• Crowded With Different Voices: an interview with Julia Holter

    February 11, 2016 - By 

    Few artists follow their own path so downright convincingly as Californian experimental pop auteur Julia Holter. With her extraordinary, peerlessly prismatic fourth studio album, Have You In My Wilderness, finishing at the top-end of many ’15 End of Year lists, her standing as a supremely individual musician is incontestable. Ahead of her show at Dublin’s Button Factory next Wednesday night (January 17) Brian Coney chats to Holter about inspiration, the thematic concepts underlying her music and the consequence of widespread critical acclaim. It’s five months on from the release of Have You In My Wilderness. I’m curious: does the kind of acclaim it…

  • Inbound: Bear Worship

    February 9, 2016 - By 

    Bear Worship is the new project from Irish musician Karl Knuttel, who has previously performed as Pinkie and as Ivan St John.  Here, he talks about his love of synthesisers, making music out of necessity, and the benefits of being ‘ridiculously controlling’. Words by David Turpin. You’ve said that Bear Worship emerged out of a time of anxiety and depression, and yet the music is far more dreamlike than nightmarish, and far more expansive than claustrophobic.  What do you mean when you say it was made “out of necessity”? You know, anxiety is a harrowing experience. It’s not at all…

  • Interview: Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys

    February 8, 2016 - By 

    The non­-for­-profit­ run ​Open House Festival​ finished its round of sold out gigs across Northern Ireland at the weekend. The festival, which organises live performances in unique and intimate venues, treated guests to acts such as homegrown talent Stephen Maccartney; Jarrod Dickenson, an upcoming Texan-­born Folk and Roots­ Blues singer; and last but not least, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, a Bluegrass band from Michigan. During the festival, Claire McKeever caught up with Mark and Josh, one half of Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, at their penultimate gig at The Arcadia in Portrush. How was Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys…

  • Interview: Noise, Lust and Depression with Autumns

    February 4, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of three Belfast shows in the coming months, Derry’s Christian Donaghey AKA Autumns is a man on a mission. Having recently recorded his debut LP in two days at Smalltown America Studios, Donaghey chats to us about the art of improvisation, the literary impact on his work and his plans for the year. Hi Christan, you’ve recently finished recording your debut album.Who did you record with and how did it go? I recorded the album with a great engineer and long-time friend of mine called Caolán Austin, who I’ve known since I was around thirteen. We recorded it in my…

  • Premiere: Strength – Northern Ireland Yes

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    Set to play our Independent Venue Week show at/with Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre on Saturday, January 30, Derry band Strength are one of sixteen Irish acts we’ve handpicked for our current 16 For ’16 feature. Ahead of a string of shows to mark its 7″ release, we’re pleased to premiere the video for their positively singular new single, ‘Northern Ireland Yes’, along with a revealing Q+A with the band’s main man, Rory Moore. Dig in. Hi Rory. When and how did Strength come about? Strength came about at the tail end of Red Organ Serpent Sound. I felt we were losing a lot of the live, creative…

  • Album Premiere/Q+A: Bamboo – Prince Pansori Priestess

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    Comprised of Rachel Horwood and Nick Carlisle (originally from Northern Ireland) London duo Bamboo are a curious proposition in the most nonpareil sense of the term. Melding influence from various folk tradition with far-reaching synth-pop, their sound (and new debut album, Prince Pansori Priestess) is a feat of spirit and ingenuity. We chat to the pair about their craft and process. Hi Nick, Bamboo are based in London but you’re originally from Northern Ireland. Did you make music or play as part of any band(s) when you were based here? Nick: The first band I was serious about was Peepholes, a band I am (still) doing with…

  • Interview: Rabid Bitch of the North

    January 15, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of the launch their ‘Green Eyes’ 7″ single at Belfast’s Voodoo on Saturday night (January 16), Belfast metallers Rabid Bitch of the North chat to Liam Doyle about the progression of their sound, releasing music on tape and what it means to support local music. Can you tell us how Rabid Bitch of the North got started? It’s pretty much the same old story of a garage band that started in our school years. Gerry Mulholland (our guitarist) and me (Joe McDonnell) started what would become Rabid Bitch Of The North while still at school. Gerry got a guitar…

  • Interview: Sea Pinks

    January 7, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of the launch of their stellar fifth (and second studio) album, Soft Days, at Belfast’s Lavery’s tomorrow night, Cathal McBride chats to Neil Brogan of Belfast guitar-pop trio Sea Pinks about progression, variation and recording their most emphatic record to date. Soft Days sounds like the most varied Sea Pinks album so far, was that a conscious choice when you were writing and recording it? I think the songs just came out that way, but I did want it to sound more varied. I’ve been doing this band for five years so you have to try and keep it interesting…

  • Interview: White Collar Boy

    December 2, 2015 - By 

    Dublin duo White Collar Boy have been turning heads of late. With an increasing focus on their live show over the past few years, the pair have already impressed with their warped electronica; from the leftfield garage of 2013’s SUUU/Tide EP, to the accessible slow burn of 2012’s Kinsale. Having met each other at Primavera and subsequently forming in 2011, the pair have supported the likes of Factory Floor, Com Truise and Creep on tour, and are ready to mark the apex of their journey so far by releasing their debut LP in 2016. Euphoric lead single ‘Away From Reality’…

  • Listening More Carefully with Somadrone

    November 13, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of the launch of his superb fifth album, Oracle, at Dublin’s Unitarian Church on November 28, Dublin musician and producer Neil O’Connor AKA Somadrone takes to Brian Coney about progression, abstract themes and the importance of collaboration. Hi Neil. Congratulations on the release of Oracle. It’s been said of the album, “This is music equally at home on the dance floor as in your earphones.” Was that your intention from the get-go? Thanks. I guess that’s true. It’s dance music I guess, but it’s not aimed at a contemporary dance music culture, so it does not play to its rules.…