• 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…

  • Far From Nowhere: An Interview With Malojian

    October 6, 2016 - By 

    Having released Southlands last year to critical acclaim, Malojian’s subsequent announcement that they’d be jetting off to Chicago to record the follow-up, This Is Nowhere, with the illustrious Steve Albini was just cause for much excitement within the NI music community. Now, on the cusp of its release, we pinned down Stevie Scullion – Malojian’s driving force – to get the scoop on recording with Albini, the writing of the new album, and more. Words by Aaron Drain. Photos by Colm Laverty Catch Malojian at the following Irish shows over the next three months. October 7: The Fat Gherkin (Solo…

  • “I hate to stay still and pat myself on the back”: An Interview With Ciaran Lavery

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    Having spent the last few years steadily carving out his standing as one of the country’s most-loved and increasingly established solo artists, Aghagallon singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery commands sensitivity and candour like very few songsmiths, Irish or otherwise. Despite confirming his arrival with his sublime debut album Not Nearly Dark and Kosher EP in 2013 and 2014 respectively, it was Sea Legs, his collaborative mini-album with Derry producer Ryan Vail, that positively underscored Lavery’s knack and versatility as artist that has often said he has zero desire to be solely filed under “acoustic guitar-wielding singer-songwriter”. But it’s Lavery’s second full-length album…

  • Interview: King Kong Company

    July 18, 2016 - By 

    Not merely one of the country’s most singular, genre-warping acts, Waterford six-piece King Kong Company are right up there with the very best live propositions around. Having just released their emphatic self-titled debut album, Brian Coney talks to the band about working with The Prodigy producer Neil McLellan on the release, capturing their live energy in the studio, their diverse range of influences and what the future holds in store. Hi guys. You’ve been getting some great reviews for your new, self-titled album. It was originally set to be released last year. Was perfectionism (or at least only wanting to release something you were…

  • The Pressure is Off: An Interview with Joe Mount of Metronomy

    July 13, 2016 - By 

    Metronomy are just one of those bands. On average the group have released a full record every two to three years, each one to more acclaim and appreciation than the last. From their wonky, wild sophomore record Nights Out to the refined pop reflections of Love Letters they’ve been a group whose steady rise through the ranks has looked almost easy. So easy in fact that it’s hard to imagine that it’s been a whole decade since the release of their outrageous debut Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe). ‘I suppose I’m part of the furniture,’ muses Joe Mount.…

  • Where He’s Meant To Be: An interview with Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat

    April 28, 2016 - By 

    As one half of the band Arab Strap with Malcolm Middleton between 1996 and 2006, Aidan Moffat quickly became one of the most influential voices in Scottish indie music. His unmistakable thick brogue and frank, confessional and often hilarious lyrics are reflected in so many newer Scottish bands while Moffat himself has guested with the likes of Mogwai and Frightened Rabbit over the years. Since Arab Strap’s amicable split, Moffat has undertaken all kinds of projects, from spoken word to his collaborations with Bill Wells to his electronic work as L. Pierre, to name a few. In 2014 he toured…

  • Killing Mockingbirds: An Interview with Jordan

    April 27, 2016 - By 

    As regular fixture and co-founder of Aether & Echo’s Nocturne and The Night Institute parties, Jordan has been at the centre of a lot of what’s been happening in Northern Irish dance music over the past few years. Killing Mockingbirds, the debut EP from the homegrown DJ-producer who cut his teeth in the electronic music world as a student in Leeds, is a five–track house music affair which drafts in Adesse Versions and Borrowed Identity to lend their sensibilities to the record in the form of two remixed tracks. Killing Mockingbirds (which was made available to the public last week)…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…