“I Had No Choice, So I Figured It Out”: Cian Ducrot On The Success Of ‘Victory’
Samantha Colleran, September 2023
Irish singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot first caught listeners attention with his tracks “I’ll Be Waiting” and “All For You”. Fans have come to adore him for writing emotional music with overarching themes of honesty, hope, and vulnerability. Following the release of his No. 1 album Victory and prior to embarking on a U.S. tour this fall, Cian sat with º1824 to discuss what it was like to create his debut album, overcoming feelings of defeat, and following your dreams.
Cian first began writing songs in primary school around 9 or 10, but began to take it more seriously as he approached his teen years. Music was an escape for him in his younger years, and now when Cian feels lost musically he tries to tap into his younger self and find that childlike excitement he had when first becoming enamored with music. As an adult, Cian finds himself getting bored easily if he isn’t making music; it’s hard to not constantly have a busy schedule full of performing, writing, and touring. Music is still his escape, although it’s part of his everyday life he enjoys the craziness of it all.
Some of Cian’s biggest inspirations are Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, and Eminem in terms of storytelling. He also enjoys listening to a lot of music outside of his genre in order to not become too much like others in his genre. He tries to live life to the fullest and experience as many things as he can, which are the events he finds it easiest to write about. When working on Victory, Cian had a lot of conversations with friends and family that inspired tracks on the album. He also spent a lot of time driving in his car and wanted to make music that people felt compelled to listen to while on the road. He also shared that he read The Creative Way Of Thinking by Rick Rubin towards the end of the album making process.
As an album, Victory is a vulnerable body of work representative of achieving dreams, goals, and aspirations. It’s about going through the challenges life throws at you and coming out on the other side stronger and better than ever. It’s for all of the people who have supported Cian through everything in his life. Cian’s mother served as a major light through the darker times. Cian dropped out of college and went back to Ireland after feeling like he was getting nowhere with achieving his dreams and that no one cared or wanted to help his career. When speaking to his mom about his feelings, she told him that when she was going through major life changes she had no choice but to figure it out. That piece of advice stuck with him, and he worked hard to get to where he is now; he had a dream, and despite the hardships, he figured it out.
The most challenging part of being a rising artist is the idea of believing in yourself and your dreams constantly. There were many moments over the years where Cian felt that he wouldn’t be able to achieve his dreams of writing songs and getting a No. 1 album. Instead of focusing on the negative emotions that can rise up, Cian instead decided to focus on the fact he’s achieved his goals once before, and if he keeps working hard enough he can do it again. If you convince yourself the opportunities you’re presented with aren’t one in a million, you’re bound to be more successful.
Writing this album was a slightly different process for Cian. Normally he does everything himself, but for Victory he chose a collaborator so some of the workload would be off of his shoulders. He also worked in writer sessions with another collaborator. He doesn’t like when people get too involved in his writing process, but having someone to guide the writing was helpful. Most of his work is started and completed in his own home, where he feels most comfortable being vulnerable. Despite the change in tempo for approaching this album, one thing remained and that is Cian’s desire to put honesty over everything else when creating his music. Cian admits that he’s more honest in his songwriting than with people in his life, but the best songs come when he is open with his emotions.
When listening to this album, Cian hopes listeners learn more about him and his personal story. He hopes they can hear how real and honest the music is and that they are able to connect with his storytelling. In terms of these songs coming to life on tour, Cian is excited to make his set bigger and better with each performance. He feels more confident in his stage presence and is eager to play his new music for his listeners.
Victory is available to stream on your preferred music streaming platform. If you love what you hear, you can check Cian’s tour schedule to see if he’s playing near you! You can also follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date on all of his future endeavors.