HollywoodLife, Gareth is seated in darkness, far away from anything anyone would consider a heavenly oasis – and that’s fine with him. “Don’t need sun on my skin / Or salt on the breeze / To calm the storms within / Or set my soul at ease,” he sings. “Cause I’ve found heaven / In your eyes.” It’s a song born in the margins of chill, a tune perfect for late summer hangs, and slow boat rides around the lake. It’s somewhat sad that such a warm song should be without a similarly sunny locale. Thankfully, some vested workers start building the ‘paradise’ around him.

“How this video started out and ended up are two very different tales,” Gareth tells HollywoodLife. “My original idea was to shoot a lyric video on the North Coast of Ireland using lots of clever props my wife made. We drove up to the location, and all hell broke loose. The wind and rain started as soon as we arrived, cars got stuck in the sand, props got soaked and ruined, signs blew away…In the end, we were beaten by the good old Irish weather.”

Thankfully, Gareth wasn’t left up the creek without a paddle. The video’s director and videographer, Jamie Neish, had a Plan B. “His idea was to shoot a one-take and have a fake beach scene built around me,” says Gareth. “Jamie is one of those people in life who exudes positivity! When he’s excited about an idea, it’s infectious. We called two buddies to act as the builders on the set, re-used what was left of the props, bought some bags of sand, and turned up to try out this idea.”

“My Kind Of Paradise” marks the final single from Gareth’s upcoming album, Animal. The new project was recorded in Gareth’s Sycamore Studios just before lockdown. While sheltering in place, Gareth produced the latest records by his friends and fellow Northern Irish musicians Foy Vance and Lee Rogers. All three of them – Gareth, Foy, and Lee – will hit the road this late spring for a short US tour, with Gareth doing double duty as part of Foy’s band. Check out the dates below.

May 6 @ Levon Helm Studios – Woodstock, NY
May 7 @ Levon Helm Studios – Woodstock, NY
May 8 @ Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
May 10 @ Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
May 11 @ Webster Hall – New York, NY
May 13 @ Royale – Boston, MA
May 14 @ Center for the Arts – Homer, NY
May 17 @ Memorial Hall – Cincinnati, OH
May 18 @ James K. Polk Theater, Tennessee Performing Arts Center – Nashville, TN
May 20 @ The Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, MN
May 21 @ Athenaeum Theatre – Chicago, IL
May 26 @ Neptune Theatre – Seattle, WA