A Chat with The Tempted (13.03.25)
We delve into the creative journey behind The Tempted’s long-awaited album, Passions & Misdemeanours. After spending several years exploring solo projects, Brian Callaghan and Mick McDonagh have reunited to bring their distinct musical visions to life, blending fresh production techniques with their signature sound. From overcoming geographical distances in the recording process to experimenting with new vocal harmonies and instrumental arrangements, the duo reflects on how their individual experiences and evolving skill sets have shaped the album. Join us as we explore how their decades-long friendship has resulted in an album that is both a celebration of their past and a bold step into the future.
OSR: After working on solo projects for a few years, how did your individual experiences influence the creative process when reuniting for Passions & Misdemeanours?
Callaghan: I loved Mick’s production on his solo album Metropolis Walls. This led me to the idea that The Tempted project could be resurrected using Mick’s musical production style. I think Passions and Misdemeanours sounds very different from anything else I’ve ever been involved in.
McDonagh: Brian had asked me to contribute some guitar ideas for his Circles of Life album. As a consequence, we began swapping musical ideas for the first time in many years. This would be around 2015/16. During the pandemic I enrolled in a diploma course in music production. Significantly, this course was out of the Point Blank Music School in London (more on this later).
OSR: There’s a real sense of adventure in the album’s production. Did you ever push yourselves outside of your comfort zone with any particular tracks or sounds during the recording process?
Callaghan: Inspired by vocal icons like Michael McDonald, we decided to try handling the backing vocal close harmonies predominantly without using backing singers for this album. We are very pleased with the way this has turned out, particularly on songs like ‘Healing Sensation’, which effectively required me to become an entire gospel choir singing on my own. Also, on a number of songs, we have blended acoustic guitars with electric guitars, which, again, was a new idea that has turned out to be very effective in creating a warm dynamic.
McDonagh: This album was only my second attempt at music production, the first being my own Metropolis Walls project. So there never was a comfort zone to push out of, as everything I did was another learning opportunity, such as learning how to blend a choir with only one voice! Thank God for YouTube videos.
OSR: The album was recorded and mixed across two continents – how did this geographical distance impact your creative chemistry or the way the record ultimately came together?
Callaghan: Gunnar Smari Helgason brilliantly mixed and mastered my last solo album, Through the Storm (2022). As an internationally recognised and highly regarded sound engineer worldwide, we were keen to try to get him involved in Passions and Misdemeanours if he had any availability. As it happened, he was able to mix two of the songs on the album. Integrating flawlessly with his terrific mixes are those of a new and up-and-coming young mixing and mastering talent by the name of Ross Owen Campbell. The son of well-known sound engineer Scott Campbell, Ross works predominantly with Atlantic Records in America, but he took time out of his busy schedule to mix 11 songs fabulously well on Passions and Misdemeanours. Ross also mastered the entire album.
McDonagh: One of the strengths of modern music production is the opportunity for all participants to work remotely from each other. At no time in the making of this album was there more than one person in the room, recording, mixing and mastering. I believe this process creates a sense of freedom in everyone’s approach.
OSR: In what ways do you feel this album reflects your growth as musicians, and how does it differ from anything you’ve done before?
Callaghan: My two previous solo albums, Circles of Life (2019) and Through the Storm (2022) were released under my own name, Brian Callaghan, so I am particularly excited about releasing this new album as a band (The Tempted) in collaboration with my long-term friend Mick. Our approach to this album has been very different to anything I’ve been involved in previously. Primarily, I wrote this entire album on a baby grand piano (Yamaha CP70 for the gear buffs), whereas I’m better known as a guitarist. This has given a different feel to the chord structures and melodies compared to those that I would normally use. There were no live drums on this record, which is what I would usually use, so that again gives a different dynamic feel.
Our process was, typically, that I would send each song to Mick with a piano, guide vocal, tempo, song key and arrangement, at which point Mick would identify a number of sampled rhythm tracks for the drums. Albeit, on a few tracks we weren’t happy with these, so on those occasions I programmed the drums. Thereafter, the song would go to Shug (Hugh Brankin) for bass guitar tracking while Mick and I worked remotely on tracking guitars and keyboards in our respective studios. Once Mick had edited Shug’s bass takes, I would set to work on layering backing vocals and, finally, recording the main vocals.
McDonagh: For me, this was a journey from amateur guitar player to professional musician and producer, and quite the journey it was.
OSR: The album blends genres that are both retro and modern. How do you approach blending the familiar with the new while keeping things fresh and exciting for yourself and your audience?
Callaghan: I’ve personally never been interested in writing for a particular genre. Conversely, my policy would be one of, if it sounds good, then it stays in. There is the occasional contradiction to this policy on this album; for example, ‘The Healing Sensation’ is a deliberate attempt to mix gospel with Motown, which is a marriage made in heaven.
McDonagh: As Brian has said, music genres have never created our path. The retro would be as a result of these songs being crafted in the late 80s and early 90s. The modern would have been created by my music production style. As I suggested before, my time at Point Blank was significant. The lecturers were from backgrounds in dance music, hip hop and soul, and those were the genres in which I, probably subconsciously, learned my craft.
OSR: How did the inclusion of both Mick MacNeil and Mary Kiani shape the album’s overall sound and vibe? What did each of them contribute to the tracks they were featured on?
Callaghan: Mick (MacNeil) is an old friend of mine from when we were both signed to Virgin Records, and we’ve kept in touch over the years. He was a big influence on me as a young musician as I was a huge Simple Minds fan. Known predominantly for his big piano and keyboard sounds, Mick actually started out playing the accordion and he has an incredible feel for this instrument. I asked him if he could play something on the song ‘Sailing Home’ because it has a very traditional feel to it, both musically and lyrically, and thankfully, he was delighted to do so. Mick (Tempted Mick) then blended these takes beautifully into the song that you now hear on the album. Mary Kiani and I have also been involved in a number of projects together over the years. A well-known international disco queen with a powerful soaring voice, I asked if she would sing on ‘Another Mean City’, and we were delighted when she loved the track and agreed to do it. Actually, she lives in Sydney, Australia these days, so she recorded her takes from down under.
McDonagh: Mick (MacNeil) is such a talent, a genius of his craft. To have him on this record is a real feather in our caps. I’ve known Mary for 40 years too, and it might have been nice to get her more involved in the record. We’re just glad she gave us what she could.
OSR: The lyrics on this album feel deeply introspective and vulnerable at times. What personal experiences or emotions influenced the themes of Passions & Misdemeanours?
Callaghan: Well, there are certainly tracks that subscribe to that description for sure on Passions and Misdemeanours. I was in a very different space in my life at that time, which is reflected in all of the songs on the album. The ‘vulnerability’ lyrics in particular stem predominantly from the fact that I was absolutely besotted in a close and happy relationship around this time, but then my partner panicked, for want of a better word, when I expressed my wishes to leave the ‘pop-star’ life to return to university and finish my studies. Subsequently, it became quite evident that she was only really interested in me for what I did, as opposed to who I am. I found this experience deeply disconcerting and profoundly hurtful, so if I feel strongly about something, it tends to end up in lyrics.
OSR: With influences ranging from Stevie Ray Vaughan to synth-pop legends, how do you strike a balance between paying homage to those artists and forging your own musical identity?
Callaghan: I wouldn’t say that I deliberately set out to pay homage to any of my influences, but I am certainly very strongly influenced by a number of fabulous writers, musicians and singers. I believe that by blending one’s influences, it becomes possible to create and develop a sound that is unique, or at least a hybrid of sorts. When you are collaborating on an album, as Mick and I have done on Passions and Misdemeanours, then the opportunity for this dynamic increases exponentially.
McDonagh: Again, I don’t think we have paid homage to anyone on this record. I’m just chuffed that someone thinks our guitars are even in the ballpark of the legendary SRV. And as far as synth-pop legends go, all similarities are purely accidental!
OSR: Shug Brankin’s basslines seem to anchor a lot of the tracks – how important is the rhythm section in bringing your vision to life, and what’s your creative process like when building these foundational elements?
Callaghan: Shug is a former colleague of mine from a number of projects and an all-around fabulous chap. We felt that it would be important to attempt introducing a human feel at the bottom end of Passions and Misdemeanours, because, otherwise, the record could sound too synthetic and contrived. I deliberately approached Shug because, having played with him so much in the past, I knew that he employed a laid-back Los Angeles-type feel in his playing, which he embraced back when we were both recording together in that location. Mick and I wanted to try this approach, and it has worked like a charm, adding a real-life human feel to the rhythm track on every song.
McDonagh: As a producer of this project, Shug was a dream to work with. He has a long musical relationship with Brian and you can hear from the tracks how locked in they are.
OSR: You’ve been together as The Tempted for over three decades. What does being part of this band mean to you both now compared to when you first started out? How has your view of music – and your place in it – changed over the years?
Callaghan: Strictly speaking, it would be fairer to say that we have resurrected The Tempted after three decades after a significant hiatus. Music production technology has advanced massively in that time. We always knew that the songs were strong and timeless, so the process afforded us an exciting opportunity to apply these modern tools to The Tempted project all these years later. We are extremely happy with the results, and we hope you enjoy listening to them, too.
McDonagh: We always knew the songs were strong. It would be nice to have the chance to let the music be heard on a bigger stage.
Find out more about The Tempted on their Spotify and YouTube.
