• 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?…

  • Inbound: Amerik

    April 21, 2021 - By 

    In the early 2000s, Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello’s method of overcoming physical distance in musical collaboration was so unusual that they named the resulting project – The Postal Service – after it. In 2021, it’s the new normal. Funny, then, that Adam Booth, Belfast producer of instrumental music under the moniker Amerik, chose the current climate for his first collaborative effort. Perfectly timed as we all prepare to get a little closer to each other, his second EP, Bouquet, brings together Gareth Dunlop, Travi The Native, Little Rivers, and Pete Wallace for a richly seasoned collection of heartfelt sounds…

  • A Chat with The Mary Wallopers

    March 17, 2021 - By 

    Dundalk brothers Charles and Andrew Hendy have been charming audiences in their guise as hip-hop duo TPM since 2015, with a run of hilarious but infectious singles about life on the dole, their love of curry sauce and their hatred of the national broadcaster. But their more recent reinvention as stout-swilling folk band The Mary Wallopers, with friend Seán McKenna in tow, came as something of a surprise. Armed with guitars, banjos and a seemingly bottomless well of traditional folk ballads, the trio have supported the likes of Lankum and Junior Brother, as well as playing their own riotous and…

  • EP Premiere + Q+A: Badhands – Oceans

    November 26, 2020 - By 

    The popularity of the sea, particularly in recent years, has become somewhat of an astonishing phenomenon. Images shared by friends and acquaintances online of their sea swimming adventures are perpetual, even in cold winter climates. There’s no denying that the activity is both restorative and reinvigorating. For many, it has been a consistent companion in finding a release with anxiety and other personal struggles. A huge aspect to the appeal of the sea is its vastness and unpredictability, your eye can only distinguish so much in the distance and so your imagination is allowed to roam.  This is an integral…

  • Motherhood in the Music Industry: An Interview with New Pagans

    September 21, 2020 - By 

    Belfast’s New Pagans make evocative music, using the tried-and-tested soft-loud dynamic to marry massive riffs with socially-conscious, challenging lyrics with a view to starting important conversations. Catching up with vocalist Lyndsey McDougall over Skype offers just such an opportunity. Forming in 2016; Lyndsey’s recollection of the band’s formation makes it sound like it was an inevitability. “I met Cahir (O’Doherty, guitar and vocals) years ago. We eventually got married but I had been a massive fan of his music (Jetplane Landing and Fighting With Wire). He knew that I had written or had always dabbled in music but I went…

  • Sampling Dog Howls: An interview with ELLLL

    October 8, 2019 - By 

    Cork-born producer and DJ ELLLL creates gravitating music without the gravitas. Armed with samples of Youtube videos and voice recordings from nights out, she weaves music ranging from tactile soundscapes, to airy breaks and propagating percussion. Now based in Berlin, we caught up with ELLLL ahead of her set at Dublin’s Wigwam on Thursday to talk production and the current state of the club scene in Ireland. ELLLL plays Notions at Wigwam, Dublin on October 10th We saw three new EPs from you earlier this year. Febreeze on First Second Label, Confectionary on Glacial Industries, and Glisten on Paralaxe Editions,…

  • A Sense of Wonder in the Particular: An Interview with Perlee

    October 4, 2019 - By 

    Perlee are an Irish-bred dream-pop duo based in Berlin. Made up of Saramai Leech and Cormac O’Keefe, their first release ‘Chains of Coral/Feelings of Plenty’ is out today. Saramai sits down with Maija Sofia to discuss her creative process, her inspirations and Perlee’s plans for the future. Catch them tonight in The Grand Social Ballroom as part of Ireland Music Week. So having lived in both rural Ireland and Berlin, do you think both of these geographical locations have influenced your music? Listening to the songs it feels like there’s a sense of rural wilderness but also a kind of…

  • I Think it’s Time We Talked Things Over: An interview with Stiff Little Fingers

    August 22, 2019 - By 

    Inflammable Material, the ferocious debut from Belfast legends Stiff Little Fingers, is now forty years old and stands as one of the great records of the punk era. The Stiffs detailed the frustrations, anger and mind-numbing boredom of Northern Irish life during the Troubles in fearless fashion, helping to define an otherwise dark era for many. This month, the band celebrate its birthday with two Irish dates, a stop in Dublin’s Academy before returning to Belfast’s Custom House Square for the third successive year. I spoke to frontman Jake Burns about that show, his contemporaries, Brexit, and Coronation Street. Hi…

  • Heavy Pop: An Interview with THVS

    August 6, 2019 - By 

    Ahead of the release of their eagerly-anticipated debut album in Belfast’s Voodoo on October 12, we catch up with THVS, a Belfast-based three-piece whose emphatic “heavy pop” craft is on the very cusp of breaking through. THVS straddle a line between heavy sounds and pop music sensibility. How has the project evolved from your previous incarnations? Michael: I think that very part of it in and of itself is the evolution, the pop sensibility. In any previous band I’ve been in that was very much balked at so I think that step has lead us to a wider sound. Who…

  • Love Do Me Right: Q&A with Eric ‘Dr Dunks’ Duncan

    June 20, 2019 - By 

    This Saturday (June 20) discerning party-throwers Belfast Music Club invite DJ and producer Eric ‘Dr Dunks’ Duncan to the Ulster Sports Club back room. Disco nerd and friend of BMC Jonny Carberry had the pleasure of firing a few questions Dunks’ way. ___ JC: Hi Eric, big thanks for doing this – excited to catch you on Sat! We’ll chat about what you’re currently up to, but to rewind to 2004/2005 a little and early Rub N Tug mixes like ‘Live at Rui’s’ and ‘Campfire’ – I really loved these mixes, they seemed deeper than other things I was listening…