• The Complete Guide to Therapy?: Part 6

    April 1, 2014 - By 

    And so we’ve arrived at the final part of our trawl through the Therapy? discography (which has gone over the allotted week owing to time/work commitments, apologies to all reading/following!). As with any band worth its salt, in delivering fourteen albums, there’s bound to be tunes that have slipped through the cracks, been deemed “not right for the album”, or been tried out in various embryonic forms throughout the years only to be recorded by someone in the crowd, as well as supplementary live releases, bonus bits, DVDs, radio-taped bootlegs and much more, all kept in trading circles and generally…

  • Interview: Therapy?

    March 31, 2014 - By 

    Following on from Mike McGrath Bryan’s dotingly extensive Complete Guide To Therapy? over the last seven days, we’re happy to present our feature-length Q+A with the band’s boundlessly inimitable frontman, Andy Cairns. Featuring some superb photos by Liam Kielt, Brian Coney talked to Cairns about the brand new reissues of their albums Troublegum and Infernal Love, plans to tour the reissued material later in the year, how things are going with album number fifteen and much more besides. Hi Andy. First things first: it is, of course, two decades since the release of Troublegum. One suspects it doesn’t quite feel like…

  • The Complete Guide to Therapy?: Part 5

    March 29, 2014 - By 

    PREVIOUSLY: After getting it all out of their systems with Suicide Pact-You First, the band pack up and head to Seattle for two months, and hit the studio with Jack Endino. The result is the oft-derided Shameless, which, in retrospect, is the sound of the band cutting loose and having fun after a long uncertain spell. The promise and hope that emerge after the sessions, however, are tested by record label faux-pas and difficult touring. By the end of 2001, drummer Graham Hopkins quits, and early 2002 sees them without a label again. Moving quickly, the band contacts Keith Baxter…

  • Stephen Millar: The Jazz of Shapes to Come

    March 28, 2014 - By 

    All but coinciding coinciding with this year’s Brilliant Corners jazz festival, Belfast-based visual artist Stephen Millar chose an opportune time to hold his latest exhibition, ‘The Jazz of Shapes To Come’, at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall. With its wonderfully-contorted nod to Ornette Coleman’s groundbreaking 1959 album, The Shape of Jazz to Come, the exhibition features twenty-six A-Z paintings, each based around a particular jazz piece. An ambitious project and no mistake – but one that very palpably paid off for the painter and illustrator. With Joe Laverty having stopped by to take some photos of the artist and his exhibition, we spoke to Millar about…

  • The Complete Guide to Therapy?: Part 4

    March 28, 2014 - By 

    PREVIOUSLY: Having almost burned themselves out after six years of constant activity, drummer Fyfe Ewing leaves Therapy? in January 1996, almost halting touring for the rest of the Infernal Love album-cycle (eugh). Moving quickly, the band auditions for a new sticksman, and decides on Graham Hopkins, formerly of My Little Funhouse. Filling out the line-up is new addition and longtime collaborator Martin McCarrick, on cellos and guitars. After jaunts to the U.S. in 1996, including supports for Ozzy Osbourne, things get quiet, as the second line-up gets used to a new dynamic while demoing and writing. Pursuing a broad new…

  • Frame by Frame #006: Mojo Fury – Iris Influential

    March 26, 2014 - By 

    In the sixth installment of Frame By Frame, Belfast-based photographer and filmmaker Colm Laverty takes a look at the making of the rather spectral video for ‘Iris Influential’ by Lisburn alt-rock band Mojo Fury. Speaking to its creator, Daniel Holmes, Colm looks into the influences and inspiration behind the video, the production methods that were utilised in its making and Holmes’ thoughts on video-making in general. Hi Daniel. First off, tell us a little bit about your role on this music video. I directed and edited the video. In a sentence, what sets ‘Iris Influential’ apart from other Northern Irish music…

  • The Complete Guide to Therapy?: Part 3

    March 26, 2014 - By 

    PREVIOUSLY: Signing with A&M (now part of Universal’s maze of industry-quashing acquisitions), Therapy? begin setting about making debut full-length Nurse, a mongrel of industrial production, noise turbulence and well-honed pop that immediately makes an impact, from charting to making a cameo in Seinfeld. ‘Teethgrinder’ charts in Ireland, and touring continues apace. The grunge bandwagon comes calling, however, and Therapy? do the right and appropriate thing: fuck off and write a punk album for themselves. Troublegum and the slew of singles that precede it transform the boys in black into chart-bothering, festival-headlining titans, with ‘Screamager’ leading the Shortsharpshock E.P. into the…

  • Track Record: Ships

    March 26, 2014 - By 

    Dublin band Ships released their single ‘Space Inside’ as a 7″/digital release on Berlin’s Stratosfear Recordings label this week. Sorca McGrath and Simon Cullen took time out to chat to Ian Pearce about their own favourite records in their collections. You can purchase their latest track on Bandcamp: First up is Sorca. Arthur Russell – Another Thought This record is like probably his most private record. It sounds like something that he dreamt up. It feels private when I listen to it as well. I listen to it in moments when I need a little time-out. It’s my time-out record.…

  • The Complete Guide to Therapy?: Part 2

    March 25, 2014 - By 

    PREVIOUSLY: Guitarist Andy Cairns and drummer Fyfe Ewing meet at a Battle of the Bands and start jamming after talking about bands they like in common. First demo tape 30 Seconds of Silence showcases a wide variety of ideas, and soon they’re joined by Ewing’s classmate Michael McKeegan, for the recording of second demo tape Meat Abstract. The intrepid trio set off on tour around Ireland, and with the release of their debut single, also entitled Meat Abstract, the UK. While in London, the band gets airplay from John Peel, and begins to garner label interest. Signing with Wiiija, Therapy?…

  • The Complete Guide To Therapy?: Part 1

    March 24, 2014 - By 

    Your writer would have been six years old when, at the end of The Den, the video for Nowhere came on. It was unlike anything. From the kaleidoscopic visual onslaught, to the menace of frontman Andy Cairns and his bob ‘n’ goatee combo behind his black Gibson SG, to the wailing police-siren lead that overlays its rollicking chorus. There are times when you can’t explain what makes sense, but it just does, especially at that age. And it stayed with me, lying dormant through childish flights of fancy through Britpop, nu-metal, assorted electronic pop and whatever else was handy to…