ISSUE 01/ APRIL 18/
IADT STUDENT MAGAZINE/
THE EYE
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10-11
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INTERVIEW/ SOUND CHEF
COURSE FOCUS/ MODELMAKING
FEAT. ARTIST/ CIARA DOHERTY
SCREENWRITING/ DAVID TURPIN
COMMENTARY/ LEAGUE OF IRL. FOOTBALL
COVER STORY/ DEATH OF THE CHEAP SESH
editor’s note Oh boy, that took a while. Missed deadlines, drunken meetings and budget disputes meant that this issue came out a lot later than planned. But sure, that’s life. We started out this year noticing a very worrying fact about IADT - we didn’t have a voice, a way of showcasing what we were doing or what we were thinking. A magazine for the students and by the students. And that’s how the Eye was born. Through it all we have quarreled over features, learned how to put a magazine together and tracked down material - and what we have is a wonderful addition to the college, that I hope you enjoy as much as I do. The people who contributed, designed and helped run the newspaper deserve all of the credit here - they were wonderful and I couldn’t have asked for any more.
ISSUE ONE
Inside, you’ll find great interviews with soon to be departing SU president Helen Moynihan, IADT’s very own Sound chef and screenwriter David Turpin. We have articles on the state of Irish education, life on the stands at League of Ireland matches and both Gallagher brothers’ new albums. Plus find out exactly what happens in Model Making, and showcases of art from fellow students. So, what are you waiting for?
EDITOR/ Fionn Thompson DESIGNER/ Michael Fortune
CONTRIBUTORS/ Katie McCarthy Jason Coulter Fionn Thompson
Michael Fortune Jack Sinnott Zoe Agerr Lauren Conway
COVER/ ILLUSTRATION Adam Doyle insta: @spicebag.exe
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 4 5-6 7-8 9 10 11-12 13 14
PHOTOS/ Zoe Agerr Michael Fortune Ruth Medjber
FACES OF IADT ........................................ SOUND CHEF ........................ outgoing SU president HELEN MOYNIHAN
COURSE FOCUS
3D Design, Modelmaking + Digital Art
FEATURED ARTIST .............. IADT’s CIARA DOHERTY COMMENTARY
.................. League of Ireland Football
COVER STORY ................. FILM
Death of the cheap sesh
................... Former IADT lecturer DAVID TURPIN
COMMENTARY MUSIC
............................. Outdoor education
..................... 2 Gallaghers. 2 albums. 1 Winner
FEATURED ARTIST CONTENTS IMAGE
Ciara Doherty “What I eat in a day / Breakfast”
FACES
Sound Chef
one is happy to chat and go about their day.
So, could you state your name and position?
Do you have a favourite dish/day for cooking?
My name is Eamonn Kavanagh, and I’m the head chef.
So, Wednesdays would be our busiest day – it’s much easier to build a theme around a day when it will reach the most people. So, you try and put a lot of effort into making something different for the people – if it was shite they wouldn’t come back!
How long have you worked with the college? About 8 years. Have you noticed any changes in the college? Definitely in recent years there’s been a lot more vegans, vegetarians and coeliac options. People seem to be looking after their health recently. What’s your favourite thing about IADT? The majority of staff and students are sound, I can feel a connection. There’s no us vs them – every-
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You’ve got quite a name for yourself, being known as the ‘Sound Chef’. What inspires you to lift people’s spirits on a Monday morning? Well I have two kids in college – 21 and 20 – so I’d hate to think of them lining up for food and the person behind the counter is rude. I’m a former student myself so I know what it’s like. It costs nothing to be nice, so I just try and en-
joy it. Forming a good bond with people always makes them feel better about coming in, or if anything goes wrong or we run out a certain food they understand because you’ve got a mutual respect for each other. If you’re half decent to people they’ll always be nice to you – I know many head chefs who think they’re god and it reflects on them badly. When you’re at the front you’re representing the kitchen, and the most important thing is that what goes around comes around! Do you have any plans for the kitchen next year? Well, we’re kind of limited by the small space we have back there – the kitchen was built about 18 years ago when the college opened, and back then it was for 300-400 people. Now that we have over 3000, it is a struggle to incorporate new dishes due to the tiny amount of space we have. For instance, the new Starbucks used to be my storeroom, so now the deliveries are sometimes coming straight off the truck onto the floor. But it’s all good craic, it can be a challenge to feed everyone, but it really does just produce itself. For next year you’ll be sure to see all new concepts.
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S OF IADT Helen Moynihan
Firstly, why did you become president in the first place? I first started thinking about it towards the end of third year – I was a class rep, so I knew how the Union worked. But in fourth year, a lot of my friends were campaigning against the library cutting the Monday hours to 5 p.m. and I realised that this was the kind of work that I would be doing if I was president. I asked some friends if it was a good idea, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I was finished college, so it all made sense. So, was the library your first challenge as president or were there other matters that took precedence? The library remained a challenge throughout the year, because even with the problems that we aimed to fix, more kept appearing. It’s definitely been the most consistent. However, the main challenges have been things like student engagement – across the country in different SU’s, only a small percentage of students vote. So, while I’ve heard different thoughts from individual students on what we could be doing, it’s hard to get a
Interviews:
group consensus. The biggest challenge is figuring out if you’re doing the right thing, which can be hard without much feedback. Is there anything you wished to do but couldn’t get done?
One of the things that I only realised near the end of the year was the issue of housing – there’s no staff member who deals with accommodation, so that falls to the SU. Housing is probably our biggest issue and when students come for help you can feel quite helpless. The Welfare officer Andy has been saying for ages about our need for an accommodation officer, so me and him have put together a housing survey asking students questions about rent/living conditions/ travel etc, that we’re going to present to the college to push for an accommodation officer.
more relaxed with the little things. Also, the transition from being a student to someone who has to act bossy or do stuff that isn’t very fun. You learn a certain level of responsibility, to act on things that you aren’t mad about doing, because that’s the role you’ve taken on. And finally, people are interested in working with you – such as speakers, activists or performers. Just get in contact with people and the rest will do its work. And, any plans for you next? I’m planning to do a masters in the Autumn. One of the perks from the presidency is the amount of interesting people that I’ve met – it’s really prepared me well for the future.
Do you hope your successor will carry on the fight for housing, and any advice for her? I talked to Chloe not too long ago, and I really feel like she’ll do brilliantly with it. In terms of advice, try not to panic too much about really small things at the start - like a speaker being late. As the year goes on, you learn to become
Fionn Thompson
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COURSE IN FOCUS 3D Design, Modelmaking & Digital Art Words & photos by Zoe Agerr As students all over the IADT campus, we all hear and speculate over the mysterious courses that make up the artistic portion of this college. Students pretending to be inanimate objects, random art installations and bearded women in the cafeteria can all be slightly disorientating for the average business or media student, but then again this is just IADT. The design and visual arts department can be an intimidating sector of IADT – most of us only venture as far as the chapel or the courtyard – although curiosity got the better of us at The Eye and we spoke to someone in a course we didn’t anything about until this year. Freddie is a student of 3D Design, Model-making and Digital Art, three equally demanding practices. He is currently in his second year and enjoying every moment, we had a chance to visit his studio and ask him a thing or two. Q: Can you tell me a little bit about your course? And what you love most about it? My course is 3d Design, Digital Art and Model-making. So, in my course we work with designing and replicating objects and props or characters for movies, video games or just for recreational artistic purposes. My favourite thing 6 theEye
about my course is the diversity of tasks we have to accomplish and the variety of mediums which we use to complete each project. Q: How is the course different from what you had expected? When I was going into my course I didn’t really know what to expect at all so in that way it’s been a complete adventure and every project is taking me by surprise. Initially I found that the course was a bit frighteningly technical but as time progressed and I got better. Coming into second year I definitely had more of a grasp on what might come next
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E S
Q: Do you feel the college neglects your course/ the art department at all? I think it’s easy to look at other courses and to compare what they have and we don’t but at the end of the day, everyone in my course has a desk to work on and a space to be creative although I would like to have a locker! Q: What is the most difficult aspect of the model making program/field? Most rewarding? For me, the most difficult part of my course is having my projects in on time. But with that said I’m perfectly satisfied with the amount of time we’re given to complete each project, I could just do to manage my time better. Q: I understand you are a working student. How do you juggle work and school? So, I work as a waiter which is convenient for me as all of my work shifts are in the night when my college hours are over. However, what often happens is that my work will get busy at the same time as my deadlines and I’ll be working every night toward the end of a project and I turn into one big ball of sleepless stress. But I can handle it. Q: What advice would you give students considering the field? The advice I’d give to students considering coming into this field is that if they’re so lucky as to have the skill and passion to get into the art world, they should chase it with everything they’ve got cause it’s a bloody fun life to live. Q: What do you expect to get out of the program/what job do you hope to get? So, I’m an exception in my course that I want to do something slightly different to the direction that my course leads after college and that is interior design. As the design world is so versatile, I haven’t a doubt in my mind that I can pull it off. I’m currently waiting to hear if my Erasmus in Berlin to study interior design has come through. I’m also considering following the video game design route which I think more of my colleagues might follow too. The students of 3D Design, Model-making and Digital Art have completed some incredible projects including work for The Late-Late Toy Show. The course lasts 4 years in total and only holds 30 places each year for students. For any more information on this course please contact the course co-ordinator, Julian King. issuu.com/iadteye
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“WHAT I EAT IN A DAY / DINNER”
“WHAT I EAT IN A DAY / LUNCH”
”
“SELF PORTRAIT”
“TWO WEEKS”
CIARA DOHERTY (3rd year fine art)
Within my studio practice I work predominantly but not limited to the lens. I use mediums such as photography, film, sculpture and kinetic sculpture. My current series is titled “Transfer”, inspired by the materiality of media, I’ve been researching and experimenting with the physicality of the virtual world.
“TRANSFER”
nature is nurture A greater emphasis on outdoor learning may be the change we desperately need in our school systems - by Jason Coulter
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he Irish education system has had a rocky few years. Strikes, lock-outs and protests have seen teachers and unions demand the Department of Education to reform its ailing school system. However, there are few voices demanding the radical change that education needs as a whole the most. Any question about its future must include the benefits of outdoor learning. Education as an institution is long overdue a major overhaul - society knows it. Research into outdoor learning is on the rise, the most watched TedTalk is on the failure of the schooling system, and in Ireland, the question of religious ownership of schools is louder than ever. And the question is just at the right time, too. Ireland is in the midst of many crises but chief among these is a crisis in mental health, particularly among young people. Rates of depression, self-harm and suicide have never been higher in the developed world. America has become the first developed country to see its life expectancy actually decline, as a result of both suicide and a desperately unhealthy way of life. There are many factors at work here, but any solutions absolutely must involve a reclaimed love of nature. There is growing disconnect between humans and the environment, increasingly prevalent alongside our fascination for turning the environment into a commodity. It is leading to the abuse and destruction of the very ecosystem that humans and animals need to survive. But we are never taught in schools about the importance of sustainability and ecology – at least not with any conviction or care. Instead our education system’s gift to nature is letting students out once a year on an arbitrary, graded field trip. Is this how much our planet means to us? It is no wonder we grow up with a seemingly unending need to exploit it any way we can.
Studies by universities in the US and Britain extol the benefits of outdoor learning. Research shows that people are more attentive when learning outdoors and have much higher recollection and retention relative to classroom learning. There is only so much one can learn about nature from books and the internet. One needs to feel and smell nature in order to truly appreciate it. More importantly, there are huge benefits to a student’s social skills and mental health in nature, which is why it must begin at primary level. Being in nature fosters a sense of community and cooperation, helping children develop a strong sense of empathy with others. In turn, this leads to children enjoying school much more, even making them – shock horror – look forward to it. At primary level, a child’s ability for compassion and empathy must be able to grow and express itself, but the prevailing mood in primary education is that ‘device learning’ – using a laptop or tablet – is how the system modernises itself, despite no definitively positive research on the topic. Screen-time should not be used to displace face-to-face time, and this holds even more truth in children. The ‘one-size-fits-all’ narrative in education has failed. Some children do not have the desire, or capability, for constant classroom learning. There needs to be an alternative. It is time we stopped admonishing a student’s desire to go outside on a sunny day, and instead learned to embrace it. Outdoor learning does not simply shift the focus of education onto the environment, nor does it mean we switch the classroom for a field, but it does require a radical change. Finding out where our food comes from, the impacts of climate change, and learning the importance of our ecosystem should not be subjected to a few hours over the course of 15 years, but rather form a much stronger pillar to base our education around. As we stand on the precipice of ecological disaster and mental health epidemics, a more integrated outdoor learning experience in our schools will provide the future with nature conscious, happier people. A deeper appreciation of the environment and its wonders will make people more attuned to the looming dangers caused by the exploitation of our earth’s natural resources, while also providing untold health benefits to future generations.
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Death of the Cheap Sesh Fine Gael’s war on alcohol is nothing more than a money grab on the poor. By Fionn Thompson
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t was of no great surprise to hear that the current government, in line with Scotland and Northern Ireland, plan to bring in minimum pricing for alcohol products – starting as early as this May. In essence, minimum pricing places a standard minimum price on every gram of alcohol contained in a drink – with this roughly equating to around €1 per unit of alcohol. With these guidelines, your standard can of beer at 2.3 units will cost roughly €2:30 at the minimum, with a 70cl of spirits coming in at around €27. While stated that the bill is designed to “reduce alcohol consumption in Ireland to 9.1 litres per person per annum by 2020 and to reduce the harms associated with alcohol”, the reality is much more sinister than that – it is a cheap way of expending more tax money from the group of people in our society that have been regularly subjected to this post Celtic Tiger: the poor, the student and the social welfare recipient. A higher tax on alcoholic products is a stellar example of a regressive tax, that being, one that disproportionately affects those with a smaller income. A person of a higher income is less likely to feel the effects of a universal tax based on a non-essential and inelastic good since they have a higher income to offset the tax – they pay a smaller amount of their income towards that tax. Judging issuu.com/iadteye
the fact that lower income people generally are the more likely people to avail of cheap alcohol, this tax affects them unjustly. This change isn’t happening in a vacuum either; throughout the current government’s reign, we have seen considerable changes to the availability and pricing of cheap vices. With tobacco and alcohol being taxed higher and higher in every subsequent budget since 2008, it’s easy to see the government’s opinion of these goods – cash cows that they can tax at higher and higher rates due to their dependency, popularity and relative lack of alternatives for. With tobacco laws being heavily changed and the demise of the 12.5 gram, and with the price of a pint exceeding €5, it has become nearly impossible for lower income people to properly socialise in a pub without spending what little money they have. While other countries place less emphasis on drinking, it is an unmistakeable reality that the pub is the social gathering of our culture – and while alcoholism is a problem that effects every corner of our society, it is clear to see that we have a marriage with drink. Due to the increasing prices of alcohol within pubs and nightclubs (the highest in Europe and 175% the EU average) the last vestige of people trying to enjoy their weekend with a few drinks has been at home with cheap alcohol. Factor in rising rental prices, costs of everyday goods, falling disposable incomes, higher costs of home and car insurance and stagnating wages, and it is clear to see the unnecessary tax that we are being subjected to. The bill also designates the
right for the Minister for Health to increase the minimum pricing after 3 years, and every 18 months after that. So, while we are seeing the slight changes initially to alcohol pricing, there exists the possibility to have an unfettered power to increase the pricing at will. It is all too typical to see Finé Gael’s rampant tightening of governmental power – this bill takes the freedom of pricing away from the retailer, reducing competition and increasing monotony around the board. While they state the bill is designed to cut down on alcohol health risks, it will inevitably lead to small off-licenses closing and people spending more on the same amount of alcohol. You may have sensed my reticence towards the health risk aspect of the bill – surely higher alcohol pricing would equate to less alcohol deaths? Well, the evidence suggests otherwise. A study of British Columbia in Canada, who increased their minimum pricing from a period of 2002-2009, found that the number of alcohol deaths and hospital admissions actually rose during this period. The theory surrounding the minimum pricing suggests that rising pricing should equate to less deaths and hospital admissions, but the method of predicting these results, the The Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model, has been shown to rely on too simplistic methods of envisioning the results, especially in relation to alcoholics and heavy drinkers, who are less likely to change their drinking habits. In conclusion, you should always look deeper into a policy that is designed to help us by charging us more for shit that we consume quite regularly. The current government certainly has a penchant for this in all other aspects of life, so who expected any difference here? theEye 11
UNSAYABLE THINGS
Screenwriting with David Turpin The former IADT film student and EMCS lecturer on his screenplay for gothic horror movie the Lodgers. Interview: Michael Fortune.
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t began as a game that I used to play with myself when I was a child. I used to imagine, when I closed my bedroom door at night, that other people would occupy the house. I think that a lot of children imagine that”. David Turpin is recalling the origin of his first screenplay. The Lodgers is directed by Brian O’Malley, produced by IADT graduates Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde, and shot in Loftus Hall (Ireland’s most haunted house). It’s the story of twins, Rachel and Edward, alone together in their haunted familial home.
Three rules, layed down by their ancestors, compel the siblings to be in bed by midnight, never let strangers in, and always stay together. David is joining me for an interview between lectures at Trinity college, where it turns out that he teaches in 18th century literature. Writing a horror is no great departure of interest then. Indeed for fans of David’s atmospheric electro-pop, under the musical moniker the Late David Turpin, a story of mystery, romance and the gothic also appears in fitting with his creative identity. He also contributes to the movie’s
soundtrack with singer Cathy Davy. The opportunity to write the movie came to David “out of the blue” when he was approached by producers Treacy and Forde, looking for a horror story. “I suppose I dabbled in the gothic a lot in my music. I don’t see it as a “capital H horror film”. I’m interested in genre because it’s a language and its a language that we can use to talk about things that are difficult to talk about. Yes there are tropes but those tropes are tropes for a reason - they have an archetypal power and they enable us to talk about things we can’t talk about. For instance it’s very difficult to talk about family, it’s very difficult to talk about sex, and horror, I felt, made it easier for me to talk about those kind of unsayable things. So I don’t accept what some people would believe about a film like this - that it’s a matter of shuffling the deck of the genre tropes. I don’t think that’s enough. You see a lot of it, but I don’t think that’s enough.” “My next project is called The Winter Lake. That was supported by the IFB and by Creative Europe, which is another avenue that people can look into for doing stuff like that. And that one is a kind of psycho-drama. After that I’m working again with the same producers on a film called Black
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Unicorn, which is a piece of imaginative fiction to do with genetics and hermaphroditism. And then the film that I’m working on with Kathryn Kennedy is a comedy. It’s called the Indecents.” Producer Kathryn Kennedy is another IADT graduate. Reflecting on his time at IADT, David he had nothing but good things to say. “I went to IADT immediately after I left school so that would have been over ten years ago. It was before the construction of what is now the National Film School so we were in the atrium as well. In terms of the facilities, they were radically different. I was 17 and I was very scared of everyone so I am probably not the one to gauge how fun it was. But what I did notice, because after IADT I went to Trinity, is that IADT was more convivial. People talked to each other. In Trinity you have only to step outside the door and you can do whatever you want in town. Whereas in IADT, you’re kind of corralled out into this field and I guess you have no choice. I remember everybody who was in my class in IADT and I can’t remember a damn person from Trinity.” In his new role as screenwriter, the educator has ready insights into the craft. What follows is a wealth of advice and insiration for IADT’s aspiring screenwriters.
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Submissions “So there’s two ways you can do it with the IFB. You can apply as an individual or you can join up with a producer before making the submission. I’ve always done the latter. And it used to be perceived that that was the way to do it. But I think with the new way they’re working it, you don’t have an advantage through either channel.”
of film as very related to dreams. When a film works on us, it touches us in the same way that a dream does. It touches us in places like our fears, our erotic desires - these are the things that film communicates. It works a lot on our subconscious. I think it’s for anyone who can tap into that part of their mind and channel it through the formalizing device of a screenplay.”
Receiving Notes “As a screenwriter, you have to understand that you’re entering into a process that involves many moving parts, some of which you have no control over. It involves huge sums of other people’s money so when you are given a note, you have to hear it. You can’t just say “that’s not my vision” and bluster on, the way you could, perhaps, writing a novel.”
Formatting “I looked at screenplays to see the formatting. For every film that they develop at the IFB, there’s a script editor assigned, so I worked with her and she was great.”
Collaboration “Collaboration is fun. A misapprehension that a lot of people have about collaboration is that it involves wanting something done and then hiring someone in to do it. But in that case you should just acquire the skills and do it yourself. Collaboration is about giving somebody a seed that they germinate in their own way.” Personality “The personality that you need to write is not something that’s unique to film graduates. I think
Theme “You meet a lot of people who want to make a film because they want to be able to say “I am a filmmaker”. It’s a legitimate desire but it’s not going to be enough to get you through six drafts, months of shooting and a year of post production. It’s just not. I think you have to have something thematically that you want to talk about, that you feel needs to be said. The Three Things “I feel all films should be terrifying. But I also think that all films should be amusing and I think that all films should be sexy. And if you have some kind of combination of those three in everything, then you’re alright.”
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As I Sit Upon the West Stand Jason Coulter muses about the quirky magic that is League of Ireland football.
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t is 11 minutes into the match, and as the rain falls heavier and heavier, and Cork City score a second, my mate Chris and I do what any sane peple would do. We begin questioning the meaning of it all. Why are we here? What does it mean? We work out that, for me, it would have been easier to get to any other ground in Dublin – easier to get to Bray Wanderers even – than to trek to Richmond Park in Inchicore. And now Saint Pat’s are losing two nil and the rain hasn’t yet made its way into the marrow of our bones. The stadium announcer mumbles something incoherent over the tannoy and we are reminded of the bleak ‘Fun Land’ in Father Ted. I am not sure if he mentioned the Tunnel of Goats (probably not) but the setting is much the same. Doubts begin creeping into our minds. Meaning is lost. Signs and signifiers become blurred. My fingers are freezing. I look around the stadium and wonder what on earth people are doing here. There is football on TV, after all. They could be sitting on a warm couch, ordering pizza while a kitten sleeps soundly on their lap. Eugh, enough pessimism. I needed to get back into the zone. I needed to remember why I was here. Chris notes that Chelsea have taken the lead against Hull. Fuck English football dammit! We, the 2,771 people at the match, are directly resisting British cultural imperialism for goodness sake! Edward Saïd would have been proud. He then reminds me
that Bohemians’ match against Shamrock Rovers is on TV. No, dammit! Being here, in the flesh, is more important. It is the effort that made you a real fan, I told myself. Who cares that the bus fares to and from Richmond Park cost more than the match ticket. Who cares that being from Donegal, my local team ought to be Finn Harps. Who cares that four layers, a hat and gloves are not enough to keep the chill out. Yes, fine, the 46a could pick me up outside the house and stop right at Boh’s stadium, Dalymount Park, but where is the fun in that? The great Jonathan Wilson (apparently) once said that goals are overrated, that beauty is in the struggle – a maxim so good I have a t-shirt with those very words on it – and it applies here, too. Anyone can go to a game if a bus just takes them t here, r ight? Right. The beaut y is in the wet, long struggle of the journey. Ah yes, I’m doing what a real League of Ireland fan would do, I think. Disregarding the fact I have not yet reached double figures for League of Ireland matches attended. Talk about delusions of grandeur. As you may well have noted, I am not a ‘real fan’. For me, the time to heavily invest myself into a particular club was when I was young. Now though, the task for anyone wishing to get into the League of Ireland is to simply enjoy it for what it is. From the community-led ethos of most clubs, to the bizarre eccentricities of the Bray
boardroom. The underdog tales of European glory to the match-fixing (ahem, allegedly) in Athlone Town. There is a sense of camaraderie when people talk of the league, a belief that it will see brighter days in the future. I will never be a big St. Pats fan, and it is likely I will take trips to other stadia too this season, supporting whoever the home team is. But that’s fine. The hegemonic dominance of the Premier League will likely always hold sway. Perhaps there will be a time in the future when our society goes through one of its periodic upheavals, maybe it will involve workers raising the Red Flag (sorry Fionn!) proudly above the Dail (or razing it to the ground – I can see the appeal in both). Perhaps only then will the league get the kudos it deserves from me and everyone else. L e a g ue of Ireland clubs need money, and there is another article in writing about t he explet ives in the FAI, but more than anything else, it needs fans. Whether hardcore like the season ticket holders, or casual stadium hoppers like me. Oh, yes, match closure. Soon after all these thoughts came into my head, which I have miraculously reproduced word for word here, Cork had a player sent off. Saint Pat’s heroicly scored twice to level the game and were pushing hard for a winner. Until, as football goes, Cork scored their third late on, direct from a corner. Go figure.
“the task for anyone wishing to get into the League of Ireland is to simply enjoy it for what it is”
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Words by Jack Sinnott
Battle of the Brothers Which Gallagher comes out on top?
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fter the fall from glory that was the death of Oasis, the Gallagher brothers are back with two new albums. With Liam’s attempt to revive Brit-rock in the modern world of pop and Noel’s exploration of psychedelic rock, the Gallagher’s rivalry is bigger than ever. For Noel this is nothing new, with ‘Who Built The Moon?’ being the third album his group ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ have released since 2010. This is Liam’s debut record though and after the commercial failure of Beady Eye, ‘As You Were’ is probably his last chance to prove himself as a rival to his older brother. So, let’s analyse the albums and decide who the superior Gallagher really is. We’ll start with Liam, who came back on the scene with a bang and a supergroup of songwriters and producers. People like Andrew Wyatt and Greg Kurstin - who have produced major artists such as Sia, Kendrick Lamar, Adele and Foo Fighters - were brought in to fill the holes in Liam’s song-writing and to ensure commercial success. Liam and his team’s plan seems to be working, with the album selling more copies in its first week than the rest of the Top 10 combined, and had the biggest one-week vinyl sales in over 20 years. The record starts off strong with the punchy lead single, ‘Wall of Glass’, that hits you with the same intense wall of guitars and drum sound that Oasis became so famous for. Unfortunately, the album peaks too soon and, after this hard hitting first song, the album slowly tails off, but it has a few highlights like ‘For What it’s Worth’. Liam is a bit two-dimensional in the album - on one hand we have the attitude driven rock songs like ‘Wall of Glass’ and ‘You Better Run’, full of hard drum beats and catchy guitar riffs, while on the other we have a more vulnerable Liam who sings introspective ballads over acoustic guitar. The whole album seems to fit in these two boxes, leaving it feeling very formulaic by the end. Despite the team of writers, the lyrics are a clear low point in most of these songs. Tracks like ‘You’d Better Run’, where Liam uses rock clichés to fill up the songs with little substance, can be cringeworthy at moments, with lines such as ‘Well I’m gonna steal your thunder. You’d better run, you’d better hide’
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oel stated “I don’t want to make it easy for people” about the album, and it is a disorientating experience, with this seemingly being an intentional decision from Noel Gallagher and David Holmes. This album marks a new direction for Noel musically, who admitted feeling bored of the record making process, normally going into the process with the album written, with the creative work left outside. With this album however, he set out to have nothing written, creating the record from scratch, and, while interesting in theory, this process has resulted in the confusing concoction that is ‘Who Built the Moon?’. The album starts off with the hype building ‘Fort Knox’, which acts as more of an introduction than a standalone single, setting the tone for what is to come. Hip-hop drums, huge vocal chants and strings fill this song, which Noel admits was inspired by Kanye West’s 2010 single, ‘Power’. The song seems a bit redundant to this album though, as the 4-minute opener goes nowhere in particular and makes the listener lose interest before the album really begins. After this, we have the upbeat, leading single ‘Holy Mountain’. The chorus of this song is driven by a perky tin whistle sample from 60s song, ‘The Chewin’ Gum Kid’ and a vocal melody that resembles Ricky Martin’s ‘She Bangs’. Holy Mountain is an exhausting listen, with the constant brass accompanying the driving guitars and drum beats along with the overblown vocals. They seem to try to make everything too large by filling up every space with instrumentation and reverb, forgetting the power of silence and contrast in music. This song and, the album in general, feels exhausting and overbearing to listen to, with no breaks to breathe. In trying to make everything huge and anthemic, Holmes and Noel have done the opposite. Or as Liam elegantly remarks about the single, “it’s a bit annoying”. Nearly every song on the album is so overblown that it is hard to listen to. The bonus song at the end of the deluxe version, ‘Dead in The Winter’, really shows the flaws of this album, mainly in the production. The song was recorded live acoustically in RTE 2FM studios in Dublin and it is easily the best song on the album. It feels like a breath of fresh air after the rest of the album, as the stripped back performance showcases Noels strengths as a songwriter without being clouded behind over-the-top production.
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