Bloody music magazines! Mick Pyro is having a perfectly okay Thursday until some third-rate rag suggests that he don a costume crown to promote his band's upcoming visit to Charleville Castle.
Pro that he is, the Republic Of Loose mainman smiles politely, gives his flowing locks a comb and switches into King Lear mode.
Pyro also has a rather regal presence on stage and a royal diktat that the rabble are there to be roused.
“I don’t see the point in going out and doing a gig half-arsed,” Mick says. “You may as well use the energy of the crowd, even if they’re being quiet or weird. It can turn into a confrontational thing – you can make something happen rather than both the audience and the band being deflated.”
This summer Republic Of Loose are playing both ends of the outdoor spectrum, from Oxegen to the homegrown Castlepalooza, and Mick is delighted that the latter is around to counteract the big money options.
“It’s an exciting time, because everybody seems to want to go to festivals,” he enthuses. “It’s good to have one like Castlepalooza that gets away from the corporate element. It can be very stagnant and it starts to cheapen the experience, whereas if it’s something kind of grimey that’s been put together organically it’s more exciting. It all depends on how it’s put together. We’ve done some hippy festivals in England where there was no PA! You need a good balance.”
One of the main selling points of the Tullamore event is the Irish line-up, the majority of whom wouldn’t have a sniff of getting on the bigger bills.
“It’s a problem, because the UK bands might not have as big a following over here as the Irish bands, but they have the huge touring agencies behind them who are well-connected. They just click their fingers and it becomes a powerplay thing. It’s hard then for an Irish band to compete when it comes to hustling gigs or festival slots because they don’t have the connections."
So while such business practices might be robbing young Irish bands of vital experience, Mick cautions young musicians against expecting it to be easy.
“It can be depressing if you’re playing to no-one,” he admits. “The first time we did Oxegen we were on at a quarter to one or something and they hadn’t even opened the gates. People were walking through eating their ice creams and walking out again. It has to be done though.”
The last time Hotpress caught Mick and the boys in the act was at the Trinity Ball, where it took them precisely 30 seconds to bring a tent-full of comatosely drunk students back to life. Indeed, short of having a jacuzzi with the Dixie Chicks, we couldn't have enjoyed ourselves more.
“We always try and make something happen, whether it’s good or bad. It can turn into abuse now and then, but I try to pull back from that more now, although we’re kind of needy with the feedback.
“There are a lot of people who really hate us,” he continues, “which is the problem with festivals, and they throw a lot of abuse. The more success we get and the more our profile rises, the more intense the hatred of the people who don’t like us becomes. We’re the kind of band that people either love or fucking detest and I’d rather be that, a band that people are passionate about either way.”
Away from their summer in the great outdoors, Republic Of Loose have been quietly satisfied by their progress on the back of their second album.
“It’s going grand. It seems to be getting out there. We need to get more singles out and keep pushing it, especially internationally. It’s good but we’re still at a snail’s pace in terms of our career, but we’re still moving forward, getting better all the time. We couldn’t be doing anything else really so we’re stuck with it!"
Part of the group’s unique selling point has been their reputation as a band with an out of the ordinary sound, drawing on black influences and managing to sound totally genuine in the process.
“It’s not something we wear on our sleeve, pointing out that we’re a rock band from Dublin who play funk and soul," he says. "They were just the records that we were listening to. I used to listen to a lot of rock, and still do. I’m still a big metal fan too. There was never any role-playing going on. It’s not like Jamiroquai, we’re not trying to fit into any particular soul category. We still see ourselves as a rock 'n' roll band. The Stones were a rock 'n roll band but they were influenced by contemporary African American music. We try and be influenced by what’s going on around us rather than just old stuff."