• Inbound: DANI

    July 30, 2014 - By 

    DANI brings something extremely unique to the term “singer-songwriter” here in Northern Ireland. Dabbling between slapping and tapping her guitar strings, her songs are gentle, charming little pieces which ring softly in your ears with their raw, dream-like textures. I caught up with her to discover what’s in store for her in the coming months, including her new EP in which she is collaborating with none other than Mike Mormecha of Mojo Fury and Malojian. Hi Dani. Last year you released an EP, It Speaks for Itself. How have things changed since then? Have you got anything in the works? Yeah,  I released…

  • Inbound: Jamie Neish

    July 28, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of his solo performance at the latest Volume Control show at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre, Rebekah Wilson sits down with the sonically ambidextrous Jamie Neish. Not merely content with drumming in one of Northern Ireland’s finest and most promising alt-rock outfits,More Than Conquerors, Neish is also an auspicious unaccompanied artist in his own right – something he happily discusses alongside the rise and restlessness of the aforementioned Belfast band. Photos by Sam Stronge Hey Jamie, how’s it going? It’s going very well, thanks! Good stuff! So, for anyone who hasn’t heard your music before how would you describe your…

  • Inbound: Contour

    July 29, 2014 - By 

    Having signed to Belfast-based imprint Champion Sound just last week, Dublin electronic duo Conan Wynne and Anna Doran AKA Contour have hit the ground running since forming in November last year. With the release of their glitchy debut EP, Chaos Theories, we talks to Conan about the formation of Contour, the direction of the project and the current state of Irish electronic music. Hey Conan. Can you give us some background on Contour and how yourself and Anna met? I met Anna while teaching a production course with Realsound Dublin. She was looking to put a mix together using Ableton and…

  • Inbound/exclusive remix stream: SlowPlaceLikeHome

    July 23, 2014 - By 

    A self-proclaimed “cosmic forest-dweller”, fast-rising South Donegal musician Keith Mannion AKA SlowPlaceLikeHome has spent the last two years increasingly beguiling us with his sublimely somnambulant craft. Following on from a string of wonderful EPs last year – collectively bookending his extremely promising debut album, There Go The Lights Again – Mannion is set to release the ten-track Romola next month, an albums that us all but seduced already, thanks to singles, ‘She Comes In Colour Stereo’ and ‘Luna’. Accompanied with an exclusive remix stream of John Daly’s take on the former track (below), Brian Coney chats to Mannion about the inspirational value of isolation, the…

  • Inbound: The Clameens

    July 4, 2014 - By 

    Currently in the studio recording their debut EP, Derry four-piece The Clameens have made a strong impression at home and further afield over the last twelve months, not least for the infectious pop-rock of singles ‘Don’t Judge’ and ‘Follow’. In the latest installment of Inbound, we talk to the band’s frontman, Sean Breslin, about their formation in the Creggan area of Derry, abiding to a very particular songwriting mantra and the band’s stance on living for the moment, whilst striving towards the future. Hi Sean. You’ve had quite busy last few months playing shows and getting your music out there to new…

  • Interview: New Secret Weapon

    June 26, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of playing this year’s Sea Sessions in Bundoran at the weekend, we talk to Dublin prog-tinged alt-rock trio New Secret Weapon about their guerrilla-style live shows, breaking free from songwriting conventions and recording their long-awaited self-titled debut album with Solar Bears’ Rian Trench.  Hi guys. You said you formed “in the aftermath of KnockanStockan Festival 2007”. What was the catalyst for formation there? There were many catalysts but the best one was probably the fact that the three of us had never played music together before and we played as if we’d been playing together our whole lives. Seven years on,…

  • TTA TV: The Wood Burning Savages

    June 26, 2014 - By 

    Currently en route to perform at this year’s Glastonbury – an extraordinary feat for such a relatively new act – Derry quartet The Wood Burning Savagespopped into Belfast’s Voodoo last week for a quick interview and live session. Filmed and edited by photographer and filmmaker Colm Laverty, Paul, Dan, Shea and Aaron perform a couple of songs and talk about forming, recording and playing the greatest festival around.  

  • TTA TV: A Plastic Rose Interview

    June 20, 2014 - By 

    Having nipped home for a few days to play a triumphant set at Spectrum Festival, Nottingham-based alt-rock band A Plastic Rose kindly called into Belfast’s Voodoo late last week for an interview with Colm Laverty, touching upon their formation, the Nottingham music scene, their “epic” second album, Flickering Light of an Inner War, as well as the benefits and disadvantages of no longer being a band living in Belfast.  

  • Interview: Paddy Hanna

    June 24, 2014 - By 

    A restless artist and then some, Paddy Hanna is deservedly well regarded as one of the most prolific musicians in Dublin and beyond. When he’s not busy singing in Grand Pocket Orchestra or playing in Popical Island bands No Monster Club, Ginnels and Skelocrats, he’s writing, recording and playing his own wonderfully infectious, clever indie pop music. Off the back of the release of his exquisite debut album, Leafy Stiletto, we talk to Paddy about the incestuousness of Popical Island, scraping the “serious misery muck from [his] mind’s floor” and finding the time to commit to so many different projects. Hi Paddy. You released the…

  • Inbound: Dear Desert

    June 19, 2014 - By 

    In this installment of Inbound – a feature introducing some of the country’s finest fast-rising musical talent – we chat to newly-formed Dublin-based band Dear Desert about how they got together, their influences and plans for the future. Hi guys. Can you tell us a bit about yourselves individually? Brendan: We are a Dublin based band but we all come from different parts of the country. We’re all working in Dublin and doing our best to make time to write and head to gigs. I work in music, so its easy to keep an ear out for new bands to see.…