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20 NEW IRISH ACTS TO WATCH THIS YEAR INCLUDING
PROFOUND
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[ In alphabetical order ]
AMIDSHIPS BENIHANA BITCH FALCON BOOKA BRASS BAND BUFFALO WOMAN COLUMBIA MILLS CONOR WALSH DAH JEVU DEAR DESERT LOAH KOBINA KWAMIE LIV OLD HANNAH PARTICIPANT POCKETS PROFOUND ROBOCOBRA QUARTET ROCSTRONG SATORI JE WYVERN LINGO
Thanks to all the artists for participating.
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INTRODUCTION A huge welcome to State’s 2015 and to this latest crop of Faces, twenty of the acts that we predict will make an impact on the Irish music scene in the coming months. We started compiling this annual list in 2009 (with a selection including Villagers, Heathers and Adebisi Shank) and since then we’ve featured pretty much every key new home grown act to emerge over the past six years. Some have made an initial impact, some have taken their time, some have remained underground - but all have added to the rich musical culture that exists in this country. From our 2014 list, cover star Hozier has obviously been the leading light but the likes of Somerville, Simi Crowns, Floorstaff, Princess, Tvvins and Joshua Burnside have all made great progress.
And so onto 2015. With rapper and actor ProFound leading the charge, it’s a snapshot of the breadth of Irish music at the moment. From hip-hop to hardcore, bluegrass to soul and electronica to pop, it’s all here. As ever, we’re not just bringing you the artists in words as our photographic team have spent the last few months travelling the country to shoot a series of exclusive and incredible images. Listen to our companion mixtape here, click on all the underlined weblinks to find out more and enjoy this trip. And it is a trip. See you at our launch gig, regular monthly Faces shows and once more at the Electric Picnic.
Click box to listen to State’s compilation
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state.ie @statemagazine
[ Web links are in red. ]
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THE PHOTOGRAPHERS Just as much a part of State’s annual Faces as the musicians on these pages, the people behind the shutters and lenses are the reason that what you are looking at now is at the very top level of editorial production. You can see for yourselves the amount of creativity, time, effort and sheer sweat that had to be coupled with the talent that we at State are lucky enough to work with.
As the edits of the shoots came in to the art department we were constantly overwhelmed with the work we were seeing. From contact and concept to the shoot and final retouching – these photographers have stepped above and beyond the call of duty and the proof of it is in the following pages. And it is a rich treat for the eyes. When we see these pages come together we feel a sadness too that we aren’t in a position to print this. We are still awaiting that benevolent printer or sponsor who sees a link between what they do and the display of Irish talent in these pages but for now we are lucky to be able to distribute it as it was meant to look anyhow, albeit digitally. A fine salute, as you’ll agree, to the creative talent linked to our shores. SIMON ROCHE, ART DIRECTOR
TARA THOMAS
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OLGA KUZMENKO has been shooting live gigs for State since 2013, and has captured no less than 15 of the bands chosen by State for our Faces publications, as well as covering the Longitude and Electric Picnic festivals. With a passion for loud and heavy music, she aims to capture emotion and movement through the viewfinder. She has studied photography, TV and video production, and is always ready for new and interesting projects. olgakuzmenko.com
MARK McGUINNESS is a commercial photographer based in Dublin. Between client based jobs, he is currently working on two long term personal projects. He also really, really knows his coffee. markmcguinness.ie
STE MURRAY is a freelance performance and architectural photographer. Having studied architecture in UCD he works with architects to document their projects. He also collaborates with theatre makers and musicians to create live and promotional images. As a regular gig-goer, he is happiest taking photos in the pit of a concert. ste.ie
SEAN CLARKE is a portrait and music photographer. He has been shooting for nearly seven years, photographing mostly local bands both live and off-stage. His work is featured on many bands’ websites and he’s had the chance to shoot bands like Fozzy and Diamond Head over the years. He mostly works in Dublin and the North East area. clarke-photo.com
DEBBIE HICKEY’s photography expertise ranges from concerts to portraits to her own personal favourite, Lego. She is currently the Deputy Photo Editor of Golden Plec and also shoots for Getty Images. Her images have been published worldwide including Rolling Stone, MTV, NME and Kerrang. debbiehickey.com
Also keeping things looking good on state.ie is a collection of exclusively live music photographers whose keen eye is only equalled by their sharp elbows. We are indebted to them all. Here’s two of our long-serving pit-shooters.
Over the last half a decade, KIERAN FROST has managed to photograph almost every band passing though, or based in Ireland. As well as being a photographer for State, Kieran contributes regularly to the Redferns agency, the The Irish Times, Sunday Times, and Q Magazine. kieranfrost.com
PAULO NUNO has a passion photographing music, cityscapes and surfers – working across all these genres and more. Hailing from Portugal, he has been published internationally and has called Ireland his home for the last 13 years. paulonuno.com
AMIDSHIPS photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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Border-straddling band find themselves.
AMIDSHIPS Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Northern Irish atmospheric indie rock band Amidships formed in 2011 as a guise for singersongwriter, John Paul McCorley. Since then, JP has moved to Dublin, formed a band in Belfast, defined a sound and released two singles, ‘Oceans’ and ‘Lost’. With LA based management and the support of both BBC and RTE, the four piece are ready to set sail. There isn’t a lot online about you guys, what’s the story there? “Yeah...well, we don’t like to make a big fuss really. I’m a firm believer in bands having something meaningful to say if they’re gonna say anything and we’d rather put music out and play shows. I suppose it means when something is coming out and we announce shows that there’s a bit more interest because you’re not saturating everything. I think it’s better to let other people talk about you than to talk about yourself, y’know? We’ve had some nice reviews, some nice people have said things and bands have been nice enough to ask us to support them so that all helps, it’s a slightly different approach but hopefully it will work”. Have you defined Amidships yet? “We’ve tracked the beginnings of an album at the minute and the big aim was to get a consistent sound. That’s one of the things that kept everything interesting for me was to understand what kind of band we were; are we a rock band? A folk band? An electronic rock band? You could listen to a bunch of tracks and then sort of misunderstand what type of band we are. I think that was the driver behind limiting our presence online so that until we had a release that fully represented what we should sound like, then people’s opinions should be formed by coming to see us live”.
Have you achieved that with these tracks? visit website “Well the photograph of Amidships in that moment in time. It will be whatever is musically and lyrically on the radar for me and us at that point. The process has become more isolated and focused, I had a very bad habit previously of not finishing off songs properly. Hundreds of songs perhaps 60% or 70% finished and I had to get into a habit of getting a song to 90% finished so the band could do the extra 10%. Because if you go the band with 60% done, there can be a tremendous amount of difference in that 40% and that leads to inconsistency. So it was being more disciplined and having an understanding that the songs should have earth and be believable and have some sentiment that people can relate to”. Do you feel that you sit comfortably with what’s happening in Irish music right now? “My main problem is commitment and I mean that in the most sincere way possible. Committing to a sound, a song to tape and committing to a genre or a style. Musically most people try to create a catalogue of that particular moment in time. I could send you stuff now – I won’t – which is electronic, bass thing that I’m working on for people that have asked me to contribute vocals to. It’s whatever keeps me interested and excited in music because that’s what I’m interested in and why I play music, that and the catharsis of course”. MARK ROCHE Thanks to Bewley’s Theatre for the photoshoot location.
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“One of the things that kept everything interesting for me was to understand what kind of band we were�
PARTICIPANT photographed for State by
MARK McGUINNESS
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A man alone.
PARTICIPANT Photographed for State by Mark McGuinness
Taking a break from his bass playing duties in Heritage Centre, Stephen Tiernan’s solo reinvention is proof that working alone can broaden your horizons. Combining emotive songs with samples, gorgeous production and natural instrumentation, he seems to have found his calling. What made you think about a solo project? “I had always toyed with the idea of doing something on my own over the years. I’d always played guitar and wrote songs, but seldom let anyone hear them. My other band had kind of fallen into a lull and I thought, fuck this I want to write songs and play gigs”. Was the experience liberating or terrifying? “Both. Writing and recording (and now gigging) the EP and having final say over everything was, and is, a really interesting experience for me. Sometimes you miss having someone say ‘that part doesn’t work’ but just as often you stumble on to something that may never have made it past a vote. If it’s the wrong choice, that’s on you as well. Moving from playing bass with my back to the audience to singing my songs centre stage has been a crazy change. I feel a lot more exposed”. How do you create your sound? “My EP Bit Slow started as really basic acoustic demos in my room. Once I have a rough idea of a song and a theme I want to work around, I start layering things, generally trying to remove as much of the original guitar as possible yet still retaining some of the song. I use a lot of samples and manipulate the sounds I record a lot. I sampled lots of my old demos, stuff I had recorded on my phone, stuff from singles and EP’s I’d been involved with. I aimed to create a
sort of warm, ambient bed for the songs using recordings and ideas I had been involved with in the past. A lot of the little incidental sounds on the EP have stories of their own”. How crucial are your collaborators? “They’re really important. I enlisted my friend Paul O’Hare (who plays with electronic band WOB!) initially just to go through the songs and the rough beds for them and tell me what he thought. He was into the songs and we generally met at least once every two weeks to tidy the arrangements and sounds, or add some guitars or bass or whatever. Even outside of getting feedback on the songs from Paul, just knowing I had to finish a drum part or rewrite a vocal melody for the next week helped me actually get this project done”. What lies ahead? “I’m working hard on the live set. I’ve put together a great band who I love playing with and we’ve done some fun shows. Learning the EP for live shows has been really interesting and I’m excited to see where Participant can go in a live setting. A lot of people have commented about the details on the EP. I want to bring that attention to detail to the live set but also add the energy you can only get from a gig. Another release is a definite, perhaps physical this time! Though I’m not sure what sort or when, I’m writing and I’ve got a lot of new ideas I’m interested to let people hear”. PHIL UDELL
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“I feel a lot more exposed”
“Stephen’s voice is awesome, it’s lovely and delicate” Dear Desert
POCKETS
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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Gathering of the tribes.
POCKETS Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
A fresh-faced Galway trio who began 2014 by bringing their individual brand of brooding folk/ rock to the stage of Whelans Ones to Watch in January and ended it by releasing their debut EP, Raison d’Etre in November to a packed house in The Grand Social, Pockets built word of mouth, critical buzz and a drip feed of new material that left listeners itching for their next fix.
Is there any particular track you enjoy playing live the most? Sean: “Every song we write is our new favourite and the music is getting a lot heavier – it’s basically metal what we are playing with our new material”. What is the plan for 2015?
How did the band get started? Sean: “I had a song called ‘Alone” written that I didn’t feel was suitable for any of the other bands I was a part of at the time. Myself and Faustina decided to try and write some other songs in a similar vein and play some open mics to test them live. We played it and one other song at an open night and afterwards Cian approached us and asked did we need someone for drums; he joined about a week later. The same happened with Joe after another open mic there where he asked did we need someone to play bass”. What influences your music? Faustina: “Our music, especially the first few tracks we wrote, were all directly inspired by literature, documentaries, films but we tried to tell our own versions of their stories; ‘Alone’ is based on a poem by James Joyce”. What contemporary artists influence you or was there a common element to your tastes when you started out that wound through the members of the band? Sean: “Everyone had their own influences that they brought with them but it wasn’t a case of having a plan to sound like we do, the sound came together organically. Collectively we all love alt-J though”.
Sean: “Our aim is to host a series of our own special and potentially themed shows next year. We want to work hard towards those shows and give our fans something to look forward to – try and create an effective atmosphere that resonates well with our songs and hopefully that can leave our audience with a memorable experience once the lights go up”. PAUL McCONNELL
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“The music is getting a lot heavier – it’s basically metal”
“We’re calling it: these will be a big fuckin’ deal in 2015!” Bitch Falcon
LOAH photographed for State by
STE MURRAY
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Other voices.
LOAH Photographed for State by Ste Murray
A stunning singer of Irish and Sierra Leonean descent, Sallay Matu Garnett stopped us – and everybody else – in our tracks with her exquisite ‘Cortége’ track late last year. Part of the Ensemble collective of like minded souls, Loah is yet another bold new example of where our musical culture is headed. How would you describe your music? “I use the term Artsoul. The sound is developing still and always will be but I call it soul because it comes from a very authentic place and is overarchingly soul music. That said, the art element is that you can hear me just as happily singing a gospel spiritual as a Baroque lament as a funk stomper and this comes through. Every influence I have is worn on my sleeve. With time they are weaving themselves into the Artsoul sound”. What prompted you to make music in the first place? “It feels really, really good! My mum signed me up for singing and violin at the age of four and since then I’ve been hooked. I tried not doing it for a few years and it was the darkest period of my life. I realise there are only two things that make me happiest – good times with loved ones and making music”.
What influences your sound, where do you draw inspiration from? “Very old traditions of folk, be it Western or West African and classical music, and from newer styles of funk, rock and soul music of the last century. I am very attached to the old world and its charm and tragedies – you’ll find me living or singing in the oldest spaces I can find and I am drawn to a sense of tradition and the mournfulness and wisdom that comes from the past. That said, there is no tradition of being Irish-Sierra Leonean just yet and funk and soul are barely 50 years old so when you fuse it all together it’s turning into something people have been saying sounds fresh so that’s lovely to hear. Poetry and politics are in there too, subtly but strongly. My ‘Golden Circle’ of incredible female artists are some of the freshest ladies around so they inspire me to keep following my sonic instincts – Patti Smith, Erykah Badu, Bjork, Nina Simone, Oumou Sangare, Joni Mitchell, the list goes on and on…” As an artist what has been the biggest thrill of the last 12 months? “All of our gigs have been pretty thrilling and varied but Body and Soul Main Stage at the Picnic and our first headline show at the Twisted Pepper stick out in my mind. Both very different gigs but great crowds and a serious buzz. To get such a great response from audiences and press in only the first few months of the project is hugely encouraging and fills us with hope for the future”. STEVEN DUNNE
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“Every influence I have is worn on my sleeve”
“She brings the sounds of beautiful Sierra Leonean folk into the modern music realm using incredible vocals and musicianship...” Old Hannah
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BITCH FALCON photographed for State by
MARK McGUINNESS
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We predict a riot.
BITCH FALCON Photographed for State by Mark McGuinness
One of the most exciting live bands doing the rounds at the moment, Bitch Falcon bring the noise in a manner that few can match. Next stop is the studio and replicating their righteous ferocity on record. No problem we reckon.
Who are your musical soulmates? visit website Fia: “Any band that can absolutely kill it live”. What has been the biggest thrill of the past year for you?
Has Ireland started getting loud again? Nigel: “I think Ireland has always been loud but like everything in music, it’s cyclical. There have always been rock bands slogging it out every night in venues around the country. You only hear about it when a band like Royal Blood starts getting played on 2FM, or obviously if your peers are into that anyway. I like it loud, so I guess for me, it’s always been loud regardless because that’s what turns me on. To someone who isn’t in to that, Ireland probably isn’t that loud at all”. Fia: “Maybe it’s just the view from inside the circuit, but yeah the scene seems to be louder than ever! Over the past year we’ve had the privilege of playing on the same bill as bands like Red Enemy, Frustration, Nibiru, No Spill Blood, Chewing on Tinfoil, Val Normal, Otherkin, Kate’s Party, :Hounds:, Wild Rocket, Punch Face Champions… with bands like these at the top of their game, it certainly seems like heavier music is gaining momentum. That said though, the entire music scene in Ireland is vital. Right now there’s truly nowhere else in the world I’d rather be living and heading out to a gig of an evening”.
Nigel: “Joining this band and laughing the arse off myself with three of my best mates. Oh and making an absolute mess of the State Oxjam tent at Electric Picnic was pretty cool”. What do you expect from 2015? Fia: “A single, an EP, an album. Get in”. PHIL UDELL
“My favourite band in Dublin right now – they are so raw. The first time I heard them felt like the first time I heard ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. Freedom! They’re a serious inspiration…” Loah
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“Right now there’s truly nowhere else in the world I’d rather be living and heading out to a gig of an evening”
KOBINA photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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Let’s push things forward.
KOBINA Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
The musical alter ego of Dublin producer Sean Arthur, Kobina brings together 2-step, electronic R&B and alternative pop. Already moving in the right circles after the release of just one EP, the only way is up. What inspired you to start producing? “I had played in various bands since I was a kid but I felt I was constantly failing to get the sound I could hear in my head to translate through other musicians. Then having all but given up, a friend of mine sent on some production software and I began the process of figuring it out. Once I stopped trying to create music for other people, I was able to find my own voice”. Was it important to bring different styles together? “I think because I never initially intended to release anything, I just recorded what came naturally. It was only when I played live and people mentioned my music blended different genres, that I really noticed. I think it is very easy to just make what is popular at a particular moment in time and I find my favourite artists are those that find their own voice and push things forward”. What do you look for in a vocal collaborator? “I think the most important thing is finding someone who understands your vision for the song. I find I produce the best results when I work with someone I’m comfortable with on a personal level”.
How do you think the Irish electronic scene is viewed internationally? “The Irish scene is very strange. We produce incredible artists who seem completely overlooked by much of the rest of the world. That being said, every now and again some artist will sneak through like Mmoths or Lakker and suddenly people are surprised they’re Irish”. Is there any act, besides yourself, that you think could break out over the next twelve months? “I’ve been saying it for years but I really think this year could be the year of Clu. Their audio/ visual show in Button Factory was incredible and on par with, if not better than most major label acts. Great guys too. I think Blooms (who featured on a track of mine), could be in line for some really big things”. PHIL UDELL
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“Once I stopped trying to create music for other people, I was able to find my own voice”
“Beautiful chill-out tunes. This is our sort of music…” Columbia Mills
DEAR DESERT photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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They got us feeling emotion.
DEAR DESERT Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Starting musical life with a series of lo-fi recordings, Dublin trio Dear Desert have blossomed into something joyous. Two singles and a rattlingly good live show - all topped off by Brendan Millar’s emotive vocals - have set them on their way. Could we call you a pop band? “Of course, we lean towards the use of hooks and catchy melodies in our song writing. Also in our writing process there is a conscious effort to pare a song back to its bare essentials. A good pop song should feel effortless whereas the truth is a lot of effort goes into writing one”. Do too many people give the genre a bad name? “In the ’90s and ’00s pop became a dirty word among music lovers however we’d like the word to be reclaimed. In the grand scheme of things the greatest bands in the world have been pop bands; The Beatles, Tears for Fears, The Who, Queen. These days ‘alternative’ bands like Future Islands consider themselves pop and don’t think of it as negative, we’d like to follow in their footsteps”.
Who influenced you as a band? visit website “Influences for Dear Desert are both old and new, all three of us would be huge fans of bands like Talk Talk, OMD, Blue Nile, Japan and Pink Floyd and then we would also take influence from modern artist like Twin Shadow, Connan Mockasin, John Maus, Sean Nicholas Savage and Wild Beasts. I guess we kind of keep an eye on the past but push towards something original and different”. There seems to be a fragility to your music... “Our songs would be about fragile themes such as love, death and all that’s in between really, we’ve been described as emotive pop purveyors which I guess sums it up quite nicely in the sense that we always look to stir some sort of personal feeling in the listener”. What do you expect from 2015? “We hope to keep writing and do some recording early in the year, so keep an ear out for new releases . Also we’d like to build on our live show, it’s important to us that people go away with something special from a live gig so we’ll be trying a few things next year to make our live shows as engaging as possible”. PHIL UDELL
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“We always look to stir some sort of personal feeling in the listener”
“Classic ’80s synth sounds topped off by Brendan’s great voice…” Buffalo Woman
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PROFOUND photographed for State by
MARK McGUINNESS
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Deep impact.
PROFOUND Photographed for State by Mark McGuinness
IF
f we were to make one prediction for the year ahead, it’s that hip-hop will finally take its deserved place as one of the key pillars of the Irish music scene. With 2014 bringing us the likes of God Knows + mynameisjOhn and Hare Squead, the New Year looks set to see ProFound stake a claim as frontrunner. It helps that music is only part of his armoury, with the young Dubliner also set to make his cinematic debut in Sing Street, the latest from Once director John Carney. Music though, was an early love.
“I used to record songs on my friend’s laptop in my house for fun but I really got started when one of my close friends got signed to a local label and he invited me to do a competition for a possible signing, so from there I took a few months to really perfect my craft as a rapper. I entered the competition and won it but I couldn’t sign because of school. That’s how it all started really”.
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Was having to wait frustrating? “At the very start yes. I was always so eager to put myself out there because I felt like I was getting better writing wise but really I wasn’t ready. I’m realising now that releasing a million badly produced songs will not make as much of an impact as releasing one meaningful, well produced song once in a while. So I’ve learned to control my frustration in order to work on my perfection as an artist”. Although blessed with a supportive family (his parents accompany him to all his shows), he wasn’t exposed to much music at home as a child. “My mum sang a little but that was never an influence on me. It was when I started hanging out with musical friends that I started to become more exposed to music as you would expect. The more I got into it, the more I attracted like minded musicians who have heavily influenced my journey”.
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» A striking aspect of ProFound’s music, and one that sets him apart from 99% of the artists that he’ll rub shoulders with on the Irish scene, is his religious faith. Was church music always an influence? “To be honest no, not at the start anyways. As I have really started to grow in my faith I have started becoming more and more influenced by gospel music”. How about spirituality and it’s effect on his lyrics? Again it’s a gradual process. “I don’t really understand it as I am only human but my faith definitely influences my lyrics, especially now that I’m striving to be a Christian. I’m becoming more and more aware of the things I write”. What, then, does he make of mainstream hip-hop these days - often as far removed from spirituality as it’s possible to be? “Before now I would’ve said it’s terrible and ruining the culture but that was then when I would still listen to it. I’ve realised there’s no point of complaining about it or judging it because it’s not gonna stop. It’s always gonna sell, so I just stopped listening to it”. That said, as an MC, poet and dancer, he seems immersed in the whole culture… “In a way I am because I’m growing up in an era when it is flourishing, both the good and the bad are prospering so yes I am pretty much involved in the culture. I don’t really listen to it as much anymore, I’m more into soul music and gospel at the moment, which is weird cause I’m a hip-hop artist but I believe listening to those genres influences my music for a change in the culture”.
And then there’s the acting. Where does that fit in? “I actually started off as an actor when I was younger but only in school plays and youth theatres, it was never something I took seriously, It was just something I did for fun to get my confidence up cause I was a really shy kid. Being a part of Sing Street was amazing because, even though I was always joking about this when I was younger, deep down I always wanted to be in a movie, and it actually happened. It was crazy being on set for an actual feature film thinking to myself that I’m gonna be on the big screen this time next year but I thank God for that opportunity because so many people go their whole lives doing auditions and always being shut down. This was my first audition and I got it”. Moving back to music, what’s the biggest change he’s noticed on the Irish scene? “More and more people want to be involved. Before it used to be like a certain group of people would do music a certain way but now there’s people from all over Ireland breaking the rules and really stepping outside the box of music as an artform”. Music seems to be reflecting Irish society more than ever before. Is that true of the social and political situation as well, can it give people a voice? “So many people are stepping into the music world now for one purpose alone and that’s to be heard. Obviously there are so many in the music world just there to make money but so many are joining now to inspire change which is a beautiful thing”. PHIL UDELL
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COLUMBIA MILLS photographed for State by
STE MURRAY
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Real life stories.
COLUMBIA MILLS Photographed for State by Ste Murray
Taking the touchstones of ‘80s synth pop, ‘90s guitars and electro rock as their starting points, Wicklow’s Columbia Mills also draw on the realities of life in modern day Ireland for their lyrical inspiration. As such it’s not all sweetness and light but all the more darkly engaging for it. What brought you together? “While myself and Ste front the band there are many musicians involved in Columbia Mills. We all come from Bray and have known each other all our lives. Over the past few years we would meet up and throw some ideas at each other which would then be developed into songs. We have all been affected by the economic downturn so we decided to take music a lot more seriously. We went and recorded a collection of songs and everyone we played them to wanted to hear more so this gave us an incentive to create our sound and work that bit harder”. How would you describe your music? “We would see ourselves as a musical collective as opposed to a regular band. We really do have mountains of diverse material from dark electronic music to indie shoegaze . I think at the moment our live set is something in the middle which we have had to work pretty hard at finding the balance for. We have been described as Indietronica which we won’t argue with”.
Do you think that your music contains an inherent message? Is that important? “In terms of songwriting I have always been inspired by Robert Smith, Ian Curtis and Dan Treacy among others. I think this has set the dark undertones in the lyrics. Although their music was quite dark, people would seek solace listening to it. I suppose it’s about transposing a feeling you have into a song and hoping others will relate. I always found music to be the greatest form of therapy. It’s comforting to know other people have had similar problems and you are not a complete weirdo”. Tell us about the original Columbia Mills… “It was a rave spot on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin. The building is still there and it’s an amazing looking place. It was at its peak in a time when people were looking for somewhere to forget about their problems. People from all walks of life, sexual orientation,colour and creed came together and just had a great time. It was kind of the beginning of the ‘90s rave culture which helped elevate the more liberal values we have now started to embrace as a city”. Were you both ravers? “Everyone from Bray is a raver deep down. It’s something I find very amusing. There are lots of bands in Bray all playing completely different music and all into totally different things but whenever i go to a festival you can guarantee you will find half of Bray at four in the morning at the rave in the woods or the dance tent or just standing in front of a DJ playing decks from the back of his car in the carpark. It’s kind of like our trad music, it’s in our nature”. PHIL UDELL
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“It’s comforting to know other people have had similar problems and you are not a complete weirdo”
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CONOR WALSH photographed by
DEBBIE HICKEY
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Piano man.
CONOR WALSH Photographed by Debbie Hickey
A minimalist composer from the West of Ireland, Conor Walsh takes elements of traditional, classical, rock and electronic music to create his own, majestic sound. Aphex Twin, Chopin and Tool meet in one lovely package. How did you start down this musical path? “My mum is a singer and she was always singing in the house when I was growing up. It was like growing up in a film with her singing in the background. I was lucky to have the opportunity to take piano lessons from a young age and I was introduced to lots of great classical and contemporary music through my mum. I started musically writing songs with vocals and an acoustic guitar. I used an old radio/cassette unit and recorded everything from the very start. I felt I had a knack for songwriting but the guitar playing was awful and the vocal quality not much better. Things got really interesting for me when I started to play piano versions of the music I was writing. I became obsessed with the piano and the tunes sounded much better to me”. What were your influences? “Growing up in the countryside, the hum of the milking machine, the sound of the train in the distance and the tinkle of the river running past are sonic building blocks that just keep throwing ideas at me. Often I feel it’s about finding music in these natural sounds rather than creating it from nothing. Musically the first album to completely blow my mind was Selected Ambient Works 85-92 from Aphex Twin. Nothing was ever the same after being introduced to this masterpiece. Every home should have a copy. From Satie to Glass and beyond, all the minimalists affected my thinking. The ability to convey a lot through a little is what I’m really interested in”.
There’s a strong cinematic feel to your work.... visit website “Most of my earlier works were composed at a 1920’s piano sitting in the lobby of a century old hotel. The piano was situated perpendicular to a large bay window that looked out onto the main street of the town. The window is like a giant TV screen peering out onto every day life on the street. From the very start, I was composing to image even if it hadn’t occurred to me. Writing instrumental music has the advantage of being more ‘non directional’ than telling a story. I like my music to be open to interpretation emotionally”. Do you feel that you sit comfortably with what’s happening in Irish music right now? “I’ve no idea. I’ve been really happy with my progress over the last couple of years but I know that I’ll need to be thinking more on a European or global level to really make a full time career of music. I’m not sure that there’s one type of music that denotes what’s going on in the Irish music scene right now. It always seems like an eclectic mix of genres and I think this is good. I just don’t know if it’s all that healthy to define the Irish scene as being this or that. I feel that Irish people will get behind Irish music if they like it regardless of whether it’s part of a scene or not”. What are your plans for 2015? “It will be the year that I finally release some music. I hope that a release will enable me to tour abroad as this is something I haven’t done yet. I want this to be the year that I score my first film too. There are some collaborations in the pipeline too but releasing my own music comes first”. PHIL UDELL
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“The ability to convey a lot through a little is what I’m really interested in”
“He makes me hate the fact I don’t play an instrument…” Rocstrong
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ROBOCOBRA QUARTET photographed for State by
SEAN CLARKE
Word to the wise.
ROBOCOBRA QUARTET Photographed for State by Sean Clarke
A four piece who sound like no other, Robocobra Quartet combine the hard hitting instrumentation of their Belfast peers with more unexpected sounds. At their heart lies the unique vision of Chris Ryan, a poet in a Crass t-shirt. How did jazz, hip-hop, spoken word and punk come together in one band? “There’s this cliche where bands describe how they “come from such disparate backgrounds, culminating in a great big melting pot” when they really just sound like Nickelback, so I won’t go there. We just do what comes naturally to us. I suppose a lot of the time bands do very weird and interesting things in the practise room but then self-censor and say “right, now let’s play our normal stuff”. I suppose we just let those weird oddities germinate”.
What inspires your lyrics? visit website “Things usually come from lifting lines from books or conversations with people. I’ve always been interested in the word-play and poetry of hip-hop, so that often rears its head in my lyrics. In recent years I’ve started to let songs not just be about one thing but about a number of ideas or events and let them connect together either in meaning or just by the sounds of the words”. Anger is an energy, right? “Sure, why not”. What are your plans for 2015? “There’s a bunch of songs in works for a record with the recurring theme of the back-story of a would-be assassin, somewhat inspired by people like Samuel Byck and Vladimir Arutyunian. We self-record and self-release so when the songs come together I imagine it won’t be too long before they’re out. The tentative title is BOMBER”. PHIL UDELL
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“I suppose we just let weird oddities germinate�
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KWAMIE LIV photographed by
BABY DUKA
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She’s a mystery girl.
KWAMIE LIV Photographed by Baby Duka
Based in Copenhagen, Kwamie Liv’s past may be something of an enigma but a strong Irish connection means she makes this year’s list. Already lauded by tastemakers around the world after a handful of tracks, the buzz is set to grow and grow.
What has been the biggest thrill of the past year for you? “There have been so many moments this past year that have been extraordinary. Experiencing people connect to the music… I’m still so humbled by it.”
How would you describe your music? What inspired you to make music in the first place? “I’m not big on describing the work. I try to maintain a ‘no rules’ relationship to my art in general. Perhaps that translates in what we put out there”. Does your music include an inherent message? “I have always loved music for how free it is. As far as I see it, once a song is out, it belongs to the listener, it’s theirs to carry with them, or not, and to use on their own terms. I find that extremely beautiful”.
“It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly the initial inspiration. The first song I ever recorded came to me in a dream at eight years old. That said, I remember singing stories to anyone who would listen long before that. I also grew up in a home where music was a big part of how we spent quality time together. I guess it all adds up”. What does music mean to you? “I always have a safe place to go to empty my thoughts and to recharge my batteries”. . AARON DRAIN
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“The first song I ever recorded came to me in a dream at eight years old”
“Absolutely amazing…” Kobina
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BOOKA BRASS BAND photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
Fourteen legged groove machine get ready to blow up.
BOOKA BRASS BAND Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
As anybody that witnessed their performance at last year’s Body & Soul festival will surely attest, Booka Brass Band can start a party anywhere. Furthermore, they can keep it going with enough verve to burn out the hardiest of party animals. Truly an amazing live band, as they prepare to release an EP this year we are fully confident that this party can keep going.
What do you expect from 2015?
How would you describe your music and your live performances?
As a band what has been the biggest thrill of the last 12 months?
“Our original music has a very varied style, with some lighter tracks that work well on getting the crowd dancing and others that are heavier, with a real build in them. It’s great to explore as many different genres as possible”.
“Probably the fact that so many people loved what we were doing and were showing up to our gigs in such large numbers. We couldn’t believe it when we packed the Rankin Woods tent in Electric Picnic at 1:30 in the afternoon! We were delighted enough to be playing on such a stage but when that many people turned up it couldn’t have been a bigger thrill. Of course playing with James Vincent McMorrow on the same day along with another set in the Little Big Tent was also amazing”.
In your opinion, what is the state of Irish music today and how did it arrive at this point? “Irish music is great and always will be. There’s so much variety these days, influences from every culture. This can be heard across all genres. Very hard to say how it arrived here because the state of Irish music today comes from so many different backgrounds”. Where do you draw inspiration from? “Mainly from the sounds of other brass bands, especially those of Youngblood Brass Band and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. Those guys are top notch and are equally as good live, if not better, than their recordings. We also love jazz, hiphop, RnB, rock, a bit of metal here and there and orchestral music of course!”
visit website “We are hoping for this year to be as successful as last year, if not more so. We’ve got some big announcements lined up. Of course our upcoming EP has been in the pipeline for a while, and it is completed but we promise to get it out as soon as possible”.
STEVEN DUNNE
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“It’s great to explore as many different genres as possible”
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photographed for State by
STE MURRAY
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Heading for big things.
ROCSTRONG Photographed for State a by Ste Murray
It took just one track for Andre Bangala to make an impact as Rocstrong in 2014, the electro fused rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Go’Head’. Follow up ‘Limits’ proved not only he was no flash in the pan but also that his musical vision had much to offer. Who was the first artist that really had an effect you? “That would definitely have to be Michael Jackson. Growing up watching him was amazing and the time and age difference never hit me because his whole journey was always shown on TV from when he was young till the day he died. Music back then was unreal, almost every artist had iconic status and it makes you almost understand why people were fainting like dominoes”. How would you describe your music? “My goal is to try and make that fun, exciting, feel good music like back in the day. Music that gets people talking, music that makes people that don’t even know me want make the effort to find out who sang it. Give out that same feeling you get after watching a good ‘based on a true story’ movie and you want to Google the characters involved”.
‘Go’Head’ took off very quickly for a debut single, were you surprised? “I think everyone involved in the making of that was surprised because it was for a completely different purpose. My manager entered me in the Future Sounds Budweiser competition with not a lot of notice and my understanding of it was off because in my head I thought it was to write a song good enough to be on a Budweiser advert. I was unsuccessful in that competition but still the song fell into the right hands and great things started to happen for me and the team from there”. From what we’ve heard so far, you like to mix styles? “Yes I wouldn’t really say I’m one that will stick to only one type of genre because I’ve so much to give writing wise and I don’t want to limit my abilities. Right now these are just my words but time will tell hopefully”. If you had to choose between them - Elvis or Prince? “They are both two great artist that have big influence in how i create my songs, if you listen carefully to my music you can hear it, I love them both equally so it would be hard to choose. PHIL UDELL
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“Makes you almost understand why people in crowds back then were fainting like dominoes�.
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OLD HANNAH photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
Going back to the old school.
OLD HANNAH Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Sligo formed and Dublin based, Old Hannah fuse the twin traditions of Irish and American roots music. That they do so and manage to capture the best of both is testament to their musical skill and genuine feel for the source material.
and emotions that you want to put across in a song transcend time, genre and geography, so storytelling is a great way to achieve and maintain that connection. To us storytelling has always been one of the most striking and cherished aspects of Irish song and culture”.
How did you come together as a band? “We’ve all known each other since we were in school plus Lucie and Luke are cousins so they go back even further. We grew up surrounded by music and musicians. We weren’t strangers to pub sessions, and even as kids our parents would have their friends home to play music and we’d join in. As young teenagers, Luke and Anthony were already playing in a blues-rock band, Lucie was writing and performing original songs and Leo, our picker extraordinaire, was just picking up a guitar for the first time. As we got a bit older and a bit more skilled musically we’d join in on each others party pieces, play till the early hours, until eventually we realised people wanted to see us play and we seemed to have formed a band. So it was very organic really”. Was traditional music in your family? “Growing up in the west of Ireland we were surrounded by traditional music anyway, but there was also a lot of music in our families and a lot of that scene was more heavily influenced by American music - country, blues, bluegrass, you name it. Once you scratch the surface, you realise how closely related that Irish and American traditions are”. How important is the storytelling element? “Some of our strongest influences come from the Mississippi Delta and the Appalachian mountains, but it’s important to stay connected to the music from our own uniquely Irish perspective too. So many of the experiences
Do you have any influences that might surprise people? “We would take a lot of our inspiration from new music that grabs our attention, acts like Jungle and Alt-J are constantly bringing music forward with unique arrangements and instrumentation that bring new ideas to mind”. How open do you think the Irish music industry is to non-mainstream styles? “I think that until recently, the Irish music industry had misunderstood and mislabeled ‘mainstream’ music, and as a result supposedly ‘alternative’ music was in fact frighteningly mainstream. There was a huge bias towards ‘alternative’ indie music - a broad genre name that doesn’t say an awful lot and allows for some pretty lazy critiquing and billing of live acts. That was followed by an overemphasis on ‘electronic’ music, another wildly broad genre. So you could say that ‘mainstream’ has been misunderstood for a long time. But after a period of a lot of safe, predominantly male music dominating the industry, the scene today is a lot more interesting and diverse. There’s a lot of emphasis now on originality and having a strong message, as opposed to just playing to a specific genre”. PHIL UDELL
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“To us storytelling has always been one of the most striking and cherished aspects of Irish song and culture�
BUFFALO WOMAN
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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These are the good times.
BUFFALO WOMAN Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
We know that Tim O’Donovan has form, from his time as Neosupervital through to his work on radio and as a cultural mover and shaker in general. The combination of his good time electro beats and Neil Watkins’ high drama, this is music to move your mind as well as your feet.
Do you think the social situation in this country is having an effect on its music? “A lot of our songs have their genesis in very social situations, so yes”. What are your plans for 2015?
Irish pop music - good thing or bad thing? “Pop music is an awesome thing, Irish or otherwise”.
“To make it even more fun than 2014 was. We may even release an album”. PHIL UDELL
Outside of music, what inspires you? “Movies, food, chance encounters, intoxicants, the weather, science, the cosmos”.
Thanks to the Fumbally café for the photoshoot location.
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“Pop music is an awesome thing”
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DAH JEVU photographed for State by
MARK McGUINNESS
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Take a trip to the darkside.
DAH JEVU
Photographed for State by Mark McGuinness
An alternative hip-hop duo out of South Dublin consisting of Bobby Basil and Tafari Pesto, Dah Jevu’s debut release was the sonically and visually striking video for the track ‘Hawks of Nepthys’, directed by Hugh Mulhern. The song’s eerie production and dark lyrics caught the attention of many and brought something new to the table for Irish music. They describe themselves as abstract, eccentric and quirky and it’s easy to believe that their one demand when they get bigger is “to have flower pots all over the stage and have the whole room smell like basil.”
Do you think there’s been a growth in Irish hip-hop in recent years?
What age did you start writing music?
Bobby: “We’re like... What’s that bird that flies off on its own?”
Bobby: “I don’t think there has been. There are good rappers out there, but no one is paying any attention to growing it. There’s no outside people. The artists can only do so much. There has to be more promoters and people who are going to put artists on more”. Tafari: “Basically, we’re trying to broaden the horizons”.
Bobby: “I started writing music when I was about 17, 16 writing poetry”.
Tafari: “Falcons!”
What prompted the decision to form a group?
Do you have an album in the works?
Bobby: “I don’t know it just happened. We gravitated towards each other. We knew each other for about a year before”.
Bobby: “No. There’s no point working on an album without a good bit of hype for it. A lot of people just drop albums before they have a name for themselves and it doesn’t work”. ROSS LOGAN
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“We gravitated towards each other.”
“Creepy and menacing with hints of the dark side of Young Fathers, love it…” Dear Desert
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WYVERN LINGO photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
Harmony in our head.
WYVERN LINGO Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
It’s an intensely tough time to make a living as a musician, yet 2014 saw Wyvern Lingo rise from a well-respected and critically-acclaimed act on the Irish scene’s underbelly to a three-piece ready to dedicate their lives to their art. The live shows have been a major driving force, but combining their prodigious talent with a ‘right place, right time’ scenario involving tours with Hozier, Karen, Saoirse and Caoimhe are converting their harmonies slowly into a career. And lovely harmonies they are, too, backed up with the kind of musical quality that has seen the trio arrange string sections for live shows and take personal asides into jazz.
Turning down a world tour with Hozier (Caoimhe and Karen spent time in his band) is both a bold and a brave move. What swung that decision? Are you confident you can make your own way without such slots?
What’s been your finest moment as Wyvern Lingo so far?
“Well, we are almost finished recording our next EP and we will hopefully be building up to recording our debut album. We’ve just announced our first nationwide tour for next Spring, too”.
“Our EP Launch Party in Smock Alley was an amazing night for us. It completely sold out and we really wanted to put on a good show. The atmosphere was incredible, we felt like it was a big achievement”.
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“When things started taking off for him we both decided to take some time to focus on Wyvern Lingo. We have since done a bit more with him, Karen is featured on the duet ‘In A Week’ on his album”. What does the future hold for Wyvern Lingo? Where do you imagine yourself in a year?
JAMES HENDICOTT Thanks to Whelans for the photoshoot location.
Let’s imagine you have a single song to promote yourselves. Which one would you throw out there? “We launched ‘Used’ as the single off the EP with a video. It’s primarily an a capella song, one of our favourites to perform live. We’re excited for our next release because it will represent our live sound more”.
“When they sing it creates a magic, tranquil sound…” Columbia Mills
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“The atmosphere was incredible, we felt like it was a big achievement”
“They harness vocal harmony and sheer musicianship to create something that’s somehow both soothing and unsettling at once…” Bitch Falcon
BENIHANA photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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Experiments in ambience.
BENIHANA Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Yet another fine example of electronic music from Co Kildare, duo Benihana’s five track Patterns EP raised expectations with its combinations of subtle textures and organic sounds. Making their live debut last year, they look set to join the Irish elite in 2015. What influences your sound? “It’s hard to say exactly. A combination of things probably. One of the things is the music we listen to. We both listen to a lot of different types and are always looking for new stuff. Although some of this might not sound anything like our stuff, it still influences us in a certain way, puts us in a certain mood and gives us ideas for new sounds and things like that. A few people have described our music as ambient electronic. A lot of our stuff has a load of reverb and delay on it which gives a kind of ambient ethereal sound, so we can see where that description is coming from. We try to create music with texture that evokes a certain atmosphere for the person listening. In order to do this we experiment with a lot of different effects and sounds. If we were to describe it ourselves though we’d probably just called it ‘experimental electronic’ music”. What has been the biggest change in Irish music since you’ve been involved in making it? “It’s much easier to get noticed these days which is great. Sharing music through the internet and apps makes it much easier for someone to get their music out there. Sites like Soundcloud, Bandcamp and Breaking Tunes are brilliant. You can put a song up and someone on the opposite side of the world can listen to it straight away. These sites have really helped new artists and as a result there’s a lot of great Irish acts doing well right now, and deservedly so. Also, the amount of new Irish festivals that have incorporated local acts into their line-ups over the past couple of years has been great to see”.
What inspired you to make music in the first place? visit website “We both used to jam together when we were younger with a couple of lads from school. That was fun and we knew we were both into the same sort of artists. We made a lot of instrumental music together. We were both listening to a lot of Sigur Ros, Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky at the time so we were interested in creating a sound like that. We would have both listened to electronic music and had a little bit of an idea of how it was made but it was something we wanted to learn more about”. Was there a key moment in your career so far? “We remember one day hearing Mmoths’ track ‘Heart’ and thinking it was really good. This guy was a couple of years younger than us, living about 20 mins away in Newbridge. Other Irish producers like Reid/Toby Kaar/Monto were also producing great tracks, and the fact they were all roughly our age and Irish but sounded like some of the best and well produced tracks we had heard really encouraged us. That’s probably what got us most interested in music production, listening to new Irish tracks released over the last couple of years”. What does music mean to you? “Ah it means so much. We saw this documentary about Zinedine Zidane’s career on YouTube before and he says something like “without music, life would be sad”. He’s dead right”. PHIL UDELL
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“We try to create music with texture that evokes a certain atmosphere for the person listening”
“A hint of Tomas Barford, a lovely ethereal electronic sound…” Dear Desert
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SATORI JE
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Kissing with confidence.
SATORI JE
Inspired by the surf guitar and Tarantino movies, shadowy Dublin duo Satori Je caught the eye and ear with their debut single ‘You’re Only Apart’, complete with its memorable, kissing heavy video. Re-emerging after an absence, 2015 will see them back in the saddle.
How’s the debut album coming on? visit website “Still in pre production and demoing. Should begin recording proper in Spring next year”. If you could record or perform with any other artists who would it be?
How did you come together as a band? “Bowie and Eno”. “We’ve been playing music together for years but wanted to try something a bit different. We wanted something more immediate and direct than stuff we’d done before. Something where we could just plug in and let loose”.
What state do you think the Irish music scene is in? “Very healthy. Lots of new bands coming through which was evident at the last HWCH festival”. PHIL UDELL
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“We wanted something more immediate�
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