• Incoming: Myles Manley

    September 18, 2013 - By 

    In the latest installment of Incoming we shoot the proverbial breeze with singer-songwriter Myles Manley, a completely one-of-a-kind artist born in England, raised in Sligo and currently based in Dublin. Idiosyncratic, offbeat and hugely accomplished, he evokes everyone from Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel and Bright Eyes and is a brilliant and unconventional poetic mind on the brink of breaking through.  Hi Myles. First off, what are your earliest memories of wanting to be a musician and performer? Are there any defining first moments? I started playing the bass at about 15 because there were around 20 electric guitar players in my year in…

  • Birth of a Label: Broken Melody Records

    September 12, 2013 - By 

    Having recently released their first ever compilation – featuring tracks from seven of the country’s best unsigned band including Seven Summits and Hurdles – Broken Melody Records is a brand new record label based in Belfast City Centre that has got off to an extremely promising start. We chat to the guys about the first few months of the imprint, what lies in store over and their passion for showcasing the very best in homegrown untapped talent. Hi guys. First off, could you tell us how Broken Melody Records come about and what is the “mission statement” so to speak? Broken Melody…

  • End of an Era: Sketchy Bids Farewell

    September 4, 2013 - By 

    After eight long years and hundreds of unforgettable – and, for many, forgetful – Thursday nights at the Stiff Kitten, legendary Belfast club night Sketchy comes to an end tomorrow night (Thursday, September 5). Touching on the colourful past, present and (potential) future of the club, we speak to its founder and resident DJ Rigsy about the end of a clubbing era. As the club’s final ever flyer says: one more time with feeling, eh? Hi Rigsy. The last ever Sketchy is before us. Firstly: why’s it coming to an end? Is there “why”? In short, because it had to end some time.…

  • Cut The Transmission: Fighting With Wire Interview

    September 4, 2013 - By 

    “We promise that this show will be something special.” Amicably bowing out after ten years and two stellar albums, Derry three-piece Fighting With Wire have more than left their imprint on Northern Irish music and modern alternative rock as a whole. A must-see swansong like few others, headlined by none other than Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, the band will play for one final time and curate Cut The Transmission at the Venue, Derry on Saturday, September 28 as part of the City of Culture celebrations. We catch up with the band’s frontman Cahir O’Doherty to learn more about what is…

  • Live and Let Live: The Bonnevilles

    September 3, 2013 - By 

    From the timeless (Thin Lizzy’s Alive and Dangerous) to the downright ill-advised (Lou Reed’s Take No Prisoners), live albums can be tricky territory for even the most self-assured and adept performers. Throwing caution to the wind with the aim to capture their electrifying live show, garages-blues duo Andy McGibbon Jr and Chris McMullan AKA The Bonnevilles enter that territory at Belfast’s Limelight 2 tomorrow night. We talk to frontman Andy ahead of the big night about what’s in store. Hi Andy. Firstly: why a live album and why now? “We’ve wanted to do a live album for a while now,…

  • Interview: Astralnaut

    September 2, 2013 - By 

    Laying claim to being one the downright heaviest bands in the country right now, Keady sludge-doom band Astralnaut breed groove, weight and haze to produce a sound that that is ever-increasingly all their own. Masterfully veering between pummeling downtuned riffs to stoner-rock mini-odysseys, we cannot recommend catching the Thomas Mallon-fronted act highly enough. We talk to Thomas and Pearse from the band about the past, present and future of Astralnaut,”an unspoken bond of sheer riffage and groove”. ___ Early stirrings: Stoned Messiah, Third Harvest and onwards: Pearse (Donnelly, rhythm guitar): Astralnaut formed as many bands do, from the ashes of previously formed groupings. Thomas…

  • Interview: Swans

    August 14, 2013 - By 

    “I used to hate people, generally,” says Michael Gira, fifty-nine year old commander-in-chief of seminal New York post-punk band Swans. In the final stages of touring their critically-acclaimed, monumentally accomplished twelfth studio album The Seer, the outfit are currently undergoing perhaps their best period in thirty years both as a creative unit and in achieving widespread acclaim for their stunningly severe craft. Not altogether unexpected, something evidently running parallel with this is Gira’s own disposition nowadays: a thoroughly agreeable and self-effacing personality that unravels in conversation with Brian Coney ahead of the band’s hugely-anticipated Belfast show. Having just concluded a…

  • The First Time: Rachel Austin

    July 30, 2013 - By 

    In the third installment of The First Time, we catch up with Belfast-based experimental folk singer-songwriter Rachel Austin, delving into a whole range of musical “firsts” in her life both as a performer and lover of music. Traversing her experiences with everyone from the Appleseed Cast and the Smashing Pumpkins to UB40 and Django Reinhardt, the Virginia-born artist has come quite the way… Portrait photo by the ever-excellent Joe Laverty. ___ First album you bought? I begged my parents to take me to the music shop to buy Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World when I was 8 or 9.…

  • Mustang Margaritas: Alex Trimble and Jamie William

    July 26, 2013 - By 

    Last summer Two Door Cinema Club frontman Alex Trimble and his best friend Belfast photographer Jamie William embarked on road trip down the West coast of America in a classic car, taking in everything from the scorching Nevada desert and seedy sights of Las Vegas. Armed with a pair of Contax G2 cameras and literary notions like On The Road for company and Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas for company, the duo set about capturing their journey, the result of which is Mustang Margaritas, a collection of postcards hand-picked to tell the story of one special trip in a Mustang across…

  • In conversation with… The Vincent(s)

    July 25, 2013 - By 

    In the first installment of  In Conversation With..., photographer Brid O’Donovan captures Margus and Shane from Cork “death pop” five-piece The Vincent(s) visually and in conversation about the band and their music. This is where we would say “awesomesauce” if we sucked – which we do so … awesomesauce. _____ [On discovering music as a kid] Margus: “I had a friend around the corner. We moved into this estate when we were young and you’d see someone wearing a band t-shirt and you would be obsessed. You call round to their house when you’re not invited. Then I found his…