{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = MayKay | image = Fight Like Apes - MayKay.jpg | caption = | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Mary-Kate Geraghty | alias = | birth_place = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1986}} | origin = | death_date = | instrument = | genre = Karate rock | occupation = Musician | years_active = | label = Alcopop! Records | associated_acts = Fight Like Apes | website = }}
'''Mary-Kate Geraghty''',<ref name="monkey business">{{cite news| title=Monkey Business| last=Sweeney| first=Eamon| date=2 November 2007| url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/monkey-business-1209605.html| access-date=9 February 2012| newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref> known professionally as '''MayKay''', is an Irish musician known as the frontwoman of Fight Like Apes, with whom she has released numerous records and received several award nominations. She has also given solo performances as a DJ.<ref name=hotpress-2009>{{cite magazine| title=MayKay to appear at Music Show 'After Dark' showcase tonight!| magazine=Hot Press| date=3 October 2009| url=http://www.hotpress.com/news/MayKay%20to%20appear%20at%20Music%20Show%20%27After%20Dark%27%20showcase%20tonight%21/5888599.html| access-date=18 October 2009}}</ref>
==Biography== A native of County Kildare, MayKay was born in 1986.<ref name="monkey business" /><ref name="fighting talk" /> She is the daughter of journalist Kathy Sheridan.<ref name="fighting talk"/> Sheridan is a regular Fight Like Apes concert-goer and bought a record player specially to listen to the band's debut album on vinyl.<ref name="fighting talk"/>
She was a choir singer for some time.<ref name="fighting talk"/> The singer met bandmate Jamie (known as "Pockets") when the pair were vacationing in Spain during their teenage years.<ref name="fighting talk"/> She spoke of their meeting in a 2007 interview with Eamon Sweeney of the ''Irish Independent'': "One night, I told Jamie I loved singing, so he made me sign a contract on a piece of tissue in a bar saying that I would never do anything musically without him".<ref name="monkey business" /> She studied medicinal chemistry then philosophy in Trinity College, Dublin; however, she dropped out of college when Fight Like Apes began to first find success.<ref name="fighting talk"/>
In 2010, MayKay and Duke Special lent their voices to an event at the National Concert Hall on 1 July 2010.<ref name=hotpress-2010>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.hotpress.com/Duke%20Special/news/Duke-Special-and-MayKay-to-lend-voices-to-a-gig-with-a-difference/6594611.html|title=Duke Special and MayKay to lend voices to a gig with a difference|date=17 June 2010|access-date=17 June 2010|magazine=Hot Press}}</ref>
On stage MayKay dresses in either black or white and is known for her "long black hair and banshee wail".<ref name="fighting talk"/> She often plays the keyboard with her head during live performances.<ref name="fighting talk"/> She has also played the drill.<ref name=entertainment.ie-sept2009>{{cite web| last=Murphy| first=Lauren| title=Interview with Fight Like Apes| date=10 September 2008| work=entertainment.ie| url=http://entertainment.ie/Music/feature/Interview-with-Fight-Like-Apes/1/49.htm| access-date=18 October 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003202508/http://entertainment.ie/Music/feature/Interview-with-Fight-Like-Apes/1/49.htm| archive-date=3 October 2009| df=dmy-all}}</ref> She and most of the band members, with the exception of the drummer, are known for their consumption of alcohol.<ref name="fighting talk"/> She likes bands such as Adebisi Shank, Giveamanakick, Grand Pocket Orchestra and Jape.<ref name="monkey business"/> MayKay has also collaborated with Elaine Mai on 'No Forever' (2021).
==Reception== Nadine O'Regan of ''The Sunday Business Post'' has described her as "easily one of the best – and most mesmerising – front women Ireland has delivered in recent times" and possessing "an air of unpredictability that means crowds will crane their necks to make sure they see as well as hear her".<ref name="fighting talk">{{cite news| last=O'Regan| first=Nadine| title=Fighting Talk| newspaper=The Sunday Business Post| date=8 February 2009| url=http://nadineoregan.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/fight-like-apes-sbp-interview/ <!--original link dead 2012-02-09: http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2009/02/08/story39252.asp-->| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504154430/http://nadineoregan.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/fight-like-apes-sbp-interview/| archive-date=4 May 2014| df=dmy-all}}</ref> Today FM presenter Alison Curtis has described her as "extremely watchable, almost going into Debbie Harry territory".<ref name=irishtimes>{{cite news| last=Cleary| first=Catherine| title=Show Time| date=12 July 2008| newspaper=The Irish Times| url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2008/0712/1215764566572.html| access-date=8 June 2009| quote=And her current favourite Irish bands? "Fight Like Apes are really talented. They're kind of rocky and metallic and their front girl is extremely watchable, almost going into Debbie Harry territory. A Cork band, Hooray for Humans, are really cute, very poppy, almost Arcade Fire in the way they shout lyrics."}}</ref> Lauren Murphy of entertainment.ie praised her ability to sing "pastoral as well as blow-your-eardrums-out cacophony" on the track "Snore Bore Whore".<ref name=entertainment.ie-oct2009>{{cite web| last=Murphy| first=Lauren|url=http://entertainment.ie/album-review/Fight-Like-Apes---David-Carradine-Is-A-Bounty-Hunter-Whos-Robotic-Arm-Hates-Your-Crotch/5246.htm|title=Fight Like Apes – David Carradine Is A Bounty Hunter Whos Robotic Arm Hates Your Crotch| date=26 October 2007| access-date=18 October 2009| work=entertainment.ie}}</ref> ''The Munster Express'' described MayKay as being at her "breathy vampish best" on the same track.<ref name=munster-express>{{cite news| title=Manic 'Easter' Monday| date=19 March 2008| newspaper=The Munster Express| url=http://www.munster-express.ie/entertainment/music/manic-%e2%80%98easter-monday/| access-date=18 October 2009}}</ref>
==Activism== MayKay has been actively involved in pro-Palestinian activism since 2023. During that time, she travelled to Bethlehem in the West Bank to volunteer at the ACLAÍ community gym, located within the Lajee Centre in Aida Camp. There, she conducted music and songwriting workshops with local youth, fostering cross-cultural connections through shared musical expression. In 2024, MayKay collaborated with Irish artists Elaine Mai and Faye O'Rourke, along with young Palestinian refugees from Aida Camp, to produce the charity single "We Are." The song features contributions from Palestinian children who articulate their identity and resilience through lyrics in Arabic, English, and Irish. All proceeds from the single supported the Lajee Centre's community initiatives.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=15 October 2024 |title=Irish artists and young Palestinians release song to benefit refugee camp |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irish-artists-palestinian-refugees |work=IrishCentral.com |location= |publisher= |access-date=4 June 2025}}</ref>
MayKay is also a co-organiser of Irish Artists for Palestine (IAFP), a collective that unites Irish creatives in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Through events like "United in Song," IAFP raises awareness and funds for Palestinian causes, emphasising the role of art in cultural preservation and resistance.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Caroline |date=6 January 2025 |title=Irish Artists For Palestine: "In times of crisis, like-minded people can achieve things together" |url=https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/irish-artists-for-palestine-in-times-of-crisis-like-minded-people-can-achieve-things-together-23064275 |work=Hot Press |location= |publisher= |access-date=4 June 2025}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.hotpress.com/av/video/4353614.html MayKay speaks] to Elaine Hughes of ''Hot Press'' about her 2007 * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJUsUA67CT4 Video interview] with Jenny Huston from RTÉ 2fm at Oxegen 2008. * [http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-jd-set/pictures/series-1/episode-5/the-jd-set-s1e5-20090204123944-4 Photos of MayKay] from the website of Channel 4 show ''The JD Set''
{{Fight Like Apes}}
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Category:1986 births Category:21st-century Irish singers Category:21st-century Irish women singers Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:Irish activists for Palestinian solidarity Category:Irish rock singers Category:Irish women rock singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from County Kildare