• Black Is The Colour Of My True Love’s… Amp? Or How Not To Tour Ireland

    May 8, 2017 - By 

    “C’mere, where’s my amp?” “What amp?” Eric replies. “My black amp.” I continue. “How the fuck should I know where your “black amp” is? And aren’t most amps black?” “You had it last. After that gig we did with HAWK in the Róisín, you, me and Burke were loading the gear into your car on Munster Avenue. That’s the last I saw it.” “That was like 2 or 3 years ago. Even if I had it then, which I doubt, fuck knows where it is now?” “Hmm… fair enough.” “Are you sure it was after the gig with HAWK?” “Honestly…

  • The Problem With The Problem of Ramones T-Shirts

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    A year or two back I was at a family get together and sparked up a conversation with a teenage cousin of mine. I had initially decided to go over and talk to him for two reasons. First, and foremost, was to get out of the banal conversations I had been having with the other ‘adults’ about topics such as the Oscar Pistorius case, the Pope’s resignation and an aunt’s warbling about some motorway that was or wasn’t being built near her home. The second reason, the reason I selected said cousin to talk with, was because I heard his…

  • Róisín Dubh: A Love Story

    July 25, 2016 - By 

    My first gig in the Róisín Dubh was late November 2005. Back when the Róisín Dubh was still a ground floor only musical abode, not the imposing three and half storey stacked westend behemoth that Eoghan MacNamara AKA Gugai, Kevin Healy, Simon Heaslip & co. present it as today. That gig was Giveamanakick with Redneck Manifesto. I had seen Redneck Manifesto in The Chapel at IADT a few weeks earlier and was blown away by what I’d witnessed. So when my quirky friend Shaw mentioned their upcoming gig in Galway, I jumped at the chance to catch the show again. It’s…

  • “You’re Tearing Me Apart Lisa!?!”: How Not To Make A Music Video

    May 23, 2016 - By 

    Citóg Records is a relatively new indie label based out of Galway City. Being involved with Citóg Records is something I hold and respect dearly. Unlike other traditional labels, Citóg Records is a collective of West of Ireland musicians who have come together under an imprint to share their knowledge, experience and ideas with one another. In my opinion, they have become a type of resource that every artist in this country could do with being a part of, regardless of one’s artistic discipline or strength in the industry. It is something I wish I was more a part of…