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20 new acts to watch this year including…
+ Æ MAK Aik.j Anti-One Binaries Coantour discopunks Katie Laffan Le Boom Monday Villains Not Monsters Ports M(h)aol Slow Riot Staring At Lakes The Mariannes Third Smoke Travis Oaks Tuath Young Phantom
FA C ES o f 2015
[ In alphabetical order ]
Æ MAK Aik.j Anti-One Binaries Coantour discopunks Joni Katie Laffan Le Boom Monday Villains Not Monsters Ports M(h)aol Slow Riot Staring At Lakes The Mariannes Third Smoke Travis Oaks Tuath Young Phantom
Thanks to all the artists for participating.
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After seven years of producing our annual Faces magazine, it might be easy to take this annual round-up of new musical talent for granted. Such is the quality of new artists that constantly come our way at State that the process of picking twenty each January might seem easy. It is and it isn’t. Finding bands and singers isn’t the problem – narrowing it down to our final selection is tricky to say the least. Here they are, though, and a wonderful bunch they are. Over the following pages you’ll not only get to know more about our class of 2016 but also feast your eyes on some stunning original images from the State photo team, lovingly guided by our art director Simon Roche. Enjoy, Phil Udell Editor-in-chief
Click box to listen to our Faces mixtape
20 NEW ACTS TO WATCH THIS YEAR
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state.ie @statemagazine
FA C ES o f 2015
There are so many quick and easy ways to get a photo from an act when you’re under various constraints. We are proud to say that we have no truck with these easy ways. No fewer than 19 of the 20 photo shoots here were shot especially for this publication that you are now reading, and most of those by the serious grafters on the right, gold-star members of the State photo department. Over the Christmas season our photographers not only met with bands, but discussed ideas, hired props, scouted locations and worked with inclement weather, last minute plan changes and schedules of up to seven different band members.
Right now, at 2.14am, as this is almost complete, the last of the images are coming in to us. Like the others, we’re just in awe as we see them, and at what is being done by all this talent in this country. Creativity in place of budgets, friends and multi-tasking instead of assistants. And now you’re just about to feast on the fruits of all this labour, driven by creative forces from a team that just wants to do. As one Mr. Bowie would have told you – the gift we proudly present is both sound and vision. Simon Roche Art Director
RUTH MEDJBER
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OLGA KUZMENKO has been shooting live gigs for State since 2013, and has captured seven of the bands chosen 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 photographer currently based in Copenhagen. Between client based jobs, he is currently working on a number of long term personal projects. He also really, really knows his coffee. markmcguinness.ie
STE MURRAY is a freelance performance, architectural and event photographer. He works with musicians, theatre makers and architects to document their projects and to frame their vision. As well as buzzing around photo-pits at live gigs, the bulk of his work is with new music and plays; providing original imagery for new work. ste.ie
LEAH CARROLL is passionate about photography – specialising in music, automotive and event shoots. Having photographed bands such as Portishead, Blondie, Le Galaxie, All Tvvins, Beck as well as Electric Picnic, Body & Soul and Longitude festivals. Leah’s aim is to honour bands and their music through imagery. palinode-photography.wix.com/ palinode-photography
Over the last decade, KIERAN FROST has managed to photograph close to every band passing though, or based in Ireland at some stage during that time. As well as being a photographer for State, Kieran contributes regularly to the Redferns agency, Q Magazine, Billboard, The The Irish Times and Sunday Times. In his spare time, Kieran plays cowbell. kieranfrost.com
Always keeping things looking good on state.ie is a collection of exclusively live music photographers who spend time in dusty venue pits to give us the closest views possible. We are indebted to them all. Here’s two of our hard grafting pit-shooters.
MARK EARLEY is a secondary school teacher, an Ultimate Frisbee player and a live music/ event photographer. The majority of Mark’s photographic work comes from time spent front row and centre of gigs in and around Dublin but he has also worked with charities, musicians and various creatives. His website is in a permanent state of mid-build but you can check out some of his work on Instagram at instagram.com/markearleyphotography
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
photographed for State by
STE MURRAY
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Aoife McCann and Ellie MacMahon provide the bones of exciting new Dublin duo.
Æ MAK
Photographed for State by Ste Murray
Do you remember the first time you two met? Ellie: We met in class in our first year of college at BIMM in Dublin. We sang a Lykke Li song together and realised that we worked and performed really well alongside each other. We were the two in the class that were the last to get things done and we both liked to wing it a bit. However, we’re a lot more focused and organised now that things with the band are taking off. No more winging it! You have quite similar backgrounds don’t you? Aoife: We both have backgrounds in musical theatre and have performed the genre from a young age. We love jazz and singers like Anita O’Day and we share an interest in female vocalists that are a bit left-of-centre like Joanna Newsom and Björk . However, I have more of a classical background and Ellie is more pop, so we both pull from our strengths in Æ MAK. Was ‘I Can Feel It In My Bones’ the first song you wrote together? Aoife: Yes in 2012, our second year of college. I never thought I wanted to be or could be a songwriter until that year. I was passionate about theatre and wanted to be in the West End as I felt that style of performance meant more to me than a creative musical output. ‘I Can Feel It In My Bones’ came about during a time of change in my life, where I felt I had something to express. So alongside the lyrics, which myself and Ellie worked on, musically there’s a feeling of moving on in a positive sense. Our crazy talented band helped us to arrange the song and the seed was sown that started us writing more songs in a similar vein.
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The visuals seem very important to you… Ellie: I think that stems back to our interest in theatre. We want to put on a show when we play live, not just play the songs as though we’re in a rehearsal. We’re going to perform through synchronised dance moves, dress up and give you something to remember visually as well as sonically. Aoife: We’re trying to convey the concept of an other worldly feel in our music and performance, so that the show brings about a sense of escapism. Neither of us are dancers but we feel that using choreography is a good way for us to perform and evoke that sense of fantasy. What’s been the best moment of 2015 for you? We performed at a little festival called Fading Light this year in a little village called Caherdaniel in rural Kerry and that has to have been the best moment of the year. We played in the town hall to a crowd of about a 100 merry, wind-burnt punters who were mad to get dancing after the long journey there.
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“We’re trying to convey the concept of an other worldly feel in our music and performance, so that the show brings about a sense of escapism.”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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Conan Wynne and Anna Nolan are a match made in musical heaven.
CONTOUR
Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Do you remember the first time you two met? Anna – It was at RealSound Dublin when I was a student and Conan a tutor on their music production course. We were introduced to each other like “oh, he’s a producer, she’s a vocalist... you guys should work together”! We kind of sized each other up musically for awhile then we bonded over a mix we worked on together. So I sent him a vocal demo and he absolutely nailed it making it into our first track ‘Change Your Ways’. How did your first session go? Anna – Well it was a case of sending each other vocals or beats back and forth initially, that’s how we got going. Then I went in and recorded some tracks and it was just a lovely buzz. I thought it was deadly going into the studio and working with him. We had like three tracks made in the first two sessions so we were flying. Our sound evolved really quickly and organically then and I just felt very lucky with how we gelled. I still do. Conan - We gelled very easily in the studio. I was delighted to be working with such a talented vocalist who was confident and assertive with her lyrics and also open to being creatively experimental. Is it important to maintain a human element in electronic music? Conan - Well yes and no, some electronic music sounds better as if it came from the heart of a machine and some needs a human touch to add groove and chaos to it’s mechanical rhythm. What is great about having humans play live instruments on stage is it’s way better than a performer who looks like they are checking emails for an hour, and in the studio we are more about texture and atmosphere than hard quantised straightness. It’s also great fun pushing music machines to glitch out! Add humans, get human error = a more natural feel...
Where does your lyrical inspiration come from? Anna – I suppose it comes from an amalgamation of whatever thoughts, feelings and visions are floating about in my head. Sometimes I might see something out and about that makes me think of a particular situation or issue and I will spin a story out of that metaphor. Other times I would be experiencing intense emotions and it all just pours out of me. I’ve also been paying a lot of attention to symbolism in my dreams lately and they are inspiring my songwriting a lot. I just think it’s incredible how our unconscious can muster up images that are so universal and yet potent with personal meaning. I always write them down and try to decipher what they mean for me. I’m a divil for needing to understand everything and I always document my emotional reactions to things too. Since I was a child, I’ve tried to process my experiences in writing. Just messing around with the words and trying to make it sound cool or interesting or rhythmical. My lyrics are kind of my therapy. What’s been the best moment of 2015 for you? Anna – Getting our record was pretty sweet. I love performing more than anything though. I enjoyed festival season loads. It’s hard to pick a best moment but I think Knockanstockan was my favourite. I have a serious soft spot for that festival. Conan - Definitely getting the vinyl! I sleep with one under my pillow and stare adoringly at it for about 20 minutes a day. You never forget your first wax! I enjoyed watching the ravers dance like maniacs in the rain at our set at Longitude, the little troopers...
“Love seeing like minded ladies killing it…” Joni
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“It’s incredible how our unconscious can muster up images that are so universal and yet potent with personal meaning”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
MARK McGUINNESS
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Ferdia Mooney reinvents himself as an anti-hero.
ANTI-ONE
Photographed for State by Mark McGuinness
What was the first kind of music you started making? I’ve been writing music for as long as I can remember. I started out with punk and pop-punk songs, then moved on to playing in a classic rock band, melodic hardcore, branched out to some acoustic work, did a few instrumental EPs, rapped a bit, sang some more. It all started with those punk songs though. What inspired you to leave bands behind and go solo? I never felt particularly comfortable rapping about my own shit and problems when I was with a band. I was part of a rap group for three or so years and I mostly told stories and rapped politically and socially. That was great but I had a lot I wanted to say about me. So Anti-One came out of that, as a way to get out there and just talk about myself. It was a way for me to have more control over my own music too. I write and produce everything myself for Anti-One records, it’s a one man army. Do you see yourself as more of poet than a rapper? If so what’s the difference? I used to say I had three characters I rapped as; The Mad Hatter was the aggressive rapper. Edgar Allan Flow was the poet and Anti-One was the politically conscious one. The more I’ve progressed, the more I’ve seen that these are all the same person. People always tell me I’m more of a poet than a rapper, but I’m equally influenced by poets like Ginsberg and by rappers like A$AP Ferg. I can write with strong metaphors but I can wear a grill and baggy jeans and use American slang on tracks too. I’m not a poet or a rapper, I’m just a person who can structure thoughts on a beat. I’m a writer, I just happen to write to music sometimes.
You’re back with a band again now... The Plus Ones were put together for a slot at the Electric Picnic last year, and they’re just my friends. I went out and put together a band with people I’ve known for years and we just have fun onstage. And I think that shows. There’s nothing else to say about it. I still write the music, they just take it to another level live and we get stupid. I’ve never moved so much as I have when I get onstage with them. Who influences you now? There’s no way I could talk about all the influences I’m hearing at the minute, so I’ll keep it to hip-hop. Flatbush Zombies are incredible, I wish I could make beats like the Architect and rap like Meech. Joey Bada$$’s new album was great, Action Bronson’s album inspires me to rap about food some more. Been listening to a lot of grime and stuff lately too, digging Skepta’s new stuff, Wiley’s old stuff, rediscovered the early Streets albums. Then anything with heavy 808s and trill hi-hats. I love rapping something of substance over a filthy hood beat. I love the dichotomy of a middle class suburban depressed white kid rapping on a beat meant for something from Atlanta’s ghetto. And all the while, everything out of the Doomtree camp (P.O.S., Dessa, etc) and general Minneapolis rap like Atmosphere and Astronautalis.
“We caught his set at EP. It was just the lift we needed after a night of partying…” Not Monsters 16
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“I’m not a poet or a rapper, I’m just a person who can structure thoughts on a beat”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
KIERAN FROST
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Punch Face Champions x Cfit = a beautiful noise.
NOT MONSTERS
Photographed for State by Kieran Frost
How did this idea come about? We’ve all been friends for a long time. Obviously three of us play in PFC together and Dave filled in on bass in Noel’s band Cfit a couple of times. Those two hatched the plan over a few (a ‘’hape’’ of) pints in 2014 and all of a sudden we were playing Vantastival less than a month later. Was it easy to combine the two sounds? More than you’d expect really. We’re fans of each other’s bands and share a lot of the same influences. Noel is all about melody and lyrics and we in PFC love dissecting and making music busy and frenzied. We’re all happy to let each other do what we do best and we feel it makes for some pretty good music.
Have the results surprised you at all? We’re making the music we always felt we could make but we’re pleasantly surprised that people seem to dig it. 2015 was a good year for Irish guitar music hasn’t it? Every year is a good year for Irish music if you delve deep enough. If you go out and watch shows you’ll see amazing things. The River Fane released a masterpiece. Bitch Falcon are about to take over the world, New Secret Weapon are flying the flag in Chicago with Steve Albini and Val Normal are the loudest thing on four legs since DFA1979. What was the highlight of the year for you? Probably consecutive nights at EP with Not Monsters and Punch Face at Knockanstockan, which is always the best weekend of the year. Hopefully we’ll be answering that question for 2016 with the Not Monsters EP.
“I’m willing to fight anyone who doesn’t think Not Monsters are anything other than the best Irish band at the minute…” Anti-One 20
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“We’re all happy to let each other do what we do best”
“A good old rock and roll racket…” Contour
photographed for State by
LEAH CARROLL
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NYC based Christy Leech brings his music home.
LE BOOM
Photographed for State by Leah Carroll
How did the band come together? It started as a kind of side-project when I was staying in New York City. I was DJing material at different parties around Brooklyn - I wasn’t really settled on any sound or vibe in particular so it was just a bit fun. After each gig, I changed my name with the intention of playing something completely different at the next. I met a young label owner over there at one of the parties and he was interested in working with me. I was very keen to move the sound away from DJ sets and turn it into a live outfit. Two friends of mine, Vaughan and Darren were living back home in Ireland and I sent them some ideas and asked if they’d be interested in getting Involved. Was New York a big influence on your sound? I think the parties were definitely very inspiring. They were nuts; full of bizarre and beautiful people - painters, poets, drag queens, sculptors, actors - whatever you wanted really. I recorded about twenty demos there in whatever spaces I could find. I didn’t have any mics, except for the built-in one on the laptop. I was using a really basic guitar and the bass I used was in bits. I didn’t intend on going for a lo-fi homemade sound but I really had no choice.
What do you make of the domestic scene at the moment? The scene in Ireland is great. The amount of amazing bands and artists is incredible especially for such a small place. People seem surprised when I say this but I honestly think New York’s unsigned scene hasn’t a patch on Dublin’s. There’s probably a wider spectrum of genres to be found in New York City but in terms of quality acts, I am never as impressed anywhere else as I am in Dublin. What can we expect in 2016? Well we’re kind of at a crossroads at the moment, our sound is developing all the time but there is definitely way more cohesion now. We just played a sold out show in Whelan’s and I suppose we’d like to build on that. We’re hoping to record an EP in the New Year and tour a bit. The live shows in Ireland have been great fun so far, a bit mental at times, so a little bit more of that for 2016 would be great. Thanks to Generator Hostel for the interior location.
What brought you back to Ireland? I was sending the ideas to Vaughan and Darren all the time and they were giving me feedback on the stuff and we started getting excited about some of it. I decided I’d come home and get something a little more solid down, do some shows around Ireland and then head back to NYC as three-piece.
“They sound like revolution…” Young Prophet 24
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“ I honestly think New York’s unsigned scene hasn’t a patch on Dublin’s”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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Shimmering sounds from Galway.
STARING AT LAKES
Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
How did you all come together? We’ve been performing music together for years in different forms and with various musicians. We’re currently a four piece. James, Toots and myself (Laura) are from the same town and we picked up Tom off a street corner on a night out in Dublin at some stage along the way. Did you have a clear idea of what sound you were after? We regularly sit down, make plans and talk about what we want to do musically and artistically. More often than not, however, once you go into a rehearsal space - everything changes. Sometimes you just have to fire the plans out the window and let the music go where it wants to go. That in itself can be a hard thing to accept. We all have different tastes when it comes to music- there are electronic and trip hop influences coming from one side and post rock and more ambient stuff coming from another. We try to bring this all together in a way that works. We’ve struggled to do this sometimes, but have recently realised that the one thing we all have in common is that we want our music to have a very specific energy and atmosphere. I suppose that’s sort of the driving force behind the sound we try to create. Was it easy to achieve? It has never really been plain sailing for us. We fight like cats and dogs during one rehearsal and then are best friends the next. We’re still learning, and I don’t think that will ever change. On a good day, creativity comes naturally. But you can’t just wait around for those days. When we get it right though and can feel the energy, tension and atmosphere that we’ve managed to create in even a number of seconds, it feels pretty class.
The ‘Consanguinea’ video seemed to fit the music perfectly... The song was released well before the video and the idea for visuals had been floating around in my head for a long time before it was brought to fruition. I had an entire story mapped out in my head, and Kate not only managed to bring this to life with the video, but to make it one hundred times better. We both felt that the song had a dreamy, ethereal kind of quality to it and wanted the video to interact with this in some way. The use of bodies, skin and movement combined with nature seemed to offer a unique way to do this. Along with Kate’s talent, the actors involved were fearless in their movements, expression and interactions which made the whole thing work really well. What can we expect in 2016? We’re hoping to record and put out some new releases. We haven’t recorded since our album back in 2014 and lots has changed since then. We are in quite a different space creatively and are excited for real life human beings who aren’t us to actually get to hear to the new stuff and occupy that space with us! We’ve spent most of our time writing and rehearsing lately, and while that can be great, it sometimes takes you away from the reality of what the whole thing is really about. So yeah, we’re going to record, release and get gigging.
“Laura’s voice is incredible…” Katie Laffan
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“Sometimes you just have to fire the plans out the window and let the music go where it wants to go”
“Lovely songs, great vocal, beautiful music…” The Mariannes
photographed for State by
STE MURRAY
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FA C ES o f 2015
Teenage kicks.
KATIE LAFFAN
Photographed for State by Ste Murray
When did you start performing? I was the drummer in a little band when I was 13 called 3.2, because there was three girls and two boys. We covered the Jonas Brothers a few times. We had matching sunglasses and the biggest gig we ever played was in the Pigeon Club in Ballyfermot. It was great at the time, we didn’t know we sucked, so it was grand. I started performing on my own when I was 16, I won this competition and, the gig that launched it, was my first ever gig on my own. It was in the Odessa, my face was everywhere in the room. It was really overwhelming for a first gig but very memorable none the less. The Riptide Movement also played and I sang Beyonce’s ‘Halo’ with them. It still feels very surreal. Due to lack of experience at the time, I found it very difficult to perform my songs with just myself and an acoustic guitar/ukulele because they are not a traditional singer/ songwriter. So I got a band to help me out last year, and so really, that was my start in the gigging scene. What were you listening to at the time? I was very into Jack Johnson, Bob Marley, Lilly Allen, Bobby McFerrin and Ingrid Michaelson and that’s how I came about making the song ‘Bubbly’. It was heavily influenced by my favourite artists at the time, but recently (I am still a huge fan of all of the others) I’ve added a lot of ‘70s and ‘80s funk and disco to the mix. Nick and James in my band played me Jamiroquai and he has hugely inspired my EP, along with the likes of Kool and The Gang, Diana Ross and Chic. Lastly I’ve always looked up to Sting because he’s so versatile. ‘Englishman in New York’ would be the song that gave me the idea of throwing genres together and seeing what you get. I could go for days on this question. Pop music seems to have been a major influence? Definitely, I love pop music and think anyone who says they dont, secretly listens to it in their 32
bedroom when they’re alone. The songs are so catchy, it’s hard not to. Someone in the pop/rap scene that I admire is Kanye West. I think he’s very different and his music stands apart from other rappers, he doesn’t do, what is expected, ever and I like to try and do something different too. Experimenting with music and sounds is a very interesting concept to me. How was the experience of recording your EP? It was definitely not what I expected when I planned to make one at first. I got some recording time from Guinness Amplify so I got to record in Windmill Lane with producer/engineer Alan Kelly and the house engineer, Rachel Conlon. I study sound engineering and music production in college at the moment and being in studio one was incredible to see at work. I was almost jealous I had to be on the other side of the window, singing. I also recorded three of the tracks on Dead As Disco myself, in my bedroom. I would of loved to produce and perform the whole thing myself, but it would have been a shame to waste the opportunity I was given. I got my band to play on ‘I Don’t Mind’ and ‘Ego’ (James Fortune, Lauren Reinheardt and Nick Stanley) and the engineers bring something special to the songs, it was nice to get people’s opinion on what should go where sometimes and also when you listen back to the songs I remember all the gas time we had recording together. What are your plans for 2016? I’ve only released Dead As Disco so I’ll still be going on about that for a while, I’m very proud of it. I really want to get my live performance a lot tighter, this year. Practicing loads and I’d love to collaborate with other artists too. I’d also love to make a song that has experimental recorded sounds in it from random objects - like a song made out of the sound of a raindrop. I don’t know if it will be a raindrop now, but doing something odd like that is definitely in my plans.
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“I love pop music and think anyone who says they dont, secretly listens to it in their bedroom”
“God you really couldn’t be sad listening to this music…” Monday Villains
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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Limerick trio brewing up a storm.
SLOW RIOT
Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Do you all share common musical influences? Paul: I think we do to a certain extent but this isn’t really an important factor when it comes to writing our music. We didn’t set out to write stuff that sounded like our influences, we just write stuff that we enjoy playing. That said Aaron is probably the biggest music nerd in the band. If it’s an 80 year old Icelandic folk band that only released one demo on tape in 1970 he has probably heard it. You sound like a band born out of frustration? Does forming in Limerick have a bearing on this? Aaron: Being from Limerick is very important to us, it shaped us as individuals and humanbeings, not just as a band. I think every band is influenced by their surroundings and the place that they live in. Every band has an identity and Limerick is apart of ours. Frustration? I don’t think so, maybe a little? I think we all wanted to start something different to all the other bands that we had been in previously. We just want to be the best band we can be, then, try and better ourselves, that’s our ethos, I would say we were born out of a hunger within ourselves rather than frustration.
How was the experience recording at the Faster studio? Paul: It was amazing. It was obviously daunting at first as it’s the Manic’s personal studio so we felt a bit of pressure to impress. The in-house engineers put us at ease quickly and we got to work. Long, long days but an incredible experience for us. Also getting to use their gear was an added bonus. What’s been the highlight of 2015? Niall: For me it was simply holding our record ‘Cathedral’ in my hand for the first time. When the band started, our goal was simply to release a record that we were all proud of. Because some of the songs were put together so meticulously, there was something extremely gratifying about holding the finished product in my hand. Paul: To be honest the entire year has been great for us. We went from some demos to signing with Straight Lines Are Fine to recording in Faster and putting an EP out. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for us but to be honest we are even more excited for 2016. We’ve just returned from Brighton where we recorded some new tracks with Kevin Van Bergen again and we are very proud of them. A big leap forward in our sound and I think we are now in a good place to write big tunes. Thanks to Yamamori/Bar Tengu for the location.
“We always get so excited when there’s great music on our doorstep…” Monday Villains 36
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“We were born out of a hunger within ourselves”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for Faces by
CUPID VISUALS
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Dark hip-hop coming straight outta Cork.
YOUNG PHANTOM
Photographed for Faces by Cupid Visuals
What was the first hip-hop you came across? Actually it’s funny because I hated the first stuff I heard. My brother was always playing 50 Cent and gangster rap and I just despised it. It wasn’t until I heard Nas’ I Know I Can that I actually started appreciating hip-hop. Eminem, Obie Trice, Dre and X-Zibit were the earliest stuff that I enjoyed. I didn’t get to listen to Nas properly until a few years after because when we had heard him we barely knew a word of English so we didn’t even know who made the song until a couple of years after. Do you see any relationship between rap and traditional African music? I came to Ireland at the age of seven so I pretty much formed most of my musical preference here. The only music I listened to back in Africa were Gospel music and Bob Marley. My dad LOVED Bob Marley. He was actually the first musician I remember hearing. I was like four or five years old at the time and I just remember my dad playing one of his albums, the one he recorded in prison, I just remember being happy at listening to that. You describe yourself as a conceptual artist - is music only just a small part? Music for me is the platform I want to use to express my other interests. Like, I want to be an actor and write mangas, comic books, novels and poetry. I want to do so much and I feel like music can help me do all that. But it’s also more than that. Musically I’m conceptual because I feel like my style is different and my stories mixed with anime characters, comic books and reality are conceptual. I write a certain way because I don’t want everyone to come out with the same interpretation. Everything I say is to try and get people to think.
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Think of Picasso and how he drew people so oddly. It was to push people’s comfort zones and make people see things differently. I feel my music is like Picasso’s cubism, purposely misshaping familiar shapes. I want to take it one step further, Picasso did the same thing several times. I don’t want to do the same thing more than twice. I don’t want my next project to sound anything like my previous work, maybe lyrically, but not sonically. When you see Picasso’s drawings, you know who it’s from and if anybody else does something similar, people automatically say ‘oh yeah, you got that from Picasso’. I don’t want that. By sounding different every time, no one can claim that somebody else that might have been inspired by me and or someone else, copied my sound. I don’t want to have a sound. My sound is conceptual. What inspires your lyrics? Comic books… and more comic books. Mangas, Manhwas, anime and Japan. Also myself and my experiences, but more so other people’s stories. I throw a dosage of me in every song but I’m not worried about people knowing about me. Once they know what I’m about, I’m cool. What else can we expect in 2016? I am working on a few collab projects with a few super talented folks, so I should be dropping a few mini EPs early on in the New Year. I’m mainly hoping to do shows and festivals but I will definitely do a big solo project. If all goes to plan, my debut album might drop towards the end of next year. I’m a workaholic so expect A LOT of new music and don’t expect any specific sound. I don’t really do conventional hip-hop so expect a lot of alternative music but don’t be too surprised if I drop a full on trap E.P or something, just expect everything and nothing.
sta te. i e
FA C ES o f 2015
“Everything I say is to try and get people to think”
“Seriously cool and imaginative sounds…” Monday Villains
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
sta te. i e
FA C ES o f 2015
Big music, high hopes and general messing.
THIRD SMOKE
Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Did you have a clear idea for the band when you formed? No! The band has a long enough history but it is essentially built on a teenage songwriting / jamming friendship between Hugh and Joe since they were in first year of secondary school in Dundalk. A band of sorts was formed when they were in sixth year and since then it’s moved forward in various guises and line ups. That being said it only really got serious and a more concerted effort put into effect come April 2013 after a sold out upstairs Whelan’s show. At which point we retired for 18 months to write more seriously and turn into a five piece band. Which is our current line-up. Is balancing a credible and commercial sound tricky? Difficult one to answer being honest as we’re not specifically writing with something like that in mind. We work from the premise that each song has a “correct” form and it’s our job to batter the hell out of it till it matches up with what it’s actually supposed to be. That can mean songs are scrapped for months at a time. We’re very tough on each other in that regard. Any minute detail of a song that seems weak, cluttered, inconsistent or disengaging gets dragged out into debate. Entire songs have regularly gotten discarded only to then re-emerge months later with renewed clarity. So I suppose in that sense we aim to have songs that are very coherent within themselves which might in turn make them generally accessible.
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‘Ms Summer Breeze’ got a great response.. It got a much better response than we could have hoped for. We were very apprehensive before releasing it as we’d been very silent for a long while. But Today FM played it early on as their introducing act of the week on the Mix Up with Colm O Sullivan back in April and then out of the blue we won the Radio 1 John Murray’s Emerging Talent competition in May. That led to our live television debut as we played on Brendan O Connor’s last ever Saturday Night Show. That was a big moment for us as a group. It feels a bit weird playing it live at the moment though, now that we’re in the middle of winter. What was the best show you played in 2015? We’ve played a number of shows that were huge for us as a band. The highlight was supporting Ham Sandwich for their Olympia show. That stage is just magical to play on. We also played very enjoyable sets at Longitude and Electric Picnic this summer which will stick out in the mind for some time to come. Oh and another highlight was playing a charity gig for Women’s Aid in our hometown Dundalk with Glen Hansard. They’re a super organisation and it was a great, somewhat larey, night. What can we expect in 2016? We will be doing more releases throughout 2016 which will represent a taster of what we will have in store on an album that is currently under construction. We also hope to continue gigging heavily and generally messing.
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“We work from the premise that each song has a ‘correct’ form and it’s our job to batter the hell out of it till it matches up with what it’s actually supposed to be”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
MARK McGUINNESS
sta te. i e
FA C ES o f 2015
Feel Good Lost unearths another star in the making.
JONI
Photographed for State by Mark McGuinness
Your musical background was quite different to what you’re doing now wasn’t it? I suppose it was - but I’m a mixture of genres and backgrounds. I started violin aged four, played with the National Youth Orchestra. I sang, and played trad as I went to all-Irish schools. I played in bands. My dad is a blues singer and guitarist, and my mum is a classical pianist but also played in dub reggae bands. There wasn’t much money but every sacrifice was made for music. I was surrounded by so many genres of music but I trained classically. It’s very competitive and taught me perseverance, resilience and attention to detail. How did you make the switch? There was a punk / DIY scene in Kilcoole with bands like Kid Blunt and Soldiers Take Half. It was inspiring - all ages gigs with amazing punk and ska every weekend in the Scouts’ hall or wherever. I was listening to punk and ’60s rock and roll, but also going raving. And on the sly I was listening to Destiny’s Child and any pop and R&B I could get my hands on. I was due to go away to study music - but the night before I left I went to a festival, had a mind-altering experience and missed the flight. I realised I didn’t want to play classical anymore and moved on to dubstep, bass, tropical and dancehall gigs. I played with The Cujo Family for a year, but realised it wasn’t for me - then I met Richie Kaboogie (producer of ‘Running’) and he had a huge influence on me. So at 25, I wrote my first song that actually felt like mine. Was it easy to find like minded collaborators? I’ve never really had a problem finding people to work with. Richie was first, then Eomac, who was a friend. One producer I met, played me something on the roll over and I just annoyed him until he gave it to me. You got to be brazen and just go up and ask!
‘Running’ received a great reaction... I was delighted. I was going through some issues for a while before I wrote but it was written at the beginning of getting better. So many of the songs over that two-year period were like a diary for me. Seeing that people vibe with that is a great feeling. What’s been the best moment of 2015 for you? Friday May 22nd when Ireland changed the constitution to extend civil marriage to same sex couples. I was at Out To Lunch and New Jackson played ‘Caravan Of Love’. Everybody held hands and was singing. I will remember this forever. This year was the beginning of huge social changes. The world is shifting and we’ve seen a huge rise in social activism both here and abroad. It feels like we’re teetering on the cusp of something. Such an exciting year.
“She has a song about feminism and references periods and it’s just great. We’re all about normalising periods…” M(h)aol
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“I was due to go away to study music but the night before I left I went to a festival, had a mind-altering experience and missed the flight�
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
LEAH CARROLL
sta te. i e
FA C ES o f 2015
Mysterious dance warriors emerge from the shadows.
DISCOPUNKS
Photographed for State by Leah Carroll
How did you all come together? Keitho had some demos and was looking to get a band going with Joey Donegan and Nicky Dempsey, there was a loose plan to maybe put something out mid-2014. We started to work on the demos and our sound but as time went on things kept being pushed back so it wasn’t until around October/November that we floated some tracks around to a few musicians who we knew well and wanted to work with – Joey and Keith had known and worked with Bones and Dunc before for example – but after that we went asking for recommends from people we trusted. Seldom has a band name been so appropriate..... It’s probably not the usual way but we actually had it well before we had a completed line-up. We’d always liked the contrast of a name like the Stone Roses or say Joy Division, it suggests one thing but when you dig a little deeper it means something else entirely. On a rollover one night an actor pal of ours said they’d read some quote online something like there’d been no disco punks since the ‘80s, we liked how cool it sounded and because nothing else was jumping out around the time we grabbed it. Probably not the best state of mind to be in and like any name you fall in and out of love with it but it’s ours now
The lead up to your debut single was pretty lengthy, was that always the plan? Not really, we’d hoped to release mid to late 2014 but as we didn’t have any real deadline the release kept getting pushed back due to stuff like changing studios and engineers, wanting the best possible sound, then finding the right musicians – normal things like that. We had a few demos but it wasn’t til Ger and Phil became available and we hit Beechpark in November that we figured we had it nailed, which by then meant going to radio in February. A photographer we’d worked with had suggested why don’t we drive on with the scheduled promo anyway ahead of the first release as we had a name, so we thought why not. Likewise, why did you want to keep your identities hidden? We were so busy either writing, in studio or working on the transition from studio to stage and didn’t have a completed line-up to sign off on it made more sense to hang on til we did. Lucky for us that it happened that way as there were still a couple of changes made even very late on. What are the plans for 2016? We’re a very new band but have been lucky with a really busy 12 months; appearances at Barn Dance/CP/KS/Indie/HWCH, Whelan’s and Workmans headlines, 3 singles, all the while continuing to write new material so lots of studio work. We want to build on last year so we’ll probably start by concentrating on the next single. We had such a blast in 2015 on the festival circuit so fingers crossed we did enough to get invited back. With thanks to Bison Bar and The Workmans.
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“We’d always liked the contrast of a name like the Stone Roses or say Joy Division, it suggests one thing but when you dig a little deeper it means something else entirely”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
KIERAN FROST
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FA C ES o f 2015
Pop music gets a new dimension.
AIK.J
Photographed for State by Kieran Frost
When did you start making music? I started properly when I was 19, beforehand I was always doing things related to music like singing in the choir and choreography plainly because I could do it well and it was fun. I never thought I would take it seriously because my first aspiration was to play basketball professionally due of my height. I was equally talented at sports. In my third year of college, I was doing computer science, which I found interesting and a little bit challenging. Then I saw something that made me see life in a totally different way and that’s how I started music. What are your influences? I’m not really restricted to one sound, I love anything with the right rhythm. I’m hugely influenced by Michael Jackson, Usher, R Kelly, Chris Brown, Omarion, Labrinth, Pharrell, J. Cole, Kendrick, Ed Sheeran, Rick Ross, T-Pain, Justin Timberlake, Timberland and Trey Songs. Those are just a few names I can think of at the top of my head. When I was at a young age I even listened to the likes of Nickelback and Linkin Park.
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Do you think what you’re doing is very different to what’s coming out of Dublin at the moment? The city mostly has a very alternative and rock scene, there is hip-hop as well but there aren’t many, or rather any, R&B or pop artists. I would definitely think I’m doing something totally different. What are your plans for 2016? To make everyone happy with music, be a master of my art, make my name known to as many that are willing to listen. Work with as many that are willing to work with me. Kevin Hart is my biggest influence because of his journey. His caption on twitter is “Hi I’m kevin hart and I work HARD”. That’s what I apply day to day.
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“There aren’t many, or rather any, R&B or pop artists [in Dublin]. I would definitely think I’m doing something totally different.”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
sta te. i e
FA C ES o f 2015
Dublin band talking about a revolution.
M(H)AOL
Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Tell us about Grainne Mhaol... She was a badass pirate queen based in the West of Ireland in the 16th Century. The song ‘Óró Sé Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile’ was rewritten by Pádraig Pearse about her being the metaphorical saviour of Ireland. Is she a good metaphor for the band? Not sure if we’re quite the metaphorical saviours of Ireland, but she’s someone who stood up strongly for what she believed in and didn’t take any crap. Our band name is taking the spelling of her name, but pronouncing it as “male”. It’s a response to the treatment that female musicians get. When there is a band made up of girls, people call them a “girl band” or constantly reference the fact that they’re females. No-one ever does that for a bunch of lads. It makes no sense. Do you like to draw inspiration from specific events or individuals? Completely...our song ‘Clementine’ is about Clementine Churchill’s response to a man called Almroth Wright who was incredibly outspoken about all the different reasons women shouldn’t get the vote in 1913. She completely took the piss out of him in an anonymous letter to The Times. We also write songs about specific dogs. ‘Jack Douglas’, our anti-lamping lament, is about a dog by that name who sadly died last year. ‘Kim is a Punk-Type Dog’ is about a 15 year old deaf dog called Kim who is one of the most punk individuals you could ever meet.
How was your first gig (State’s We Shall Overcome benefit for the homeless show) ? Well our guitar broke just before we went on stage, but other than that, it was incredible. We brought along almost everyone we’ve ever met, so it was really nice to have so many people we knew there to support us. The gig itself was for a fantastic cause, and we were so glad to be a part of it. Also there were lovely homemade pancakes involved. Do you think the Irish music scene is political enough? We’d love to see more political elements in the scene. It can be a bit scary to be an outwardly political band, and sometimes people think “oh, who am I to be talking about that topic’, but that’s a real shame. We probably have a bit of an advantage with the type of music we make, because it’s generally more accepted to make political music when it’s loud and abrasive, rather than pop or a singer-songwriter. That also a shame though. In our opinion, the more political music the better. People should be challenged.
“Really badass and cool…” Æ MAK 60
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FA C ES o f 2015
“In our opinion, the more political music the better. People should be challenged.” “Exactly what Irish punk has been missing. I would love to hop on a track with them…” Anti-One
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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FA C ES o f 2015
Derry’s Little Bear return in a new guise.
PORTS
Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Does this feel like a new band? In a way, yes. It feels like we’ve been given the opportunity to focus on what was good about our previous band and expand on it. Has the music changed at all? It has slightly. We didn’t want to stray too far away from the music we had been creating. It’s almost an expansion to that. You must have been pleased by the response to your debut single ‘Gameplay’? Yes indeed. We were worried at first, as it’s a slight departure sound wise. The reaction definitely took as by surprise. We can’t wait to release the full album now.
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What can we expect from the album? It’ll show an expansion of our sound. We have older tracks that we’ve re-recorded, mixed with newer tracks. We have tried our best to showcase our signature sound and are very excited to share the results. What are your plans for 2016? We plan to release our debut album, and tour extensively. There are a lot of exciting new opportunities, now that we’ll be releasing the debut album.
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“We’ve been given the opportunity to focus on what was good about our previous band and expand on it”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for Faces by
BRENDAN CANTY
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FA C ES o f 2015
HUNK!’s Niamh Hergarty finds her solo voice amongst the noise.
BINARIES
Photographed for Faces by Brendan Canty
What prompted the move from bands to a solo performer? When I moved back to Cork, it was hard to find people to jam with. It’s a much smaller scene here and everyone’s quite stretched with their various projects. Commuting to Dublin for band practice isn’t always realistic either because people mightn’t be available when you are. So I came to the realisation that if I wanted to continue making music I’d have to figure out a way to be a bit more self sufficient. I do miss band practice, it’s just the best banter. That said, I’m really enjoying the freedom of working at my own pace. There’s pros and cons to both. Not working under your own name we you a greater freedom doesn’t it? That was a something I struggled with, choosing a name is really difficult. I felt that by adopting a pseudonym it would give me the freedom to bring others on board in the future. It doesn’t necessarily have to be just me. For now, it’s working out that way. I find the idea of a solo project interesting as it’s rare that you end up going it completely alone. I certainly couldn’t have recorded the tracks I did without help from some great people. Collaboration is important as it definitely helps you see things in a different light, it’s the best way to improve. How did you end up recording in LA? I was out there visiting and I was playing my friend Henry some demos I had. I think I was quite embarrassed about it at the time because he’s way more proficient than I am. He liked it and we ended up recording. It was completely unplanned, we were just at a loss for something to do that day. We recorded it in a few hours on Garageband, our friend Matt lent us his
bass and we used some pedals that were lying around. It was interesting to try pedals that I wouldn’t normally use, I love that sound we got. The vocals were recorded with Chris Somers (Elastic Sleep) at One Chance Out Studios in Cork, he also mixed everything properly and added drums. Essentially when I brought those recordings to him they were a bit skeletal as was a bit of a spur of the moment recording, but he was great about it. He worked his magic and restored the tracks. And then on a label from Scotland? Soft Power approached us when we were in HUNK! and asked us if we wanted to put out a single with them and we did, we put out the Dupe cassingle. They were so lovely to work with that I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather work with for the Binaries stuff. Needless to say, I was delighted they liked the tracks and interested in releasing them. They’re such a great label with some really awesome acts, it’s great to be a part of it. What are your plans for 2016? Playing live is the main goal, but the idea is both exciting and slightly intimidating. I’ve never attempted a solo set so it’s a challenge but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve been recording again with Chris Somers and I’ll be releasing a new single early in 2016. If we can make the time for it, I’d love to play more HUNK! shows.
“Something very current with its own splash of originality….” Monday Villains 68
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“It’s rare that you end up going it completely alone”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
LEAH CARROLL
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FA C ES o f 2015
Old meets the new and turns up the volume.
TRAVIS OAKS
Photographed for State by Leah Carroll
That’s a big sound you’ve got there. Was it always the case? We were always looking for a rock sound, but we started off sounding slightly more indie/ blues. Our first E.P, released in November 2014, is a good example of that. But when our guitarist Taran joined the band, it added another dimension to our sound, and made it bigger, and slightly heavier. We try not to get too heavy though, to keep that indie vibe to our sound, but we love writing tunes with big chunky riffs. Rock music seems to be back in fashion (again)..... Yeah, we can see it especially in Dublin, the rock music scene is in full throttle, with bands like The Hot Sprockets, New Secret Weapon... to name a few. These are obviously the biggest names around at the minute, but there are so many smaller rock bands around that are absolutely amazing. If you go out to a gig any night of the week in Dublin, you’re guaranteed to see at least a couple of unreal bands. I don’t think rock music will ever die, people will just re-invent it and give it a modern touch as time goes along. Is it important to sound contemporary as well as referencing the past? All genres of music, however modern they are, are influenced by something from the past. We are influenced by bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and many others (it actually very much depends on each member of the band). But of course we can’t allow ourselves to recreate the exact same music those people did. We make our own music, and we want it to sound like something people have never heard before, something fresh. Obviously because of our rock style it will always sound a little bit like something else, but we try to stay as far away from that as possible….
The ‘Last Love Song’ video looked a blast to make..... We started working with these guys called Little Beast, they are amazing. We had heard of them because they had done a video for the Hot Sprockets, and we loved it. The video was shot in Celbridge, between a field and a forest. It was shot at night, which was very tiring, but totally worth it. It was so much fun, the whole concept was basically us being captured by these tribal people and brought into the forest and at the end we basically ended up playing a gig for them... we had these burlesque dancers acting as tribal people, and they all looked amazing. The costumes, the make-up, everything was incredible and looked so real. We’re very proud of that video, and we can’t wait to make some more of those! Hopefully we’ll have another one in 2016. What can we expect in 2016? We have a new E.P coming out at the start of 2016, a reflection of how we’ve grown as a band over the last two years. Probably a tour of Ireland after that, and we’re hoping to go abroad again too, maybe Germany or Spain. We can’t wait to go out on the road again. Thanks to Grand Barbers, Grand Canal Quay who were kind enough to accommodate part of our shoot.
“Very much dig their vibe…” Third Smoke 72
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FA C ES o f 2015
“We make our own music, and we want it to sound like something people have never heard before”
“They make me want to start a riot or something… “ Young Prophet
photographed for State by
OLGA KUZMENKO
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FA C ES o f 2015
Urban folk with a dark edge.
THE MARIANNES
Photographed for State by Olga Kuzmenko
Does the band reflect the music you all grew up with? We should mention that there is a reasonable age gap between the youngest and oldest members of the band (Lisa being the youngest of course), and a very diverse range of musical preferences in the group. Lisa and Joe grew up listening to Irish folk, country and rock music - with acts like Luke Kelly, Patsy Cline, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Presley on the go. Eamon liked heavier acts such as Nirvana and Metallica and Nathan’s earliest influences were largely punk bands. Gearóid grew up playing Irish Traditional music and listening to artists like Damien Rice and Leonard Cohen, whereas Jack would site acts like Tom Jones, The Pixies and The Smiths as being among his favourites. So, there’s quite a lot of variety to reflect there, the problem is reining it all in. In short, if our music could be described as alternative folk with a darker side to it, then our earliest influences are certainly in there somewhere... How would you describe ‘urban folk’? Historically, the term ‘urban folk’ has been associated with musicians bringing folk music to city areas where opportunities to perform in progressive and political climates were rife. Artists like Woody Guthrie were responsible for weaving folk music into the fabrics of everyday life in cities like New York through the folk movement in Greenwich Village in the 1930s. For us however, the term probably reflects something a lot more personal too. For example, when we first started to play together, we really had no idea where exactly we “fit in” in the spectrum of musical genres. Though we are largely grounded in folk, blues and rock styles - we felt we were a little too hard to declare ourselves as “pure” folk, and yet a little too soft to fall under any other umbrella! Maybe we had notions of folk bands wearing braces and waist coats, and playing certain instruments a certain way, and generally feeding into a bit of a cliché - and while there’s nothing wrong with that, we just didn’t feel that our music fit that mould or that we as a 76
band did either. Someone once described us as having an urban folk vibe - because our eclectic backgrounds and influences gave us our own identity, and also of course because we are all largely based in and around the fair city. Was it important to write your own songs rather than just re-visit traditional material? While it’s always interesting to interpret and perform other people’s works, it’s also nice to be creative and original. Part of the fun of being in a band is going from point A to point Z with an original song, building it up or tearing it down and basically seeing it take on a life of its own. Writing in general also gives people the opportunity to express themselves both personally and musically, so yes, it’s important for lots of reasons. What inspires your lyrics? They are largely drawn from combinations of both story telling elements and personal experience, and try to be honest and unambiguous in their delivery. Some songs are inspired by the lives of colourful characters from Irish history such as Ireland’s first female serial killer ‘Dorcas Kelly’ to the revolutionary leader, Roger Casement. Sometimes, other people’s stories are just too interesting or moving to leave behind, and in this way you get to live a little bit vicariously through the character in a song. Then there are more emotive or personal tracks such as ‘Ache in my Heart’ or ‘Lost with All Hands’, which are a bit closer to home and could be metaphors for failed relationships or basically for any lost cause in a person’s life. What was the highlight of 2015? Our EP Launch at Whelan’s was an absolutely amazing night, and the culmination of a lot of work for us, both inside and outside of the rehearsal studio. The gig itself was really special, and we’ve gotten a lot of great feedback and really positive reviews of the tracks post release. So, hopefully onward and upward for 2016...
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“Our eclectic backgrounds and influences gave us our own identity”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed for State by
KIERAN FROST
sta te. i e
FA C ES o f 2015
The sound of young LImerick is a joyous thing indeed.
MONDAY VILLAINS
Photographed for State by Kieran Frost
Was there one band or record that you all bonded over? Well luckily for us our tastes in music are very similar. Starting off, one band that we all mutually liked and inspired us would have been The Strokes. When the band was coming together they were a big influence to us. Do you remember your first rehearsal? We met in first year in secondary school and got together pretty quickly. It was a pretty awkward experience and we just jammed over ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ for an hour with our €100 guitars and little practice amps. It wasn’t till four years later that we got Fionan (bass) into the band.
How is Limerick for a young band starting out? It has it’s upsides and downsides. There are a lot of great musicians in Limerick and because it’s a small place everyone looks out for each other. We’ve had a lot of help from people in the music scene here that I’m not sure we would have received if we were in a bigger city. But at the same time, it’s hard starting out. It’s hard to get out of Limerick and connect with other bands from around Ireland. What was recording your debut single like? It was a blast! We recorded with Mike Gavin and Steve Ryan from Windings. We did it in this old abandoned school. It was super chill and fun, just being able to record with friends and having total freedom over the tracks. What about plans for 2016? Big ones. We have an abundance of tracks that we’re dying to share with people. Our main goal is just to get our music out there and get people to listen to it.
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“We just jammed over ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ for an hour with our €100 guitars and little practice amps”
FA C ES o f 2015
photographed by
ASHLEY MOBASSER
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FA C ES o f 2015
Breaking down as many barriers as possible.
TUATH
Photographed by Ashley Mobasser
How does an Irish language, psychedelic, progressive post punk/rock, shoegaze band come about? Tuath started off with me in Galway in my bedroom. I started demoing tracks while I was baked off my tits, then I realised I wanted to turn the thing into a band so I went on a mission to get myself a singer and a drummer. I had no luck for about a month but then I was handing out fliers at a drum ‘n’ bass club and took the opportunity to ask every bearded or hairy person I could find if they were a drummer. It turned out one of them was, his name was Declan Huban and he hated Galway as much as I do, so we bonded. As for the singer and the Irish language part, I had never had a singer that was dedicated and I couldn’t get anyone that shared my ‘vision’ so I just decided I’d do it. I could barely hold a note and was sick of hearing c*nts sing in American accents so I figured if Donegal accents are constantly rated the sexiest in Ireland, and the Irish accent is rated the sexiest accent in the world then so what If I hit a couple of bum notes? So I lathered me voice in reverb and one upped myself by singing as Gaeilge. Irish is an ambiguous language and you can say a lot with very little. You’ve been moving around quite a bit… We are based mostly in Donegal now which means we are avoiding the Dublin scene mostly, which is interesting as we are seeming to become more successful by being based on the Internet / Donegal and just not licking ass or pretending to care about shit that we don’t care about. I intend on moving to Belfast as I do soundtracks for TG4 programs that will be my main job soon.
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How does the revolving band member policy work? It doesn’t and It is a massive pain in the ass. We have a static drummer now called Shane and a frequenter on bass called Scott so we are getting better at being a unit. Members, location are all irrelevant. What happened to your covers EP idea? We are too busy with our own music at the moment and the covers EP went out the window. What I can tell you is that we have a stoner doom metal version of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ os gaeilge that we are gonna bang out when the time is right and we have been selected by “the blog that celebrates itself” to cover a krautrock track for their krautrock tribute EP (out in February) so we are doing Can’s ‘Oh Yeah’ in Irish… backwards. I’m going to try and employ a few extra synth players and stuff for that one as it needs to be gratuitously OTT or it will be shite. What else can we expect in 2016? The two EPs that we are nearly finished with, an album and an awful lot of music videos. Probably some festivals too but likely no gigs in Ireland that aren’t festivals. We’ve had to set up a sort of community with some other psych bands, Free Sunshine Acid and Magic Moogles Vintage Psycho Arrangement. Expect a lot of homemade gigs next year.
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“Irish is an ambiguous language and you can say a lot with very little”
FA C ES o f 2015
While we’ve often become used to our Faces taking a while to reach the heights that we predict (Soak featured on our 2013 cover), it’s gratifying to see that a good number of our 2015 choices have already began making their mark. It was certainly a good year for Wyvern Lingo, Bitch Falcon, Dah Jevu, Booka Brass, Loah, Old Hannah, Conor Walsh, Robocobra Quartet and Rocstrong - all of whom have made an impact at home and, in many cases, abroad. As usual, others are just starting to break through. Cover star ProFound made a memorable impact at HWCH ’15 and, his debut movie due soon, should only increase his profile. Likewise Participant (who released some lovely music throughout the year), Columbia Mills, Dear Desert and Buffalo Woman - one of the most original live acts on the circuit. On the electronic front, both Kobina and Benihana continued to push the envelope. It was a quiet year for Amidships, although they look set to return with a bang in 2016 and Satori Je went AWOL. Sadly, for Pockets it seemed to be the end of the road – although their open ended statement suggests that their decision to disband may not be entirely permanent. We can but hope.
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Edited by Phil Udell Art directed by Simon Roche With editorial assistance from the State.ie team Aaron Drain Steven Dunne
FA C ES o f 2015
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