goldenplec magazine - issue 03, autumn 2015

MAGAZINE

Why Music Photography Matters · BIMM Dublin · Longitude ReviewPLUS:

Lisa Hannigan · Myles O’Reilly · Wolf Alice · Neon Atlas · Oliver Cole · Ryan Sheridan

The Chemical Brothers · Sample Answer · Sal Vitro · Shrug Life · Slaves · Hozier

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Interview - Lisa HanniganInterview - Myles O’ReillyInterview - Bitch FalconFeature - Why Music Photography MattersAlbum & EP ReviewsLive ReviewsFeature - BIMM DublinInterview - Wolf Alice

Welcome to GoldenPlec Magazine Issue 3, which is brought to you courtesy of fields and cider, musical explorations, and healthy

debate.

We’re keen that the magazine reflects all of the distinct elements of what GoldenPlec is, and we’ve gone all out for variety in issue 3. A key part of what we do revolves around local scenes: bands we think are solid, interesting, impressive, or in a few cases downright special. Bitch Falcon - this issue’s cover stars - are one of the latter; abrupt, edgy, cutting, class. Alongside them, we’ve explored the development of BIMM as its first graduates head for the exits, talked exclusively to Lisa Hannigan on her acting exploits, dug through some vinyl, and taken you to Longitude.

Like us - and like all true music-lover’s collections - it’s disparate, and held together by a simple defining value: we think all these things are worth celebrating. We hope you agree.

James Hendicott,Magazine Co-Editor

Magazine Editors James HendicottStephen Byrne

Art DirectorDavid Dooley

Editor-in-Chief Aidan Cuffe

Project Manager Ros Madigan

Sub-Editors Justin McDaid

Bernard O’Rourke

Contributors Alasdair Murty

Ben AllenDebbie HickeyFrank Hughes

Ian MartinJames Hendicott

Justin McDaidNiall Swan

Sasha BradySean Noone

Stephen ByrneVanessa Monaghan

Photographers Aaron Corr

Debbie HickeyJames Murray

Mark O’ConnorSean Smyth

48

121619222630

The Magic Number

by Ben ALLeN

An interview with lisa hanniganSong Seaof

the

L ittle could sum up Lisa Hannigan’s charm as perfectly as a metaphor she uses

when discussing the rare days when songwriting comes easily; when it flows most naturally out of her and she is able to get a song written “before your tea has gotten cold.” Like the singer herself, the turn of phrase is warm, homely, and distinctly Irish.

Such is the strength of her innocent, maternal presence, that when she says “obviously everyone dabbled in these sort of things in college, but then you’re slightly drunk in college so you say yes to things more readily”, you might already suspect that she is talking about trying her hand at acting rather than anything truly uncouth.

Even when she reprimands us for breaching the fraught ground of her forthcoming third album, which she does not want to “waffle on about” until she has it completed, she does so with an apologetic kindness. She has the kind of voice that, if she were to

tell you ‘everything is going to be alright’ as the plane you are sitting in plummets from the sky, you just might believe her.

So, playing the role of a mother in Song Of The Sea - the latest release from Irish animators Cartoon Saloon - is not to too much of a stretch, though she admits that her timidity towards the unknown world of acting meant that it took a little bit of persuasion. “Tom Moore (Director) sort of lured me in with the singing bit and was very kind and encouraging about the talking bit. But I’m so glad that I did it. Working with such lovely, encouraging people at Cartoon Saloon gave me the confidence to at least give it a go.”

The company have been producing charming animation since 1999, appropriating Irish folklore

into modern cinema. “I love what they’re doing with folklore. The themes that they cover, they’re quite deep and thoughtful, and

it’s important that we don’t lose these things.”

It is quite fitting then that one of her co-stars in the film is Brendan Gleeson - one of Ireland’s acting behemoths whose figure is entrenched in Irish storytellings more recently penned.

“They did ask me at some point did I want to wait until Brendan was there to do my bit! I said no... *laughs*. No, thank you. I don’t think you want your very first acting job to be with Brendan Gleeson in the room. I don’t know if I would have been able for it at all. But it was great to watch it on the screen and for him to be there.”

"I tend to be invited to do things by much braver

people than myself."

Issue 03 5Issue 03 5

Interview - Lisa Hannigan

Song Of The Sea is not the first time the singer’s voice has permeated theatres. In fact, she has been involved in film on a much larger scale. In 2013 and 2014, she provided vocals for two Steven Price-composed soundtracks - Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity and David Ayer’s Fury. “It came about really organically,” she says of her first foray into the cinematic realm; “I got an email from Steven asking me to do a bit of singing on the soundtrack [for Gravity]. I went into a small garage just outside of London. It was absolutely fascinating to see how he weaves the music through the film and to see how all the different pieces come together.”

However, her Hollywood debut may have gone unnoticed by many. “He treated the voice so much that sometimes it doesn’t even sound like singing.

I was struggling to hear myself sometimes. I’d think it was a violin, and then I’d go ‘oh no, there I am!’, because he wanted to make everything sound otherworldly and unnerving.”

This does not seem to trouble Hannigan, who is more comfortable outside of the spotlight than in it, and she certainly felt a bit of anxiety with regards to her first role on the big screen. “I thought that I would be watching it [Song Of The Sea] through my fingers, for my bits anyway! But actually the animation and the story and the emotion of the whole thing carried me through.”

"I don't think you want your very first acting job to be with Brendan Gleeson in the room."

6


Her cinematic spell does not end with Song Of The Sea. A track recorded by Hannigan and Glen Hansard features in an

animated adaptation of The Prophet - Kahlil

Gibran’s beloved piece of literature - produced by and starring Selma Hayek. Who needs an entire six degrees of separation when you can connect Gavin Glass to Antonio Banderas in a mere two?

Step three leads to a collaboration

with one of modern music’s most creative

and prolific entities, Aaron Dessner, best known for masterminding the music of The National alongside his twin brother Bryce and lyricist Matt Berninger.

Hannigan and Dessner

play Cork’s Sounds From A Safe Harbour Festival, September 17-20th, presenting them with the perfect opportunity to showcase the fruits of recent writing sessions. “I tend to be invited to do things by much braver people than myself, and he said ‘why don’t we get together, write a few songs and then do a gig’? And I said ‘Alright, Aaron’.

Despite her ever-present humility, a pattern becomes clear as the interview progresses. A host of extremely talented creative folk are knocking on Hannigan’s door to entice her into collaboration. Thankfully, and no doubt a result of a subtle confidence that has developed over the years as she has stepped out on her own to plaudits and respect from her peers, she is more than willing to oblige them.

"I don't think you want your very first acting job to be with Brendan Gleeson in the room."

Issue 03 7


7

Words: Sasha Brady

Photos: Aaron Corr

M yles O’Reilly is a gifted storyteller, renowned for his

sincere and honest style of filmmaking and emphatic nature, but the well-respected filmmaker almost turned his back on music in 2009. Before he set up shop behind the lens, Myles was fronting the pop-folk band Juno Falls, but the group were struggling to realise their ambitions.

“I was living under the table, wondering how I was gonna eat. I would have to go begging to my parents for money, my wife would have to go begging to her parents for money. I kept wondering ‘Why can’t I make any fucking money in the music industry in Ireland’?’’

It’s a frustration that’s unfortunately all too common for our home-grown musicians. They pour their heart and soul into their music, they’re talented, they know they have a good thing going, but when it comes to the point where they can’t

afford to eat, alternatives need to be considered. O’Reilly was no different. He sold his guitars and met with a FÁS councillor to examine more practical career options far removed from music; thankfully, she refused to entertain such notions.

“The music industry was all I knew, but I’d studied film in college so she suggested that I just go out and film other musicians. ‘You don’t need a course, just go out and fucking do it,’ she said.”

O’Reilly chanced his arm by filming live performances, uploading them to his YouTube channel and emailing artists to see if they liked what they saw - a beautifully simple marketing strategy that paid off. He started working with Kíla and before long amassed an impressive collection of work with Ireland’s finest musicians, under the name Arbutus Yarns.

Myles O’Reilly

Interview - Myles O’Reilly

8

Spinning a Yarn with

Myles O’Reilly9

values, O’Reilly keeps it straightforward with his trusty Canon 600D and a commitment to providing an honest and real experience for his audience. He understands the beauty of imperfections, that it’s those moments in which everything becomes more believable. He pulls the viewers into his videos, allowing them to feel like they’re right there in the room with the musician. It’s seductive in its simplicity, but is only achieved through his masterful artistic attention.

Those real and wonderful emotions are scattered throughout his recent documentary ‘The Sound of a Country’, where he accompanies Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill on tour

through India. “I was there to document the energy they put out and the energy of the Indian people. You know, how the music, character, personality and atmosphere of India would react to their music and what would happen in that tiny little space in the middle where the two things meet? I wanted to capture that energy and I think I really got that. I hope people feel it.”

Travelling the world, experiencing different cultures and examining how the musician interacts with the space outside the studio walls is what fascinates O’Reilly the most. “Rónán Ó Snodaigh, he plays bodhran like a king and I want to bring him to Bali where everyone bangs instruments - he’d be a remarkable person to bring there. I also want

His background in music gave him the unique ability to focus on the artists at the right time, capturing moments that could be lost to most of his peers. “Movement was a big thing to me. If a piano player was nodding his head, rather than just film his fingers, I would film his head bobbing in and out of the shot. Suddenly it would create a strobe effect where the viewer was lured into listening more than just watching. If you’re watching fingers, you just watch the notes but if you’re watching a head move you’re actively listening more through observation - [that focus] really took off and other artists were keen to have that stamp on their videos and live performances.”

In a world jaded by Photoshop, Instagram filters and over-the-top production

10

mushrooms once in a while and it’s an extraordinary experience but nothing compares to what I saw when I was in that coma - hearing full-blown songs, I was talking to people . . . so many stories and adventures. It was like Alice in Wonderland. I’m aware that a lot of it was down to the chemicals, but there were some profoundly beautiful moments where I met relatives who had passed away and who consoled me.”

He was eager to work as soon as he was discharged from hospital and lined up a number of projects - some to pay the bills but he also plans to focus on his passion projects; shining the light on smaller artists who need and deserve recognition.

He’s kept pretty busy, but there have been periods of time - from two weeks up to three months - where no jobs

have been coming in, but that’s when he sets himself time to seek out those smaller artists. Those projects aren’t money-makers, but they provide a bigger sense of fulfilment that resonates with any true music fan.

At present, the last project he has lined up is with Lisa Hannigan and Aaron Dessner in Lismore Castle this September. “That will be really interesting but that’s the last thing in my calendar, it’s a little bit daunting. I really hope someone gets in contact with me afterwards. I’m pretty confident that they will.”

He isn’t driven by commercial success and chooses to live in a world void of sponsorship and royalties.

“I’m past the point where I can work with someone else. I’m not this team member anymore. I’m an orphan. I had a career that fell apart; I had to deal with it on my own. I had no one else to help me. I’m not someone who can step into a team role now and order a film crew around and give a producer money to tell me what to do. Part of me wishes that down the line I could have kids and a bigger house but I don’t worry about how that’s going to happen now. I’m just happy being absolutely free”.

to go to Cambodia, they have this ancient one-string instrument and there’s only one guy who survived the genocide who knows how to play it. He’s in his 80’s and he’s the master. I want to bring Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, one of Ireland’s best string players, to meet him and see what happens between them.”

For a man who cheated death this year, it’s only right that he keeps his dreams in sight. A throat infection that he picked up at last year’s Electric Picnic turned into something far more serious when he tried to fend it off with several types of antibiotics while travelling through India. When he returned home, his immune system completely gave up. The bacteria in his body started multiplying and he was admitted to hospital on Christmas Day, his head swollen to twice its normal size and the skin struggling to contain it. He was operated on twice as the fluid travelled dangerously close to his brain. He was told that he may not survive.

“Luckily I came through it - suddenly coming out of the coma I’m aware that some of the things I saw were incredible. I’ve taken

“I’ve taken mushrooms once in a while and it’s an extraordinary experience but nothing compares to what I saw when I was in that coma.”

Issue 03 11

Interview - Myles O’Reilly

Bitch falcon

Words: James Hendicott Photos: Aaron Corr & Mark O’ Connor

The soaring Dublin trio bringing embittered guitar noise to the masses

A s a grunge-inspired, snarling act drawing influences from a disparate list that includes Nirvana, Bjork

and Fuck Buttons, noisy Dublin newcomers Bitch Falcon haven’t found attention hard to come by. They don’t pull any punches, building both sound and reputation around pummelling bass, throbbing fret dynamics and the bitterly memorable vocal snarl of frontwoman Lizzie Fitzpatrick.

It’s early days - only 18 months, in fact - but they’ve been cluttered ones. Three singles and a small heap of ever-developing live shows have surrounded substantial line-up changes and knock-on band reinventions. Not least amongst those changes has been the recent success of settling into gigs as a three piece. There’s real sense that the latest Bitch Falcon line-up is the one that will carry them forward.

“We write very well together, the three of us”, explains bassist Naomi MacLeod in the aftermath of the amiable departure of fourth member Fia Kavanagh. “Lizzie and I have this weird thing where we’ll kind of present each other a riff, and the other person will go ‘I sort of like it, but I can’t place it’. And then we’ll be working on something completely different and it’ll come back, and just fit like a jigsaw.”

It comes naturally to the trio to talk of the band in terms of their live performances. “We’re at our best on stage. That’s why we do this”, drummer Nigel Kenny argues, and it’s borne out in their very dynamics. The Bitch Falcon process is the old-school method of making music: produce for live performance first, and worry about the rest later.

Issue 03 13

Interview - Bitch Falcon

“We write our songs for the stage”, Fitzpatrick explains. “We then have to figure out how to record them. That seems like the right way around to us, as live is where we hope to build our audience.”

There have already been some nice opportunities to work on that recording technique, however, after blogger Nialler9 recommended the band to the Guinness Amplify panel, who in turn agreed to fund the recording of a single.

The result is most recent release ‘TMJ’, which

MacLeod describes as “a glossy little tangent we got to go on,” and comes in its more polished form in large part due to the relatively high-tech equipment and production techniques the Amplify money opened up. ‘Poppy’ it may be (at least by Bitch Falcon standards), but those dingy references remain in place. TMJ stands for ‘temporomandibular joint’, the joint that connects the skull to the jaw bone, yet the theme, predictably, is more philosophical: a medical name applied to a metaphorical case of lockjaw.

More often, a blunt, fuzzy, moody feel is what the three-piece thrive on. There seems to be a very pointed and well-formed aesthetic to everything Bitch Falcon do, in fact, as you’d expect from an act that once had to be rebranded ‘Lady Dog Falcon’ for safe daytime radio. The colourful, fuzzy lo-fi backdrop that dominates the imagery of live shows comes from Fitzpatrick’s love of surrealist filmmaker David Lynch, but also sits tightly with the grunge-leaning corners of the setlist.

For pure volume, the band have been joshing with fellow Dublin rockers The Minutes over a noise-off for several months, and are now - with a definite tinge of disappointment

- claiming their ‘rivals’ have “bottled it.” ‘Fuzz’ and ‘noise’ seem like natural keywords.

While there’s lots of riotous fun to

be had, then, Bitch Falcon’s future sounds

bravely conceptual, partly eschewing the concept

14


of an album. “We’re not in that place yet, and when we are, we’ll make it as a concept and probably not include the previous singles,” Kenny says. Instead, they’re looking to drip feed music, releasing only tracks they feel fully able to stand behind.

“I don’t think we’re quite ready for an album”, Fitzpatrick argues. “We’re still developing, and we’d want an album to be something really complete. We’d also have to throw all our money at it, and it doesn’t feel like the time yet. The idea now is to keep people topped up; to try to build the addiction. It puts so much focus on your music when you release it one track at a time, and we don’t want to dilute things.”

It’s unlikely when the moment comes for an album that it’ll be a standard release, with all three members already eyeing adaptations of brave concepts from some of their favourite bands. “When we do get to that stage,” Kenny explains, “I’d like to think it’ll be more than just an album; that it’ll come together with something more than music.” It’ll take a while, but it’s out of a determination to get things right and to take advantage of music’s new landscape.

“It’s becoming more and more about bands themselves,” the trio agree. “We’d take a deal under the right circumstances, of course, but labels, radio and media have less influence over a band’s success than they ever have. People have more choice, and so do we.”

A fitting tribute to the success of that drip feeding strategy is that recording anything of note has been a challenge, simply because audiences have Bitch Falcon so in demand. “There have been

gigs coming up again and again that we felt we couldn’t turn down. They were too good, which is a nice problem to have,” MacLeod explains. “It’s been hard to sit down and record, but that’s fine. We’ve always wanted to build our reputation on stage.”

Experiencing the memorable brutality of the band’s extraordinary live rampages sends its own message: that reputation is still some way short of where’s it likely to end up. Concepts might help, but Bitch Falcon won’t need them to succeed.

“The idea now is to keep people topped up;

to try to build the addiction.”

Issue 03 15


A picture may be worth a thousand words, but

in reality it may not be worth a whole lot more than that. Every year photographers dish out buckets of money to invest in cameras and lenses that create iconic images, yet few people are willing to pay for these photographs today.

Take Taylor Swift’s recent photo release - she jibed at Apple Music for not paying artists throughout their trial period, but her photo contract explicitly states that all photographers who shoot

her shows must hand over all the images, and she is free to use them when and how she so pleases. This hardly seems fair, yet this is the conundrum many photographers find themselves in when shooting bigger artists.

Photographers spend years learning how to produce high-quality images that capture the atmosphere of a moment in time. Often these images are what sells the product. It’s probably the reason why you’re reading this magazine now - the

picture sold it to you. Photos sell the dream, except it would appear that nobody wants to buy the dream anymore. Yet, in this era of social media that we live in, musicians and bands know the importance of product image.

A huge problem photographers have is artists reposting images without prior consent, often cropping out the watermark. In this instance, the photographer’s hard work has gone to waste. It is always nice to see artists

Why Music Photography Matters

16

Feature - Why Music Photography Matters

who pay and credit their photographers, but when your livelihood depends on selling these images, credit alone is not enough.

There is a certain school of thought amongst certain artists that credit is payment in itself. It’s not.

Music photography is hugely important in documenting the era we are living in. When you go to a concert these days, half the time people aren’t even looking at the band. They are looking at the band through a dodgy mobile video; they are not experiencing the euphoria that comes with engaging 100% with the music. Photographers are there to do the job so you don’t have to.

A lot of artists have started asking their fans to put away their mobile phones - Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ letter to fans states: “PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THE SHOW THROUGH A SCREEN ON YOUR SMART DEVICE/CAMERA. PUT

THAT SHIT AWAY” as a courtesy to the person behind you and to Nick, Karen and Brian”

Photo contracts are also becoming a big problem for both print and online publications, and they are being forced to find increasingly creative ways to overcome these issues. I re-created The Killers in Lego for GoldenPlec when the band played the O2 and imposed an absurd ‘no photographers allowed’ rule. The images later appeared in many publications including The Las Vegas Review, The Journal, and PetaPixel with no mention of how the band performed on the night.

Quebec newspaper Le Soleil also got creative to challenge Foo Fighters’ photo policy by sending a cartoonist to cover a gig. “When the Foo Fighters claim rights to pictures of them in concert, they do not do it halfway” read their statement, “Not only should accredited photographers at the show yesterday not publish their work more than once, they had to give up all rights.”

There are many skills involved with music photography, such as dealing with tricky lighting, and compositions. Sometimes photographers are not allowed to roam free in the photo pit, or they are instructed to stick to a certain side of the stage and not move from there. All of this can greatly limit creative play for a photographer.

We must embrace music photography for the art form that it is. One of the most important and often overlooked elements of the music business is how an artist visually presents themselves. A great photograph is what immediately gives you an edge and sets you apart from the crowd. If you’ve worked hard to make sure that your music is of the highest possible standard, then you should also take the time and money to make sure your image looks as good as you sound.

Words and Photo: Debbie

Hickey

Why Music Photography Matters

Issue 03 17

Feature - Why Music Photography Matters

Sal Vitro Cirque Du Sleaze

Sal Vitro have supported Thin Lizzy and Status

Quo, but when you’re named after a character in The Sopranos - who had his arm broken in a dispute between Paulie Walnuts and Feech La Mana- perhaps things aren’t destined to always go your way.

Line ‘Em Track aims for delta-blues authenticity but feels as real as Shia LaBeouf ’s rapping. It’s frustrating, as the arena melodies of The Getting’ Older Casanova prove them capable of producing quality, such as The Party Hard Smoker, yet they miss the target frequently. Caught betwixt crowd-pleasing stadium and blues-rock, ‘Cirque Du Sleaze’ is an album that succeeds, partially.Frank Hughes

Neon Atlas Graffiti Reality

S traight outta Cork, Neon Atlas are back with

their second album. ‘Graffiti Reality’ suggests a turgid, world-weary perspective but that seems to belie what is an upbeat slice of summer. A track like I Never Felt So Good actually seems genuine coming via Kieran Ring’s soft tones.

They may call themselves grunge and indie, but they have more in common with the power pop of The New Pornographers than any of the anguish-sodden songs that go with those genres.

‘Grafffiti Reality’ is a head bobbing, hum-along sort of an album, but not one likely to stay with you for long after it ends.Sean Noone

Ryan Sheridan Here and Now

Four years after his debut, Ryan Sheridan returns

with the follow up, ‘Here and Now’. The album opens with the title track and a more rounded, polished Sheridan emerges from his trademark acoustic/cajon rooted sound.

Production and style subtly change as the album progresses, with solid musicianship and songwriting throughout; what we’ve come to know from Sheridan. ‘Here and Now’ is home to a handful of songs that will be radio hits - Sheridan knows his audience well and doesn’t disappoint.

This may be a slightly transitional period for him, but it needs a little more danger.Vanessa Monaghan

Reviews - Albums

Issue 03 19

Album Reviews

Your 24/7 Music Festival


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TX Festival-2015-A4.indd 1 27/07/2015 10:11

Shrug Life The Grand Stretch

Shrug Life’s latest offering, ‘The Grand

Stretch’, contains all the key ingredients that make the Popical Island label such a jewel in the Irish music scene. It’s full of off-kilter indie rock tunes, deep fried in liberal lyrical wit.

Vocalist Danny Carroll takes inspiration from the mundane, covering topics as diverse as Kevin Kilbane in Long Ball Game - an ode to being average - to working in Supermac’s in Funderland.

Adorned with bursts of jagged guitars and the type of lo-fi, saccharine hooks associated with labelmates So Cow and The Run Ons, ‘The Grand Stretch’ is grand, so it is…grand.Frank Hughes

Sample Answer Good Boy EP

S ample Answer is a Dublin-born acoustic/

hip-hop artist whose impressive debut EP, ‘The Good Boy’, draws influences from the likes of Dylan, Jay-Z and Tyler, The Creator.

Sample Answer’s strength lies in his distinctive vocals, alternating between singing and rapping while throwing in the odd speak-sing interlude for good measure. It all flows together, seamlessly. Title track Good Boy is the highlight, as it provides an insight into O’Connor’s struggle to keep control of the most important thing in his life, himself. “Oh Lord don’t bring me down, I’ve done some nasty things today. And I’m tryna be a good boy.” He could be great.Niall Swan

Oliver Cole Year of the Bird

T his is the second album from Oliver Cole; a

home recording, not that you would realise from the stellar production. Maudlin in places, flirting with country rock and AOR, ‘Year Of The Bird’ rises above the typical singer/songwriter drudgery by virtue of its meticulous detail. The excellent Magnolia stands out; an aching, pitch-perfect ballad that hits all the right spots.

The ingredients are all in place for something special – myriad, lush instruments, backing musicians that include Glen Hansard and Gemma Hayes, some truly stunning backing vocals and sonic accentuation - yet somehow it doesn’t ignite as fully as it should. Justin McDaid

Issue 03 21

Reviews - Albums & EPs

Album & EP Reviews

Longitude - Marlay Park

L ongitude returned to Dublin’s Marlay

Park for a third dose of midsummer musical madness. Chemical Brothers, Hozier, and Alt – J filled the headline slots, while a supporting cast including Le Galaxie, All Tvvins, and Girl Band proved what GoldenPlec already knew - Irish music more than holds its own against international acts.

MetronomyDespite clouds threatening all day, the sun is out to complement Metronomy’s pleasant, airy synth-pop. There are few songs likely

to ease you into a summer’s evening of music as capably as The Look, and the band are well aware of this, giving it an early outing and loosening up weary limbs in the process. Cuts from 2014’s ‘Love Letters’ are beautifully executed and showcase the band’s talents for dreamy keys and drum clicks.

Todd TerjeThe Heineken tent crowd receives Todd Terje with about as much gusto as they can muster at 8pm as the sun shines brightly outside. However, the DJ doesn’t seem too bothered by any of it,

slamming away alone on stage with little interest in or awareness of the crowd below. Enthusiasm is not lacking, but a ¾ full tent is not able to match the energy of the music, and a lack of stimulation from the man on stage doesn’t help things.

SBTRKTSBTRKT’s set is the musical equivalent of being tossed in a bass drum and thrown down a moderately sized waterfall. When you get to the end you’re a bit shaken and a bit wet, but you’ve had quite a good time along the way. The producer and his band bounce energetically about the stage, with Aaron Jerome’s unmistakable mask acting as the centrepiece as he orchestrates things from behind a desk. A packed tent encloses the sound, allowing the bass and drums to reverberate in the bodies that flood the stage. While they are unafraid to dip into their catalogue of hits, it P

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Reviews - Live

Live Reviews

hardly seems to matter. It’s all about the energy of the performance and consistency of Jerome’s music; each song is a fantastic blend of powerful bass and melody. The bassy buzz of New Dorp, New York still resonates in the chest hours, even days, after the set ends.

HozierA true Dublin fairytale; Andrew Hozier-Byrne and his band play to a 20,000 plus crowd at the main stage of a festival where one year previous he had been scrubbing the floor of the same stage in the early afternoon. Oh the difference a year can make. This year Hozier is the belle of the ball; the biggest draw on Friday evening. There is no doubt that this represents a particularly sweet moment for him, and a fantastic reception from the crowd leaves him rosy-cheeked. His sound is large and impressive; his powerful vocals filling the park, almost piercing SBTRKT’s tent hundreds of metres away. The set is laden with hits from his début

Put The Chain On and Love System, before MayKay from Fight Like Apes joins them on stage for a brilliant rendition of Carmen…a hard act to follow.

Slaves

The spirit of punk is alive and well on the Whelan’s Stage where Slaves nearly cause a full-on riot. Guitarist Laurie Vincent addresses an over-exuberant mosh pit participant who has apparently punched three people, calling him “a bully” and “an embarrassment”. The crowd are on Vincent’s side, extolling the security guards to kick him out. That aside, Slaves are a revelation - full of raw passion, and yet singing about the mundanity of ordinary life on songs like Cheer Up London and Do Something before mixing it with the surreal on Feed The Mantaray. The latter features

album, but a tepid, cringe-inducing rendition of Ariana Grande’s Problem puts a lame but soulful spin on the bubbly pop tune. Some of his bluesy rock feels a bit slow-moving for a festival headlining set, but for the most part, Hozier delivers exactly what his music promises. Takes Me To Church leaves the audience in convulsions of joy and the amiable singer has thousands serenading a bandmate with Happy Birthday, before culminating with a delightful sing-along of Work Song.

Le Galaxie

It was going to be a challenging slot for Le Galaxie - 4pm on the Main Stage - but they make it look easy. “We are Le Galaxie and we have so much love to give”, Michael tells the large and enthusiastic crowd. Their infectious energy officially gets the party started, with

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Reviews - Live

a man dressed as a Manta ray crowd-surfing, but it’s drummer and vocalist Isaac Holman who steals the show with his guttural screams and Parklife-style spoken word intervals. An unforgettable performance.

Caribou

Dan Snaith’s Caribou waddle out onto the main stage somewhat unnoticed, until the otherworldly synth sounds creep into the opening bars of Our Love, the title track from his much lauded 2014 album. Clad in all white, forming a small square in the centre of the stage, Snaith and his live band members make light work of taking an intricately

produced record to the stage. While totally lacking in visual stimulation, the performance impresses by breathing new life into music that could easily be performed as a glamorized DJ set. Watching the different textures of the music come together is a treat and their performance of Can’t Do Without You is something to behold.

Girl BandProbably the Irish hype band of the moment, Girl Band have a lot to live up to, and boy do they deliver. Imagine Nirvana and Joy Division in a head-on collision at 100 mph and you’ve got some idea of what Girl Band sound like live. Rather than play their instruments they bludgeon them, creating overwhelming walls of sound. Over this, Dara Kiely sing-speaks plaintively and screams violently in equal measure. The bass groove of Lawman

elicits huge cheers from the crowd while the trance-like techno-metal of Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage has air-punching hands aloft. If they were a book they’d be unputdownable - a band totally deserving of the buzz.

Alt-JAlt-J write excellent songs, but there’s just something missing from the live shows. The songs are performed perfectly with tight harmonies and an appropriately moody light show. But there’s really nothing else to it. At 3Arena last year they made it quite clear that they were surprised to be playing such a venue and their surprise seems to continue unabated on the Longitude Main Stage. Some slightly disingenuous-sounding comments such as a monotone “we’re having an awesome time with you tonight” don’t help matters, and the set

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Reviews - Live

list is almost identical to the one played on the other side of the Liffey. They’ve even persisted with their weird cover of Bill Wither’s Lovely Day in the encore. Having said all that, the crowd happily sing the words of all their biggest songs back to them as the rain finally begins to fall, as does the curtain on the second day of Longitude.

Tove LoThe Heineken Stage is the busiest it’s been all weekend for Tove Lo, with the crowd extending outside of the tent. Talking Body has the young crowd in raptures, with one of the highest ratios of people up on shoulders that we’ve seen this weekend. On paper, what makes Tove Lo stand out above her contemporaries is difficult to discern, but on stage she is warm, animated and engaging, even managing to keep the crowd’s attention for the slow paced The Way

That I Am.

James BlakeA big roar erupts when Blake begins with the acapella vocal loops of I Never Learnt To Share. With vocoders galore and freestyle jazz-stylings on synths, there’s never a dull moment. You would be equally happy panned out on the grass as right up the front getting down. Limit To Your Love - his ever-popular Feist cover - follows, triggering a mass singalong. This is definitely a festival set. Lindisfarne I & II take on an incredibly emotional hue performed live, He’s not afraid to play new songs either, quipping “One day when you know that song it’ll make sense.” Blake is a master at the top of his game.

The Chemical BrothersAnd so to the main event, arriving late to the stage

and with only one of the “Brothers” (Ed Simons is replaced by Adam Smith who works on visuals for them), not that anybody really cares. Especially when, to a sky full of green and red laser beams, the familiar high-pitched drone that begins Hey Boy Hey Girl sounds out and the Main Stage faithful start to lose it. Stunning and sometimes disconcerting visuals abound throughout the night, featuring dancing robots, slow motion panicked running. Setting Sun gets a rapturous welcome, and all the while you have to suppress the little voice in the back of your head that wonders how much of this is being rendered “live”. But then you look around and realise no one cares and you shouldn’t either. Just enjoy the greatest hits set from the Masters of Marlay.Ian Martin & Ben Allen

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Reviews - Live

The Chemical Brothers

W hen it was first announced that the

British and Irish Institute of Modern Music, or BIMM for short, was opening a college in Dublin, many people - including ourselves here at GoldenPlec - were sceptical about the project. Other music courses in Ireland have traditionally failed to produce talent on a regular basis.

Why would BIMM be any different? What could they bring to the table that other established music courses in Ireland have failed to do? And, of course, there’s the age-old question of nature versus nurture. Can you really teach someone to rock?

With the first class of graduates leaving BIMM with degrees this summer in search of success and/or sustainable

careers, GoldenPlec spoke to one of BIMM’s senior tutors and Irish rock royalty, Joe Wall (The Stunning/The Walls), to ascertain whether BIMM coming to Dublin has been a success or not.

Under the guidance of Mark Greaney (JJ72) and a host of other successful musician/tutors including Graham Hopkins (Therapy?/The Frames), Cathy Davey,

Are BIMM the Answer to an Age Old Question: Can You Teach Someone To Rock?

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Feature - BIMM Dublin

Conor Adam’s All Tvvins have released two of the best Irish singles of 2015 in the shape of Thank You and Too Young to Live.

However while Doyle, Delorentos and All Tvvins are inspirational yardsticks for students, nobody in BIMM is saying, ‘Follow me kid, I’ll make you a star.’ Instead, the emphasis within the college is focussed on creating “savvy, self-sufficient musicians,” says Wall.

“Only a small proportion of people will really make it. One of the things we’re quite conscious of in BIMM is we try to give students a rounded education. Everybody studies business, the organisational, logistical and financial side of the industry so, that when they leave college they’re a confident individual.”

“We are always encouraging the students to get things going outside of college and not to be cocooned in an academic environment. I

Sarah Lynch (session violinist HamsandwicH/Ed Sheeran) and Conor Adams (Cast of Cheers/All Tvvins), the staff of BIMM have fostered a culture of doing, within both the student body and the faculty.

“They [BIMM] generally take on teachers with a proven track-record of doing things and continuing to do things,” says Wall. “To know that the musicians that are advising you and that you’re asking questions of are successful at what they are doing is a big help.”

Prime examples of people who’ve continued to do things whilst teaching at BIMM include Kieran McGuinness and Rónán Yourell (Delorentos) whose 2014 album ‘Night Becomes Light’ saw them nominated once again for the Choice Music Prize.

Drum tutor Rory Doyle played on Hozier’s record-breaking debut album and is currently touring the world as part of his live band, while

think people learn best when they’re having experiences outside of college and they can come and talk to tutors about it.”

This is reflected in the students own achievements to date. BIMM student and one-half of duo Little Hours, John Doherty, was nominated for the 2014 Meteor Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year for It’s Still Love and has signed to major label RCA Records. Blades Club scored a number one on the Irish iTunes rock chart with their début single Asian Babes.

The Eskies, fronted by student Ian Bermingham, scored a number 12 album in the Irish charts earlier this year with their debut

Issue 03 27


‘After The Sherry Went Round.’ Overhead, The Albatross, featuring BIMM student Benjamin Garrett, have recently opened for Kodaline and are causing a stir internationally with their vibrant brand of post-rock.

With other notable acts such as Pockets, Sails, Columbia Mills and We Were Giants emerging all the time, BIMM have made a palpable contribution to the Irish music scene

So why has BIMM been so successful, so quickly? “It’s created a hub of kindred spirits,” explains Wall. “In the past musicians would have moved from the countryside to Dublin, or from

Dublin to London or New York to try and have access to different musicians or to be part of a scene. What BIMM has done is created that scene.”

Wall believes that despite the formal setting, BIMM provides the perfect setting for creative minds to fulfil their potential. “If you manage to bring in people with ability and flair in their field, put them together and hothouse them for a number of years, things will happen very fast.”

“You need to be of a decent standard to get into BIMM. You have to have a portfolio of work as a songwriter. You have to be able to display your musicianship - show that you can play, show that you

can write songs that you can sing depending on what your discipline is.”

One of the reasons that BIMM has been so successful in the UK, with acts such as George Ezra and James Bay emerging from its halls in recent years, is because it shirks stage school traditions of producing graduates who look and sound the same, instead attempting to help each student realise their individual potential.

“One of the advantages of the college is identifying your strengths and weaknesses and learning how to improve in those areas,” says Wall. “There’s a lot of concentration on playing and zoning in forensically on performances”

One of the ways BIMM does this is by ensuring students are exposed to a wide variety of musical styles. “In first year what we make sure everybody gets a chance to play with everybody else,” says Wall “and what sometimes happens is those groups really gel - sometimes students find their kindred spirits in those temporary bands.” One such temporary band of kindred spirits is State Lights, who within several weeks of

Overhead, The Albatross

28


meeting in BIMM signed a management deal with Collective Management, home to singer-songwriter Gavin James.

What does the future hold for the first BIMM Dublin graduates? “I think there’s a

lot of people who are going to do well. There’s a lot of distinctive songwriters and voices, and great players. The majority of students will want to have a go at their band.” But, Wall foresees a wide array of career paths for graduating students, with many students forging

careers as session musicians or pit-musicians in musicals, while some will go on to “teach music, set up their own practice, or get involved with event management.”

In four short years, BIMM has become one of the main creative hives in the Irish music industry. Students and teachers alike are successfully forging ahead with their careers, proving sceptics -ourselves included - wrong. They’d done so long before the first mortarboards have reached heads, never mind the sky.

Words: Stephen Byrne

Photos: Sean Smyth & Aaron

Corr

“If you manage to bring in people with ability and flair in their field, put them together and hothouse them for a number of years, things will happen very fast.”

Pockets

29Issue 03


I n a year that’s seen them perform on Conan and miss out

on the very peak of the UK album charts by a mere 528 copies, North London’s Wolf Alice are very much the forerunners of the indie class of 2015. ‘My Love is Cool’ sticks two fingers up to pigeonholing and belligerent

boyfriends alike, coming after the tentative steps of four earlier EPs but seeing the band pointedly refuse to form one single aural dynamic. The result is a charmingly varied offering with plenty of memorable hooks.

Drummer and songwriter Joel Amey is taking pleasure

in the ride, and took the time to tell GoldenPlec of his new world of TV appearances, festival angst and indie mega-hype.

“Looking outside the window, driving through the states was very much a pinch-yourself moment,” he explains. “Playing Conan (which attracts close to a

Chomping Through the Looking Glass

Wolf Alice

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Interview - Wolf Alice

Bros, in which Roswell yells, “There’s no one quite like you, are your lights still on?” The slow build when it comes to releasing music alongside those self-assuring angles suggest Wolf Alice are looking more at the long haul than the already notable success of their debut.

Following triumphant sets at Glastonbury, which saw them team up with Swim Deep’s Austin Williams and cover the Scissor Sisters’ Take Your Mama, Wolf Alice have turned their sights to the rest of the summer. That will feature a stream of festival appearances including trips to Australia, Japan, the US, and half of Europe, and is sure to cement an already astounding live reputation.

“As long as artists stay true to their form”, Amey tells us when asked about the effects of ongoing changes in the music industry. Having already taken a couple of roads less travelled, Wolf Alice is one act we suspect won’t have much trouble doing just that.Words: Alasdair Murty

million viewers per episode, and so can be make or break for touring bands in America) was so surreal. It was like a Hollywood movie set.”

“It was pretty chilled backstage, having your food brought to you. Gigs are different over there. They’re pre-recorded so there isn’t as much pressure.” The American live experience in general has Amey buzzing, with fans clearly forming a fast connection to the newcomers: “They’re so mental, like a football match, with the crowd screaming between songs”

The fast rise to public consciousness hasn’t been without its pitfalls, though, one of which is the inevitable non-musical analysis of any female member a band happen to possess (frontwoman Ellie Roswell, in Wolf Alice’s case). Understandably, musical misogyny is a subject that has Amey particular incensed.

“There was one gig which we played with Swim Deep where one guy was hurling abuse at Ellie and everyone was telling him to shut

up,” Amey recalls. Experience has taught the drummer a harsh lesson on how to deal with that particular brand of nonsense: “If anyone was to do that again, I’d head into the crowd and fight them,” he clarifies.

“I read one review where they mentioned what Ellie was wearing. I don’t see why that, in particular, was relevant” he goes on, echoing Lauren Mayberry from Chvrches’ recent interview with Pitchfork.

Still, there’s a softer side to the band; a subtle vulnerability that exists in both the music and the way Amey speaks. Even when he self-deprecatingly labels himself as “weak”, you can’t help but sense the sincerity there - that the quartet will stick up for each other, whatever happens.

It’s a side that’s reflected in the lyrics of lead single,

“If anyone was to do that again, I’d head into the crowd and fight them.”

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Interview - Wolf Alice

Sleeping bags, tents, wellies and more; all in time for Electric Picnic

grabonelife.ie/festivals

goldenplec magazine - issue 03, autumn 2015

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