This Friday, 25th October, BBC Introducing Live returns to Mandela Hall as part of this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival, showcasing four of the very best acts from across the island. With performances from Le Boom, CHERYM, Dea Matrona and TRAMP, it’s set to underscore the health of our world-beating music community.
For the artists involved, this show is more than just a gig. Sharing the stage with fellow talents is a chance to celebrate the diversity and collaborative spirit that’s at the heart of the scene. From CHERYM reflecting on the growing representation of female and non-male artists to Le Boom’s appreciation for the buzz in Belfast, we chat with all four acts ahead of what’s sure to be a landmark celebration of homegrown talent.
Go here for tickets to BBC Introducing Live at Mandela Hall, Belfast on Friday, 25th October
Hi folks. Not least for fans of world-class music from our own shores, this BBC Introducing show is a true highlight of this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival. What does it mean to you to share the stage with some of the finest fellow artists from here at this event?
Hannah Richardson (vocals/guitar, CHERYM – pictured, above): We are absolutely thrilled to be joining the bill for this show! Some of the artists on this lineup are literally some of my favourite artists in the country. I feel like the island of Ireland is filled with so much amazing music and talent at the minute and we feel very fortunate that we get to share the stage with some of them.
It’s especially very exciting to see so much female and non-male representation on this lineup and is a refreshing reminder of how much the music industry here has diversified in recent times. And I absolutely love to see it.
TRAMP: Honestly, it’s kind of like the best birthday party we could have asked for. We get to see CHERYM, Dea Matrona & Le Boom – and we don’t have to plan or send any invites! Happy days.
Dea Matrona: We are really looking forward to sharing the stage with Le Boom, CHERYM and TRAMP. It’s really encouraging to be performing with such talented artists from different musical genres from this Island
Le Boom: It’s brilliant. Every time we’re in Belfast we’re blown away by the talent and the feeling of a community amongst artists. Not just in the music scene. We got to hang around with the guys at Catalyst Arts in Belfast earlier in the year, and they are such legends and so talented.
The city is packed with such cool people. We can’t wait to get to sample more of that on the night. CHERYM, Dea Matrona, and TRAMP are all such exciting acts, we just can’t wait to get to hang around with them to be honest.
TRAMP
The show takes over the (new) Mandela Hall in Belfast. It may technically be a new space/building, but it’s still an iconic live venue here in Belfast. Are you excited to play a vebye with such legendary status in the city’s musical landscape?
Dea Matrona: We played our own show in Mandela Hall in 2023 and was one of our favourite gigs ever! I went to see some of my favourite bands in both the old Mandela Hall and the new one and it’s very mad to be playing on that stage. We’re so glad to be back.
Le Boom: Belfast is one of our favourite cities to play and to get to play Mandela Hall is so special. We have been lucky enough to play in some iconic places before, like the Olympia in Dublin, or King Tuts in Glasgow. And this is going to be another one of those “God, isn’t this absolutely mad??” moments.
TRAMP: Yes! We’re really grateful to play on any stage but playing one that has hosted so many talented artists and is as iconic as Mandela Hall is really cool.
Hannah, Cherym: We are so excited to be playing the Mandela Hall. We played here before with ASIWYFA in 2018 and it felt like a real bucket list moment for all three of us. This will be our first time playing in the new space and we can’t wait to rip up a storm and go mad for our pals sharing the bill.
BBC Introducing and Across The Line have played a key role in launching and supporting so many great acts from Ireland and the UK. Can you tell us a little about the personal significance they have for where you are in your career today?
Hannah, Cherym: We had our first play on Electric Mainline (Stephen McCauley’s) show after we released our debut EP Mouthbreatherz. I remember the day Stephen played ‘Take It Back’ I was in my granny’s house dancing around the kitchen and couldn’t believe our song was being played on the radio! There have been very few moments in my life that have been able to recreate that feeling but I will never forget that first play. Over the years we have had continuous support from BBC Radio Ulster, Stuart Bailie, Rigsy and Gemma Bradley which has helped us greatly to find our little CHERYM community and solidify a fanbase for ourselves in the north. It is just a fact that we wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for them.
TRAMP: They’ve been big supporters, platforming us when we were just wee babies on the scene. Chatting to us at Stendhal Festival and then all the craic with the NIMP Introducing award were among the times they’ve been kind to us.
Dea Matrona: We are very grateful to have been so well supported by BBC Introducing and Across the line over the years. We received our first ever airplay on Across The Line and we played the BBC Introducing stage at Reading & Leeds which was such a great experience and our first ever UK festival appearance.
Le Boom: BBC Introducing and Across The Line have been incredible. Gemma Bradley and Phil Taggart have been amazing to us, playing our new tracks and having us in to chat with them. And recently we’ve been blown away by the support by Jaguar on Radio 1, as well as Sarah Story and Pete Tong.
LE BOOM
The fact that this BBC Introducing Live event is taking place across seven cities this October—Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Newcastle—speaks volumes not only about the significance of the event, but also about the strength of the music community across the UK and Ireland. How important do you think events like this are for fostering a sense of community, collaboration, and support among artists, both locally and nationally?
Alannagh Doherty (drums, CHERYM): I think it’s absolutely crucial. With the level of music being exported from the UK and Ireland at the moment but it isn’t being nurtured the way it should be from the government, we have a very grassroots approach to this community, as it always has been. Events like this showcases artists and what we have to offer in a space that offers opportunities to young and aspiring artists. We get to hear other local and national artists and support one another and build a strong sense of community within the scene.
Le Boom: The scene is incredibly strong at the minute and I don’t think there has ever been such a sense of support amongst artists. We have met so many incredible people across the industry, and events like this just give us more opportunities to do that. Sometimes you can be so stuck into your own project, gigs and releases and content, and everything else, that you need a night like this for the conversations, the shared experiences, and the craic with other artists. It’s such a motivating buzz.
TRAMP: This saves us trying to get backstage passes to Le Boom! (half-joking). Being a fan of the other acts involved is a bonus. But at the end of the day, this can be a difficult industry to navigate, and connection or feeling a sense of community is not guaranteed. So it helps when events, which already have a bit of trust and consistency, can help small acts reach more ears.
Dea Matrona: Events like BBC Introducing Live are so important for encouraging and supporting up-and-coming acts from the UK and Ireland, to have it come to Belfast is really special especially with the growing scene we have at the minute. It’s great to know the scene is supported and we feel lucky to have been asked to take part in such a great event.
Dea Matrona
How does being part of such a wider, interconnected scene influence your own music and career?
Alannagh, CHERYM: I think we all take influence from our environment and being in such a communitarian and connected scene helps with that, we all inspire one another with the way we work and the way we write. We’ll hear another artist do something really cool that might spark a creative idea in ourselves, or we’ll see them make a certain career move and take inspiration from that. We all push each other to be the best we can and it’s so comforting to be around others who have the same aspirations and goals as you.
Dea Matrona: There are so many amazing local artists which makes you want to keep improving yourself. It’s so encouraging to see lots of Irish artists get recognition and so many of our favourite new acts are Irish like CMAT, NewDad and The Mary Wallopers.
Le Boom: I don’t think Ireland has ever produced so much talent at one time. Every time you open up your phone, turn on the telly, head to the cinema, it’s big Irish heads looking back at ye. And whether we even know it, that’s influencing every creative decision we make. It’s class!
CHERYM, whether touring with the likes of Sløtface and The Undertones, or playing festivals like Electric Picnic and Loud Women, it’s been an incredibly busy year for you. This show is part of a string of UK and Ireland dates—how does it feel to be wrapping up 2024 doing what you do best?
Emer McLaughlin (bass/vocals, CHERYM): It feels really good! Since releasing the album in February it feels like we haven’t stopped, we’ve had an insane year playing lots of really fun shows – some new venues, new countries, returning to some of our favourite venues and some dream festival line-ups, it’s been mad but it’s been great. We’re so buzzing and really grateful.
TRAMP, especially for a band from the north-west, which doesn’t all get the coverage it deserves, It’s been great to see your steady rise over the last couple of years. I’ve snuck a listen to your upcoming EP, BIMBOFICATION, and can envision things taking off for you soon. What’s the mood in the band looking ahead over the next six months or so?
TRAMP: Thank you! Yeah over the years, we have seen so much musical talent come from rural towns who don’t seem to get the recognition they deserve in the wider scene. We had a lot to learn from artists to understand basic business steps but ultimately, we never know what is around the corner for TRAMP. Our love of performing together is a priority and need to create music to coincide with the mad journey of life will mean another tour, when we launch our physical releases and mor songwriting are all to come following the release of the BIMBOFICATION EP to the big, bad world.
Likewise, CHERYM, having caught first shows back in 2018, and shared bills with you in your hometown of Derry and SXSW, it’s been great to see the positive reception to your long-awaited debut album, Take it or Leave It. It’s been shortlisted for this year’s NI Music Prize. Are you nervous, excited or somewhere in between?
Emer, CHERYM: We’re so excited. The reception to the album has been really incredible, we’re so happy that people like it as much as we do. We’re up with some heavy names and brilliant albums so either way we’re just really buzzed to have made the longlist – it means so much to us, especially for our first LP.
Le Boom, congrats on the recent release and success of ‘All I Need,’ a track that really highlights what sets you apart. Do you get the sense that you’re on the cusp of something even bigger and better than what you’ve achieved since forming back in 2016?
Le Boom: Yeah, everything seems to be flying at the minute. Things really feel like they’ve picked up to a new level after a brilliant summer. The last couple of releases have been huge for us and we loads more coming and that’s so exciting.
TRAMP, much like CHERYM, Le Boom and Dea Matrona, you thrive on the live front. Has there been a particular show, or even moment during a show, in recent times that has made you think, “This is absolutely what we’re meant to be doing”?
TRAMP: Our last Belfast show in the Black Box for Life after Art was one to remember (the one where everyone left with a rose). I think we all felt a lovely connection with the crowd that night. Getting to play songs which people were singing back to us felt magic. And also to sing two new songs which are quite raw and full of emotion (about the current genocide, and also the Irish ‘laundry’ prison system) was a big moment to me that this is exactly where we are meant to be.
Le Boom, your line-up has shifted over the years, but the heart of the project has always stayed focused. As brothers, how do you think things have evolved for the better since Andy came on board?
Le Boom: The brothers thing can definitely make it all feel a little more special. The shows themselves are such a small part of the whole thing; it’s a lot of cars, flights, soundchecks, waiting for check-ins. So if you weren’t doing it with people you loved hanging around with, I don’t know how you’d do it. And then when the show does come you look around the stage during those crazy moments, and you catch eyes with your brother on one side, and one of your best mates on the other side, it sort of elevates the whole thing.
Dea Matrona, you’ve been busy touring off the release of your debut album, For Your Sins. Presumably a homecoming show still holds a particularly special place in your heart?
Dea Matrona: It’s always great fun to play in Belfast, our favourite gig so far this year was when we played a sold out Limelight after a three-week tour promoting our debut album which was really special. The support in our hometown has always blown us away and still so many people remember our busking days which is always mad to hear!
Speaking of your debut album, congratulations on the release. It’s a big milestone in what’s been a whirlwind—and globetrotting—seven years for you. Can we assume LP #2 is in the works? If so, how’s it shaping up sonically?
Dea Matrona: We’re always writing a lot and it’s been really fun meeting up and planning a new vibe & new music for next year! We’ve also just announced an acoustic EP which will be out on December 13th.
Tickets to BBC Introducing Live are here
