• Q+A: Intended Context with Wastefellow

    July 6, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of his slot at RHA’s Hennessy Lost Friday in Dublin tomorrow (Friday) night, we catch up with one of our favourite Irish producers at the minute, Wastefellow, to discuss his alter-ego, keeping busy, what tomorrow night holds in store and more. Go here for more info & ticket link You’ve had a busy Summer thus far, with slots at Forbidden Fruit, and elsewhere. Any highlights? It’s been excellent so far! Forbidden Fruit was the first show after a break of a few months, and it was a great way to get back to it. It was an early slot,…

  • Q+A: This Is The Kit

    July 4, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of her show at Baker’s Bar tomorrow night (Wednesday, July 5) as part of this year’s Clonmel Junction, Bristol and Paris-based artist Kate Stables AKA This Is The Kit talks to The Thin Air about her highly-anticipated fourth studio album, signing to Rough Trade, collaborating with Aaron Dessner and more. Tickets to the show are €24 and doors are at 9pm. Hi, Kate. I’m really looking forward to hearing Moonshine Freeze. From the material I’ve heard thus far, it sounds very promising. Where did you record the album and who all played a big role in it coming together? We recorded…

  • Q+A: Jesca Hoop

    June 30, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of her slot in Mitchelstown Cave as part of this year’s Clonmel Junction Festival on Saturday, July 8, Californian singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop talks to Zara Hedderman about inspiration, collaboration and aesthetic as a form of fuel. Go here for more info about the show You’re set to perform in a cave for your appearance at Clonmel Junction Festival. Will this be the most unusual stage surrounding that you will have performed in? Are you looking forward to perform in a cave? Well, if this cave is as reverberant as others I have been in then yes, I am very much looking…

  • Disillusionment and Self-Discovery with Shookrah

    June 28, 2017 - By 

    Having featured in the sixth issue of our magazine back in early 2015, Cork RnB maestros Shookrah have evolved into something quite special over the last couple of years. Following a memorable set at Body&Soul at the weekend, Senita Appiakorang and Emmet O’Riabhaigh open up about process, metamorphosis, new material & their peers. Hi guys. First thing’s first: for those not in the know, how did you Shookrah first come about? When and where were the seeds sown? Senita: We all loosely knew one another from college and mutual friends. There was a glory period we called “the holy trinity”…

  • Q+A: Bear Worship WAS Here

    June 25, 2017 - By 

    Karl Knuttel – or Bear Worship, to use his professional name – has just released his nine-song debut album, WAS. It’s an exotic, hypnotic record that seems to exist in a time and place all of its own. Here, he talks to David Turpin about the process of making the album. I’d like to ask about the title of the album, WAS. It’s a very emphatic one-word title, and yet it also happens to be a very ambiguous word. I guess what I wanted to represent with the title is that every person wants to feel like they matter. Making…

  • Q+A: Steffi

    June 23, 2017 - By 

    The Fabric and Fabriclive mix series have been on a roll recently, with stellar entries from Special Request, Call Super and Nina Kraviz recently added to the canon. The latest addition, Fabric 94, is from Dutch DJ, producer and label owner Steffi. A longtime resident at Berlin’s Panorama Bar (the house-focused corner of techno monolith Berghain), she enlisted an intriguing cast of long-time friends and new faces, asking each one to make a track specifically for the mix. What came out of it is a deep and dark journey with plenty of minor key drama, subaquatic basslines and nary a…

  • Preview: Stendhal Festival 2017

    June 12, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of its return to Ballmully Cottage Farm in Limavady on August 11 and 12, Stendhal Festival organisers Ross Parkhill and John Cartwright talk to Caolan Coleman about this year’s outing, the festival’s expansion to date and the current health of Irish music. Go here to buy tickets to Stendhal Festival 2017 My friend came home from university the other week clutching a letter marked ‘Medical Emergency’ that turned out to be from you guys. How important is clever marketing to a smaller festival like yours? Ross: We are always up for trying new things, keeps things interesting. Nothing beats…

  • Loah and Behold: Catching Up With Sallay Matu Garnett

    May 25, 2017 - By 

    Sallay Matu Garnett has been steadily honing her musical style as Loah, over the last five years. During this time she has collaborated extensively with some of Ireland’s prominent musical figures such as Hozier, Glen Hansard and Bantum. Quickly, critics and audiences became increasingly interested in the music she was writing and releasing as a solo artist. Garnett’s music is informed and inspired an eclectic mix of genres that she was exposed to growing up in both Sierre Leone and Ireland. Where there are traces of traditional West African harmonies you can also hear Western influences throughout her repertoire. Such…

  • Preview: Metropolis Live @ The MAC

    May 19, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of live-soundtracking Fritz Lang’s German expressionist masterpiece Metropolis at Belfast’s the MAC on Thursday, May 25, we talk to acclaimed composer and pianist Dmytro Morykit about the dramatic theatre of his score. Go here to buy tickets to the event. Hi Dmytro. Take us back: when did you first watched Metropolis and how did it affect you? I suppose the first time I saw it was 1983, around about the same time I saw Nosferatu. I had been reading about the Directors of the silent classics but F W Murnau made more of an impact, perhaps that was just…

  • Preview: Recreating The Velvet Underground & Nico @ The MAC

    May 16, 2017 - By 

    This Saturday (May 20) Belfast’s the MAC will host a special event celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Velvet Underground’s seminal debut, The Velvet Underground and Nico. We speak to bandleader Donal Scullion about its legacy and what to expect on the night. Go here to buy tickets, priced £12.50-£25.00. Hi, Donal. How did the idea for this show first come about? Had been chatting to Stu Campbell (The MAC), he said they were thinking of doing the 50th anniversary of that album and would I be interested in playing or organizing it. It was always a big album for me…