Proud Mayo man Garron Noone (29), is a prime example of how social media can transform your life overnight. Just over a year ago, he had a few thousand followers from posting music tutorial videos. Fast forward to today, and he has over a million followers between TikTok and Instagram (@garron_music), his funny videos get millions of views, his gigs sell out around the country and he has become a much-loved Irish celebrity.
While Garron posts a video every day, sharing his strong feelings on everyday items such as Lyons Tea disowning the pyramid teabag and the rising costs of Freddo chocolate bars, he is actually a very private person. He tries to keep his newfound fame in check and his personal life out of the spotlight but he has given some insight to Irish Country Living.
Garron lived in Dublin until the age of one before his family moved back to his mother’s home county of Mayo to be close to her family, who run a sheep farm outside of Ballina. The eldest of four, Garron grew up in Ballina and spent a lot of time on the farm. He was living in Galway when the pandemic broke out and, like many, moved home during that period.
However, fans might be surprised to hear that he may be making the move back to the east coast again. “I think I might have to move to Dublin soon,” he says. “I know, big news. My heart is in Mayo. I might go as far as Galway instead, like a halfway point,” he says, laughing. “I don’t drive and I’m travelling so much for work at the moment, over and back to Dublin on the train all the time. It’s going to be hard to leave Mayo though.”
Garron Noone from Ballina, Co Mayo found fame on TikTok and Instagram with his funny videos. \ Philip Doyle
Musical background
Both of Garron’s parents always enjoyed music, personally not professionally, and his main musical influence growing up was his mum. “My mother knows a few chords on the guitar and when I was a toddler, she would always pick up the guitar and sing songs to me,”he says. “I was fascinated that she could just sit down and play. I thought that was amazing.
“My dad used to sing in an Elvis tribute band. I don’t know how professional it was, I’ve heard mixed reports on how far he got with it.
“But he had the whole look and everything, he had the quiff, he was obsessed.
“I remember when I was about 10 years old, I had this goal to play one song. I thought it would be so cool if I could just sit down and play one song and play it over and over again. I was doing a few pub gigs by the time I was a teenager. I was also really fascinated with music production. I didn’t understand, when I listened to the radio, how they put all the sounds together. I wanted to figure that out, so I taught myself to do that.
“When the pandemic hit, I had started uploading tutorials to show people how to make different sounds for dance music and mix things together. People started reaching out to me for lessons”.
A university in the UK also contacted Garron, which led to him teaching modules on their master’s course.
Closed doors
As a rule, Garron makes a point of keeping his social media content light and funny. His personal life is private. However, there are some aspects of his past that he is happy to talk about to help others that may be in a similar situation.
“I do some bits with [Irish youth organisation] Foróige and Youthreach [who offer training and education for young people],” says Garron. “I went to Youthreach when I was 21 to do my Leaving Certificate as I had left school when I was 15 years old due to problems I was having.
“I’m quite passionate about helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds who have dropped out of school. That’s the background I come from. I like to tell people that no matter what your situation might have been, that you can do anything, as random as it might be.
“I don’t talk about this too much, but I had agoraphobia for many years. I have talked about it on my podcast, How Are Ye Gettin’ On?. I was completely housebound for three years until I was about 20, which is why I dropped out of school, but I suffered from it for about six years in total.
“My particular problem was I would have panic attacks whenever I left the house, or went and did anything. The way I dealt with it was with exposure therapy. It can start really small. I remember at the beginning, I’d have to go outside, walk in a circle for 10 steps and then come back into the house. And you just expand that over time.
Garron recently took part in the Acts of Big Love concert in Bewley’s Café on Grafton Street, which was organised by Grow Mental Health with the aim of showing love and appreciation for those who have dealt with, and are still dealing with mental health struggles. It also helped raise much-needed funds to keep their services going around the country.
“I know what severe mental health problems are like. When I have mentioned it a couple of times, people have reached out a lot — thousands of messages. I do try and help people where I can and point them in what I think might be a helpful direction. It’s a big point of passion for me, for sure.”
Garron Noone from Ballina, Co Mayo a musician and music producer who has found fame on tikTok and instagram for his funny videos. \ Philip Doyle
Follow me, I’m delicious
Garron is best known for the catchphrase he says at the end of his videos, but it came about in a very random, organic way.
“When I started making the videos daily at around 10,000 followers on TikTok, my hit rate was quite low. There was one video, in particular, and I just thought it wasn’t funny at all and I didn’t think I could put it on social. But then I thought, I’m just going to tack on something random at the end and in the moment, I blurted out, ‘Follow me, I’m delicious’. I think I got 3,000 views, and the people that saw it commented on every video afterwards, asking why I didn’t say the phrase again, so I gave in. Now, if I don’t say it, people go mental.
“It’s mad actually, people want me to make videos calling their mothers, grannies, sons and daughters, delicious. People shout, ‘I’m delicious’ at me on the street. It wasn’t deliberate at all, but it’s turned into a brand. People send me photos of stuff with the word delicious on it,” he says, laughing. “It’s such a pointless thing to say.”
It’s easy to see why he was named one of Ireland’s breakthrough stars for 2023 on TikTok, in person he is genuine, down-to-earth and has a laid-back attitude, as if nothing phases him. However, he admits, with the rapid growth of this social media following, becoming a celebrity has its ups and downs.
“It feels a bit weird to hear the word, ‘celebrity’ used to describe me, but you don’t realise, (I certainly didn’t), how small a country Ireland is.
“Once you get 200,000 people watching a video, that’s massive here. Most of my videos are now viewed by a million at least.
Life in the spotlight
“It can be very easy to look at success as wholly positive and negative. I think it’s equal measures of both. The positives are so great that you can easily let the negatives go.
“I don’t mind being approached, in general, but there are instances that it bothers me. I tend to not really go out when I know people are going to be really drunk. Those natural barriers that people have in place slip out the window with alcohol and, all of a sudden, you’ll have 40 people really in your personal space. I don’t like that.
“People who come up to me on the street and ask for a photo or a video for their mam telling her she’s delicious, that’s great. I have no problem with that whatsoever.
“I think what keeps me going with the videos every day is the challenge, to figure out something that I can do that people enjoy. I just want to do that and make people laugh.”
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Proud Mayo man Garron Noone (29), is a prime example of how social media can transform your life overnight. Just over a year ago, he had a few thousand followers from posting music tutorial videos. Fast forward to today, and he has over a million followers between TikTok and Instagram (@garron_music), his funny videos get millions of views, his gigs sell out around the country and he has become a much-loved Irish celebrity.
While Garron posts a video every day, sharing his strong feelings on everyday items such as Lyons Tea disowning the pyramid teabag and the rising costs of Freddo chocolate bars, he is actually a very private person. He tries to keep his newfound fame in check and his personal life out of the spotlight but he has given some insight to Irish Country Living.
Garron lived in Dublin until the age of one before his family moved back to his mother’s home county of Mayo to be close to her family, who run a sheep farm outside of Ballina. The eldest of four, Garron grew up in Ballina and spent a lot of time on the farm. He was living in Galway when the pandemic broke out and, like many, moved home during that period.
However, fans might be surprised to hear that he may be making the move back to the east coast again. “I think I might have to move to Dublin soon,” he says. “I know, big news. My heart is in Mayo. I might go as far as Galway instead, like a halfway point,” he says, laughing. “I don’t drive and I’m travelling so much for work at the moment, over and back to Dublin on the train all the time. It’s going to be hard to leave Mayo though.”
Garron Noone from Ballina, Co Mayo found fame on TikTok and Instagram with his funny videos. \ Philip Doyle
Musical background
Both of Garron’s parents always enjoyed music, personally not professionally, and his main musical influence growing up was his mum. “My mother knows a few chords on the guitar and when I was a toddler, she would always pick up the guitar and sing songs to me,”he says. “I was fascinated that she could just sit down and play. I thought that was amazing.
“My dad used to sing in an Elvis tribute band. I don’t know how professional it was, I’ve heard mixed reports on how far he got with it.
“But he had the whole look and everything, he had the quiff, he was obsessed.
“I remember when I was about 10 years old, I had this goal to play one song. I thought it would be so cool if I could just sit down and play one song and play it over and over again. I was doing a few pub gigs by the time I was a teenager. I was also really fascinated with music production. I didn’t understand, when I listened to the radio, how they put all the sounds together. I wanted to figure that out, so I taught myself to do that.
“When the pandemic hit, I had started uploading tutorials to show people how to make different sounds for dance music and mix things together. People started reaching out to me for lessons”.
A university in the UK also contacted Garron, which led to him teaching modules on their master’s course.
Closed doors
As a rule, Garron makes a point of keeping his social media content light and funny. His personal life is private. However, there are some aspects of his past that he is happy to talk about to help others that may be in a similar situation.
“I do some bits with [Irish youth organisation] Foróige and Youthreach [who offer training and education for young people],” says Garron. “I went to Youthreach when I was 21 to do my Leaving Certificate as I had left school when I was 15 years old due to problems I was having.
“I’m quite passionate about helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds who have dropped out of school. That’s the background I come from. I like to tell people that no matter what your situation might have been, that you can do anything, as random as it might be.
“I don’t talk about this too much, but I had agoraphobia for many years. I have talked about it on my podcast, How Are Ye Gettin’ On?. I was completely housebound for three years until I was about 20, which is why I dropped out of school, but I suffered from it for about six years in total.
“My particular problem was I would have panic attacks whenever I left the house, or went and did anything. The way I dealt with it was with exposure therapy. It can start really small. I remember at the beginning, I’d have to go outside, walk in a circle for 10 steps and then come back into the house. And you just expand that over time.
Garron recently took part in the Acts of Big Love concert in Bewley’s Café on Grafton Street, which was organised by Grow Mental Health with the aim of showing love and appreciation for those who have dealt with, and are still dealing with mental health struggles. It also helped raise much-needed funds to keep their services going around the country.
“I know what severe mental health problems are like. When I have mentioned it a couple of times, people have reached out a lot — thousands of messages. I do try and help people where I can and point them in what I think might be a helpful direction. It’s a big point of passion for me, for sure.”
Garron Noone from Ballina, Co Mayo a musician and music producer who has found fame on tikTok and instagram for his funny videos. \ Philip Doyle
Follow me, I’m delicious
Garron is best known for the catchphrase he says at the end of his videos, but it came about in a very random, organic way.
“When I started making the videos daily at around 10,000 followers on TikTok, my hit rate was quite low. There was one video, in particular, and I just thought it wasn’t funny at all and I didn’t think I could put it on social. But then I thought, I’m just going to tack on something random at the end and in the moment, I blurted out, ‘Follow me, I’m delicious’. I think I got 3,000 views, and the people that saw it commented on every video afterwards, asking why I didn’t say the phrase again, so I gave in. Now, if I don’t say it, people go mental.
“It’s mad actually, people want me to make videos calling their mothers, grannies, sons and daughters, delicious. People shout, ‘I’m delicious’ at me on the street. It wasn’t deliberate at all, but it’s turned into a brand. People send me photos of stuff with the word delicious on it,” he says, laughing. “It’s such a pointless thing to say.”
It’s easy to see why he was named one of Ireland’s breakthrough stars for 2023 on TikTok, in person he is genuine, down-to-earth and has a laid-back attitude, as if nothing phases him. However, he admits, with the rapid growth of this social media following, becoming a celebrity has its ups and downs.
“It feels a bit weird to hear the word, ‘celebrity’ used to describe me, but you don’t realise, (I certainly didn’t), how small a country Ireland is.
“Once you get 200,000 people watching a video, that’s massive here. Most of my videos are now viewed by a million at least.
Life in the spotlight
“It can be very easy to look at success as wholly positive and negative. I think it’s equal measures of both. The positives are so great that you can easily let the negatives go.
“I don’t mind being approached, in general, but there are instances that it bothers me. I tend to not really go out when I know people are going to be really drunk. Those natural barriers that people have in place slip out the window with alcohol and, all of a sudden, you’ll have 40 people really in your personal space. I don’t like that.
“People who come up to me on the street and ask for a photo or a video for their mam telling her she’s delicious, that’s great. I have no problem with that whatsoever.
“I think what keeps me going with the videos every day is the challenge, to figure out something that I can do that people enjoy. I just want to do that and make people laugh.”
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