• “Are we really back here again?” The Return of girlfriend.

    Following a three-year hiatus, Hana Lamari and Lahela Jones of Dublin DIY heroes girlfriend. discuss their return to the scene, Ireland’s ever-changing music community and the secret to longevity Words by Jack Rudden Photos by Gemma Bovenizer In a country as small as Ireland, independent music is an intimate and sometimes volatile affair. Artists, promoters and venues are cobbled together or torn asunder with remarkable speed and comparable tenacity. Only the most dedicated can survive atop these ever-shifting subcultural tectonic plates. Those that are willing to fight tooth and nail, reinvent and lay themselves bare are capable of enduring the…

  • Redefining Themselves for Themselves: An Interview With M(h)aol

    Off the back of the release of their debut LP Attachment Styles, fast-rising feminist punk five-piece M(h)aol talk fierce storytelling, breaking taboo, and representing their truth to the world Words by Leigh Arthur Photos by Jane Donnelly “I didn’t imagine eight years ago when I shaved your head this is where we’d be, but there’s nowhere that I’d rather be.” Constance Keane (also known as Fears for her solo work) is emotive as are the other members of M(h)aol as they make affectionate dedications to each other onstage in a basement in Dalston. The strike of midnight marks the release…

  • The Good DIY Young: An Interview With Belfast Promoters Asphyxia

    Ross Cullen from Belfast’s newest independent promoters gives Cathal McBride the lowdown on the DIY spirit behind their packed-out shows across the city Photo by David McEneaney  For such a relatively small city, Belfast often punches above its weight in terms of live events, both in terms of big-name bookings from larger promoters and those on the more DIY side, like the brilliant Strange Victory or the now sadly departed Sizeable Bear. A newer name in the city’s DIY promoter circuit is Asphyxia. Helmed by Ross Cullen, Ethan Rea, Conall Coulter and Sienna-Lillie Munn, they have hit the ground running…

  • Stop Learning, Start Dying: An Interview With Toby Amies, Director of In The Court of the Crimson King

    Few modern music documentaries approach the kind of magic that is layered throughout Toby Amies’ In The Court of the Crimson King. The British filmmaker and broadcaster’s study of Robert Fripp and his band, King Crimson, is a fascinating exploration of the dynamics – both personal and creative – that have long made Fripp’s musical vehicle a thing of near mythos. Ahead of a screening and Q+A with Amies at Belfast’s Queens Film Theatre on Sunday 16th April, Brian Coney chats to the director about the many challenges, and myriad rewards, of tackling such an inscrutable subject and towering musical…

  • Process of Becoming: An Interview With New Pagans

    Ahead of playing Belfast alongside Extravision later this week, Lyndsey McDougall, lead vocalist of fast-rising Belfast five-piece New Pagans chats to Ciara Byrne about process, parenthood and pushing forward at the helm of one of the island’s most dynamic rock bands New Pagans and Extravision play Belfast’s Ulster Sports Club on Thursday, 2nd March. Go here to buy tickets Your wonderful new album Making Circles of Our Own brings to life the inner experiences of being a parent, and the juxtaposition of being a mother in particular while being in a band. What brought you to explore these themes through music? When we wrote…

  • The Lay of the Land: A Catch-Up With Landless

    Ahead of their highly-anticipated headline slot at Letterkenny Trad Week this Friday (27th January) we chat to Landless about their upcoming second album, ten years of their world-beating unaccompanied traditional folk and the contemporary trad folk landscape of Ireland. Hi Landless. We last talked back in 2018, off the back of featuring you as our 18 for ’18 artists. Lockdown notwithstanding, you’ve covered some sizable ground in the in-between. Can you sum up how the last five years have been for you, collectively? Ruth Clinton: The last five years have been a blur of house moves, babies, study, work, and then of…

  • The Nyahh made me do it: an interview with Willie Stewart

    This interview originally appeared in The Thin Air’s summer 2022 print edition It’s spring in Leitrim. The sky is full of birdsong, trees and plants are coming back to life, and Willie Stewart has been mixing cement. Alongside his partner, the sound artist Natalia Beylis, he’s converting his backyard and old stone outbuildings into what he describes as a “future habitat for creative explorations”.  The pair’s life revolves around these explorations, which they frequently let out into the world via shared and respective projects. Both are members of the experimental psych band Woven Skull, and have a wide array of…

  • Winnie’s Got a New Hobby: An Interview With Winnie Ama

    Northern Irish-Ghanaian artist Winnie Ama grabs a chat with Josh Henry about the power of pastimes, performing for royalty and prioritising positive energy Words by Josh Henry Photos by Jane Donnelly “I feel like if you’re having a good time and things are going well, if there’s a crack in the door, get that door open and run through”. Winnie Ama is certainly out the blocks. The Belfast-born, Northern-Irish-Ghanaian artist’s brand of poppy electronica, combined with her own rich and distinctive voice, is seeing the light of day due to her penchant for hobbies like hula hooping. “Every year I…

  • Reigning Supreme: An Interview with Pillow Queens

    Blue balls, deep fakes, and good clean fun with the flourishing Dublin indie rock quartet Words by Addison Paterson // Photos by Loreana Rushe Pillow Queens are still for a rare minute. The Dublin four-piece just got back from touring their second LP Leave The Light On in the US, and it’s a couple of weeks before they head to the UK. Then Europe, then festival season. It’s quite the change from the album launch they experienced with 2020’s In Waiting — a virtual listening party with fans, all sat in their respective kitchens. Nought to one hundred.  For now, they’re…

  • Worship the Grounds: A Chat with Imbibe

    On their fourth birthday, Zara Hedderman talks ethics & community with Gary Grant, the music-obsessed driving force behind Dublin’s finest – and soundest – coffee roasters, Imbibe Get your fix via Imbibe.ie During the depths of the pandemic, a handful of my friends started a monthly virtual coffee and music club. On a Sunday morning, sometimes Saturday afternoon, the six members would discuss albums unfamiliar to everyone spanning the 1960s to 2010s whilst enjoying a specialty coffee, or two over Zoom. Before delving into the chosen records, everyone described what roast they were drinking; their brewing method and the flavour…