• The Lay of the Land: A Catch-Up With Landless

    January 24, 2023 - By 

    Ahead of their highly-anticipated headline slot at Letterkenny Trad Week this Friday (27th January) we chat to Landless about their upcoming second album, ten years of their world-beating unaccompanied traditional folk and the contemporary trad folk landscape of Ireland. Hi Landless. We last talked back in 2018, off the back of featuring you as our 18 for ’18 artists. Lockdown notwithstanding, you’ve covered some sizable ground in the in-between. Can you sum up how the last five years have been for you, collectively? Ruth Clinton: The last five years have been a blur of house moves, babies, study, work, and then of…

  • Winnie’s Got a New Hobby: An Interview With Winnie Ama

    September 14, 2022 - By 

    Northern Irish-Ghanaian artist Winnie Ama grabs a chat with Josh Henry about the power of pastimes, performing for royalty and prioritising positive energy Words by Josh Henry Photos by Jane Donnelly “I feel like if you’re having a good time and things are going well, if there’s a crack in the door, get that door open and run through”. Winnie Ama is certainly out the blocks. The Belfast-born, Northern-Irish-Ghanaian artist’s brand of poppy electronica, combined with her own rich and distinctive voice, is seeing the light of day due to her penchant for hobbies like hula hooping. “Every year I…

  • Music From Beyond: An Interview With Fort Evil Fruit

    September 7, 2022 - By 

    Paul Condon of Limerick-based cassette-only label Fort Evil Fruit discusses spreading outsider music with a DIY ethos Words by Justin McDaid Photo by Nance Hall One Step Beyond and Hits Out of Hell by Madness and Meatloaf, respectively, held residency in my dad’s car for as long as I can remember. I still have those tapes. I still love Madness and Meatloaf. I might not own my own car but thanks to people like Paul Condon and Fort Evil Fruit, my tape collection has multiplied and diversified exponentially, particularly over the various lockdowns we’ve all endured in recent times. Before…

  • In Striking Distance: An Interview with Elaine Howley

    August 13, 2022 - By 

    Following the release of her sublime debut solo album, the Cork experimental artist talks to Eoghan O’Sullivan about her process, how she’s surprised to even be making music, and coming to terms with her ambition Photos by Celeste Burdon Elaine Howley, along with partner Cathal MacGabhann, fronts The Altered Hours, one of the most thrilling bands in the country. However, it is but one facet in Howley’s creative output. A youth worker, she also makes music with experimental acts Crevice and Howlbux, hosts the experimental show Cosmosis on Dublin Digital Radio, which has been running since 2014, and in the…

  • Reigning Supreme: An Interview with Pillow Queens

    June 14, 2022 - By 

    Blue balls, deep fakes, and good clean fun with the flourishing Dublin indie rock quartet Words by Addison Paterson // Photos by Loreana Rushe Pillow Queens are still for a rare minute. The Dublin four-piece just got back from touring their second LP Leave The Light On in the US, and it’s a couple of weeks before they head to the UK. Then Europe, then festival season. It’s quite the change from the album launch they experienced with 2020’s In Waiting — a virtual listening party with fans, all sat in their respective kitchens. Nought to one hundred.  For now, they’re…

  • Son of the Session: An Interview with John Francis Flynn

    April 7, 2022 - By 

    “There were people that shouldn’t know who I am coming to see me.” If there’s one thing you quickly learn when speaking to John Francis Flynn it’s that he’s not exactly prone to entitlement. Speaking over Zoom from his home in Dublin, the singer and multi-instrumentalist is reflecting on his recent debut UK headline tour. It was a run of 15 shows that, if a few glowing reports are anything to go by, were more than a bit special. Not that Flynn would tell you as much himself. “It was kind of mind-blowing,” he tells me. “After two years of…

  • The Art of Slowing Down: An Interview with FRMR

    November 16, 2021 - By 

    Last month, Northern Irish folk songwriter and poet Andrew Farmer aka FRMR unveiled one of the year’s finest LPs from these shores, Amelanchier. As well as offering a short piece on the making of the album, Farmer talks to us about songwriting, self-belief and the art of slowing down. Making The Record ‘Amelanchier’ by FRMR Amelanchier was recently launched into the world. But before we touch on the album, can you tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are as a songwriter today? In 2009 I took a year out to take part in a creative programme based…

  • Cameron Menzies: A Bohemian Rhapsody

    September 13, 2021 - By 

    Storytelling on the grandest musical scale returns to Belfast when Northern Ireland Opera dusts itself off after a difficult eighteen months to present Giacomo Puccini’s much-loved opera La Bohème. This Parisian story of lust for life, of artists struggling to make ends meet and of uncertain futures, chimes loudly with these times. For NI Opera’s Artistic Director Cameron Menzies, who only took up the post in March, the road to La Bohème has been something of an opera in itself. “It’s been extraordinary,” the Australian laughs. “Yes, it’s a massive undertaking but people have worked so hard, with such dedication…

  • Listening To Our Heads: An Interview With Cherym

    May 27, 2021 - By 

    CHERYM are on the precipice of a monumental Summer. Hannah, Nyree and Alannagh have been locked away in their Derry practice space, crafting the tracks that will make up their new EP, spearheaded by new single ‘Listening To My Head’. It’s a short, sharp guitar attack, as immediate and exhilarating as the drink their record label, Alcopop! takes its name from. Taylor Johnson caught up with the pop-punk trio just days after their new single dropped to talk resilience, Blink-182 and the fight for their signature. Listening to my Head by CHERYM Hi gang! Thanks so much for talking to us today. Somehow…

  • Riding The Wave: An Interview with Æ MAK

    May 12, 2021 - By 

    Over the last few months, Dublin-based artist Aoife McCann aka Æ MAK has well & truly ramped up her perfectly unpredictable brand of future pop. Off the back of her class Class Exercises EP, and the euphoric visuals for ‘New Friend,’ Brian Coney talks to her about the cyclical nature of pop, winning the praises of Jamie XX, her upcoming debut album & more. Photo by Anastasia Metluka Hey Aoife. Congratulations on ‘New Friend’. For our money, it’s easily one of the Irish tracks of the years so far. How was the writing and recording of this track for you?…