• Loah and Behold: Catching Up With Sallay Matu Garnett

    May 25, 2017 - By 

    Sallay Matu Garnett has been steadily honing her musical style as Loah, over the last five years. During this time she has collaborated extensively with some of Ireland’s prominent musical figures such as Hozier, Glen Hansard and Bantum. Quickly, critics and audiences became increasingly interested in the music she was writing and releasing as a solo artist. Garnett’s music is informed and inspired an eclectic mix of genres that she was exposed to growing up in both Sierre Leone and Ireland. Where there are traces of traditional West African harmonies you can also hear Western influences throughout her repertoire. Such…

  • Preview: Metropolis Live @ The MAC

    May 19, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of live-soundtracking Fritz Lang’s German expressionist masterpiece Metropolis at Belfast’s the MAC on Thursday, May 25, we talk to acclaimed composer and pianist Dmytro Morykit about the dramatic theatre of his score. Go here to buy tickets to the event. Hi Dmytro. Take us back: when did you first watched Metropolis and how did it affect you? I suppose the first time I saw it was 1983, around about the same time I saw Nosferatu. I had been reading about the Directors of the silent classics but F W Murnau made more of an impact, perhaps that was just…

  • Preview: Recreating The Velvet Underground & Nico @ The MAC

    May 16, 2017 - By 

    This Saturday (May 20) Belfast’s the MAC will host a special event celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Velvet Underground’s seminal debut, The Velvet Underground and Nico. We speak to bandleader Donal Scullion about its legacy and what to expect on the night. Go here to buy tickets, priced £12.50-£25.00. Hi, Donal. How did the idea for this show first come about? Had been chatting to Stu Campbell (The MAC), he said they were thinking of doing the 50th anniversary of that album and would I be interested in playing or organizing it. It was always a big album for me…

  • Preview: Heliopause on The Passion of Joan of Arc Film Live Score @ The MAC

    May 12, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of teaming up with This Ship Argo to live score Carl Theodor Dreyer’s classic 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc at Belfast’s the MAC on Thursday, May 18, Belfast musician Richard Davis AKA Heliopause talks to Brian Coney about the process, impetus and collaborative drive underlying the project. Go here to buy tickets Hi Richard, first off – how did the project come about? What drew you guys to The Passion of Joan of Arc? I first watched the film a few years ago when working at The Duke of Yorks cinema in Brighton with my friend & co-worker Sophie,…

  • Far At Sea: An Interview with Ailbhe Reddy and Maria Kelly

    May 5, 2017 - By 

    Two of the country’s brightest indie-folk talents, Ailbhe Reddy and Maria Kelly are on the road as part of their Far At Sea Tour, which will take them across the country over the next while. Ahead of stopping off at Belfast’s the MAC on Friday, May 12, we chat to the pair about collaboration, inspiration and why Ireland is a fertile land for folk music. Hi guys. First off, your show at the MAC in Belfast is part of your forthcoming Far At Sea tour. How did that first come about? Ailbhe: Well, Maria and I were working on getting venues…

  • Home Truths: An Interview With Lisa O’Neill

    April 27, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of her highly-anticipated appearance at Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy next Friday, May 5, Cavan folk raconteuse Lisa O’Neill talks to Brian Coney about the imprint of literature on her work, her admiration for Heaney and plans for album number four. Go here to buy tickets. Photos by Joe Laverty Hi Lisa. First off: what compels you to play HomePlace and what are your own experiences with the writing of Seamus Heaney? I’ve heard great things about HomePlace and feel honored to be invited to perform there. From what I’ve read and listened to of Seamus Heaney, I’m left…

  • History Repeating Itself: An Interview With William Basinski

    April 26, 2017 - By 

    William Basinski has just gotten back from running an errand. Sitting on the sunlit porch outside his home in Los Angeles, the setting, along with his demeanour, could not betray anything further from the melancholic, introspective shades of the music he has been composing for over 30 years. In fact, far from being the naval gazing artiste that one may naively expect a composer of such poignantly abstract music to be, Basinski radiates nothing but disarming warmth and good humour. Utterly forthcoming, he jokes about the dread of needing to move home within the year for fear of the effort:…

  • Putting Their Back Into It: We Meet Small Northern Irish Festival Our Back Yard

    April 24, 2017 - By 

    If there’s one thing the island of Ireland isn’t lacking it’s a well-attended and well put-together summer musical festival. But in the North – beyond the sway of Stendhal and Sunflowerfest – there’s still some scope for expansion; a little leeway and growth for annual showcases that put affordability and community at the heart of their manifesto. One such festival currently spearing their own thing is Our Back Yard, a festival that embody the “small but massive” mindset spearheaded by legendary NI DIY festival Glasgowbury. Ahead of its return to Gilford – just outside Portadown – on July 1, we talk to…

  • Whose Subconscious Is This Anyway? – An Interview with Bob Gallagher

    April 21, 2017 - By 

    As you may well be aware from his directorial work on some of the best music videos to come out of Ireland in the past couple of years, Bob Gallagher is not a man to shy away from the unusual or unexpected. Perhaps best known for his Radar award winning video from 2016 for Girl Band’s ‘Paul’ (as well as ‘Pears For Lunch’, ‘Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage’ and ‘In Plastic’), Gallagher has also worked with artists such as SPIES, Floor Staff, James Vincent McMorrow, Naoise Roo, Participant, Saint Sister and Myles Manley, creating visual accompaniments that veer from the…

  • Two’s Company: Meet Cork’s Alliance Promotions

    April 19, 2017 - By 

    A pair doing stellar work on the live gig front Leeside, Gordon O’Keeffe and Arlene Murray of Cork based Alliance Promotions sit down with Eimear Hurley to talk about their work in the Cork music scene First off: how did you guys get into music promotion? Gordon: I’ve been doing this for nine or ten years altogether. I started off in the punk scene. More and more people started coming until there wasn’t enough room in Fred Zeppelin’s anymore.  So we looked for bigger venues and it progressed from there. Alliance as it is now started about five years ago,…