From intimate pub gigs to major support slots and now his own headline shows, Dave Lofts is an artist who has truly seen it all.
Growing up in County Wicklow, Lofts reflects on the early soundtrack of his childhood. “My dad played a lot of funk music. Then I started to move around and find the place for me, which would have been more traditional roots, along with indie folk. The likes of Bob Dylan, the Carpenters, and Shane MacGowan.” Gregarious and thoroughly good-natured, his passion for music and honesty are apparent from the very start.
Before finding his footing in music, Lofts took a detour through the military and the culinary world. “I was doing music through the army and before the army,” he recalled. “I left the military and came back to Waterford, and I was working in a bar. A friend of mine, Darren Hayes, was a head chef. He said, ‘Why don’t you come down and we’ll train you in as a chef?’” Lofts spent the next few years balancing kitchen shifts with gigs. “I then had a beautiful moment where I was doing music, and I released a song, and a manager got in touch with me, and it all just took off.”
That perspective feeds into his creative process, where he refuses to shy away from heavy themes. “It comes subconsciously when I write. I feel that it starts with a rhythm, a melody. Maybe, sometimes, it starts lyrically. I open up a memory, and I start diving into it. But I have to be careful; just like life, there’s been challenges, and there’s been ups and downs. But I think exposure is good – how rude would I be to talk about mental health if I didn’t experience mental health?”
When asked whether he found it difficult to maintain privacy while digging so deep emotionally, his answer was characteristically direct. “There is 100% an element of privacy. But I’m the kind of guy that just bears it as it is. I have nothing to hide. I feel that the best thing that we have in life is admitting to yourself that you were wrong. And when you can do that, you can grow. I feel that you have to be able to deliver a sense of personal experience to a song. I wrote Drunk because I experienced alcoholism. The best artists out there are ones that put it all on the line.”
His musical palate is as varied as his life experience, citing contemporary artists like Gregory Alan Isakov, the Kooks, and Noah Kahan as current favourites. When pressed to choose the definitive Irish album of all time, he points to The Pogues’ “Rum Sodomy & the Lash”. However, his deepest influences transcend music. “I’m mostly influenced by people and not being perfect. I’m influenced by me and my journey. It’s nice to have influences, but for your music to be your own, it has to come from you.”
“I feel people are longing for something that they can connect to again. I feel that people just want to say, ‘thanks for saying that, Dave, because that’s what I was feeling’. I think we long for the thing that we were comfortable with and we really want to feel that safety again.”
While the life of a touring singer-songwriter is often romanticised as the ultimate freedom, Lofts emphasises discipline.
“It lines up the idea of just how much you’re going to be touring; you’re taking on a record label. You go in inexperienced as a musician, but certainly experienced as a working man. You can’t go on the booze whenever you want – it’s easier said than done, of course. Everyone’s having fun, you’re going to want to have fun too. But your job is to deliver the fun.”
“I came from pubs and busking, to now releasing an EP. It’s been a journey that’s been beautiful and rewarding, but challenging.”
He views the resulting tracks as an emotional mirror for the listener. Lofts described his music as “honest”. “It’s not afraid to hurt people’s feelings. It’s designed to make you want to step somewhere that you might be a little bit uncomfortable, but also thankful for. Almost like therapy. I think my music is all about purity and honesty.”
That vulnerability has earned him a loyal following, and his gratitude towards the community that built him is palpable. “The biggest thing is to see the people that have supported me from the start. When you see your home crowd right behind you – the people who were in the pub with you. These are people who have seen you through. When they tell you they’re proud – that’s 100% the best feeling.”
Looking back at the landmarks of his music career so far, Lofts points to two emotional extremes. “There are two moments. One of them, my mental health wasn’t in a great spot. I was supporting the Wolfe Tones in Thomond Park. I just couldn’t get excited for it. I was panicking, and I got on stage, and I just couldn’t wait for it to end. So, I look back on that, and I go, ‘I never want to experience that again’. I’m now in a better place – I can enjoy those moments. I feel the best moment is to come.”
“One of the best moments I’ve had – I remember I opened up for Picture This in Waterford. The amount of Waterford people that supported me – I’ll never forget that. I walked out with a Waterford flag. I’m a Waterford-Wicklow man. So, to see that in one of my hometowns – that feeling, I still remember that. Now, I look forward to the next one, and the next one, please God.”
He is transparent about his battles with anxiety and panic attacks, refusing to hide them behind the curtain of performance. “We’re all human. Even though I sing songs and I’m a bit more in the limelight, you should never get distracted by the noise. I’m finally in a place where I’m definitely a lot better. I can put my arms out and take a breath, and take in the beauty of it all. You’re able to stare in the eye of fear. I can stare in the eye of the devil and go.”
Hearing a rising artist discuss these challenges so candidly is a powerful antidote to stigma. Yet, when confronted with his growing success, Lofts remains grounded. “What is success? For me, success is that you’ve got a roof over your head, clean water, you’re surrounded by good people and loved ones – that to me is success.”
Dave Lofts’ new EP “Holy” releases on streaming platforms on the 31st of July, and will also be available on vinyl and CD. Lofts plays the Olympia Theatre on February 20th 2027, with tickets still available for his dates in Cork, Limerick, and Kilkenny later this year.
