• Truth and Release: An Interview with Little Green Cars

    December 6, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of a string of December dates kicking off at Belfast’s The MAC on Thursday, Brian Coney chats to Dublin’s Little Green Cars about communication, mortality and their craft. Go here for the band’s full tour schedule. Hi guys. 2016 has of course been a great band for you as a band. What have you found to be the most rewarding part of your rise over the last while? We went through a lot together during the writing of Ephemera. It was truly a labour of love, but an emotional labour nonetheless. Touring the album has been very cathartic. It has given…

  • Death To Complacency: An Interview With Gross Net, Autumns and Fears

    November 30, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of a three-way release launch in a secret location in Belfast this Friday night, Philip Quinn of Gross Net, Autumns’ Christian Donaghey & Fears’ Constance Keane discuss growth, release, community & “timid Irishness disease”. Go here for the show’s event page. Hi guys. You play a secret location show together in Belfast this weekend. It’s titled ‘A Death To Complacency’. What’s the significance of the title? Philip Quinn (Gross Net): There’s an element present here in society I dub “timid Irishness disease”, whereby people just don’t knuckle down and get making something. I see the three of us as…

  • Kiss and Tell: An Interview With Meltybrains?

    November 23, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of playing their biggest headline show to date at Dublin’s Academy on Friday night, Dublin experimental maestros Meltybrains? talk collaboration, the scene, pushing boundaries and their new EP with Brian Coney. Photo by Ian McDonnell Hi guys. Congratulations on the release of Kiss Yourself. Take us back to the very start of the conception of this release: how was the songwriting process for this one and how did things differ, if at all, to previous work? The songwriting process was a complicated affair. Some of the tracks were ideas from old demos we recorded in Conor Walsh’s hotel in…

  • Swimming With The Stream: An Interview With Callum Cairns AKA Little Rivers

    November 23, 2016 - By 

    Photographer Ruth Kelly shoots and discusses new music, time management and sonic progression with Belfast indie folk singer-songwriter Callum Cairns AKA Little Rivers Hi Callum. First off, what inspired you to start writing music? I suppose I started wanting to write music when my dad brought Damien Rice’s first album ‘O  home. For some reason, I don’t remember listening to a lot of music growing up, so I’m pretty bad at my parents’ era of artists, but I’d never heard anything like that album and it fascinated me. Particularly because it started off my fondness for poetry. Do you have…

  • Front of House: Keith Killen (Skinny)

    November 16, 2016 - By 

    In the latest installment of Front of House, photographer Tara Thomas shoots and talks work, experience and breaking through in the industry with Irish tour manager, backline tech and touring guitar tech Keith Killen AKA Skinny. Hi Keith! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Well, I like long walks in the rain and… I’m 30, I work as a touring guitar tech, backline tech and tour manager for a number of bands as well as FOH and some corporate work. I absolutely love my job and don’t like having too much time off, idle hands and all that!…

  • Isolation and Release: An Interview with Arcade Fire’s Sarah Neufeld

    November 4, 2016 - By 

    Both in her solo output and work as a member of Arcade Fire, Sarah Neufeld has long established herself as one of the world’s most forward-thinking, consistently singular violinists. Ahead of the only Irish date of her current European tour at Belfast’s The MAC on Monday (November 7), the Canadian chats to Brian Coney about collaboration, virtuosity, writing on the road and what to expect from Arcade Fire’s forthcoming fifth studio album. Hi Sarah. Your second album, The Ridge, is a wonderful release. Congratulations. What was the writing process like for this release, especially compared to Hero Brother? Thanks! I wrote The Ridge in a more…

  • Dreaming On: An Interview With Pleasure Beach

    October 26, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of their Jameson Bow St. Session alongside Wyvern Lingo and Amaron + Magic at Cork’s Crane Lane tomorrow, Alan Haslam from Belfast five-piece Pleasure Beach talks to Brian Coney about writing hits, what defines dream-pop and taking it as far they can. Register for free tickets to the band’s Bow St Session here. Hi guys. For the uninitiated, how did Pleasure Beach come about? When were the seeds sown and when did it all come to flourish? Hi! Well, we were all involved in various other projects around the time of the band’s formation. I had a handful of new songs…

  • Clever Things Done Simply: An Interview with Wyvern Lingo

    October 22, 2016 - By 

    Catching some downtime following a busy few months that saw the release of their stellar A Letter For Willow EP and a UK support tour with James Vincent McMorrow, Bray trio Wyvern Lingo will soon set off for a string of Irish dates across November and December. Ahead of those – as well headlining Jameson’s Bow St Sessions at Cork’s Crane Lane on October 27 – Brian Coney talks to drummer/vocalist Caoimhe Barry about plans for their debut album, the open road and striking a balance between accessible and experimental. Register for free tickets to the band’s Bow St Session with Pleasure Beach and Amaron + Magic…

  • Love and War: An Interview with Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe

    October 14, 2016 - By 

    As their average fan will happily tell you, Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe isn’t as much outspoken as he is nail-on-head, uncannily on-the-money about pretty much everything he cares to discuss or pass comment on. To say, then, that he “gives a good interview” – no matter how brief – would be a fairly towering understatement. With two eyes on the horizon, Newcombe talks to Robert Higgins ahead of the release of BJM’s fifteenth album, Third World Pyramid, touching on creativity, sobriety and imminent war. You’ve always been a prolific songwriter, but the past year has been busy even by your standards. What do…

  • Interview: Psychoanalysing The Man Who Fell To Earth with Dr. Eve Watson

    October 14, 2016 - By 

    This is the year when we lost one of the true greats, a man who defined the term enigma, tore up the manual of rock music when it was barely written and who continues to inspire freaks, free-spirits and anyone who hasn’t felt the need to fit in beyond his death. From the start of his career through to the remarkable epitaph that is Black Star, the man born David Jones has left behind a massive hole in the hearts and minds of music fans everywhere. Dr. Eve Watson is one such fan. Studying in the States saw her discover…