• Tour Diary: Leigh Arthur on Spilt Milk Festival 2022

    Extravision member, photographer and ddr. resident Leigh Arthur reports back from Day One of this year’s Spilt Milk festival in Sligo I stood a Johnny Ramone stance around a pile of drum breakables, guitar cases and overnight bags, as Seán Goucher of the Number Ones pointed over to a shelf in the newsagents of Connolly Station. “There’s Jen Connell”. The former Cave Ghosts singer was not stocking up on train snacks to come with us, but instead was being celebrated on the cover of House and Home magazine. I remember seeing Cave Ghosts in The Stag’s Head years ago with…

  • US Tour Diary: And So I Watch You From Afar

    Hello from Philadelphia! As I write we’re at tonight’s venue the Union Transfer, waiting for our soundcheck slot while the mighty The Fall of Troy are doing theirs. We’re on tour with them and a great NY based band called Slothrust at the minute, both serving up masterclasses in their craft each night, keeping us blow-ins from Ireland very much on our toes each night. After this we part ways to meet up and do the rest of the tour with our Sargent House label mates Mylets and Blis. We’re two weeks into the five week tour, having journeyed from…

  • Dott’s USA Tour Diary: Part 3

    In the third and final installment of Dott’s US Tour Diary the gang head to the Low Country for the last leg of their tour. They have a whale of a time in Savannah and Charleston before finishing off their time in the US with a visit to their friend Andrew in Atlanta. Read Part One and Two of the Dott’s Tour Diary  March 30: Hang Fire, Savannah, Georgia With very cloudy heads from an over-night flight we landed in Atlanta and met our driver for the next few days Taylor. Taylor turned out to be one of the best things (of…

  • Dott’s USA Tour Diary: Part 2

    In the second of a three part diary entry, our favourite Galway garage pop quartet Dott have high tailed it out of Texas and kick off this leg of the tour with Night School, bringing them from Oklahoma City all the way West to Reno, Nevada. Dott and Night School (from California) are releasing a split record called Carousel on Graveface Records especially for Record Store Day, April 18. Read Part 1 of the band’s USA Tour Diary here. March 23rd. Capital City Bicycle Company, Oklahoma City. We started our short stay in OKC in the best little old school diner called the Hungry Frog.…

  • Tour Diary: Ciaran Lavery in Kansas

    Head of Belfast-based imprints Champion Sound and Quiet Arch, Lyndon Stephens reports back from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery’s recent industry festival jaunt in Kansas Thursday Accompanied by yours truly, Ciaran Lavery flew to Folk Alliance festival in Kansas City, Missouri last week four days of intense industry showcase gigs. Famous for Dorothy, Toto, Union Station, The Liberty Memorial, BBQ and as the State where the Civil War started, Kansas hosts this industry event with a difference. Everything takes place over four days in two interconnected hotels. Labels, management companies, agents, magazines and government agencies rent rooms or suites (depending…

  • Tour Diary Exclusive: Tied To Machines

    Having recently returned from their first ever tour – a week-long trek across Scotland and the North of England – Banbridge hardcore quartet Tied To Machines have given an exclusive first look of the accompanying tour diary. Filmed and edited by the band’s guitarist Jordan Davies (above, far right) the ten-minute video features the footage of the band performing at different shows and talking about various aspects of the tour. Check out the video below!

  • Tour Diary #001: PigsAsPeople

    In the first installment of the perhaps not-so-imaginatively titled Tour Diary, our Guide editor and PigsAsPeople axeman Stevie Lennox (above, middle) sums up his band’s recent UK tour was. Driven by More Than Conquerors’ Danny Mo on the tour, PigsAsPeople are: Wilson Davidson, Chris Leckey and the aforementioned, altogether handsome Stevie Lennox. Take it away, Steve… ___ After many, many hiccups when arranging this tour, it took More Than Conquerors bassist and all-around good guy Danny Morton to step in last minute so we could get on the road. We’ve only been together for about 11 months at this point,…