A musician in the making: Taran Stakem

“Galway is more of a playground for me. Music is more orchestrated in big cities like Dublin,” says Taran Stakem, a 25-year-old musician. 

A distinctive style of playing the guitar flat on his lap like a piano is what the Galway-based musician is known for. “No matter how much money I make; I always want to keep busking, it’s my passion,” says Taran.

Taran’s profession started as a passion at the age of 14, when he started playing with different bands. He slowly started busking on the streets of Galway and the pubs in the busy city where he has been playing for the past six years.

In the year, 2022, he took his career to the next level with the release of his new song, Shift the breeze, with his band, which he believes to be his best work so far. 

“You can be playing for a few hours and make only €5; it’s disheartening, but you can also do pretty good. The downside of the profession is how unstable it is,” he says.   

After a well-spent time playing his music in Galway and doing odd gigs around town, he travelled around other cities like Amsterdam, Berlin, and Dublin to spread his love for music. 

Taran believes, “Different songs resonate differently with different people.” With this belief of his, he wishes to keep making music that will have a positive impact on people and where he can freely express himself with his music. 

“You’ll probably make less money busking during the day than busking at night but if you want to make a career out of it, then busking during the day is probably a good idea,” he believes. 

With Covid affecting the daily lives of people, Taran chose to take a positive approach towards it by returning to his music with more gratefulness after giving his brain some space to breathe. 

“In Ireland, you can only get so far if you compare it with England or Germany,” he says. His dream is to take his music journey to Portugal or Spain where he can play freely. 

“I see myself somewhere sunny, playing music with others or myself and making money on Spotify or YouTube,” says Taran.

By Manya Awasthy