• Front of House: Donal O’ Luanaigh

    Donal O’Luanaigh (or Chief to those of you who know him well) is one of the ‘chief’ lighting technicians at Vicar Street in Dublin. We discuss his work and how he bring light to all your favourite bands on stage. Photos by Shaun Neary. Hi Donal! Can you tell us about yourself? Hi! I’m Donal, 32 years old from Dublin, I work as a freelance lighting designer/engineer/technician/crew, delete where applicable. ‘Lampy’ is probably the most commonly used term. You’re most likely to find me in Vicar Street but there’s no job too big or small. How did you get your nickname…

  • Premiere: Cat Palace – Cat Palace EP

    Every once and a while you stumble across a voice that just stops you in your tracks. A self-proclaimed “devotional” artist, Dublin’s David Blaney AKA Cat Palace falls firmly within that bracket. Placed somewhere between The Blue Nile, Talk Talk, REM and Bonnie Prince Billy, his unaffected, ache-laced vocals and stripped-back acoustic liturgies forge to concoct something bordering on the mystical. Featuring singles ‘Cage’ and ‘Hear Me Lord’, as well as three other tracks, his debut EP commands, broods and sates in fine fashion, capturing an Irish singer-songwriter doing something very singular indeed. Cat Palace is released at Dublin’s Bello Bar on Saturday…

  • Track Record: Eddie Kiely (FIFA Records)

    In the latest installment of Track Record, we chat to Eddie Kiely of FIFA Records in Cork about his seriously impressive and enviable record collection. “I have to say I would find it nearly impossible to pick my favourite 10 records, so this is not a top ten, so what I have done here as well as picking records I like is that I’ve also picked records that mean a lot to me personally.” Photos by Melanie Mullan. Crime & the City Solution – The Bride Ship From my love of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and the Mute label…

  • Clatter O Actors

    “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” Helen KellerTo be honest I’ve always been a bit of a DIY girl, and I definitely don’t mean that in the flat-packed Ikea furniture kind of way. I’m talking about the reality of making our own opportunities as artists and continuing to create despite the limited resources and awkward obstacles that may be thrown our paths along the way.I was lucky. When I was starting out with dreams of being an actress, I fell in with a really great group of very talented people who had just set up…

  • Primer: Feel Good Lost

    In the latest installment of Primer, James Hendicott chat to Brendan Canty of Feel Good Lost about videos and his technique and hopes for 2015. Photos by Mark Earley. Hey Brendan! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do? Well, I do a lot of things. I basically wanted to do them all but couldn’t find a job that required all of them… so I started one. I’m a director mainly, an editor and an all-round DIY filmmaker. Aside from that I’m a designer, make some art and do live visuals. There’s also the music side…

  • Dead and Buried: The Black Metal/Punk Crossover.

    It’s no secret that Black Metal, at least that which constitutes as both ‘trve’ and ‘kvlt’, has always been a very insular music with a positively colossal stick up its arse, writes Liam Doyle.With a certain percentage of its fan base snatching up cassette tape demos limited to exactly four copies, snarling at and baying for the blood of bands they deem ‘false’, and generally revelling in their own elite status, it’s a wonder the Black Metal sound ever began to expand and socialize as it has these past few years. With the new millennium seemed to come a new Black…

  • AAA: Subplots w/ Voids @ The Workman’s Club, Dublin

    Our first AAA (Access All Areas) installment of 2015 features Dublin post rockers Subplots as they prepared for the launch of their latest album in the Workman’s club over the weekend, with support from Galway duo Voids. Our photographer Carlos Daly spent the evening snapping away with both bands as they set up and soundchecked ahead of the gig. For a comprehensive overview of the entire night, check out the gallery below.

  • Front of House: James Feeney

    In the third installment of our Front of House series, we chat to James Feeney, a sound engineer working predominantly at The Workman’s Club in Dublin. He discusses what goes into his job and and his plans for 2015. Photos by Shaun Neary, Carlos Daly and Isabel Thomas. Hi James! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Hello! My name is James Feeney, I’m based in Dublin and currently working as a freelance sound engineer. I primarily work in The Workmans Club but there are a few bands I work with quite often too. How did you become…

  • Monday Mixtape: Sam Coomes (Quasi)

    Best known as frontman of quintessential American indie rock band Quasi, Sam Coomes is our latest willing subject in the often indispensable, always mind-bogglingly tasteful Monday Mixtape. Twenty years into the game, ex-husband and wife duo Coomes (Donner Party, Heatmiser, etc) and Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Wild Flag, etc) AKA Quasi are the living, breathing definition of indie rock royalty. Formed in Portland in 1993, the duo’s uniquely infectious, incomparably insightful brand of indie rock has spanned nine studio albums and countless EPs worth of material. Featuring everyone from Serge Gainsbourg to Iggy Pop, Coomes’ mixtape is a sublime, ten-track…