I am a little late to our meeting place outside Bushe’s Bar in Baltimore.

Jeff ‘Swampy’ Marsh is waiting for me, wearing a bright red knitted hat and shades–prepared for snow or shine.

He greets me with a smile.

BY TILLY ROBERTS

Jeff, originally from California, has brought a lot of joy to people around the world through his work as a cartoonist, writer, singer, and voice actor.

He co-created the popular children’s shows Phineas & Ferb and worked on classics like The Simpsons and Family Guy.

‘So this is a bit of a cheesy question,’ I say, ‘but there are 104 days of summer vacation–how did you spend them?’

Smiling, Jeff tells me he’s been doing a lot of publicity for the relaunch of Phineas and Ferb in between trips to Baltimore, where he’s renovating a property.

‘They started airing the new episodes in summer,’ he tells me. ‘It’s been great. We got to get the old team back together.’

Jeff has been enjoying the local wildlife from his coastal seat in Baltimore.

‘It’s paradise,’ says Jeff simply.

When I ask him if he finds the landscape inspiring his answer is immediate.

‘Oh heck yeah!’ says Jeff, ‘I’ve suddenly become a bird watcher. I got a little programme on my phone that listens to bird songs and identifies them. Now I’m kind of obsessed with finding birds.’  He explains that he recently bought the property in Baltimore bay with his wife.

‘The house came with a permit to tear down the original cottage and build a big five bedroom, five bath monstrosity. We didn’t want to do either of those things, so we went and got a revision to the permit to keep the old cottage and restore it. Then build a new building that was much smaller and much more sympathetic to the landscape. We love the old building.’

I ask Jeff what drew him to buy in West Cork. He explains how he was looking for a place to retire in Europe, and how he was lucky his wife has an EU passport.

‘But really more than anything else,’ Jeff says, ‘it was the people here. And we ended up in West Cork because I like to surf and there’s probably four or five surf spots within an hour’s drive of here.’

The conversation turns towards his travels in Ireland and his connections to creative communities.

Jeff tells me about his time working with the Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny, a world-renowned and award-winning animation studio.

‘They are phenomenal,’ he says, ‘I created a TV series based on the Pete the Cat books. We did the writing and the voices in LA, and they did all the animation.’

‘They do independently funded films and they’ve gotten five Academy Award nominations. They’re blindingly good. They fund these films with money that they raise very creatively and they go up against Disney and Pixar.’

Jeff tells me he has connected with local musicians and creatives in Cork.

‘You can’t help but meet people. I haven’t been here that long and I know all the people who work in all the places here in Baltimore. Everybody knows me.’

Joining in singalongs in local pubs, Jeff has met folk singer and guitarist Ronnie Carthy. Then after a gig he hit it off with James Keegan. He’s also been making friends in the West Cork Film Studio.‘You can’t go anywhere without live music. And everybody can sing a song and that makes me incredibly happy.’

Jeff tells me he would never have played or sung in LA bars, for fear of not being good enough, he feels that is completely different here.

‘Everybody’s really supportive. Kind of how I imagine music should be.’

We continue to chat as we walk down to the harbour to take photos. Jeff mentions that he’s been working on a new live-action drama, something which is new and exciting and a bit terrifying to him.

Before he heads away to give a talk at a local school, I ask him if he’s planning to join more singalongs in the pubs in the future.

‘Whenever I get a chance,’ he replies.