• Odessey & Oracle: An Interview with Colin Blunstone

    April 19, 2016 - By 

    Colin Blunstone is the lead singer of the legendary British band The Zombies, and has enjoyed a successful solo career since the band split in 1969. Eimear Hurley caught up with the singer fresh off of his solo tour in the UK and Holland, and ahead of a busy summer touring schedule with his solo band and the Zombies. Hi Colin. You have enjoyed a fantastic musical career so far, spanning five decades. Can you tell me about your experience of being an artist in the 21st century compared to when you first started? The business is almost unrecognisable from…

  • The Liberation of Loss: An Interview with Guy Garvey

    April 18, 2016 - By 

    The rest of 2016 is shaping up to be very busy for Guy Garvey. In between winding down his sojourn in support of solo debut Courting The Squall, the Elbow front-man is curating this year’s Meltdown Festival at the Barbican before rejoining his band mates to write a follow-up to 2014’s The Take Off And Landing Of Everything. Jonny Currie chats to Guy about cathedrals, etymology, and being a bit of a community freak. You’ve played Belfast a number of times over the years. Do you have any particular memories that stick out? I love Belfast! One memory that sticks in…

  • Out Of Oblivion Into The Light: An Interview with Mission of Burma

    April 12, 2016 - By 

    For years, Boston post-punk legends Mission of Burma were one of rock music’s great ‘what if?’ stories, an obscure but influential band that broke up far too soon due to singer/guitarist Roger Miller’s tinnitus, worsened by their notoriously loud live shows, leaving behind just one full length album, an EP and a couple of singles. When they finally reformed in 2002 (with Shellac’s Bob Weston taking over the role of tape manipulation from Martin Swope) they did it properly, refusing to be a mere nostalgia act and issuing a string of new albums that sounded just as vital as what…

  • Inbound: God Creative & Crimes Against

    April 7, 2016 - By 

    Both stellar acts in their own right, Dublin’s God Creative and Crimes Against have joined forces to collaborate on an upcoming album. In this installment of Inbound, Eoghain Meakin catches up with them just after this historic Easter to talk ancestors, ‘the scene’ and solid gold rocket ships. Photos by Pedro Giaquinto. Everything is changing in Ireland. Hip Hop, once the cast out of the home-grown music scene and the last import only product on the musical menu, is growing in strength, respect and deployment. Case in point is Dublin’s latest collaboration between long time rapper God Creative and writer/producer Crimes Against. Billed…

  • No Fracking Way: An Interview with This Land writer Siân Owen

    April 1, 2016 - By 

    A theatrical journey through an ever-changing landscape, confronting some hugely pressing issues regarding climate change and, in particular, fracking, Siân Owen’s This Land is a play being hailed for striking a keen balance between engrossing fictional narrative and the much bigger – more important – picture. Ahead of performances at Coleraine’s Riverside Theatre (Apr 6), Omagh’s Strule Arts Centre (Apr 7), Derry’s Waterside Theatre (Apr 8) and Belfast’s The MAC (Apr 9), Brian Coney chats to Owen about the production and its portrayal of the issues. Go here to buy tickets. Hi Siân, before touching on This Land, can you give us some background on Pentabus and…

  • Beyond The Divide: An Interview with Pat Dam Smyth

    March 29, 2016 - By 

    There are few more inimitable and instantly engaging songsmiths than London-based, Northern Irish troubadour Pat Dam Smyth. Five years on from the release of his stellar debut album, The Great Divide, Smyth is currently crowdfunding for its forthcoming follow-up via Pledge Music, a release that will surely doubly confirm his standing as one of the country’s most distinctive and vital voices. Ahead of shows at Belfast’s The MAC on Friday, April 1 and Rathfriland’s Bronte Church on April 2, Smyth chats to Brian Coney about his pledge campaign, touring across Europe and finally feeling he belongs to the current era.…

  • Not Just Feeding a Scene: An Interview with Chad Ubovich of Meatbodies

    March 25, 2016 - By 

    Fronted by Chad Ubovich who has worked with the likes of Ty Segall, John Dwyer and Mikal Cronin, Meatbodies are embedded in California’s idiosyncratic garage rock revival.  Much like the bands connected to the aforementioned names – and they are plentiful – Meatbodies blend pop influences with heavier elements such as noise rock, metal and psych. This is evidenced in the other bands Chad Ubovic has worked with, from the sunny disposition of Mikal Cronin’s band mixed with the dark, dense sounds of Ty Segall’s, Fuzz, which is heavily indebted to Black Sabbath. Meatbodies rest somewhere between these two bands, exhibiting a…

  • Beauty From the Dark: An Interview with Blanck Mass

    March 21, 2016 - By 

    When he’s not mustering majestic noise as one half of Fuck Buttons, Benjamin John Power has, for the last five years, been producing his own powerful, synth-heavy sounds as Blanck Mass. Having released one of 2015’s most wonderfully challenging and downright rewarding full-length listens in Dumb Flesh, he has firmly established himself as a conjurer to be reckoned with in the realm of bracingly euphoric dark electronica. Ahead of debut Irish solo shows at Belfast’s Black Box on April 1 and Dublin’s Grand Social on April 2, Brian Coney chats to Power about his thirst for discovery, remixing John Carpenter, the imprint of…

  • The Shape of Things To Come: An Interview With Anderson

    March 21, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of the release of his new single ‘The Existential Vacuum’ and an upcoming intimate Irish tour, David O’Neill chats to Daniel Anderson about the creative process behind his acclaimed debut album Patterns. Photos by Tara Thomas. The Irish music scene has a tendency to reward those that persevere. Conor O’Brien, Damien Rice, Christy Moore have forged lasting careers after leaving their respective bands while Glen Hansard is now experiencing worldwide success after a quarter of a century slogging it out with that other band of his. Another name likely to be added to that list is Daniel Anderson. Anderson was…

  • Interview: Brame and Hamo

    March 16, 2016 - By 

    Over the course of the past year or so, young Sligo natives Brame and Hamo have been making waves across Europe from their new base in Berlin. Having releases on Dirt Crew, their own imprint Splendor and Squalour, and Dutch house merchants Detroit Swindle’ s Heist Recordings they have garnered an ever growing respect both at home and abroad with their brand of slick house and hip-hop with audible roots in Jazz and soul. Ahead of their brand new Kebab Dreams EP due out on the 21st of March, and their sold out gig in Galway on the 16th of March organised through local promoters TRIBE, Eoin Murray has an…