I spoke to Oisín Leahy-Furlong frontman of Dublin noise pop band THUMPER last week. We talked about the band’s new single ‘Topher Grace’, their abrasive sound and how they approach their kinetic live shows. The guys are at the forefront of a thriving music scene alongside bands like Bitch Falcon, Fontaines DC, the Murder Capital and Pillow Queens and we discuss this along with the effects streaming has on artists at present.
THUMPER are set to release their new single ‘Topher Grace’ on the 26th June. It’s an intense and blistering track with the verses taking on a Blur feel. Oisín ruminates on unhealthy and quite destructive behaviour throughout the track
“It was written over the course of a couple of months which is sort of different for me, normally these things are written in bursts. I suppose the song makes several allusions to a culture which is fairly present, in Ireland anyway of airing your problems in public with a pint in your hand rather than in a friends sitting room. I guess its about the idea that maybe you are going through destruction or by unraveling yourself you will find some sort of ultimate truth or something. Which of course is bullshit but I suppose the deeper you are into that lifestyle the easier it is to convince yourself that its the way for you.”
With ‘Topher Grace’ Oisín decided to take a different song writing approach. Avoiding the usual way of writing such as structure and melody he replaced them with a more considered approach to lyric writing and performance. This resulted in a lengthy and interesting writing process. I wondered if this was a way of trying to hone in on his lyrical content and refine it, to become more of a lyricist perhaps. I also wondered was the view in the song a personal insight or was it Oisín watching this behaviour from afar.
“ I suppose I was and I wasn’t. In a way I was trying to strike a more conversational tone, even in the delivery its devoid of melody and things I would lean on and just normal pillars of song writing. But the reason its written that way is because I couldn’t play it on guitar and sing it at the same time. So I had to write it and then just talk it in my kitchen or whatever and it wasn’t until I was actually able to sit down and get a demo going that I was actually able to see how it all slotted together so all the pieces, all the lyrics, all the sections were sort of written in separate vacuums and at a later point were stitched together. So I guess that meant that because I wasn’t tied to melody and stuff like that there was a tendency to go back to it and as you say refine it and I suppose a lot of it would have been written in the thick of it, like in a smoking area of somewhere or in a strangers bathroom or whatever. So a lot of it did need to be refined because it didn’t make a lot of sense but I got there in the end.”
“It was definitely more of an insular thing. I don’t think the song is prescribing any kind of answers or anything like that. It’s more like just ruminating on how I was feeling in the moment or even the morning after the moment. As much as I did go back and refine it, it was definitely more of an instant reaction to how I was feeling. Little snapshots of different moments and how they all piece together to form a period in your life. I think it’s only in retrospect that you notice patterns in your behaviour. At the time you think you have full control over your own choices. But yeah it’s definitely a first person kind of view.”
‘Topher Grace’ was cut from just over 6 and a half minutes to a neat 4 minute cut for radio. Reading the full lyrics to the track I felt there was plenty of golden and witty lyrical content cut out for the radio version. Doing these cuts is not easy for an artist when they have put so much time into crafting the track
“ Absolutely yeah, I had to do it with one hand over an eye you know. It was like sending your kid to school without lunch or something.It’s pretty heartbreaking.But it’s the nature of the beast. I normally slave over these edits forever but I didn’t even think the song would get any radio play to begin with for so many reasons so I was able to lash that thing together and go ‘right there you go, there’s your castrated radio edit version’ “
THUMPER have a unique sound in the sense they pack in something for everyone within each tune. They have the abrasive post punk or rock instrumentation with rumbling elastic bass slaps and grooves behind the crashing majestic guitar-burns while the smooth vocals bounce along the sometimes bubblegum or pop melody.Oisín always knew that’s what he wanted to achieve with his music and with the band
“ Yeah, from the outset it was sort of a plan because it started off as more of a solo thing for me. I was putting out tapes under the name THUMPER for a couple of years. Real lo fi kind of gnarly sounding things and just the basic idea was to see how far in the direction of noise and abrasiveness I could push it whilst retaining that sort of pop sensibility. Then of course as the band developed and more people got involved, you know there is 6 of us in the band, so it’s sort of natural enough that everyone else’s tastes and individual styles go into the mix.We listen to lots of different types of music so it’s no wonder that there is different elements going on.”
I asked Oisín when he started with THUMPER was he always confident bringing his songs to the rest of the band or was there an initial ‘oh god what if they slate it’ especially if it’s about something personal?
“Yeah it’s like when you first meet someone you don’t tell them your life story.You sort of gradually get there over time. When you feel comfortable enough to share pieces of yourself until eventually they know the whole you. It’s not too different with songwriting.It’s definitely nerve-racking.Certainly with this song it was the first time I was nervous to bring something to the band in a long time because there is nothing really to hide behind. It’s almost entirely spoken word and it’s just got me screaming and yelping for 7 minutes. Also it’s the first song I’ve written where I haven’t been able to play it myself. I need the band behind me to do it and pull it off. Definitely the demos that I wrote sound so different to what the finished product is. So I guess this trust is inherent in that and you build it up over time and grow a, well not necessarily a thicker skin, it’s just there is a tenderness to it and people recognise that over time. Ultimately it was really rewarding and it’s not an easy place to tap into but it’s something I would like to return to and also I have an entire verse where I don’t have to play guitar. I’m only doing one thing at a time. There are definitely benefits to that.”
Like other bands of this generation THUMPER have the power and influence of streaming platforms which gives artists huge exposure however it doesn’t really make them money. It’s a paradox in the sense you can reach more people but don’t reap the benefits as much as you would with album sales and touring. I wondered does this play on Oisín’s mind or is it just part and parcel of the job
“In one sense it weeds out anyone who is doing it for the wrong reasons.That said I have absolutely no issue with some people who say if you are trying to make money in this you are in the wrong game or whatever. I would love to make a living doing this, I would love to be able to keep making music for people who want to hear it. You do worry that when you are doing it for so long and making so little cash that at a certain point life will catch up and you literally won’t be able to do it anymore even though there is a demand for it and that’s a real threat for a lot of bands. Especially now as you said I’m not paying my rent with my Spotify streams but I might have been off the months of festival touring that we would have been doing which is all cancelled now. I think the only thing you can do is look forward, work on the music as hard as you can and don’t be an imbecile but also don’t worry about too much because it’s supposed to be fun. You’re supposed to enjoy it.Times are bizarre and strange at the minute but I’m sure that enjoyment and happiness will come back again eventually.There is an amazing song called Everything Is Free which talks about this. Its a fucking depressing song because its so on the nose but it is true. You are expected to work for free. I know personally, friends in bands who are very successful and are living with their parents. It’s bizarre but the whole world is morphing and shifting before our very eyes these days so maybe now that people are faced with the reality of having no one to talk to except for records and movies for the last 13 weeks maybe a different importance will be put on that but I’m not holding my breath. “
The music scene in Ireland and Dublin particularly is very vibrant lately – there are so many amazing acts gigging and making a name for themselves from The Murder Cpaital and Fontains DC to Fangclub and Bitch Falcon. Oisín doesn’t see this as competition or that it’s an overload of bands fighting for the attention of listeners.
“I think it’s great, there has always been a healthy competition,whether there has been an eye on Dublin or not that has existed the whole time.I think the bands that you mentioned are all very different and all being influenced by each other. I think the broader the spectrum of creativity is, the more there is to be influenced by. No I don’t see it as a negative at all and definitely those bands are a big influence on us and I know them all and they have all gone through a million different iterations of what it is they do presumably because of the music that is being made around them and the attitudes and all that sort of stuff. I feel like all of us, we are making music anyway it’s just that now there’s I guess more attention although its difficult to see when your so deep in it.”
I saw THUMPER perform a few years ago supporting Fangclub and it was quite a wild performance. I would say there was no one left without whiplash after their set, my ears were ringing for sure. The guys manage to keep their live shows fresh and engaging but they don’t plan any of the antics
“No we don’t plan any of that. We never even talk about it. We just like playing the music and I don’t know its just a combination of different personalities in the band and that’s how we act at other peoples gigs as well to a certain extent.Its not for everyone, certainly when your touring and your doing it every single night there will be nights where you can barely stand because you are so exhausted but something happens when you step on that stage man. I think the bottom line is when we rehearse, we rehearse a lot and we get the songs as tight as we can possible make them.Which means that when we actually get on stage we don’t have to think about too much, we can tear around the place, smash stuff up and the idea being that we’re kind of such a tight unit it will be able to snap back into place when it needs to.I think maybe when you saw us we were more on the side of chaos than anything else maybe but certainly that’s the thinking now.It’s just rehearse the songs and write them and respect the craft and then by the time you get to the stage you have earned a bit of fun like I think the time you saw us was in Whelan’s “
At that show bassist Joey (who was performing his last show with the band) smashed his bass off the stage and the crowd took every piece.
“ yeah that was very funny. That was my bass! His name is Joey Gavin he is living in Berlin now. He is making his own music and bringing out singles this year. He is great. “
With touring on hold, THUMPER have spent their time in the studio writing and recording, as well as hosting live streams on social media for their fans and this week they are planning a live stream to promote their new single.
“ They are fairly nerve-racking to be honest. Much more so than getting on a stage because although on one side of it, the side other people see looks like a performance and all that, on my side I’m just a man screaming in my kitchen at the back wall. With no one to tell me whether I sound good or bad or if the connection is there or whatever.But it’s been nice to keep in contact with the fan base and play some tunes and wet people’s appetite that way. We are doing a proper full band, full production live stream the day after the single is release.So the 27th June on our Youtube and that will be pretty much our first and only gig of the whole summer. That should more closely resemble the old Thumper experience more than anything we have done before. So I’m looking forward to that. “
THUMPER have been touring and releasing music for a few years. From his experience of the Irish music scene and life in a band in general, Oisín has a few words of wisdom for budding new musicians?
“ Just worry about the songs first because there’s no point being an amazing band or getting amazing festival slots or whatever unless you have got good songs that you have take care of, nursed and all that sort of stuff.They don’t have to be your best songs you probably could be ripping someone else off at the beginning but that attention to the craft straight off the bat is just going to earn you fans, listeners and people who respect you. You’re not going to be great at the beginning and people are going to watch you even if you can’t play your instrument very well and you can’t really sing too well.Which is definitely what I was like and still am like to a certain extent. If you clearly have put passion and effort into the songwriting and the writing in general. Then that’s more than a decent jumping off point. “
Though it’s difficult to plan for the coming months THUMPER have some exciting plans ahead
“Good question! we are recording and writing a good bit. We have got more music coming out this year and believe it or not we do have one or two gigs lined up that we should hopefully be able to announce soon but we are just going to channel all the energy that we would have been putting into the road straight back into the studio. Yeah we have some big plans coming up and we are looking forward to sharing that with people. “
THUMPER are a band to keep an eye on. These guys slowly and delicately build their songs adding a new layer and dimension each time until their tunes are an all out mouth-frothing whack of psychedelic noise rock.Their ability to create a frenzied euphoria throughout their tracks while packing in some punch is what makes their sound so infectious.
The band are holding a live stream to support the release of ‘Topher Grace’ on the 27th of June check it out through this link
https://www.facebook.com/events/2547221645530520/?notif_t=plan_user_joined¬if_id=1592490752396184
‘Topher Grace’ is set for release on 26th June until then stream their previous single ‘Ad Nauseam’ below
Author : Danu
