Wild Youth target the Eurovision

A POP band with two members from Tallaght are gearing up to perform on a special edition of the ‘The Late Late Show’ next week with the aim of representing Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest – and are urging people to get behind them and vote.

Wild Youth, composed of Callum McAdam from Jobstown, Ed Porter from Springfield, David Whelan, and Conor O’Donohoe, will compete against other Eurovision hopefuls on the show on February 3.

Rehearsals for the live performance are now in full swing, and drummer Callum McAdam said it’s an exciting time for the band.

In particular, he’s excited to meet his idol, former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, who’s also in the running to represent Ireland at the song contest.

“When I was growing up listening to the Sex Pistols, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be in the world’s biggest music contest, going against Johnny Rotten,” said the past pupil of St Mark’s Community School.

“It’s exciting. It’s such a huge honour to even be accepted out of the hundreds and thousands of applications.

“We’re just doing our best and we want to represent ourselves in the most honest way we can. We want to enjoy this process as much as possible.”

Callum McAdam with fiancée Katie Slein and Her Sister Sophie in the Dragon Pub

Wild Youth, who previously toured with the Script and Kodaline, will be performing their anthemic song ‘We Are One’ in the hopes of bringing it to the Eurovision stage to represent Ireland.

It marks an important point in the trajectory of the band, with it being something Callum could’ve only dreamed of when he took up drumming as a teenager.

“I started playing drums when I was 15 and I would put most of my music knowledge down to my dad, Phil,” said Callum.

“I’d be sitting in the back of the car, listening to the Sex Pistols, the Cure and Depeche Mode.

“I noticed one of my friends in school, Eoghan O’Brien, played drums and I noticed how much fun he was having and how good he was at it, and I went, ‘I think I’ve found what I want to do’.

“From seeing him playing drums and listening to the music my dad played, it just made me think, ‘This is it. This is what I want to do’.”

This determination led Callum to pursue a successful career in music, and he hopes representing Ireland at Eurovision will be the next big step for him and his bandmates, depending on the voting results.

As for the live performance next week, Wild Youth already have their performance largely set and are just smoothing out the edges as the big day draws closer.

“The nervousness is there, but it’s being overcome by excitement,” Callum explained.

“Rehearsals are going great. We’ve just been doing some promo on RTÉ and preparing for the show itself.

“We’ve only got three minutes to represent ourselves on live telly, but we’re good to go – we’re just fine-tuning the performance.”

He added: “We’re four lads from Dublin who love playing music and it’s all we’ve ever known and all we’ve ever wanted to do.

“If you like what you hear and want to support us, then please vote for us.”

The voting lines will be open on the special edition of ‘The Late Late Show’, which will broadcast next Friday, January 3, at 9.35pm.

In the meantime, Callum has some sage advice for any other young, up-and-coming musicians who also have big ambitions to make their dreams a reality.

“It is more than possible for them to follow their dreams,” he said.

“When I started as a musician, it was such a scary place, especially because people look at being a musician as a ‘Mickey mouse’ job.

“This all came from a lot of perseverance, and to be a musician you need to practice, practice, practice – and enjoy the process.”