• Q&A With Andy & Ryan Tohill, Directors of The Dig

    April 23, 2019 - By 

    Digging up the past is dirty business. Northern Irish indie The Dig, the first feature from brothers Andy and Ryan Tohill, brings viewers out to the bog, for a grubby, mucky, effective drama of guilt and redemption. Written by Stuart Drennan and assisted by NI Screen, the film stars Moe Dunford as Ronan Callahan, a convicted murderer with a memory problem who returns to his small Irish village and finds the father of his apparent victim (Lorcan Cranitch) on an obsessive quest to unearth his daughter’s body. Flagged by Emily Taafe as the victim’s sister, and Francis Magee as a menacing Sergeant, the repentant Ronan picks…

  • Inbound: The Claque

    April 18, 2019 - By 

    Girl Band’s incendiary LP Holding Hands With Jamie found itself landing on Albums of the Year lists far and wide in 2015, but health issues have seen the band lie dormant for the last two years. Cue the excitement then that guitarist Alan Duggan has convened a new group, The Claque, alongside Paddy Ormond of jangle-pop maestros Postcard Versions and vocalist Kate Brady. Debut single ‘Hush’ sees the trio pool their talents, combining Duggan’s brutal mechanical noise with Ormond’s distinct sense of melody and Brady’s pop sensibilities. With a debut Dublin show pencilled in for 27th April and summer dates…

  • Phil Taggart’s Slacker Guide to The Music Industry

    April 16, 2019 - By 

    Like many broadcasters working within music, Phil Taggart is himself a musician. It’s something that has granted the Northern Irish BBC Radio 1 presenter a considerable amount of leeway and insight when it comes to his new book, Phil Taggart’s Slacker Guide to The Music Industry.  With contributions from the likes of Run The Jewels, Biffy Clyro, Charli XCX , Wolfe Alice, Slaves and more, it’s a book that, in “using the knowledge of the people who’ve navigated the difficult waters of the music industry to ask all the questions you never even knew you had to ask”, tackles everything from music videos,…

  • Going the Distance: 10 Years of Vantastival

    April 9, 2019 - By 

    Ten years is a long time in the summer festival business. Both in terms of challenges faced and having reason to celebrate, it’s a much longer time if your summer festival adheres to a fiercely homegrown and independently-minded manifesto. Returning for its tenth anniversary across May 31-June 2, Drogheda’s Vantastival is proof that, with the right marriage of ambition, hard work, knowledge and passion, success is possible. Placing community, curation, sustainability and affordability at the heart of their approach, the organisers are currently busy putting the final touches to this year’s outing. Ahead of that, we speak to festival co-director Louise Tangney about the…

  • Teeth Bared and Tongues in Cheek: An Interview With BATS

    April 9, 2019 - By 

    BATS are easily one of Irish musical landscapes’ greatest oddities. A five piece playing a fusion of post-punk, prog and metal with lyrics devoted to topics such as the Higgs Boson Particle, New Earth Creationist Kent Hovind and the Cthulhu mythos. Proudly outspoken with teeth bared and tongues firmly in cheek, there has been silence in the BATS camp since 2012’s superb Sleep of Reason. Now having just completed a Kickstarter campaign for their forthcoming album, Alter Nature the group are back to pick up where they left off. Words by Will Murphy Photos by Moira Reilly Let’s start with the…

  • Throwing It Out There: An Interview With Kristin Hersh

    April 8, 2019 - By 

    U.S. singer-songwriter, musician and author Kristin Hersh talks to James Cox about pride, process, PTSD, guitar-playing and forthcoming new Throwing Muses material. Your latest release Possible Dust Clouds is certainly one of the more muscular and unapologetically rocking entries to your solo catalogue. Can you talk us through some of the influences behind the album? Where was your mind at when writing and recording this latest batch of songs? I wanted to hear how it feels to be at a show rather than how it feels to listen to a live recording (which is usually just a lousy recording!). The songs themselves…

  • Belfast Film Festival Preview: The Kiosk – A Q+A With Director Neal Hughes

    March 27, 2019 - By 

    A must-see at this year’s Belfast Film Festival is the debut screening of The Kiosk by director Neal Hughes. Capturing the singular spirit and humanity of the city and its citizens, it’s a look through the eyes of a barista serving coffee from a small coffee kiosk in the heart of Belfast City Centre. We catch up with Hughes to discuss the impetus behind the project, the future of the Kiosk following the major fire at the nearby Primark in August and how his film reveals the poetry of everyday Belfast. Catch The Kiosk at Movie House on Dublin Road on Saturday, April…

  • Royal Yellow’s Mark O’Brien talks sound, streaming and life after Enemies: Interview

    March 13, 2019 - By 

    Royal Yellow is the pseudonym for Mark O’Brien, the multi-talented former frontman of post-rock darlings Enemies. After a ten year career culminating in a global tour and the release of their third album, Valuables, Enemies called it a day. This is when O’Brien went solo, charting out a course of his own drawing influence from every direction and creating something truly unique. Royal Yellow takes cues from the likes of The Avalanches and DJ Shadow, somewhere where hip-hop, jazz, rock and pop collide. After the viral release of his debut single ‘Hazeldene’ and the follow up ‘Aruba’, Royal Yellow will…

  • “A Bit of A Weird Piece To Do”: Q&A With Brendan Gleeson

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    Brendan Gleeson is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed actors, having starred in films as varied as In Bruges, 28 Days Later, and Paddington 2. Now he’s trying his hand at directing with a short film called Psychic. The film follows the titular psychic, played by Gleeson, whose conniving sons bring him out of retirement to make a quick buck. It’s a family affair, co-starring his sons Domhnall and Brian, and written by their brother Rory. Following Psychic’s premiere in the Dublin International Film Festival, Jack O’Higgins spoke to Gleeson about his directorial debut, his recent collaboration with the Coen Brothers,…

  • A Turn Up For The Book: An Interview with VerseChorusVerse

    February 27, 2019 - By 

    Last year, Belfast-based, North Coast musician and singer-songwriter Tony Wright aka VerseChorusVerse took the leap. It’s one that few musicians ever get around to but for some, Wright including, writing about his life seemed to stem from a kind of cosmic duty; as a means to both memorialise and give literary content to a remarkable life lived. Luckily, it seems that Tony Wright, despite everything, is only getting started. To call Chapter & Verse(ChorusVerse) a page-turner would be doing it a disservice. As anyone who has delved into the author’s music – or caught him live – can attest, he’s every bit the born fabulist. Recounting…