Gary Lightbody to music and football. He is on the board of directors of the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Northern Ireland, a project set up to give young artists a place where they can share ideas and kick-start their music careers, as often is the trend of talent leaving the country from lack of appraisal. He supported young bands from Northern Ireland and involved them as support bands to shows of Snow Patrol's UK & Ireland Arena Tour of February–March 2009. Lightbody is one of the supporting voices for the growing music-scene in Belfast in Northern Ireland and once stated in
Gary Lightbody previously wrote for "The Irish Times" music section as guest-editor. As an impassioned music fan and DJ, he recommends in his blogs or essays albums and artists of different and wide-ranging genres of music. In May 2009, Lightbody commenced writing his music column, "Gary Lightbody's Band of the Week", in the magazine "Q The Music.com". In 2011, he wrote as an essayist for "The Huffington Post". As a songwriter/bandleader, he has written songs and lyrics for a wide variety of artists and genres. In 2000, he formed the Scottish supergroup The Reindeer Section, comprising 47 musicians from 20 different bands,