• Interview: Come On Live Long

    October 18, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of playing the final RHA Hennessy Lost Friday on the year on Friday night, we talk to Louise Gaffney from Dublin indie/alternative-pop maestros Come On Live Long about progression, perfectionism, influence and the importance of enjoying the moment. Go here for more info about the show. Hi, Louise. Your second album, In The Still, was released back in May. It’s right up there with the best Irish albums of the year. How was the songwriting process for this one? The songwriting process for In The Still was a little different to how it had been for the previous record. The…

  • Making It Count: An Interview With John Deery and The Heads

    September 28, 2017 - By 

    Look as far and wide as you will, but you’ll struggle to find an Irish band as respected as Derry’s John Deery and the Heads. Ahead of the launch of their wonderfully-woven third studio album, Nothing Permanent Lasts, at the Nerve Centre on Saturday night, we talk to the quartet’s main man about evolution, the power of change, successfully going down the crowdfunding route and much more. Go here to buy tickets and for more info about the album launch Hi, John. You officially launch Nothing Permanent Lasts at the end of the month. You ran a successful pledge campaign for…

  • Pulling Their Weight: An Interview with Elder Druid

    September 20, 2017 - By 

    Last week we premiered ‘Witchdoctor’, the lead single from Belfast sludge doom band Elder Druid’s forthcoming debut album, Carmina Satanae. With the album – a fist-clenched, eight-track statement of intent – set for release at Belfast’s Bar Sub on Friday, October 6, we chat to the band about influence, evolution, dark lyricism and why Ireland punches above its weight when it comes to the low-end. You’ve recently been in the studio recording your debut album, Carmina Satanae. How was the experience? Dale (Hughes, bass): I think it’s safe to say that from start to finish the environment was easy going enough that…

  • Honesty and Conviction: An Interview with Dave Hanratty of NO ENCORE

    September 11, 2017 - By 

    The country’s self-proclaimed “pre-eminent music podcast” NO ENCORE will once again take to the stage at Whelan’s on Thursday, September 28. Taking place as part of the inaugural Dublin Podcast Festival, the event will see hosts Dave Hanratty, Colm O’Regan and Craig Fitzpatrick record an episode live alongisde musical guests Overhead The Albatross, Daithi and Elaine Mai. Ahead of what’s sure to be a stellar evening on Wexford Street, Brian Coney talks to Dave Hanratty about the podcast’s conception, present and future. Go here to buy tickets to NO ENCORE Live II Hi, Dave. Take us back to the very…

  • Playing The Long Game: An Interview With American Football

    August 31, 2017 - By 

    Few bands will ever have the underground cult status of American Football. The Illinois quartet are credited with the creation of one of emo’s most romanticised albums and have been part of the most anticipated return in the emo revival. Ahead of playing The Button Factory in Dublin on Monday, Kelly Doherty chats to Steve Lamos about their return. Where did the decision for American Football to get back together come from? A couple people came to us in light of the first album being reissued and asked us to play. I don’t think we had really considered it before…

  • Makers in the Making: An Interview with Liam Geraghty

    August 26, 2017 - By 

    Almost unheard of as a medium five years ago, podcasting was once relegated to being one of those pesky default iPhone apps that you couldn’t get rid of. However, thanks in part to massively popular shows like NPR’s This American Life, whose podcast Serial in 2014 introduced a whole range of people to the audio form, the podcasting world has gone from a slightly unpopular alternative to listening to music on a morning commute, to shows like Welcome To Night Vale, or My Dad Wrote A Porno selling out multiple nights in Dublin. This September, Irish podcasting network HeadStuff host…

  • In Conversation With… Eleanor McCaughey

    August 28, 2017 - By 

    Absinthe hour – oil on Canvas, 2017 I first encountered the work of Eleanor McCaughey in 2015 when I saw her solo exhibition Image is Everything in Dublin’s Eight. There McCaughey collated and presented an Americana she had fictionalised using found photographs that depicted American diplomats and their families during the Cold War years. In that show hints existed to the new shift in direction her practice was about to take, and in the intervening years I voyeuristically watched this evolution through social media – peppering it with real life contacts at various exhibition openings. It was at one of those recent…

  • We’re New Here: An Interview with Last Days Of Elvis

    August 21, 2017 - By 

    Anxious and introspective on record, Berlin-based Last Days of Elvis are anything but when interviewed. On first impressions, their debut Must Be A Mistake draws stylistic comparisons to The National and Nick Cave but underneath lies diligently crafted expressions of fragility and angst. Ahead of their upcoming UK and Ireland tour, our Dominic Edge discuss life in Berlin, toilet ambience and recording at Funkhaus Studios with vocalist, guitarist and stew-enthusiast Andrew Stark. Tell us more about your name – is it in admiration to the King, or am I wide of the mark? To be honest, I think we just really…

  • Keeping It Old School: An Interview with Paul Kane of Over The Hill Collective

    July 18, 2017 - By 

    Having grown in leaps and bounds over the last seven years, Over The Hill is a music collective based at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre aimed at mature musicians but open to everyone. Brian Coney chats to founder Paul Kane about its foundations and development, as well as why it’s a crucial link in bridging music, community and the older generation. Hi, Paul. First thing’s first: how did the Over The Hill collective first come about? It started about seven years ago. When I first walked in the doors here at Oh Yeah Music Centre I had just changed careers and…

  • Interview: Looking Forward with Tim Wheeler of Ash

    July 17, 2017 - By 

    In between the victory lap of a 1997 anniversary tour and a new studio record set for release next year, Ash are spending the summer playing clubs and festivals across the UK. Jonny Currie spoke to frontman Tim Wheeler ahead of the band’s highly-anticipated headlining slot at Stendhal Festival in Limavady next month. If money was no object, what would be your dream festival line-up alongside Ash? Oh, that’s a good one. I’d say probably… Mudhoney, Weezer and Brian Wilson. You and the band are playing Limavady in August, but outside of touring with Ash are you back in Northern…