Gavin Friday

Gavin Friday

Gavin Friday is the stage name of Fionan Hanvey, a singer, composer and painter from Dublin, Ireland. Born in 1959, he is associated with alternative rock, post-punk and singer-songwriter music, and he also works across cabaret, pop, Irish and rock contexts.

Virgin Prunes

In 1977, he helps found Virgin Prunes, an avant-garde post-punk group from Dublin. This remains one of the key parts of his career and links him to the city’s late-1970s post-punk scene.

Work with Maurice Seezer

Between 1987 and 2005, he composes and performs with Maurice Seezer. Under the Gavin Friday and The Man Seezer name, they release Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves in 1989, Adam 'N' Eve in 1992 and Shag Tobacco in 1995. Friday’s fourth solo album, CATHOLIC, follows in April 2011.

Film and stage work

Friday contributes music to a number of films, including Get Rich or Die Tryin', In America, In the Name of the Father, The Boxer, Disco Pigs, Short Cuts and Romeo + Juliet. He also works with producer Hal Willner on music for Abel Ferrara’s Chelsea on the Rocks in 2008.

As a performer, he collaborates with English composer Gavin Bryars on settings of Shakespeare’s sonnets, and he presents stage shows including the Kurt Weill Extravaganza Ich Liebe Dich, the one-man show I didn't come up the Liffey in a bubble and a tribute to German music called Tomorrow belongs to me.

Acting and recordings

In Neil Jordan’s Breakfast in Pluto in 2006, he plays Billy Hatchet and records three songs for the film, including Sand and Wig Wam Bam, both of which appear on the soundtrack album.

Later release

His release Ecce Homo appears in 2024.