A POPULAR indie rocker has admitted he quit his ‘rollercoaster’ lifestyle being in a top noughties band to work in tech after getting bored of singing the same songs.
Lead singer of post-punk band The Rakes, Alan Donohoe, opened up on his surprise career change after being left feeling like he ‘wasn’t really living’ whilst in the band.
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The Rakes formed in London in 2003 and went onto release their first album, Capture/Release, just two years later.
Despite only hitting number 32 in the UK charts, it was declared the 13th best album of 2005 by NME magazine.
During a period where there was an influx of indie bands competing against pop heavyweights such as McFly and Girls Aloud for the top spot in the charts and headlining slots at festivals, the band struggled on over the next three and a half years with two further album releases.
They finally called it quits in 2009, like many of their counterparts, with frontman Alan soon taking up life in a completely different industry.
As well as being ‘bored’ at singing the same songs, Alan was quick to welcome the chance at working in a space that he had seen success in before his stardom in the band.
Speaking about his new way of life and decision to quit music, Alan told NME magazine: “Being in The Rakes was an insane rollercoaster, but singing the same songs for seven years got boring in the end.
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“And if you’re doing something just because you can’t imagine an alternative then you’re not really living.”
Alan added: “Afterwards I was a bit lost, but I’d developed tech before so I went back to it. People call me a ‘developer’ or a ‘digital creative’ but old-fashioned types would say I was a programmer.”
Alan is now settled in Brighton with the company and counts another former musician as one of his colleagues.
He added to the publication: “I work for a company in Brighton and one of my colleagues used to be in Utah Saints.
“Sometimes I jokingly tell friends that tech is where rock stars go to die, but in many ways it’s a lot more creative and interesting than rock’n’roll.
“I’d enjoyed writing music that people connected with, but this work provides an intellectual challenge that music lacked.”
Whilst he admitted he was grateful for the days when music allowed him to quit his day job and perform full-time, he is happy in his current role.
Alan said: “Being able to make enough money to give up my day job and play music was a liberating experience for everyone in The Rakes, but that chapter’s over for me, and I’m happily into the next. I still do festivals, it’s just they’re more like tech festivals these days.”
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