I caught up with Lizzie Fitzpatrick From Bitch Falcon to talk about the band’s upcoming debut album ‘Staring At Clocks’, how the band record and write their tracks as well as how Fitzpartick has developed and honed in on her amazing vocals. ‘Staring At Clocks’ is set for release on November 6th.
Watch The Interview Below
Author : Danu
Last week I caught up with Damien McKenna from Orwells ’84 to talk about the band’s new single ‘She Is So Sweet’, the craft of songwriting, the band’s upcoming album as well as his friendship with David Keenan.
Orwells ’84 have returned, bringing their familiar sound to the masses with the release of their latest single “She Is So Sweet”. The track is the third release from the band’s well received debut EP “Truth is the First Victim”, which garnered attention in all the right places. The band recorded most of ‘Truth is the First Victim’ in Sun Studios in Dublin with Pauric McCrum and Peter McCoy of Pillowhead. This is the band’s second venture with the duo; having worked together previously on the single “Cailín”. Brimming with traditional tones and cheery refinement, ‘She Is So Sweet’ is perhaps the perfect single to release at the moment.
“I think we always viewed that particular track as a strong track musically, there’s a lot going on in it. It’s definitely the most lighthearted track on the EP. It was always going to be something that we would release and we decided that we would make it our third single because, you hear stories your third release should probably be your strongest release. So we held off and that was the reason why we used it. We just think it’s a good radio track and it’s a very pleasing track for people to listen to“
Radiating indie elements, folk tones and wonderful melodic progressions, ‘She Is So Sweet’ has a hearty sound that is wholesome and rich. I wondered how this lush backdrop and instrumental vibrancy came together.
“We started off with the melody first…then we were working originally with a violinist called Pierluigi Cioci and our cello player at the minute Ella, and they created the string pieces which kind of sat in sync with the melody of the vocals which really brightened up the whole track. We wanted to go with that because it sounded a bit Beatles- esque, we wanted to go down the psychedelic route as well.The whole concept of the song is that it’s a love story gone wrong. It’s a guy who is in love with a girl, she’s not interested but then when he’s gone she then becomes interested. But it’s just toying around and playing with it and the bouzouki plays a big part in it as well. We tried to make our bouzouki sound something like Johnny Marr from The Smiths would play. I don’t know if that makes sense but that’s kind of what we were going for, to make your bouzouki sound like a guitar and make your guitar sound like a piano.So, yeah, that’s where we got it from.”
‘Truth is the first Victim’ is an interesting title for an EP. A title like that had to have a tale behind it. I wondered what was the story behind the name.
“When we were putting together the EP. At the time Brexit had just been passed, so there was a lot of talk about borders, and being from Dundalk we were in the midst of looking at what would a hard border look like again between North and South. Obviously, in America you had Trump and all this kind of talk was going on. So we started the EP, a year ago and still to this day it’s really strong this division between people. You hear about the extreme left, far right, and this kind of division is set and it’s embedded in our community, it’s embedded in the world at the minute. So it was a real of sense of this division, and I was in the Museum for Modern Art, just looking around one day. It was an exhibition by a photographer called Les Levine, who was doing photographs on Derry in 1970 around the division for young people, and around how it was impacting them, some really powerful photographs. One of the photographs was called, Truth is a Victim. So I thought that was a fantastic idea and you always hear there’s one side of the story and there’s another side of the story and somewhere in between, lies the truth and we just felt, in this day and age, because of social media, because of everything else and because of to coin a term that’s very much in use.. the fake news that’s out there, we genuinely believe that, when these things happen or when there’s stuff going on the truth is the first victim. It’s never the thing that people go to because there’s not a good story. You know, they all say don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. So that’s where it came from.TV shows are an embellishment of the truth. We want to live our lives as these things, you know, filters, selfies. All these things are led to show or to allow people to live a different life, and as you say, the truth of their life may not be as good as what they’re able to present…I think people fear the truth. Some people don’t want to hear the truth, and as you say sometimes the truth just isn’t a good story. It’s a shame it’s a really dark way of looking at it but, it’s a powerful message that we tried to get out and, in fairness, you were the first person really that picked up on that, like what were we trying to say with the EP, because we’re not a band that would put something out and then just call it something flippant, that’s not art. Everything you do, everything you say and everything you put out to the public, as an artist should have some sort of message behind it and whether that message is to make people think, what are they trying to say, or whatever, it’s something to say, something along the lines of getting someone to think about their realities then it’s all beneficial and it’s all art. So, that’s why we were going through that title, and when I suggested it to the guys they loved it”
What is striking about Orwell ‘84’s tunes is the tight instrumental arrangements and songwriting. How they craft their songs can vary from song to song
“We’ve tried many different types, different forms of writing but generally what works for us now I’ll write an idea or a verse or chorus and we’ll play it out. Then we start putting the creative touches on it as we go along. Once we have the structure we tend to put the microscope to it, and we will say ‘why is the strings playing this bit why can’t the strings maybe try something else’ or ‘how about we take the drums out of this bit’ or ‘how do we use the bouzouki instead of the guitar again just to use it. When we did ‘Cailín’ someone suggested, have you listened to Lankum. When it comes to trad music they use this harmonium which isn’t a trad instrument, but they use it so very well that we decided, well, why don’t we try and get a harmonium and create that drone on ‘Cailín’. So the idea comes or the general idea or the lyrics will come from myself and the melody, or the foundation for the melody, and then it’s about the creative piece and getting together and really trying to focus in on what’s going to work, and what’s going to benefit the track”
The Ballad of Frank Owens is the final track on the EP. The band play strings as if they are guitars in the song and it seems the actual guitar takes a backseat.
“On our vinyl, actually, it’s the first song and that was because we created an orchestral piece to open the EP on vinyl, which was more of a selling point. We decided that if people want to invest in the music or invest in the EP that they’ll get this bonus track, so we restructured to make it sound like that and then we used samples of famous speeches about the border and about division and one of them was Martin Luther King saying that, ‘I have seen the promised land and I may get there with you someday’ and then there’s a line of Frank Owens about the promised land so we just said that flows better. When it came to the EP digitally it’s just the orchestral build up at the end it’s the strings, it’s the cello playing the fast vibrant part. it just kind of ends, a bit better, and I suppose, in a way, it kind of bookmarks instead of ending this chapter in our music, where it leads us to think, because Frank Owens is a very socialist song, and it leads us to think ‘well, is there hope out there, can we get together, is society doomed or are we going to be able to drag ourselves up by our bootstraps and move forward?’ Frank Owens for me , it’s probably my favorite track on the EP.”
Listening to Orwells ‘84’s music and the progression of their songs, I am intrigued as to how the band blend their instruments together. Each instrument can be clearly heard and yet at times the tempo picks up and the instruments seem to merge into one flowing musical arrangement. It reminds me of a stream of consciousness in writing. I wondered if the band strives to create this aspect of their music or does it just happen naturally.
“It’s both. I’m blessed with such a large band.I’m playing with five fantastic musicians who can throw their hand at anything or can create anything.So we might play the track once and then we’d sit down and then we’ll say, ‘I heard you play something like this, what were you playing’ and then we’ll focus in on that piece, or sometimes it generally can be when we just play the track it just happens organically. But we do, in our recording and in producing music, we do tend to look a lot at the structure, and I’m a big fan of The Beatles, big fan of, you know, that pop structure. I know, people will argue The Beatles aren’t pop but that kind of, four bars, chorus, bridge, I’m a big fan of that and I think that’s the foundation of music you know. I think, if you look beyond that, then you’re getting creative, or you’ll get, I’ll say avant-garde but you’re becoming a bit more out there with what you’re thinking or your thought process.”
“Generally it’s just a mix of both, you know, we just really are blessed that Peter (McCoy) and Pauric (McCrum) who produced it are very good at honing in on them things as well, and saying ‘look the dynamics are not working here, maybe we need to change this, what about the tempo of this?’. A good example on the EP would be ‘You Took The Night’ it started out as a country, Neil Young kind of song and then we played it as it is now. Then everything started being added on top of it, and it was through playing it together in a faster tempo that the piano was introduced, doing the stabbing chords and the strings were introduced doing nearly a counterpoint to the piano. So, really it can be a stream of consciousness sometimes but I would mainly say it would lean on the side of definitely a thought process more so than a stream of consciousness.“
Even though Orwells ‘84 are a band of multi instrumentalists with different creative ideas there are no arguments or issues with creative differences, the band are very much a family.
“Not really no. I mean, I always joke, Peter (McCoy) and Pauric (McCrum) because on the fact I’m a fan of The Beatles, I could sit in the studio for a week, focusing on a chorus. If I was allowed. I always have these grand ideas, especially around stuff like titles of EP’s and all that. I always have these elaborate ideas and Peter and Pauric are very good and I don’t know how they do it, they have this way of coming back to me and saying ‘that might work, but what about this’, and nine times out of ten they are generally right. I don’t think we’ve ever had a disagreement… I think it might have happened once and it might have been on ‘Frank Owens’ when we were recording it. They suggested something with a melody and I had kind of said no, not doing that, That’s too, like heavy metal, and I’ve nothing against heavy metal music it’s just not my scene but even that was amicable, we didn’t come to blows over it. We’re a band, we’re very much a band of brothers and sisters, we’re in it together and I think everyone respects everyone’s opinion. We’ve got accomplished musicians, Róisín and Ella are both trained classically in violin and cello both played with Cross Border Orchestra so they are qualified musicians, Sean Byrne can play any instrument that he wants, he just has to pick out and figure out where the notes are, and then Peter and Pauric are very good at knowing what’s going to sound good. So, if you allow yourself to respect the opinions of these people, it just makes it a whole lot easier. I can come up with all the grand ideas I want they will either tell me that it’s not gonna work in their own way, or maybe refine and hone in on what would work for my idea so I’m happy enough. It’s a very happy medium that we’ve got, and I hope it never comes to a day where we have to start throwing down and having fights, because I love them.”
Orwells ‘84 have performed with the likes of David Keenan, Nix Moon, Myles McCormack from Belfast group Lonesome George and Finnian among many others. David Keenan has become a friend to Damien. I wondered what he has learned from performing with these artists.
“I suppose the biggest lessons that we can learn was from being around David and watching him and his professionalism backstage. David is one of my best friends so I’ve seen him grow from a songwriter when me and him were putting gigs on in Dundalk to this massive star now. It dawned on me just shortly after we had supported him, I was watching the show, it might have been the Olympia Show I think and he had like himself, then it was himself with The Organics then it was himself and The Unholy Ghosts and then he had supporting artists coming in to do stuff and then he had ballet dancers and stuff. He would often reference that kind of Rolling Thunder documentary of Bob Dylan with this traveling circus of musicians that this is what he wants you to do. We all know that was chaotic but when you find out then that, you know, Bob Dylan was in total control of that, he knew exactly what he was doing and it was the same with David. Watching the professionalism, how to get it together, what they were doing. I’m not saying we weren’t professional but these guys they were there from five o’clock that day, they weren’t leaving any stone unturned..and even just stuff like getting the guitars out they’d all kind of get together and sing, it was good vocal exercises. So it was that kind of eye opening experience to look and go, you know, this is what it takes. This is what you need to do. If you want to be, I suppose on top. We never did this but loads of bands just turn up five minutes before the gig plug in and turn up to 10 and start playing and that doesn’t really work, because you’re, losing yourself in your own chaos then.”
“During lockdown David would write something, and then he’d send it to me and say ‘what do you think of this’ I’d be like ‘ah its amazing’. Then I’d send him something and say ‘what do you think of that’. Just after lockdown we sat down with our notebooks out and I’d say ‘what do you think of this’ and I’d play it and he’d say, ‘don’t change to that chord’ because you know, there’s a thought process behind it and as we were saying at the start nothing’s done by chance and nothing’s left to chance everything’s thought out, he’d say ‘why are you gonna do that’. He’s younger than me but he’s, definitely someone that I would look to as a teacher for me, you know these kind of things, because it’s so natural to him. It helps as well that we have similar tastes in music certainly when it comes to that kind of stuff of, using the instruments you have around you, using the process of music and using the process of creativity.”
“You just don’t write the first sentence that comes into your head, and then go out and play it. You write the song, then you come back to it maybe a week later if you’re not happy with it and you see what’s going to change or what you need to change and that’s the way it has to be if you take your craft seriously, that’s the process that it has to be. There’s no point in being fed from the bench, if you’re going to say something make sure you’re saying it the way you want it said. My style has grown over the years and it’s still maturing really, and it will probably always change. I’ve tried many methods, I’ve tried the William Burroughs method of the scrap paper writing, I’ve tried cutting newspaper articles and putting stuff together,I tried many things. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t and if it works it’s wonderful. If it doesn’t work then it doesn’t work. A painter will sketch hundreds of sketches for one canvas and then they will go and they will deliberately put on the canvas what they’re looking for, so it’s the same with music.”
I wondered what advice would Damien have for an aspiring songwriter or musician.
“I suppose, you just have to keep writing. You often hear of Gaelic players, taking 20 footballs and trying to kick them all over the bar. They’re doing that because when it comes to Sunday or whenever they’re going to play they are going to be able to do that instinctively, its the same as song writing, same with your voice, your vocal your instrument. Whatever it is you need to sit down and play it, you need to be comfortable with it, you need to know what you can do what are your limitations, where you want to go beyond. Also, I suppose it’s just get comfortable with what you’re doing and then when you’re comfortable push yourself further and continue to write and never look at a situation that presents itself as nothing more than a situation, there’s always going to be something there that you can take for a song. Listen to music, because there is only so many chords out there. “
Orwells ‘84 have released a video for ‘She Is Sweet’ and are making plans to release an album.
“ At the minute we’re in the middle of pre-production for the album so that just seems to be a natural progression for us. We’re really looking forward to that. We’re also looking to do a creative piece with An Táin in Dundalk, we’re going to work with a performance artist and we’re going to do a live performance but it’s going to be pre-recorded. So it’s gonna be shot live with the performance artist, doing her thing on stage, she’s already in the middle of it. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. She has some big ideas. We have some big ideas as well, different stuff we’re gonna try. We’re supposed to be back supporting David in the INEC. But I think that was pushed out again to December so I think we’re just gonna wait to see what the story is with live music.”
Fingers crossed Orwells ‘84 can film that live show and can get back to gigging again soon. They are a talented bunch of musicians who showcase their effortless, ambitious talent through enjoyable, rich and vibrant tunes which display lyrical depth and remarkable songwriting.
You can support the band through their bandcamp page here https://orwells84.bandcamp.com/
Watch the video for ‘She Is So Sweet’ below
Author : Danu
I caught up with Lucy Gaffney. We talked about how she became comfortable as a solo artist, her inspirations and how she wrote and recorded her new single ‘Send Me Away’.
Hailing from Belfast, the now Liverpool based, Irish songwriter has released her new single ‘Send Me Away’, via Frictionless Music.The track was produced by The Coral’s James Skelly, positioning her as a rising artist in the fertile Northern English indie scene. Featuring on the track alongside Lucy is Thom Southern (Electric Guitar, Bass) and Jim Sharrock(Drums).
“The reaction has been amazing, the radio play as well there’s been so much support from radio stations.I only released my first single, back a couple of months ago, and I’m obviously a brand new artist. So coming out with the second single, I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out because for me it’s more of a lo fi track, but everyone seems to be loving it and there’s RTE behind it and Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 6 played it the other day so I’m so chuffed about that as well. So yeah, it’s great.”
The track has a heavier sound with fuzzy guitar, psychedelic soundscapes and dream-pop melodies which is quite different to the sound of Lucy’s other projects Southern and MMODE.
“Well what happened was I was coming out of, one of the previous bands, and I was on tour with The Coral at the time. James Skelly produces a lot of bands and he was just watching us live, you know every night and he said ‘you guys are great, would you ever want to get into the recording studio’. So it was just kind of a natural thing and we didn’t really have any expectations. It just felt right for me to be doing my songs that I’ve had on the shelf for ages and he was really into the vibe that we were getting, it was kind of like Krautrock, kind of shoegaze. Thom, who was in the previous band with me, my brother he creates a lot of guitar sounds and I would write a lot of my melodies on top of that, probably, almost the same way like The Stone Roses would work. It’s very melody orientated with elements of deadpan vocals and a lot of reverb and things. So that’s really what I’m into, and the sound really just developed after doing those two tracks in Parr Street with James so I’ve had them ready to go since last summer.”
“I was just taking the time to do gigs, I went on tour with Bill Ryder-Jones and that was a great learning experience for me because it was the first time I was solo performer, without a band or anything so working with him as well on that tour, gave me that kind of, I don’t know full roundedness that I have in my vision for the music that I do. So yeah, the songs are coming across really well and it’s just a shame I can’t gig them. “
Doing shows on your own can be difficult when you are used to having a band with you. I wondered if the solo transition was daunting.
“Definitely, yeah for sure because it was my first, I had done gigs just kind of one off gigs. My first gig was actually supporting the DMA’s in Belfast which was an amazing first gig and yeah I was super nervous. It’s more the build up to it that you’re nervous about and then when you’re on stage it just comes so naturally, because that’s what you’re good at, and on tour with Bill (Ryder- Jones) was more about learning how to engage the audience and finding your place on stage in terms of, do you want to give a lot of yourself away to the audience, because Bill in particular, he is almost like a comedian on stage. In between the songs he’s telling tales and I’m not really like that you know naturally I’m probably a little bit more of an introvert and I wouldn’t want to give too much of myself away but yeah, so just finding that balance.”
“It was definitely daunting to begin with but it’s like anything, you know, practice makes perfect. Since being in lockdown it’s weird because doing the live gigs online has been really beneficial for me, because I think it’s more daunting to play a gig online for people than it is in real life. I mean it’s like doing faceTime with someone and the camera you have to get your camera angles right and you know there’s all that flack and you’re always worrying is the signal gonna go mid set, whereas live, the freedom that you have to play live is just amazing there’s nothing like it. So yeah, I’m definitely missing that but I’m hoping next year we’ll have some socially distant gigs.”
In her solo career so far, Lucy has already had acclaim from Liam Gallagher (who called her music ‘celestial’), a collaboration with DMA’s and tours with Bill Ryder Jones and She Drew The Gun with support on Radio from BBC Radio 1, as well as BBC Introducing Merseyside and BBC Introducing Ulster.
“ I’m just launching literally and if anyone tells me they like my song I’m glowing after it. Whatever you get in response to your track it’s just nice for it to resonate with people. I put out the cover of Oasis and I don’t normally do covers but I happen to really like the song ‘Songbird’, by Oasis and obviously, Liam Gallagher is very influenced by John Lennon, and the Beatles and I’ve always been really influenced by, The Beatles and their songwriting and John Lennon in particular, so that’s obviously why I like that song, but I put it up on Twitter and in the few hours it had gone viral and Liam Gallagher caught wind of it and commented on it. So yeah, it’s just amazing, it is mad how the internet works.”
The music industry has changed a lot with streaming and social media and Lucy has managed to keep on top of her social media by putting out a lot of content during lockdown to keep her fans engaged. This is a task artists can find difficult with pressure of finding visually appealing settings etc.
“Yeah definitely, it’s a job in any sense having to do that kind of thing and it’s been a learning curve for a lot of musicians, trying to come to terms with the fact that the only way we can promote ourselves is online. I am a bit of a technophobe, apart from posting photos and stuff and tweets, I would never have been going live on my phone. But you do get the hang of it and it is really nice you know when people tune in and people are lovely. I’ve never had anyone say anything bad, I’ve always had really nice feedback during the gigs and everyone was being really supportive and people love it. In fact the only thing for me that I don’t have at the minute is any merch and a lot of people say to me, do you have any vinyl things since the songs have come out but obviously it’s early days for me so I’ve not had them made”
“The whole experience I think has been really beneficial for me, in particular, as an artist. I think for bands that were touring a lot before the lockdown happened it’s been hard for them. It’s funny and it’s something I have talked to, my friends who are musicians. It’s almost put the power back into the artists hand, and it’s taken a bit of the, I don’t know, control maybe away from the record labels, I mean social media was doing that anyway. Even my friend who plays drums for me, he is promoting himself online and he gets such a great reaction, people love it. It’s so interesting, even for me, to be able to watch someone online who I admire. I was able to see Beck, who is a bit of a recluse, you know he was never really sitting online chatting and I’ve looked up interviews of him from the 90s and things and there’s so few and to watch him sitting in his living room playing live has been such a novelty. So yeah, it has definitely been a game changer for musicians, I think. “
Lucy’s voice is beautifully sweet over the bubbling instrumentation in ‘Send Me Away’, it creates a lulling sense of calm. I wondered was she always a confident singer
“I definitely wasn’t, just because of my background. As a kid, I sang in the school choir and I was really into female singer songwriters. Like any young girl when I was seven or eight Avril Lavigne was my inspiration and so it was always in my mind to be a songwriter and sing. But because the way I started was in a duo, I started busking with my brother and we were really based around harmonies, so I sang alongside someone else for years, so it does take mental strength to work up the ability to do it completely alone. It’s always a learning experience throughout your musical career to do anything, for example I play a lot of piano, but I’ve never played it live so imagine if I was to have to do it I’d probably be nervous because it’s not something I’ve tried before. But I think now I’m definitely a confident singer, I could sing to anybody on the street I don’t mind.”
“I think it always depends on each song really but my influences in the last few years were bands like the Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star, so, I was always into that kind of soft, you know, sultry vocal and I love a deadpan vocal. I love Grian Chatten’s voice in Fontaine’s DC. I love how he sings, I love that kind of laziness to it, and even in the last few months I’ve really been listening to a lot more of Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile and that. That is just my kind of vibe, so I think towards next year the songs are going to be maybe less shoegaze, and more, I don’t know, you’ll hear more of my voice, to an extent. Yeah and I’ve definitely got a lot more new material since the lockdown happened. I’m actually working with a couple of producers at the minute for next year. I can’t really say who but the new songs for me are miles ahead of what I’ve done before. It’s gonna be really exciting to put them out, so I’m really looking forward to next year, to be honest.”
So what advice would Lucy have for anyone who wants to start a career in music or as a songwriter.
“ My advice, just from my experiences…You can only ever be yourself in your songwriting. I never liked it when I see someone who’s just regurgitating other artists. I can understand having an influence but I think it’s never good to just rip other artists off, and I think it doesn’t necessarily have longevity. So I think always working at your craft and always having a passion for it, it’s probably the same with any art form. But definitely being honest and making sure you actually like the songs you’re putting out because, I mean, I have spent years putting out things because I think it would fit, it would be something that people would want to hear rather than if it was something that I’d want to hear myself. And I think I’m at a position now after a couple of years of working my craft to know that if I love my song, that’s all I care about.”
Lucy has some exciting plans for the coming months and next year with lots of amazing tunes for us to indulge in
“ So I’m promoting ‘Send Me Away’ at the minute but hopefully I’ll be in a recording studio over in England in a couple of weeks, doing the third and fourth singles and they should maybe out by December or next year. I also have way more recordings and I’m booking in gigs and stuff at the minute for Ireland next year so if everything goes ahead hopefully, you know, lots of tours and lots more music.”
Lucy Gaffney is a compelling artist and talented songwriter, showing strong personal musical growth from her days in Southern and MMode. ‘Send Me Away’ is just a glimpse into her musical prowess and songwriting capabilities. It’s an immersing track laced in rich textures and lush instrumentation which hooks the listener from the start. I’m looking forward to hearing more from Lucy Gaffney in the future.
Stream ‘Send Me Away’ below
Author : Danu
I caught up with new Irish band N.O.A.H. to talk about their debut single ‘Shine’, their step away from their previous band Electric Shore and the exciting new songs the band have yet to release.
N.O.A.H is comprised of three lifelong friends, Ryan Hill: Lead Vocalists and Guitarist, Adam Rooney: Bass Guitarist and Ronan Hynes Drummer.The band was formed in January 2020, after they decided to reform their previous musical endeavour, Electric Shore.
Ronan : “ We were doing okay with Electric Shore, as far as how we started and, you know, there was only so many years we could keep on doing the same thing over and over again, and get the same results. Then we came across our manager, who took us on as a new project. We decided what better way to start, then to start, completely fresh again with a brand new idea and leave Electric Shore, where it is. So, it was basically just something new and it worked out best for the three of us anyway because it gave new life into the music that we were doing. So, yeah, it was literally a case that we just decided, new name, new music and see where it takes us.”
“In regards to Electric Shore we were trying to push for that cinematic sound and stuff like that, but as we developed and worked with more synthy stuff, that really helped us along the way. We have our grips now as far as musicianship, you know. We have improved as well on the actual instruments. We have improved on our songwriting as well, I think that really helps. Electric Shore was pushing to go for that but now I think N.O.A.H has nailed that.. on the head “
The band got their name N.O.A.H. from the biblical story of ‘Noah and the Ark’, its not exactly a religious reference but an expression for new beginnings
Adam : “I don’t think we’re religious in the slightest. It was more related to the idea of starting again. Sort of taking stock of what we’ve done and it just felt right and was nice and short. It summarized what we wanted to do.”
Ronan : “I suppose, when you put it in imagery, Electric Shore was the flood and we wanted to get away from it and start again. So, I suppose that ties in as well.”
N.O.A.H have released their new single ‘Shine’. It’s a powerful adrenaline-inducing number which races with an urgency reminiscent of The Killers with blistering guitars, driving bass and punchy drums. The band recorded the track during lockdown.
Adam : “ We wrote the song in probably about February or March, which is like the first few weeks in lockdown and as we were saying, we developed new ways of writing so, as the nature of lockdown was, we weren’t together in the same rooms, we weren’t writing the way we would have. So, a lot of it was sending stuff back and forwards and then from there we recorded it in July and, yeah, that was that. “
Ronan : “I found that when it came down to the lyric writing as well I think for all of us it was so strange because you’re obviously, in lockdown, all on your own, but then, it’s mad, even through our rough demos they illustrate the idea of freedom and stuff like that and coming away from the isolation side of things. So it had a big impact on the actual lyric writing as well you know.”
I wondered with the new style and name did the band approach their songwriting and composition process differently
Ronan: “It generally depends on the song really. There’s some songs where the music is formed well beforehand, and then there’s others where we sit down and try to work out a melody or one of us comes up with a melody to use and we take it from there.“
Adam: “ Yeah the way we write music is generally sporadic and we don’t like to put too much pressure on it so whatever happens happens, just once a good song is produced in the end ”
The band have all been to college and studied music which has helped them with the theory side of the music industry however they don’t consider it essential for an artist to do.
Ryan “ Well for myself I went to BIMM. It’s hard to tell, they do a lot of stuff. I think to be honest, and this is me speaking from my own point of view. I do think that we probably learned more from the three of us working together then, like I said, I’ve probably learned in college. But I suppose when it comes to the performance side of things, playing live and stuff, it did give you that extra confidence from studying in college and doing performance and the overall being comfortable with your instruments and stuff like that. I just think I’d probably learn more being with the two lads, you know, “
Ronan : “ Yeah I don’t think anyone can teach you how to be creative, or they can’t teach you how to be friends in a band or anything like that. So that’s self taught, and as Ryan said to implementing certain techniques, or theoretical things can help “
I wondered what the band have in store for us as they unleash their new tunes into the world
Adam ; “ They’re all a little bit different, different sounds and that. That was the beauty about lockdown as well, it was a case that you wouldn’t get a song like ‘Shine’ if we weren’t separated but it just allowed us to experiment a lot more with different ways of doing stuff and helped us adapt basically to a pretty awkward situation. But yeah, every song we make is always trying to push ourselves a bit further in our own sounds. So, hopefully, anything that we release in the future will show that, you know, you might get a more rocky guitar vibe off some songs, a more dancey vibe off others and then atmospheric and cinematic with others. We do try hard to not pigeon hole ourselves into one specific genre or sound. “
Ronan : “Yeah, we’re planning on doing freshers weeks throughout the rest of 2020 so it’s more of an online stream, just to help the student bodies within each university around the country and engage with the students and it’d be a good way to, I suppose, create an audience because we are a brand new band so we’re still trying to push our name out there, so right now that’s it and then for the new year, it’s very hard to say. We’ve been in contact with multiple bookers in different venues and we’ve had gigs that were planned and unfortunately were not able to go ahead. It’s just the nature of the lockdown itself. But all we can do now is look a month to two months ahead, and plan for what we can and try not to get too lost in next year because it’s all up in the air.”
Ryan : “ We have an official video, being setup at the moment so it all depends on how far the actual song goes on its own, and then we’ll decide which way, we’re going to work the video or what day to release the videos as well “
‘Shine’ is an ambitious new single boasting arena sized choruses, dynamic energy and a tight blistering wall of sound. N.O.A.H have created a powerful sound brimming with energy which showcases their deft musicianship and musical growth. I’m looking forward to future releases, if ‘Shine’ is anything to go by, then we are all in for a treat. Talking to the guys it is easy to see how much passion they have for their craft. They are ones to keep an eye on for sure.
Stream ‘Shine’ below
Author : Danu
I caught up with Wild Youth’s David Whelan and Conor O’Donohoe this week to chat about their infectious new single ‘Next To You’, the ups and downs of writing and how the support of the band and their close family-like relationship with one another helps with the more difficult side of being in the public eye as well as the very groovy dance in the video for ‘Next To You’.
‘Next To You’ is a funky indie pop number with an 80’s pop sheen. The I’ll do anything for “the one” lyrics are quite witty and the song boasts the upbeat catchy sound that people have come to know and love Wild Youth for, while taking their sound to a more groovy 80’s-esque dimension.
Conor : “The song came from a writing session a while ago, just came from a good kind of guitar loop, then the chorus melody came and then we finished the song. We brought it into production and into that upbeat Wild Youth sound that people have come to know. Yeah, and we’re really happy with how it turned out. We feel it’s been a nice progression for us and a very natural progression from our first EP. We’re delighted that people like it because we love it without sounding big headed in any way. I think it’s (80’s style) something that we’ve definitely always been into. If we sit in a room together or in a dressing room before we play a show you’d hear a lot of Prince, Michael Jackson, The Beach Boys, Frankie Valli and then if you look at modern music, it will be Tame Impala and The Weeknd, so it’s always been sounds that we like. We didn’t make a conscious decision to make it sound like that, I think it’s just what you listen to and what you’re inspired by, it starts to show in your music. It’s just us pouring ourselves into a production and into a song. If someone was to say to me, put all Wild Youth’s inspirations into one song, I think that’s exactly what ‘Next To You’ is.”
There is something more sparkly about this track and seen as Wild Youth are constantly refining their sound they tell me what their upcoming releases will have in store.
Conor : “There’s lots of different elements, lots of different sides to Wild Youth you’ll see on our new tracks, people will see a lot more diversity. There’s going to be ballads, there’s going to be more upbeat songs, there’s going to be slightly edgier songs. So yeah, it’s definitely in and around the world of where our new music is gonna sit, but people are gonna see a lot more diversity, with our new songs.”
When listening to the track I noticed a few tweaks to the vocals in the chorus of ‘Next To You’. I wondered how the band stumbled on that effect or was it an idea they had when writing the track
Conor : “That was just a cool vocoder effect that was used on a demo that we fell in love with. To be honest, the first demo was super rough so it’s just Dave through a vocoder because it was a handheld mic in the studio and it just kind of came about. It was like this almost high pitched vocoder-y vocal but, we fell in love with it and we thought it was super unique and catchy. So then, Dave obviously did his natural vocal and then he layered up his natural vocal. We kept his vocal through the vocoder just sitting slightly on top of that which gave a really cool effect for the chorus and we thought it just felt right.”
‘Next To You’ features another catchy melody hook. The band constantly release radio ready earworm melodies that appear so effortless and can appeal to all.
Conor : “It’s just how the melodies come out, we never overthink about how to write the catchiest melody. I think we are drawn towards catchy melodies and it’s naturally what comes out. Normally the melody will come quite quickly and we don’t overthink it. Let’s say if the chorus comes like “I don’t smoke cigarettes”. We’re like, okay, that’s the chorus and we don’t say ‘how can we make that catchier’. We just love that vibe and we put that vibe down and then we live with it and if there’s any natural tweaks that we want to make after we’ve got the demo, or re-listening to it, we make those little tweaks. But it’s never to try and make it super catchy, it’s just naturally what comes out.”
As it’s a natural process I wondered if the guys ever feel the pressure of writing. This natural process is elusive at times there is no real formula. I wondered if the process is daunting for them if the melody doesn’t come to them easily
Connor : “Yeah, all the time. There’s so many ups and downs of writing. There are days when you could sit down at a piano and you feel like you’ve never written a song in your life and then there’s another day where you could sit down at the piano and you could play one chord and write 17 different melodies. It comes and goes all the time. I remember last year there was one week in particular, we were writing in LA and a huge bulk of probably our new material came from that time. You just sometimes get those magic weeks where everything feels right and it all sits in and comes together. Then you can also get three or four weeks where you could be in studio every day where you don’t get a song that might sit right or might feel like a Wild Youth track. But that’s why you just got to lock yourself away and write for as long as you can and write as many songs as you can. So last year maybe we wrote 50 songs and you whittle that down to maybe let’s say, six or seven new songs that we have ready to put out over the next couple of months.”
The backdrop of ‘Next To You’ is vibrant, exuding rich percussion, shimmering keys and a funky bass line. The bands image with this track mirrors the songs swagger, particularly in the video where the band are sporting a swaggering 70’s/80’s-esque style with flared trousers and slicked hair along with some pretty swanky dance moves to match. Wild Youth are very much involved with their visuals, colour themes and how they present the overall package from the merch to stage lighting.
Conor : “Yeah, I think so. I think Dave would agree with me too. We find that we always try and make a certain time period of our music. Our first EP, everything, all our visuals had like a baby pink backdrop and that transcended into our live show. We had pink lighting and we used the color pink a lot. So now for the new phase, we wanted to tip our hat to the psychedelic era that we loved and were inspired by and bring a little more color and fun into it. We try and make the music match up with the vibe of whatever it is that we’re feeling at that time and whatever we think brings it all together, like our Merch we’ll tie in with all the vibrant colors that we’ve used in the video and our artwork will tie in with the vibrant colors. If we were to do shows now, we would have had a lot of that imagery and visuals and that colored lighting. We can’t do shows at the moment but when the time is right we will do it. When you combine them all in your show and it’s like songs from our first EP, the lighting for the show could be pink and then it could move to the more vibrant colors for our newer stuff. So we always try and keep a theme and stick in and around that because we are very hands on as a band in terms of how we want the visual to be, how we want the videos to be, how we want our lighting to be and that’s as important to us as the music, you know. We look at it as a big collection of art, almost, if that makes sense.”
“We were quite lucky in a way. We recorded a lot of our new music in January and February in London. Then, obviously, everywhere went into lockdown. So, like everyone else we locked ourselves away but we spent all that time putting together a full creative plan and a visual image of how we wanted this phase to look, critiquing the music, the songs, the production and adding elements of how we wanted it to sound and kind of going through it with a fine comb. Dave is obviously an amazing dancer and he came up with a dance for the video which is a side to us that people haven’t seen on the video and you know we’re very hands on with everything that we do. We’re very lucky we have an amazing team of people that work with us. We will feed all the ideas of how we want everything to go and then, with those teams we combine our ideas and we put it all together, and that creates the final product.”
The bands songs showcase deep lyrical content and are a joy to listen to. However they also create music for people to dance to and escape the madness of life and to enjoy.
Conor : “We always try and write from our own life experiences and make the lyrics as real to us as possible. We are quite emotional people. So our lyrics sometimes can be emotional, but also we want our shows and our music to be an escape for people. Because, you know, the social media world and online can be a scary place and the world can be a scary place. People go through a lot of mental health issues as we do, and have good days and bad days and we want people when they listen to our music, that they’re not just listening to us talking about how our hearts have been broken by girls. We’ve always tried to disguise emotional lyrics with upbeat music for people who just want to dance around their house or walk down the road and just escape or even when they come to our shows, be able to just have lots of fun for like an hour or an hour and a half, whatever the show is and just escape from all the troubles and difficulties that are going on in the world.”
Living the life of a musician can be difficult and challenging. The world can seem like a very harsh place filled with overwhelming pressures from peers, media, critics etc. I wondered how the band deal with all of this.
Conor : “I think, you know, I’m probably not as good at that as Dave. He preps me a lot for things like that because sometimes that stuff, kind of hits me a lot more and Dave will pull me aside and be like, ‘Look, it’s the world that we live in’. Unfortunately if you put yourself out there, you’re also putting yourself out there to ..”
Dave “ Yeah to be criticized”
Conor : “ Yeah you’re putting yourself out there and if you’re walking down the road and you’re having a bad morning someone might approach and want to talk to you. But it’s all part of our job you know, we’re so lucky to do what we do and we can never give out about what we do and obviously there is some stuff that can be said online which can be incredibly hurtful but I think you just have to try, and Dave is teaching me more and more every day, and you just kind of have to block it out.”
“I think once we stay together as a family, and as best friends as a band and we know that we’ve always got each other, all the rest of the stuff, the negativity and stuff you just block that out. Then when it comes to anything else like attention, we always welcome anyone to come over and talk to us and we’re so grateful that people take the time to listen to our music or love our music and we always love to talk to those people. When people are kind online we’ll always engage with them, we’ll always respond and we just ignore the negativity and put that shield up, which can be hard some days. It’s easier than others and some days it’s really hard and can really affect you but we try and just you know, block it out and stay as positive as we can and make it all about the music and nothing else.”
I wondered if they themselves were their own worst critic
Dave : “Yeah.That’s like a natural human trait as well. I think everybody does that. For us it’s a strange business in a strange world that we’re in where everybody can scrutinize you. You’re in people’s faces a lot, so then think about that natural self criticism everyone has and then multiply that by 10. That’s what you can feel sometimes. I think what Conor said, we just try our hardest to separate it you know, just to realize that we do have a very special job that we get to do that some people would literally kill to do and we got to do it. So we have to take the positive and then sometimes shield from the negative, because we do get to do what we love, you know,”
Conor : “ I actually saw something brilliant online yesterday someone tweeted, and it was something like ‘you can be as mean to me as you want, but don’t worry I overthink so no one’s gonna be meaner than myself’
I thought that was incredible, because, you know, the shit that people say online, like, I’m way harder on myself than you can ever be so it’s fine. I just thought that was kind of a cool thing that I saw online, even though it’s not cool that that girl feels that she has to tweet that but, yeah, you find coping mechanisms, I think.”
Wild Youth have become known for their energetic live shows which has seen them share the stage with the likes of Mumford and Sons, Niall Horan, The Script, Kodaline and Zara Larsson on arena-sized shows as well as selling out the Olympia. The band feel a bit lost without the energy from live shows since Covid-19. Most artists felt they needed to write during lockdown, interestingly the band did not feel pressure to do so.
Conor : “As a band that’s one of our favorite aspects to do, live shows and to meet our fans and a feeling that we get from doing the gig so yeah it’s been definitely tough. Especially because we don’t know when there’s gonna be a start to it again and what are the requirements for it to happen and stuff like that. So you do feel a bit lost in it but we’re lucky that we got to release this new single ‘Next To You’. It’s the first time we’ve done it where we haven’t been able to play gigs. So none of our fans or no one’s heard ‘Next To You’, and then we released it so it was a different kind of excitement, it was a different buzz, it was a different energy off this one. We were very lucky that we got to do this otherwise I think I would have gone clinically insane with no gigs.This whole lockdown has made us take a different outlook on life you know, try to find the positives among the negative. Everyone’s going through shit right now, everyone’s going through hard times and you have to just find the light in it, to make yourself feel good. So, I think ‘Next To You’ has been a godsend for us.”
“At the beginning we did a few (live streams) for ChildLine, they needed to raise funds, and we’ve been asked alongside a stream of other amazing Irish acts to do a live stream and we did it, and we loved it, we had great fun with it. It’s kind of hard sometimes, because I think for us as a band we are quite energetic on stage, and we feed off energy so sometimes we do and I’m not gonna lie, we’ll be honest, we find that hard when there’s that separation. It’s just us on a camera sitting there and we get a little bit awkward, you’re looking at yourself on camera and your dad is commenting ‘hey, I’m in the next room turn it down’. But, yeah, we’re looking at loads of different options and keeping our ear to the ground with when we can do something and maybe if people are responsible and they wear their masks and they socially distance, maybe we might be able to do some socially distance gigs. We’re always looking for innovative ways to do different things. But, yeah, who knows we might totally eat our words and be on a live stream on Instagram in two weeks”.
“We didn’t feel pressure to write because we were quite lucky as I said, we had recorded a bunch of new music in January and February that was gonna be our music to come out this year. We had all those songs ready to go and then, we finished them through lockdown and so it wasn’t like, ‘oh god we need a load of new songs’. So we actually had a lot of fun writing through this lockdown because we had all these unreleased songs ready to go, that everyone was really happy with, so it allowed us to go back and do things, like write a ballad, or do things where we write an edgier song or to try different things because the pressure was off a little bit, and it’s actually led to some of our favorite material that we’ve ever written because I suppose we didn’t overthink it. We didn’t put pressure on ourselves and we just had fun with it.”
“Some of the songs for me anyway and I don’t know about you Dave, but I absolutely love some of the stuff that we wrote during lockdown. So it’s great, it’s exciting and we’re just going to continue to do that. We’ve new music kind of ready, to go up probably the summer next year so we’re just having fun now and we’re in the studio and writing as much music as possible and trying different things and just having fun with it. Don’t get me wrong we had some bad days”
Dave : “Yeah we have and our biggest hit was the shows like everybody else who’s in this industry. We were pretty lucky our cards were lined up though, that we had all these songs written in January, which made that side of the process much more enjoyable.”
I asked the guys if they had any advice for anyone wanting to start a band or a career in music?
Conor : “Just do it for the love of music, don’t get into it to be famous, don’t get into it to make it straight away and be patient.“
Dave : “Work hard“
Conor : “Work really, really hard, hone in on your craft and just write thousands and thousands of songs because no matter what, shit is fertilizer and the good will come.You know, we did it, we wrote thousands of songs”
Dave : “Terrible songs”
Conor : “So just be patient, make it all about the music and the song and discover who you want to be because you only get one opportunity to come out and establish yourself as a band so make sure that you love your name. Make sure that you’ve got the sound that you’ll still be happy to play, because if you have a song that works you will be playing it in 10 years time. Just make sure you’re proud of everything, and have fun with it. Because it can be hard but it can also be the best job in the world.”
Wild Youth plan on providing us with a lot of tunes over the coming months until their much desired live shows return
Conor : “To be honest, for us, because we don’t know with shows, we just want to put out a bunch of new music and we’ve taken about a year to get everything together since our last release. Now we’ve got a bunch of songs that we’re super proud of and we want to feed as much music to the world as possible, continue to write, get back in the studio. We want to have our third and fourth EP’s done by probably the end of the year too and maybe that could even be an album, we don’t know. But now that we’ve got all this time, we just want to write loads more music on top of what we already have ready to go and continue to put out new music until the time is right to play shows again.”
Wild Youth are growing and expanding their sound. Their hook-laden, infectious songwriting coupled with disco glimmers and an insatiable groove which drives all their tracks showcases the bands skill for writing catchy earnest tunes. With ‘Next To You’ embracing their 80’s synth side, Wild Youth have provided a tantalizing taste of what’s to come from them over the coming months. This infectious gem and the bands upcoming tunes will ensure we have some pretty slick tunes to bop to until the band are allowed to grace the stage again and provide us all with the smiles, energy and good vibes we most definitely need.
Watch the video for ‘Next To You’ below
Author : Danu
I caught up with Australian singer songwriter Angie McMahon who has announced the release of ‘Piano Salt’ on October 2nd on AWAL. ‘Piano Salt’ is a riveting, stripped-down companion piece to last year’s debut album ‘Salt’. The new collection finds McMahon re-imagining five fan favorites from her debut album ‘Salt’, a record The FADER called “a perfect showcase of her gifts as a songwriter and vocalist,” as well as stunning piano covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” and Lana Del Rey’s “Born To Die.”
You are set to release ‘Piano Salt’ on October 2nd. It’s an absorbing collection of tracks. What sparked your decision to release this stripped down album?
“That is very kind thank you! It feels like a simple and gentle follow up to Salt, which took a lot of learning and ruminating to come into existence. This one was easier, it was a phone conversation with my dear manager Charlotte, after I’d sent her some demos of me playing the songs on piano for fun, and I just said why don’t we record this as an EP while we’re isolating, and she was like, yeah! So that was that. It was a fun project to work on while the world slowed down.”
2019 was an amazing breakout year for you. It saw you win the Grulke Prize at SXSW for Best Developing International Act (previously won by Courtney Barnett, CHVRCHES and Jade Bird), release your debut album ‘Salt’ and open Hozier’s massive US tour that must have been quite the rollercoaster experience. I bet 2020’s Covid craziness was a bit of a shock. How have you coped with the lack of shows and I’m sure, restriction on the plans you had for this year?
“There were so many experiences in that year, so much moving and yeah it actually was a rollercoaster! I am hugely grateful for last year, and in many ways grateful for this year too, because I am slow to reflect on things and process them, so the shut down gave me time I didn’t think I’d have. There hasn’t really been any other option but to adapt to the restrictions, and put everyone’s health first, so I’ve just taken it as a chance to work on all my shit and hope that things are able to safely pick up again at some point. “
Your song writing is extremely mature and mesmerising. You are in your 20’s and have the maturity and poetic flair to capture true depth in your songwriting, expressing emotion; whether it’s the pain of heartbreak in “Missing Me” or the empowerment of womanhood in “And I Am a Woman,” how do you craft your songwriting and develop it into the touching and poetic style it is today?
“This is too generous, I think it’s just learnt from obsessing over other songwriters and the way they allow us to access our feelings. Thank you for saying those lovely things! The thing is that for any song which is well-written, there are a bunch written alongside it which are total poop. I’m trying to stay dedicated to writing a lot as often as possible and pushing through the blocks, and that’s the only way I know how to craft and develop the skill. “
What ignites the inspiration for your songs?
“It is so therapeutic to write, so it’s the swarm of feelings and thoughts that I have no other way to sort through. In whatever form, I think the fuel is usually, or always, love.”
How did your love for music and songwriting begin ?
“I don’t really remember a time when it wasn’t there…I think it crystallised as a pre-teen, staring out the car window with whatever music was playing as we drove along, imagining what it was to be loud, free, articulate, expressive, the things I could hear in songs by Van Morrison, Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, so many others.”
Do you strive to be a great lyricist and capture real feelings and emotions within your tracks that connect with your listeners?
“Um simply, yes, that is what I love as a music fan and that is what I want to be as a writer too! I don’t think I would have made any sense of the world or existing in it without great lyrics coming into my life. It is through beautiful and honest lyrics that I found meaning I think, so I just strive to contribute to that deep pool of meaning for anyone who is listening.”
The songs on ‘Salt’ come to life through your refined guitar performances and arrangement yet ‘Piano Salt’ strips this back and takes your songs to another new level. We get a glimpse of this with the piano version of ‘Slow Mover’, you have recently released, do you find that you can show a different side to both you and your songs through this piano version as if giving a fresh perspective or deeper meaning to the songs?
“Well it’s hard to know if anyone will find deeper meaning with a new arrangement, that would be sweet though! It is presenting a slightly different side of me, which I guess feels kind of ego-based, like hey look I can do this piano thing too! But that’s okay, it’s been a quiet year and I wanted something to do that just felt simple and joyful, and making this EP felt like that. I feel like it highlights how the Salt record and performances are so amplified and energised by the beautiful friends who usually join me in the band, so it’s nice to have that reminder and contrast, and it also pulls me back to the way I started making music without anybody else, just sitting at the piano and simply singing because it felt pure and free. “
This new version of ‘Slow Mover’ comes in conjunction with the news that you have received a Levi’s Music Prize, aimed to help promising artists stay afloat through the pandemic. That must feel pretty amazing?
“It’s incredible, yeah, anytime an organisation steps up to support artists, that is one of the bigger sources of hope. I’m very grateful for that.”
You have a striking vocal ability with rich depth and sweet coos. Were you always a confident singer or did it take you time to be comfortable with your voice and find what worked for you?
“It took lots of time and a family home where I was allowed to yell and warble whenever I felt like it and I rarely got shut down for it, which in retrospect is lovely. I have always been free to practice singing, and I always loved singing. I have tried to sing like a little gentle folk elf, and I have tried to belt like Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce, and I have tried jazz, and classical, and I’m bad at all those things, especially technique-wise. But over the years I just found what felt good somewhere in the middle, or maybe I just discovered rock music actually, where you can get away with whatever you want as long as you’re confident. “
You are out there in the world creating music that I’m sure means a lot to you. Was it daunting putting your tunes out there initially. The anxiety and worry if people will like it can be overwhelming or did you take the approach of “right I’m happy with my music and if other people aren’t that’s up to them” ?
“Ohh good question, it is definitely daunting, but before releasing Salt I’d played all the songs live so many times, so I had a gauge of what people responded well to. I think this is more something that I’m struggling with now, writing new things, where it’s harder to know what people will like and if it has to be compared to the first record.”
What advice would you give to someone who is an aspiring songwriter or musician?
“The advice that I find helpful is to read a lot, to write a lot, to surround yourself with a good community and people with good energy as much as you can, and to work hard on whatever it is that your heart is pulling you towards. I have so much to learn still, but I think as a general rule, the world needs people who believe in the magic of art and music, and it is worth working hard on those things. No matter what your definition of success is and how that changes, to keep finding the joy in it.”
What’s next for you?
“I’m trying to write my second album. It’s going slow!“
Angie McMahon is an artist to keep an eye on. Her music exudes such passion and depth it is difficult not to be spell-bound and mesmerised by her talent. ‘Piano Salt’ is set for release on October 2nd until then check out Angie McMahon‘s Piano Performance of ‘Slow Mover’ below
Author ; Danu
I caught up with Dublin singer songwriter Isaac Butler to talk about his new single ‘Change The Past’, how he brought the track which was originally written on piano to the cinematic single we hear today, his experience working with producer Philip Magee and what he has been up to during the last few months as well as his upcoming show in The Sound House.
Butler is one of the most pleasant artists to chat to; his cheery and positive outlook is infectious. We banter about past interviews I have had with him as well as living in a full house with our families over lockdown. Last time we spoke Butler told me he had many songs ready to go and he was deciding which track he was going to pick for his next release, ‘Change The Past’ came up trumps.
“ I kind of thought it was smart if I say so myself in terms of, I wish we could change the past in terms of all this kind of stuff (covid- 19) and prevent all that kind of thing.I just thought even sonically it’s moving towards where I eventually want to end up. It’s like that big anthemic band sound and I kind of touched on it with ‘Young Forever’ and with ‘Paranoid’. I took a bit of a detour which is fine, I mean, I love that song and I think it’s great and it’s opened a lot of doors…‘Change The Past’ I feel it’s just like the most kind of Isaac Butler song to date.“
Once again Butler is discussing a relatable theme in his new release. He is looking back on a relationship and thinking ‘what if I had done this differently’ and the nostalgic melody and cinematic soundscape reflect this beautifully. This sonically lush track has elements of synths and a full anthemic sound however it began much simpler
“I wrote the song on piano, so obviously there’s a bit of piano in there but the piano only features in the first verse. We’ve talked about this before, I try to write a song around a hook that people can sing. First and foremost, I write a song about something that’s important to me, but I just love the feeling in a room where you can teach something to somebody if they haven’t heard it before, and they can sing it back straight away. I’ve done it in every song pretty much to date like ‘Young Forever’ we had the chant, ‘Paranoid’ you have that funny kind of hook noise, and here again we have this big anthemic chant, and even the chorus it’s a two line chorus “I wish I could change the past. I thought we were gonna last” and in between that we have that big hook. So, I suppose, I wrote the song as a small acoustic song on a piano but the second I came up with a chorus I knew this was going to be a big sounding full band, kind of unifying people, singing along and I think it’s so relatable. I think it ties in nicely to that hook where people can sing along because people have all experienced in some way, shape or form wanting to change something in their past.”
The release comes hot on the heels of recent radio hit ‘Paranoid’ which has racked up 4.86M impressions to date and broke into the Top 50 of the Overall Airplay Chart – at the time the only self released single in not only the Top 50 but the only self release in the Top 100 – as well as climbing to 13 in the Top 20 of the Irish Airplay Charts.’
If that isn’t impressive enough, Paranoid was also chosen as ‘Song of the Week’ on 2FM’s Breakfast with Doireann and Eoghan and as the Select Irish ‘Track of the Month’ for June. Last time I spoke with Butler, he had just released ‘Paranoid’ and he was wondering how well the song would do and how long it would be before it would take off but it was pretty quick to get recognition. I wondered did that give him comfort with the release of ‘Change The Past’ or did he feel just as nervous.
“ For sure, yeah. It’s funny because it should really bring comfort but I mean they are so different and obviously for me it’s all about the stories I tell because they’re all personal stories and the vocal, so it’s always going to be a consistent Isaac Butler sound because of the vocal and because of those themes that I write about. Production wise we went on a completely different direction, so it was like okay, ‘Paranoid’ has open loads of doors, but do we release another song that is similar to that or do we go with a more authentic-y pop rock sound?’
I just had to go with my gut really I mean this is the music that I love and it’s the music that I want to make more of, so yeah that’s really how picked it. It was just my favorite one really of the bunch and I thought I had the ears of people after ‘Paranoid’ so I thought why not show them me”
Butler worked with producer Philip Magee (Kodaline, The Script, The Academic), for this release and he’s become quite the mentor to Butler. Philip Magee is such a diverse producer and seems to bring out the best in the artists he works with and Butler considers Magee’s input important vital to his music’s growth
“ Yeah, 100%. I had a lot of ideas myself, I was involved in the production as well.. for me it’s striking a balance of someone that can give ideas but also take what I want and how I am. Myself and Phil just click in terms of vision for songs because I’ve produced tracks with loads of different producers, and I’ve never clicked with someone in terms of vision so well. He’s just so open minded and he is always respectful, he always listens. It’s a team effort which I love. I mean I’ve experienced things where it hasn’t been a team effort and it just really takes the wind out of your sails and it takes away from it for sure when people put their own stamp on it. Phil puts his own stamp on it but he makes sure the artist comes through and I’m forever grateful for that.”
“Yeah I think the right producer is just super important. You can literally make an acoustic song sound like anything now, it’s just finding out what production is best for me as an artist but also what compliments the song as much as possible. I think we really hit a sweet spot here, there’s a lot of real elements, there’s lots of electric guitars and real drums and all that and obviously it’s very vocal heavy, which I love. I mean, all the music I listened to growing up is all like that, acts like The Killers, Sam Fenders they do a great job at bringing those real sounds back, The Academic as well, all real sounds.. doing an amazing job and just paving the way again for that authentic sound to come through again. I think, with this, we’ve gotten the perfect mix in terms of those nice electronic sounds, but also the real elements, because I’m a live act, I’m an artist that flourishes live. I think that’s just so important and yeah I’m really happy with how it came out”
Again live shows come up in our conversation or the lack thereof and although Butler was gutted when he heard he couldn’t do any shows for a while he is beginning to enjoy life outside of the live circuit.
“ It was super tough to take at the start. I had worked so hard for a good couple years, and for the first time, I had numerous festivals signed on for them and I had a Kodaline support slot in The Olympia, with my headline coming up in October, so it was a really nice moving summer and then for that to be kind of taken away was obviously really not great, but, it really is about just finding the silver linings. I’ve been traveling a lot across Ireland the last few months with my girlfriend and doing things that I wouldn’t have done had Covid not happened. As terrible as Covid is and as terrible as it has been for lots of people it really has allowed me to focus on other areas that I neglected a little bit and it’s allowed me to grow in a sense as well.”
“Everything was moving quite fast and it allowed me to stop and say ‘oh well this is what you’ve done and this is how you can make it better’. I’ve finally come to terms with it, and it’s taken obviously a long time but, yeah, it’s just trying to be as positive as I can really and I’m the eldest of five kids and there was seven of us in our house, it was challenging for sure but we had such a nice time you know. We spent so much time together.”
Butler did an impressive music video for ‘Paranoid’. Mustering his creative genius during the Covid-19 lockdown, he sprang into action and filmed the video completely in isolation. I wondered what he had in mind for the video for ‘Change The Past’
“So, yeah, well, I want to give this song, video wise, as much justice as I can. So for the moment, I posted a lyric video the day it came out. I have a really nice acoustic video that I shot a couple of weeks ago, just in my garden. So I’m using those two at the minute but I’m going to give the track time to breathe. It takes time to get picked up by numerous people so I’m hoping that happens and then I’m hoping in a couple of weeks to bring out a video but I’m thinking kind of like my previous music videos but just a bit more cinematic..it’s gonna be cool though.”
Butler has been busy with his social media content – with the lockdown and covid we have discussed before about how social media has been helpful with connecting with artists and with keeping people sane and connected, but before this, social media was sometimes considered a source of anxiety for people and Butler did feel that pressure to keep visible and to keep content out there for a while.
“I certainly did. I definitely did at the start, and I would find myself almost not posting for the sake of that. I think that’s where anxiety stems from…there’s not a huge amount going on, there’s only so much acoustic videos you can post and only so much live streaming you can do and all that. I suppose in recent weeks I’ve kind of taken, not a break, I’ve definitely taken my foot off the pedal in terms of social media. Honestly that’s just to give me a break really, and yeah you’re right I mean when there’s not much going on in terms of getting out and doing things live and stuff like that, I think that’s just where the pressure starts when you think ‘oh God I need to post I need to post’ but you really don’t. At the end of the day, I’m a musician and I like promoting and I like interacting but it’s not the main focus for me at all. You know what I mean?, I do love the interaction and I reply to messages all the time. I’ve never not replied to a message and I love doing it and I love the comments and all that kind of stuff, positive or negative, by the way. I think you’re right, you’d just be kind of clutching at straws in terms of what to post.”
Butler’s show in The Sound House is now rescheduled to the 11th of March next year. Our conversation moved on to whether or not he felt this was going to go ahead.
“It’s crazy to say but yeah..there is obviously always a little niggle in your head to say ‘oh, that it won’t be on’ but I’m preparing for it to be on the 11th of March. It’s all I’m really preparing for at the moment so I have the setlist. I’m just gonna basically make that show the best that it could possibly be. I’ve got, probably a half a new set as well which is great.”
Butler has plenty of songs ready to go and singles he is really proud of. Hopefully we get to hear them later in the year.
“Yeah, so I have a lot of songs that are literally ready to go. I’m in two minds about an EP or singles, but I think again just singles. I have so many songs so I just want them all to see the light of day. I’m thinking if I go the singles root, there’s just no way all of them will be released, you know, but then I’m just battling with should I release an EP and then do some of them get lost? It’s a good problem to have a lot of songs. I just have to decide how I’m going to approach releasing them but the focus now is on ‘Change The Past’ so I’m going to give that the best go and then I’ll decide what the next move is after that.”
Isaac Butler is constantly building and crafting his songwriting skills and tunes to create a sound that reflects his versatility and ambition as an artist. Each track he releases shows a different and intriguing side to his passionate musicianship while also giving us a catchy hook and sweet earworm melody soaked in emotion to indulge in. His songs are already set for arenas and mass sing-alongs and this artist is only getting started. It is fantastic news to hear Isaac Butler has more music ready to go. I’m looking forward to his future releases.
Stream ‘Change The Past’ below and enjoy
Author : Danu
Otherkin band member and producer David Anthony Curley has opened a new premium recording studio in Dublin called ‘The Clinic’. Situated only 5 mins from Dublin City Centre, the studio specialises in recording, mixing, production and songwriting services with a focus on analogue electronics.
I caught up with David to talk about his new venture, why the studio has already attracted the likes of James Vincent McMorrow, Sorcha Richardson, Royal Yellow, Denise Chaila and Blood Donor and how he decided on the name ‘The Clinic’.
“I’m good, tired, it’s my first day off in eight days so just relaxing. It’s been super busy. August was fully booked and this month is pretty much fully booked now. So, yeah. It’s going great. I mean I had Alex Gough in the last four days and before that I had Mark O’Brien, Royal Yellow in for a day and then James Vincent McMorrow, Sorcha Richardson and a few other people were in. It’s been crazy.”
“I studied in Royal College of Surgeons, my degree is in medicine and I was going to go back to that and I was like, I’m sure my folks would be happy if I worked at a clinic or had my own clinic and one day I just thought, The Clinic.“
One of the most exciting live bands in the country, OTHERKIN’s debut album ‘OK’ was one of the most hotly anticipated Irish rock albums of the year and hit Number 2 in the Official Irish Charts in 2017 – alongside being nominated for Choice Prize Album of the Year. Channelling the ferocity of their music into their shows, the band performed at some of the biggest festivals across Europe including Download, Reading/Leeds Festival, Electric Picnic as well as supporting Guns N’ Roses at Slane Castle. Their six-track mini-album called ‘Electric Dream’ would be their parting release for fans in 2019. I found out it is the experience David had recording the bands tracks which sparked his decision to start up his own studio
“When we were in Otherkin, we were recording the last songs that would become ‘Electric Dream’. We were in this place called The Toy Rooms in Brighton with a producer called Steve Dub. Steve Dub was the mixer for The Chemical Brothers so he produced our first couple of albums. We were in this studio called The Toy Rooms with the guy who owned it. It’s this guy Pablo, he is in a UK dance act called, Uncle and they call the studio “shabby road” because it’s like in bits, but it’s got loads of vintage and bespoke synths and drum machines and some crazy stuff, so the whole time we were there it just set off this thing in me. I just found what it was that I’ve always been looking for in terms of sound and making music and was reflective in the more electronic stuff that ended up on our last few songs.”
“I fell down a rabbit hole then and I thought ‘God I’d love to have access to these kind of synths and drum machines’ and wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a space in Dublin, that just had these sort of things that are prohibitively expensive for anyone to ever personally own but if a business owed them, and then they were run like a studio then, anyone can have access to this sound. Basically that’s what got me into it. That’s how it all began. Just the idea of making a space that’s friendly for any sort of home producer or band to come in and it doesn’t look too alien to them… you want to be able to go into a place and use the gear they have be it like outboard, enhancers and different things like compressors and hardware, the hardware versions of the software they’re using anyway, and then synths and drum machines.”
“It just went from there. It’s aimed at the producer, but I’ve recorded a lot of bands in here and you can just come in and beef up your sounds and just take it to the next level. So many people self-record and self-release and it’s great that people are able to do that but a lot of the time it means that the quality of what they’re doing is just less, it’s not competing with stuff on Radio One but let’s say, Royal Yellow – Mark O’Brien. One of the first big things I did in studio. It was myself and a guy called James Eager we produced Mark O’Brien’s last single which is called ‘May the First’ and we got that premiered on Annie Mac on Radio One on the BBC in the UK and that was for the premiere of the track!, which is you know, that’s as big a premiere as you can get in Ireland or the UK. That was a great first thing to get but we’ve got a lot of stuff with Mark coming out. The COVID thing has pushed back a lot. People are rethinking when they’re gonna release stuff. So there’s big releases like that, coming up, that would have been done in the studio. We did a lot of stuff with Luke from Blood Donor and we’re doing more of that later in the year.”
“James Vincent McMorrow has been in loads. He’s a big supporter of the studio, he gave me a big shout out on Instagram even just saying it’s the only place he uses in the city now. Sorcha Richardson has been in, Denise Chaila, Connor (Adams) from All Tvvins, some of the guys from Kodaline. So, it has just been great to get really good early support from people who spent time in massive studios. James Vincent McMorrow would spend his time in studios in LA, and there’s certain bits of equipment that I would have that they don’t. Recording is now all about chains. So if you want to record vocals you need a certain mic, a certain compressor and that’d be the chain like a vocal chain and let’s say the CL1 B, tube tech compressor, but I just did my research on it to get that. The LA vocal chain is a certain mic on that, but I think I’m the only studio in the country that has it.”
“When you are running a business that’s got high setup costs you don’t want to be replacing your gear all the time. So a lot of other studios, what they have is just what they’ve had for the last 15/20 years. I think I’m just coming at it with a different approach and I’m lucky enough that I’ve been in Otherkin, working in various studios throughout Ireland and the UK and some in Germany and I just have a network of people and friends now, who I’ve been able to call on for advice and setting this whole thing up which just led me to do it at the highest possible level. So rather than spending like 200 grand on a desk, a mixing desk. I’ve spent the money on everything else that you need, so you don’t need the desk anymore, in my mind. It would be amazing if I had a world class studio but obviously, you’d love to have that but you don’t need it to produce and bring things to the highest quality anymore, especially the way people make music nowadays so it’s just the new approach.I don’t think it’s that revolutionary. I think it’s just a new, more focused approach to help people make music.”
David has essentially set up a business due to following his passion for production and creating music. I wondered was it daunting taking on the business aspects or did he always have a business head.
“Yeah, I’d say I definitely have, Connor from Otherkin always said I should definitely just get into business if we packed it in. But it’s one of those things where I didn’t realize until I was in way too deep. You know, it only seemed to be daunting when it was too late. So at that point, it’s just like, ‘Well, I better just get on with it’. I definitely have days where I’m just looking at the calendar or I’ve had times when it was getting put together and I was like ‘oh shit! I hope this all works out’ but it’s been amazing to do it and it’s definitely been daunting, it’s been really challenging but it hasn’t really felt like work, you know. Today’s my first day off in eight days. I woke up and I went straight back to sleep, I passed out because I’m just exhausted but it’s been amazing to be able to do what I want to do.”
“There was a point last year where the section of the roof opened up and I had to replace the roof. So, that was pretty terrifying but otherwise, the structure is sound as can be now everything’s built to the highest standards of soundproofing so I don’t think any sort of, well unless there’s some crazy act of God, I don’t think that’s going to happen again. It’s hard enough to make a living in the music industry but it’s been amazing to try and give it a go and like I said hasn’t felt like work. Although there has been times where it’s felt really full on I just remind myself that I’m lucky enough to have a job even at the moment, considering the economy. But yeah, I just got on with it. “
When David planned to open The Clinic the country went into lockdown and the whole world did also. I thought the COVID ordeal would have halted the launch. However David saw this as a brilliant opportunity.
“Yeah, well I actually had everything ready to go, originally for a release or for a launch in March and then Covid was a blessing in disguise because I ended up changing a lot of things in the studio and if I hadn’t made those changes I don’t think I would have had early supporters like James (Vincent McMorrow). I don’t think the studio would have had the same impact on these people, as it ended up having.”
“But yeah it’s been good that it just let me have better control on the comings and goings of it because it is a small business and it’s still, teething, trying to figure out how its all going to run. So the fact that I have to take time between the sessions to to clean it and I’ve had to invest into different cleaning technologies and UVC light, there are these little machines we used to clean the microphones and it’s just allowed, maybe more focused care on it, or reinforced the fact that you have to be more focused in your care between these things.”
“Like any other business that’s still able to operate it’s just following to the letter of the law, and reminding people when they come in. I have some sort of hospitality document, and it’s just ensuring that everyone reads it, and is comfortable with our practices. My main thing is just to make sure that everyone coming in is comfortable with our practices you know, that they’re aware of what I need them to do and what they have to do themselves.”
“Because my background is in medicine I definitely have a better understanding of the risks than the average person although at this stage in the world we are all pretty aware of viral transmission and cleaning and this kind of carry on. So, yeah, its definitely a scary time to be opening a business…so, all we can do is follow things to the letter of the law and exercise as much caution as we can until, hopefully next year, things are a bit more normal and we can have some big celebration in the studio or something.”
“I’ve had a lot of support from other independent businesses like The Porterhouse brewery. So we’re hoping to link up and do something next year but at the moment we’re running like a charity initiative together. So they’ve given stock and a fridge that they’ve set up in the studio, and then the bands that come in can just have a beer and then make a donation and every time we raise like 500 Euro or 1000 Euro we’re going to give it to a charity of the band’s choosing. We will just get recommendations from everyone, and then say okay like this is MASI or some sort of Dublin homeless charity, because we are like a Northside Dublin business and the homelessness crisis in the cities is pretty outrageous so we’re just trying to work with bands and other people to raise awareness for these things and as two independent businesses, myself and Porterhouse brewing. So, yeah, it’s just trying to get on with it as well until things can, you know, turn to normal.”
Starting up a business in these times can be very challenging and David has no team with him. When you book with The Clinic, or look for songwriting sessions or production it is all David at the helm
“It’s just myself. I’ve had a lot of support, my brother is an architect, he helped me with all the design and that kind of thing. Rob from Otherkin did the logo and the website and then another pal of mine is another designer, Aaron McGrath is his name he used to be in a band called Wounds years ago, they’re like a hardcore punk band. He’s helped out with the design as well so had a lot of support in that sense but no it’s just one of those things where, even as I was crunching the numbers like myself and Luke ( Reilly) talked about doing a little bit of work and it was still just coming together, before it was a business and before I had invested too much in it and it was just not going to be viable and make a viable income for a team. I’m at a disadvantage there in that the buck stops with me. There’s positives and negatives to that, if I’m like, ‘oh who messed this up’, well, the answer is ‘me’. But it also means I can do things my way… but I’ve had amazing help from friends and family to get it this far.”
Sometimes when an artist approaches a studio or producer they can be afraid that they take over and not listen to the artists need. David described how The Clinic works and what he does according to the artists needs
“Yeah, so there is a couple of things that are going on with the studio, my main angle is to be producing with artists like in the case of Royal Yellow. Someone who’s coming in like that, I think the goal of the producer is to, create that person’s vision and to pull their best version of their vision out of their head.”
“The whole goal has to be, like you said, if someone shows me a song like ‘oh well what do you think of this’ and try and bounce back ideas and pull out what they want from it and then help them to get that, you know, to reach that goal. But if along that way, I make a suggestion that doesn’t fly, that’s of no loss to me whatsoever. I just want to get anyone coming in.. to the place that’s in their head. Reach their goal. So, yeah….you just have to leave your ego at the door, you know. We’re all here to help make this project, the best thing it can be and whoever comes in, whether that’s an electronic act or it’s a band or a pop singer, I think just parking your ego at the door is the most important thing in any creative process like that.“
“I’m sure there’ll be times where it’s gonna be difficult to know ‘oh shit hang on am I overstepping the line here’ but..if I’m showing a band something, or we’re working on something, I’m gonna, obviously have techniques and pieces of equipment I use because it’s the whole model of studio, it’s analog equipment. So I’m going to be way more up to speed with how that stuff works and then, because a lot of the pieces will have very distinct like harmonically rich character from it being analog, being full of valve tubes and specific transistors and stuff so I think eventually you know, even if I’m not trying to imprint a sound, the sound of the studio is going to hopefully become evident on tracks that come out from Irish artists who go through, but even if it’s not me, producing the track there’s certain sounds that are just gonna be like ‘oh there’s a depth to these releases that came from The Clinic’.”
So what would an artist have to do, or what do they need if they want to record in The Clinic?
“Just songs, That’s it, that’s the main thing. If you’re going to go into the studio, it’s just about making sure that you’re happy with the songs and they’re good and not rushing it. Because it is still expensive to go into studio I’m trying to make it not prohibitively expensive but studio time is still precious at the end of the day. If I’m working with an artist, we’re going to do pre-production we’ll do an evening, or a day of just going through the song and be like okay, ‘what’s this maybe can we chop this’. They just need to make sure that they’re coming at it with an open mind because if you’re presenting something to me, or presenting to a producer, the odds are they haven’t heard this art before even if you’ve spent three or four months working on this thing. It’s their first time hearing it.”
“So, yeah, if you come in to work at The Clinic or you’re presenting something to me specifically because obviously the facilities are available for hire to other acts and producers, I’m the only person running the facility so my aim is to be working with bands and acts in production all the time but a lot of the businesses also facilitate in assisting on other projects. So, if a band is coming to me personally I would say just park your ego at the door and come out with an open mind.”
“Because you can get attached to a song and demo – we definitely had that in Otherkin where you’d spent so long on it and as you go into work on it you’re like, oh, it doesn’t sound as good as the demo, but the demo doesn’t sound good you know, you just liked the demo.Your demo is super low fi and they’re not gonna play that on Radio One.”
“It’s meant to be an open creative space. That’s the whole idea behind it that it’s a positive open creative space where we can hopefully push the boundaries of good Irish music, because there’s a lot of really, really good acts in the country. I want to facilitate the creation and hopefully be a part of the creation of the next wave of really sick tunes.”
David has a few artists he’s looking forward to working with and some exciting things happening with The Clinic in the coming months. I wondered who he is most looking forward to working with.
“Happyalone are coming in, they’re great.They’re crazy I met them. They used to be in this band years ago called Blaming Hannah…they’re coming down later in the month, Sorcha Richardson and James Vincent McMorrow are coming back in. I like to work with Denise Chaila. I had Denise in for this songwriting camp with Faction Records and James Vincent McMorrow and we are working on some tunes. She’s just amazing. She’s gonna be an absolute star, so I’d love to work with Denise again.I like to work with up and coming artists to create something new and make something truly great between the relationship of me and the artist. So, yeah that’s it, just looking forward to discovering new music and hopefully just pushing it out there into the world and breathe new life into it”
The Clinic is looking like quite the exciting new addition to our Dublin studios and David’s ambition and goal to create and deliver a high quality service is admirable and already gaining attention from some amazing artists here in Ireland. I’m looking forward to hearing more of his work as the artists he works with releases their music. If you want to contact David, you can though his contact page on his website here https://www.theclinicrecordingstudios.com/
Author : Danu
