• Delicate fury: An interview with Maija Sofia

    November 25, 2019 - By 

    The simple, private act of bathing links generations of women, from pre-Raphaelite models of the 1850s to Chelsea Hotel socialites in the 1960s. A solitary, domestic act – baths are a safe refuge from the other side of the door. It is a strange thing – to lock ourselves inside a room in our own homes.  Part inspiration from a daily bathing ritual, part reflection on a Tori Amos lyric – your apocalypse was fab for a girl who couldn’t choose between the shower or the bath – Maija Sofia’s debut LP Bath Time is a nuanced and vital exploration…

  • Sampling Dog Howls: An interview with ELLLL

    October 8, 2019 - By 

    Cork-born producer and DJ ELLLL creates gravitating music without the gravitas. Armed with samples of Youtube videos and voice recordings from nights out, she weaves music ranging from tactile soundscapes, to airy breaks and propagating percussion. Now based in Berlin, we caught up with ELLLL ahead of her set at Dublin’s Wigwam on Thursday to talk production and the current state of the club scene in Ireland. ELLLL plays Notions at Wigwam, Dublin on October 10th We saw three new EPs from you earlier this year. Febreeze on First Second Label, Confectionary on Glacial Industries, and Glisten on Paralaxe Editions,…

  • A Sense of Wonder in the Particular: An Interview with Perlee

    October 4, 2019 - By 

    Perlee are an Irish-bred dream-pop duo based in Berlin. Made up of Saramai Leech and Cormac O’Keefe, their first release ‘Chains of Coral/Feelings of Plenty’ is out today. Saramai sits down with Maija Sofia to discuss her creative process, her inspirations and Perlee’s plans for the future. Catch them tonight in The Grand Social Ballroom as part of Ireland Music Week. So having lived in both rural Ireland and Berlin, do you think both of these geographical locations have influenced your music? Listening to the songs it feels like there’s a sense of rural wilderness but also a kind of…

  • 100 Keybaords: An Interview With ASUNA

    September 30, 2019 - By 

    Asuna is a pioneering Japanese sound artist set for this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival to perform his latest mind-bending live creation, 100 Keyboards. The project involves playing the same key on 100 battery-operated keyboards at once, building a sonic moiré effect which must be heard to be believed. Ahead of the shows, we caught up with Asuna to discuss the birth and genesis of project. 100 Keyboards takes place at The MAC across October 17-19. Go here to buy tickets. __ Take us back to before you devised the idea of 100 Keyboards. What creative activity led you to the…

  • Video Premiere: The Bonk – May Feign

    September 25, 2019 - By 

    The first of ten commandments that Captain Beefheart drilled into guitarist Moris Tepper upon joining the band in 1976 was: “Listen to the birds – That’s where all music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren’t going anywhere.” If you’ve caught The Bonk live, then you’ll know what it is to be hypnotised by exactly that pendulous meditation on a single groove, as each of their seven(ish) members instinctively weave around each other, while time falls away. Today, we’re delighted to premiere ‘May Feign’,…

  • Beyond Contrived, Bandwagonesque Bullshit: An Interview With Shrug Life

    September 10, 2019 - By 

    It’s long been the contention of this publication that if any songwriter could claim to be the voice of Dublin it’s Danny Carroll, lead singer and guitarist for Shrug Life. Since 2015’s The Grand Stretch EP, the indie trio have consistently floored us with earworm hooks and existential despair with an empathetic smirk. The songs encapsulate so much of what it means to be alive in Ireland at the moment; the ennui, uncertainty and the oddly humourous nature of it all. With their latest single, ‘Strangers’, having dropped, Will Murphy has a little chat with Mr. Carroll to see where…

  • I Think it’s Time We Talked Things Over: An interview with Stiff Little Fingers

    August 22, 2019 - By 

    Inflammable Material, the ferocious debut from Belfast legends Stiff Little Fingers, is now forty years old and stands as one of the great records of the punk era. The Stiffs detailed the frustrations, anger and mind-numbing boredom of Northern Irish life during the Troubles in fearless fashion, helping to define an otherwise dark era for many. This month, the band celebrate its birthday with two Irish dates, a stop in Dublin’s Academy before returning to Belfast’s Custom House Square for the third successive year. I spoke to frontman Jake Burns about that show, his contemporaries, Brexit, and Coronation Street. Hi…

  • Heavy Pop: An Interview with THVS

    August 6, 2019 - By 

    Ahead of the release of their eagerly-anticipated debut album in Belfast’s Voodoo on October 12, we catch up with THVS, a Belfast-based three-piece whose emphatic “heavy pop” craft is on the very cusp of breaking through. THVS straddle a line between heavy sounds and pop music sensibility. How has the project evolved from your previous incarnations? Michael: I think that very part of it in and of itself is the evolution, the pop sensibility. In any previous band I’ve been in that was very much balked at so I think that step has lead us to a wider sound. Who…

  • Love Do Me Right: Q&A with Eric ‘Dr Dunks’ Duncan

    June 20, 2019 - By 

    This Saturday (June 20) discerning party-throwers Belfast Music Club invite DJ and producer Eric ‘Dr Dunks’ Duncan to the Ulster Sports Club back room. Disco nerd and friend of BMC Jonny Carberry had the pleasure of firing a few questions Dunks’ way. ___ JC: Hi Eric, big thanks for doing this – excited to catch you on Sat! We’ll chat about what you’re currently up to, but to rewind to 2004/2005 a little and early Rub N Tug mixes like ‘Live at Rui’s’ and ‘Campfire’ – I really loved these mixes, they seemed deeper than other things I was listening…

  • Inbound: No Oil Paintings

    June 10, 2019 - By 

    In the latest installment of Inbound, we catch up with Belfast alternative folk band No Oil Paintings ahead of the reason of their new single, ‘Something Like The Truth’. Hi guys. For those new to the band, can you give us a quick intro to the band and how/when you formed? We’re an alternative folk band from Belfast. We formed the summer of 2013 as a bluegrass cover band, had several line-up changes early on from a 3 piece up to a 6 piece, ditched the bluegrass & covers and have been playing original music with this line-up for the…