• Out Of Oblivion Into The Light: An Interview with Mission of Burma

    April 12, 2016 - By 

    For years, Boston post-punk legends Mission of Burma were one of rock music’s great ‘what if?’ stories, an obscure but influential band that broke up far too soon due to singer/guitarist Roger Miller’s tinnitus, worsened by their notoriously loud live shows, leaving behind just one full length album, an EP and a couple of singles. When they finally reformed in 2002 (with Shellac’s Bob Weston taking over the role of tape manipulation from Martin Swope) they did it properly, refusing to be a mere nostalgia act and issuing a string of new albums that sounded just as vital as what…

  • No Fracking Way: An Interview with This Land writer Siân Owen

    April 1, 2016 - By 

    A theatrical journey through an ever-changing landscape, confronting some hugely pressing issues regarding climate change and, in particular, fracking, Siân Owen’s This Land is a play being hailed for striking a keen balance between engrossing fictional narrative and the much bigger – more important – picture. Ahead of performances at Coleraine’s Riverside Theatre (Apr 6), Omagh’s Strule Arts Centre (Apr 7), Derry’s Waterside Theatre (Apr 8) and Belfast’s The MAC (Apr 9), Brian Coney chats to Owen about the production and its portrayal of the issues. Go here to buy tickets. Hi Siân, before touching on This Land, can you give us some background on Pentabus and…

  • Not Just Feeding a Scene: An Interview with Chad Ubovich of Meatbodies

    March 25, 2016 - By 

    Fronted by Chad Ubovich who has worked with the likes of Ty Segall, John Dwyer and Mikal Cronin, Meatbodies are embedded in California’s idiosyncratic garage rock revival.  Much like the bands connected to the aforementioned names – and they are plentiful – Meatbodies blend pop influences with heavier elements such as noise rock, metal and psych. This is evidenced in the other bands Chad Ubovic has worked with, from the sunny disposition of Mikal Cronin’s band mixed with the dark, dense sounds of Ty Segall’s, Fuzz, which is heavily indebted to Black Sabbath. Meatbodies rest somewhere between these two bands, exhibiting a…

  • Beauty From the Dark: An Interview with Blanck Mass

    March 21, 2016 - By 

    When he’s not mustering majestic noise as one half of Fuck Buttons, Benjamin John Power has, for the last five years, been producing his own powerful, synth-heavy sounds as Blanck Mass. Having released one of 2015’s most wonderfully challenging and downright rewarding full-length listens in Dumb Flesh, he has firmly established himself as a conjurer to be reckoned with in the realm of bracingly euphoric dark electronica. Ahead of debut Irish solo shows at Belfast’s Black Box on April 1 and Dublin’s Grand Social on April 2, Brian Coney chats to Power about his thirst for discovery, remixing John Carpenter, the imprint of…

  • The Shape of Things To Come: An Interview With Anderson

    March 21, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of the release of his new single ‘The Existential Vacuum’ and an upcoming intimate Irish tour, David O’Neill chats to Daniel Anderson about the creative process behind his acclaimed debut album Patterns. Photos by Tara Thomas. The Irish music scene has a tendency to reward those that persevere. Conor O’Brien, Damien Rice, Christy Moore have forged lasting careers after leaving their respective bands while Glen Hansard is now experiencing worldwide success after a quarter of a century slogging it out with that other band of his. Another name likely to be added to that list is Daniel Anderson. Anderson was…

  • Maybeshewill: Not For Want Of Trying

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    In a revealing conversation touching upon the necessity of hard graft, the DIY ethic that underlines their craft, the importance of community and their final ever tour, Eoin Murray chats to English post-rock five-piece Maybeshewill. Photo: Heather Gutherie Firstly, how are you doing? What are the feelings hovering around in the Maybeshewill bus right now as you’re in the midst of this final tour? Good, thank you. Things are good here. We’re a little way in to the tour and it’s been a pretty emotional trip so far, but we’re all super positive and looking forward to the future. From what I’ve noticed,…

  • Interview: Hamell on Trial

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    When Ed Hamell decided he was done with bands, picked up a battered acoustic guitar, and decided to go it alone, he called himself Hamell on Trial. And whether he meant to or not, he set the scene for over two decades of confessional, confrontational, and apocalyptic music. Make no bones about it, when he gets on the stage, Ed Hamell is on trial. And we’re judge, jury, and executioner. With numerous brushes with mainstream acclaim under his belt, the New Yorker has managed to keep in underground for most of his career, but that acerbic style, calling to mind…

  • Crowded With Different Voices: an interview with Julia Holter

    February 11, 2016 - By 

    Few artists follow their own path so downright convincingly as Californian experimental pop auteur Julia Holter. With her extraordinary, peerlessly prismatic fourth studio album, Have You In My Wilderness, finishing at the top-end of many ’15 End of Year lists, her standing as a supremely individual musician is incontestable. Ahead of her show at Dublin’s Button Factory next Wednesday night (January 17) Brian Coney chats to Holter about inspiration, the thematic concepts underlying her music and the consequence of widespread critical acclaim. It’s five months on from the release of Have You In My Wilderness. I’m curious: does the kind of acclaim it…

  • Inbound: Bear Worship

    February 9, 2016 - By 

    Bear Worship is the new project from Irish musician Karl Knuttel, who has previously performed as Pinkie and as Ivan St John.  Here, he talks about his love of synthesisers, making music out of necessity, and the benefits of being ‘ridiculously controlling’. Words by David Turpin. You’ve said that Bear Worship emerged out of a time of anxiety and depression, and yet the music is far more dreamlike than nightmarish, and far more expansive than claustrophobic.  What do you mean when you say it was made “out of necessity”? You know, anxiety is a harrowing experience. It’s not at all…

  • Interview: Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys

    February 8, 2016 - By 

    The non­-for­-profit­ run ​Open House Festival​ finished its round of sold out gigs across Northern Ireland at the weekend. The festival, which organises live performances in unique and intimate venues, treated guests to acts such as homegrown talent Stephen Maccartney; Jarrod Dickenson, an upcoming Texan-­born Folk and Roots­ Blues singer; and last but not least, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, a Bluegrass band from Michigan. During the festival, Claire McKeever caught up with Mark and Josh, one half of Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, at their penultimate gig at The Arcadia in Portrush. How was Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys…