• Interview: Mr. Scruff

    January 14, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of his sold out show at Belfast’s Black Box on Saturday night, the insatiable, inimitable and encyclopedic Andy Carthy AKA Mr. Scruff chats with resident Thin Air Scruff fanboy Aaron Drain about the “necessity” of the arts, his influence (and influences), his legendary stamina for DJ marathons and more. Win tickets to the sold out Belfast show here. You used to work in retail (like me! Separated at birth? Probably.) and made the leap to producing music full-time in the mid 90’s. What gave you that boost of confidence that allowed you to pursue your passion? Was it an easy…

  • Interview: Sleep Thieves

    January 13, 2015 - By 

    Dublin electro-pop threesome Sleep Thieves have steadily spent establishing their reputation as one of the country’s most alluring and exciting acts. With the moody, hypnotic “disco-noir” of their Minty Fresh-released debut album You Want The Night winning an ever-expanding transatlantic fanbase, Sorcha Brennan, Wayne Fahy and Keith Byrne look set to soundtrack many more nocturnal rambles of the soul in 2015 and beyond. Ahead of their free show at Belfast’s new-fangled Woodworkers this Saturday night, Joe Madsen talks to Sleep Thieves about their colourful journey so far. Your LP You Want the Night marks your debut full-length album with US record label Minty…

  • Q+A: Idlewild

    December 8, 2014 - By 

    Jonny Currie talks to Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones about recording their new album, memories of Belfast, and preparing for the upcoming tour. It’s been five years since the band’s last album Post-Electric Blues – was it easy to pick up where you left off in terms of writing and recording for Idlewild again? Surprisingly so. From about the age of eighteen it’s all we’d ever really known. It never felt like a living because we were so caught up in what we were doing. Although towards the end of the process with the last record it felt like it was like…

  • Inbound: Little Hours

    November 26, 2014 - By 

    With their first headlining gig and EP launch to take place this Thursday (November 27) at Dublin’s Sugar Club, Joe Madsen chats with folk duo Ryan McCloskey and John Doherty AKA Little Hours about the rollercoaster ride of a year they’ve been having since their formation back in February. Photos by Isabel Thomas. How long have you guys known each other and how long have you been playing together? Ryan: “For about five or six years.  We’ve played with a lot of different cover bands over the past few years, but the original thing came into formation at the start of this…

  • Tim Wheeler: Solo Domain

    November 7, 2014 - By 

    Tim Wheeler took a break from his front-man duties for Ash to release his debut solo album, Lost Domain, for reasons very close to the singer’s heart and it’s a masterpiece. Deirdre O’Brien caught up with the Downpatrick native for The Thin Air on a very flying visit he took to Dublin just before the record’s release and his show at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre. Since the release of their debut EP Trailer in 1994 – which turned out to be an immediate success for Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray – Ash have gone from strength-to=strength worldwide for the…

  • Interview: The Hold Steady

    October 2, 2014 - By 

    Having released their stellar sixth studio album, Teeth Dreams, back in March, Brooklyn indie rock heroes The Hold Steady are experiencing something of a much-deserved resurgence as of late. Formed back in 2004, the Craig Finn-fronted band will stop off in Belfast and Dublin on October 17 and 18 respectively, as part of a forthcoming European tour to promote the aforementioned album. Ahead of those dates, Will Murphy has a chat with Finn about the band’s songwriting process, the recording and release of Teeth Dreams and his support for – wait for it – Queens Park Rangers. It was about…

  • Wassailing Away: An Interview with James Yorkston

    September 18, 2014 - By 

    Just before James Yorkston began his tour around Ireland to celebrate the release of his latest album The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society, Deirdre O’Brien caught up with the softly spoken Scotsman to discuss everything from his very content life of simple domesticity to working with KT Tunstall and the recording process that lead to such an intimate sounding record. The talent of James Yorkston really is something special to behold and the talent of the singer/songwriter/author/artist is so impressive; every album you listen to of his, every gig you attend feels like you’ve been made privy to a well…

  • Interview: Adebisi Shank

    August 25, 2014 - By 

    With sold-out shows in London and their eagerly-anticipated Irish return on the horizon, Niamh Hegarty speaks to bassist Vinny McCreith of Adebisi Shank about everything from This is the Album… to the brand new, critically-acclaimed This the Third Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank. So, your third album went on release here in Ireland, UK and US releases to follow this week. How have you been feeling about the reaction so far? It’s really positive so far and thinking back, it makes me think back to the second release and a lot of people have it in their heads that a lot…

  • Interview: No Age

    August 4, 2014 - By 

    Three years on from unleashing the nuanced noise of their stellar third album, Everything In Between, Los Angeles duo No Age re-affirmed their reputation as one of the most accomplished experimental punk outfits around with the masterfully minimalist An Object, released in August last year. Propelled by its candour and bare-boned urgency, it galvanised guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Allen Spunt’s effortlessly off-kilter craft, the fuzzed-out forays of old taking a back seat in favour of a markedly more inconspicuous approach. But for a twosome so apparently motivated by and inclined towards impulse, one wonders: was there much intention at the…

  • Interview: Baths

    July 31, 2014 - By 

    “Selfishness plays a very positive role for me. I have to love it to death or I can’t remain involved with it.” So says twenty-four year old Californian electronic producer Will Wiesenfeld AKA Baths. Having developed a particularly crippling bout of E Coli in 2009 that left him bed-ridden and unable to write music for months, he positively channelled this skirmish with mortality into his second full-length release, last year’s masterfully bleak and heart-wrenchingly beautiful Obsidian. If Nietzsche’s immortal adage “That which does not kill us makes us stronger” rings true, Wiesenfeld’s sophomore effort embodied a distinctly do-or-die spirit. With…