1. When did you think about music as a career and what were your first steps into it?
My dad is a singer so we would have grown up in the business, listening to and playing Irish traditional music and country music from a very young age. I suppose in my late teens I began to realise I was maybe at a level where I could do it professionally and now I am very fortunate to do what I love and make a living from it.
2. Best gigs you’ve been to?
Bryan Adams at Slane Castle, Garth Brooks at Croke Park and Michael Buble at the 3Arena.
3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?
Not being lazy, but probably the three lads above, and maybe Carrie Underwood to add a female vocal and a little bit of glamour to the occasion.
4. The record you’d take to a desert island?
Bryan Adams's MTV Unplugged. As a teenager I must have listened to it a million times. It's my favourite album by a country mile.
5. And the book you’d take to a desert island?
I’m an avid sports fan so a sports star’s autobiography is always good. I’m not a Manchester United fan, but I did find Roy Keane’s book very entertaining.
6. Top three films?
I love war movies so in no particular order, the ones that spring to mind are: The Green Zone; American Sniper and Saving Private Ryan. Tom Hanks has to be one of my favourite actors.
7. Worst film you’ve seen and why?
P.S. I Love You. It was overloaded with stereotypical Irish scenes, from us all drinking Guinness to laughing at funerals. I almost walked out of the cinema, and that would have been a first.
8. Favourite authors?
I don’t have any.
9. Sports you most enjoy and top team?
I've started back playing handball in my spare time to try and keep fit. I'm an Arsenal fan, but I keep that fairly quiet because they're not doing well at the moment. I’m a big GAA fan and would go to Croke Park regularly. My county Carlow had a great year this year, considering our resources.
10. Ideal holiday destination?
Anywhere sunny. I have a soft spot for the Algarve as I lived and gigged there for three summers back in the day.
11. Pet hate?
People who skip queues.
12. What’s your favourite:
Dinner? Steak.
Dessert? Banoffee
Drink? Beer or gin.
13. Who is your best friend and how do you know each other?
Probably my friend Damien. We were in a pop band together for years and we live close by to each other. We're more like brothers really.
14. Is there a God?
It’s all part of God’s plan.
:: Derek Ryan will be headlining the first ever Farmer's Bash, Ireland's biggest ever indoor country music dance, on October 6 at Belfast's SSE Arena. Tickets from ticketmaster.ie or ssearenabelfast.com
