Mick Pyro

Michael Tierney (known as Mick Pyro) is an Irish musician. He is best known as the frontman of the Dublin funk rock band Republic of Loose. He has also partaken in other independent work with fellow Irish and international musicians and performed a duet with Sinéad O'Connor at the 2008 Meteor Awards when she revealed her admiration for his vocals. He has also written for the Irish Independent. Pyro is known for his distinctive vocals and his bearded appearance.

Education and influences

Pyro has an MA in Renaissance literature and is an avid reader. Pyro is known for his diverse musical tastes involving hip hop, soul and blues, with almost every record he purchases being hip hop. He has described hip hop as "one of the most innovative art-forms around and it's constantly capable of shocking and surprising me".Cee-Lo Green's 2004 album Soul Machine is one of Pyro's personal favourites but he also likes Biz Markie, EPMD, Big Daddy Kane and 1980s soul and funk such as Alexander O'Neal and Rick James – one of his heroes. He also likes metal bands such as Children of Bodom and listens to blues and jazz such as Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Mahalia Jackson and soul singers such as Al Green and Solomon Burke. Pyro credited a former American friend with a great taste in music for becoming a Buddhist monk and leaving behind approximately 300 CDs of Coltrane, Mingus and Miles Davis. He likes the music of Bob Dylan, describing his 1997 Time out of Mind album as having a "spooky" production and "savage" lyrics. On Michael Jackson, he once said "You feel a bit creepy listening to him and you have to be in the right mood but there's a really sad lament in his voice". After Jackson's death, Pyro dubbed him "the best singer who ever sang on record".<ref name="Mick Pyro: "Michael Jackson is the best singer who ever sang on record"">"Mick Pyro: "Michael Jackson is the best singer who ever sang on record"". Hot Press. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-30. </ref>