Whatever way you look at it, it’s been a big year for Irish music with the likes of Paddy Casey, Damien Rice, Declan O’Rourke, Mark Geary, Mundy, George Murphy and The Frames dominating the domestic charts, and Snow Patrol shaping up to be the biggest band to come out of this island since U2. Who, lest we forget, stated very publicly in the last issue of hotpress that they want to take Gary Lightbody & Co. out on the road with them in 2005 when they tour their straight-in-at-number-one How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb album.

There have been disappointments too with sales of Ash’s Meltdown and The Thrills’ Let’s Bottle Bohemia failing so far to live up to expectations.

Here to chew over that and the year’s other rock ‘n’ roll fat are:

Mark McClelland
Bass-player with Snow Patrol who, in addition to being wooed by Pink and David Letterman, have sold 1.5 million copies of their Final Straw album this year.

Laura Isibor
A Jive Records labelmate of Justin ‘n’ Britney’s, the Dublin teenager has spent most of 2004 working on her debut album in New York.

Neil Hannon
Suave, sophisticated and back in the charts with his Absent Friends album and companion DVD.
Annie Tierney
In between studying for the Leaving Cert, the former Chick has found time to sing on The Radio’s corking debut, Kindness, and collaborate with her brother Mick Pyro under the Rats Of The Shining Path moniker.

Mark Geary
The singer-songwriter du jour, his Ghosts album immediately charted in August and is still flying out of the shops on the back of his sell-out Christmas tour.

Mick Pyro
Maoist guerilla sympathiser and wayward songwriting genius behind The Republic Of Loose’s This Is The Tomb Of The Juice album.

Stuart Clark
Paxman-like in his ability to pose probing questions, the hotpress Assistant Editor has promised to resign if at least one shock-horror! Evening Herald headline doesn’t come out of today’s session.

Despite the employment of some clever diversionary tactics – we bet George Bush, Tony Blair, Gerhart Schroeder, Silvio Berlusconi et al never had to hammer out agreements while Amanda Brunker’s parading around in her Mama Claus outfit – the HP-7 summit managed to remain focused, forceful and with the exception of one or two errant male members, sober! So, seconds away, round one…

STUART: Are you all quaking in your boots now that Brian McFadden’s gone rock and is wearing a Nirvana t-shirt?

NEIL: Dublin rock scenester that he is – does hotpress have a ‘sarcastic’ typeface? – he came up to me in Lillie’s Bordello and asked if I’d be interested in writing some songs for him. I was perfectly honest and said that I hadn’t liked the music he’d made up to date, and I wasn’t in any way up for it and he went (puts on forlorn voice) ‘Okay’ and sloped off. I also pointed out that Louis Walsh is one of Satan’s minions and that he was tainted by that. He came back to me a few pints later and went, “Louis Walsh, he ruined my fucking life, the bastard!” It was great to hear, I must say. He seems like an okay young man – a little confused maybe, but you would be if you’d been in Westlife.

MARK M: Neil was a lot politer than Gary (Lightbody) would’ve been if Brian McFadden had come up to him like that. What’s he trying to do – claw back some sort of respectability this late in the game?

NEIL: Not after what he did to poor Kerry!

MARK M: Yeah, he left the Queen of The Jungle in tears!

LAURA: People laughed at Robbie Williams when he launched his solo career, and now he’s a credible artist who’s headlined Slane.

MICK PYRO: They’re still laughing at Ronan Keating! I couldn’t believe it when Shane MacGowan said he likes Ronan’s version of ‘A Fairytale Of New York’. What the fuck’s all that about?

MARK M: He may not have been thinking straight over the past couple of years!

STUART: Who’d cough up forty quid to see The Pogues at Christmas if they couldn’t get on the guest-list?

MARK G: I love Shane MacGowan, but honest to god, I’d rather go and watch Brian McFadden. He gets a round of applause for turning up at the gig – it’s tragic and I don’t want to be a part of it.

ANNIE: I’ve seen him a few times recently and it was good…he could talk and everything.

NEIL: I thought he was very witty and making fools of us all from behind an alcoholic haze.

MICK: He’s definitely cut down. I’ve been in the pub with Shane and, although there are four glasses in front of him, he takes all day to get through ‘em.

MARK M: Lightweight!

STUART: You’re never going to wrestle Shane’s crown from him, but I recall a couple of occasions when over-indulgence resulted in Snow Patrol members falling off stage.

MARK M: I’ve done it, Gary’s done it – front and side – and Jonny’s dived into the crowd a couple of times. I don’t think our new guitarist, Nathan, has, so we’ll have to put pressure on him! Lightbody’s also stripped twice in London – first in the Royal Festival Hall, which isn’t what they’re used to there, and then at The Borderline where he was dragged off by a bouncer. ‘It’s not art, it’s disgusting!’ That’s fine if you’re doing two-weeks of dates and then heading home, but not if you’re playing non-stop for eight-months which we’ve done this year. You either modify your behaviour or fuck up.

MICK: I always look drunk even when I’m sober! The first tour we did of England was crazy, but the rule now is a couple of pints before gigs and as many as we can get down our necks after. I can’t remember T In The Park or Glastonbury, although from what the reviews said we were pretty good.

STUART: For me, two of the saddest things that happened this year were Julian Casablancas making a drunken idiot of himself at Oxegen, and Pete Doherty being voted the ‘Coolest Man In Rock’ in the UK. Hasn’t this entire heroin chic got out of hand?

NEIL: I think The Libertines are a classic phenomenon of the age because they’ve risen and fallen without ever being famous. The NME is like the underground Smash Hits, in that it decides who it wants to be famous and then writes about them incessantly until, through notoriety, they become it. “The Libertines are the saviours of rock ‘n’ roll!” No, they’re not. They’re okay Buzzcocks impersonators who’ve been hyped up by journalists desperate to have their own punk rock.

MARK G: Pete Doherty presumably being their Sid Vicious.

MARK M: Whatever about The Libertines, who I quite like, the anti-major label snobbery of some magazines is pathetic. Jeepster’s attitude was, “This has to be a hit or no more singles” – whereas now we’re on a big, bad major we only work with three people who didn’t get involved at all in the recording process. Compare that to Jeepster’s “Where’s the singles? Where’s the singles? No, go back in and re-record” and I’m glad we’re not an indie band anymore. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t an element of wanting to go round there now and go, “Ner-ner-ner-ner-ner!”

NEIL: Or paint “bastards!” on their wall!

ANNIE: Dreamworks never interfered with Chicks when we were in the studio.

MICK: Yeah, but then they dropped you without releasing the record!

ANNIE: They did say, “Don’t make it with Royal Trux”, but we had the money so we ignored them.

MICK: Our A&R guy at Big Cat came and had a listen in the studio but he didn’t ask us to change anything…maybe he should’ve! We had half of it recorded before he’d even signed us, so they knew what they were getting. Returning to what Neil was saying, more often than not the hype thing works against you because people have these ridiculous expectations that you can’t fulfill. Another thing I hate is scenes where somebody gets famous and everybody tries to ride on their coattails.

STUART: Says the man who’s best mates with the Gallaghers!

MICK: Bollocks, I’ve never met them in my life. Their manager says something nice about us and next minute it’s in the press that Oasis are fans. I don’t even think they’ve heard the records.

LAURA: My experiences so far with Jive have been really positive. It started from a demo that I sent a solicitor – there was an A&R guy in the office who heard it and took it to the States where things just exploded. I was paid to come over and showcase in LA and New York, which was my first taste of jetlag! Blur and all that it was, I ended up getting a deal with Jive and am currently halfway through making an album. You’d think that Jive would be big and impersonal, but you’ve got the publishing downstairs and everything else in-house. My A&R guy is lovely – he does Britney as well, which is a million miles away from me, but you know he’s got a really good handle on the business.

MARK M: Are you working with people or is it all your own songs?

LAURA: It’s all mine. It’s possible the record company will change their minds, but at the moment there’s no talk of bringing in outside songwriters or me doing covers like Joss Stone did on her first record. I met Joss when she was signed but still rehearsing, and we hit it off straight away. She was like, “God you’re 16, that’s so cool!” It’s definitely made it easier for me that someone of my own age has sold millions of records without having to go down the manufactured route. I wouldn’t do covers till I’m more established, but Joss’ new album has really put her into the serious artist bracket.

STUART: Mark, is it fair to say that if Snow Patrol had been signed to a megabuck deal when you were 16, you wouldn’t now have a liver between you?

MARK M: Yes! I know the self-destructive personalities there are in the band, and a big deal like that while we were still at school would have been catastrophic. There probably wouldn’t have been a debut record.

NEIL: The key, as Laura said, is being able to walk into a room and look the people you’re working with in the eye. If you can do that and they’re nice, you’re okay. This business is based around people and personalities, which is why 12-years ago I went into hotpress with a carrier bag full of records and asked if you’d review my album. It’s a bizarre concept, but if you’re nice to somebody and make a connection they tend to be nice back.

MARK G: Yeah, I never understand artists treating record companies as the enemy. If you’re a wanker to the person doing your press, they’re not going to go the extra yard to get you coverage. They’ll do enough to cover their arses and then move on to someone who treats them with respect.

ANNIE: I knew us (Chicks) signing to a big label when we were 16 was a gamble, but I don’t regret it. In fact, it taught me that you don’t need hundreds of thousands of dollars and fancy studios to make good records. I also like the freedom of signing with The Radio one day, and then working with Mick on Rats Of The Shining Path stuff the next. I’m not sure if I’d want to be doing the same thing all the time.

STUART: As vibrant as the Irish music scene is, it is very much based around meet ‘n’ two veg singer-songwriters and rock bands. Doing what you do Laura, I imagine you had to get out of Dublin.

LAURA: Yeah, there were a couple of labels here that just didn’t get it. There was also an English company who said, “We can get a record out in six weeks and you on the road by the summer”, which I knew was totally the wrong approach. I needed time to develop, which is what Jive are giving me.

MARK G: I went to New York, Neil went to London, Snow Patrol went to Scotland. We all ran off because what we needed musically wasn’t here at the time.

NEIL: I made a conscious decision not to attach myself to the Dublin scene because I didn’t want to be lumped in with all those bands like Light A Big Fire and Cactus World News that followed in U2’s wake. There’s a cosiness in Ireland which is really nice, but can stop you dipping a toe in other waters.

STUART: Have you met with your stylist yet, Laura?

LAURA: No! We’ve had a lot of discussions about the music but not the way I look. I don’t think there will be because it’s songs I’m pushing rather than an image.

NEIL: The only time we got a stylist in was on Regeneration, the non-besuited one and, well, somebody got paid thousands of pounds to make us look like we’d just come from a jumble sale.

MARK M: They’re always dressed out of Primark - really, really bad catalogue stuff. On the plus side you can get ‘em to phone clothes companies you like up and, if they’ve heard of you, they send round loads of free clobber. And if they don’t fit, you can always give them to somebody else as a Christmas present.

MARK G: I’d have a Brazilian if they’d hold my hand! If somebody had some ideas and wanted to take me shopping I might go, but I wouldn’t blindly put on stuff that’d been bought for me or get my haircut a certain way ‘cause that’s how David Beckham has his this week.

STUART: I know you guys hate talking about the work you do for charidee, but two of you selflessly got out of bed early recently to appear on the Band Aid 20 single.

MARK M: I wish I could say we got a dramatic midnight call from Midge and Bob, but it was actually organised about three weeks beforehand through the record company. It was some experience though wasn’t it, Neil?

NEIL: I loved every moment of it! I arrived in that morning from Barcelona, as did Tim Wheeler. I got up early and caught an Iberia flight that got there on time, while Tim the lazy so-and-so went later with Easyjet and was totally late. I suspect there was a rather big Nigel Godrich impact on me being there – it’s nice to have friends in high places!

MARK M: I was very impressed by the “Why we’re here and what it means” speech that Bob Geldof gave beforehand. He hit home the fact that it wasn’t just the sales of the record that were important, but the impact of a million people going out and impressing on the powers-that-be that they’re the ones who can actually change things properly.

STUART: Should they have brought Ronan and Westlife in to broaden the appeal?

NEIL: There was a minimum requirement that you had to have made at least one good record.

LAURA: Personally, I didn’t miss Westlife but other people might do.

MARK G: Diplomacy at its finest! I know the original wasn’t exactly Pet Sounds, but this one sounds like Mr. & Mrs. Bland are singing it. There are no little bits that stand out, unlike the Gift Grub version which is brilliant. 10 out of 10 though for the intent.

NEIL: I have to say that when I heard the playback I thought it was a really good modern interpretation and certainly rocks a bit more than the first one. Mark’s right, there was more character to the vocals in 1984, but I prefer the music on Band Aid 20.

STUART: Was the “Who gets to sing the line?” thing between Bono and Justin Hawkins just a stunt to drum up publicity?

NEIL: I assumed that was the case, but I hear on the grapevine that Justin Hawkins was really pissed off and I’m thinking, “What a wanker!”

STUART: What are the records that Hot Press readers should be buying their granny this Christmas?

MARK M: They’d kill your gran, but the best album and gig I’ve seen this year are The Secret Machines from Texas. We were playing South By South West and afterwards picked a random band to go and see, which happened to be them. They’ve got that ‘70s rock thing going on with lots of hair and silhouettes on stage instead of lights.

ANNIE: The only thing that really excited me this year was the Jape album. Oh, and the Republic Of Loose!

LAURA: In Ireland, I think Jove have a really good Coldplay/Keane-y thing going on. I also came across this amazing guy in New York called Kezieh Jones. He’s from Nigeria and learned to play guitar on a two-strong nylon, so he’s unlike anything else that’s around.

MARK G: I was at South By South West too, and thought Gillian Welch and Mindy Smith were both awesome. The best package in terms of clothes, looks, music, videos and everything else that matters in rock ‘n’ roll is Franz Ferdinand. Are they groundbreaking? Probably not, but it doesn’t matter.

NEIL: What goes around comes around. U2 are clever enough to realise that and have made a record, which sounds like their old stuff. My only concern is that some bands are too good at replicating their influences. The Bees take coming from the Isle Of Wight so seriously they sound like they played the Isle Of Wight Festival in ‘67 and then got stuck in a timewarp. Originality usually comes from aping your heroes and getting it wrong, and that doesn’t seem to be happening any more.

ANNIE: There’s this band called The Go Team who go from sounding like a ‘60s soul record into mad rapping. They mash their influences up.

MICK: Until the scene here becomes less incestuous and based on certain bars, Ireland’s not going to produce anything that’s genuinely different. It’ll be more singer-songwriters and heard-it-a-million-fucking-times-before rock bands.

STUART: But when you see the likes of The Pixies, The Doors, The Cure and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin all playing to packed houses, you have to wonder is there really a hunger for innovation among audiences?

NEIL: Ned’s aren’t back are they? Oh no! My wife is the biggest fan of all that Stourbridge scene. She followed The Wedding Present around for years - it’s embarrassing!

MARK M: The Pixies sounded every bit as amazing as they do on the record. I never thought I’d get to see them and now I have, ten times. We supported them in Amsterdam, which was a bit of a highlight.

NEIL: The wife wanted to see The Doors in The Point but I refused to let her go. You have to draw the line somewhere and anyway, that’s not The Doors!

MICK: I’d go and see Ian Astbury if he was playing in The Cult but not The Doors. More because I don’t really like The Doors than that it’s pissing on their memory.

STUART: Who would you pay a hundred quid to see reformed/exhumed?

NEIL: Gilbert & Sullivan as very distinct from Gilbert O’Sullivan.

MICK: Jackie Wilson or Muddy Waters would be great.

MARK M: Elvis is his pre-burger days.

NEIL: I never really liked Elvis.

STUART: Any other rock ‘n’ roll icons that you reckon are overrated?

MICK: I don’t like yer’ man in Led Zeppelin as a singer.

NEIL: Most ‘60s music. The Stones, Beatles, Kinks, Van Morrison.

STUART: So you’re annoyed with your fellow musicians for making Astral Weeks the hotpress Greatest Irish Album of All Time.

NEIL: I didn’t realise until I was 20 that he was from Belfast. I was doing a piece for radio about the history of Northern Irish music and thought, “I’m going to have to listen to Astral Weeks for the first time.” I stayed the course, got to the end of it and went, “What on earth was that?” The playing is all over the place.

MARK M: It didn’t have any impact on me either and I’m from Belfast.

NEIL: At least Van’s not like Nick Drake, who had to die before he was hailed as a musical genius.

STUART: They’re still very much alive, but Ash and The Thrills must be scratching their heads at the moment and wondering, “Where have our multi-platinum record sales gone?”

NEIL: When that happened to me with Regeneration I came to the conclusion that the world wasn’t ready for it! It killed the band off, but not me or the name, which I kept. You tell yourself, “They were good songs. It was a good record. The style was just confusing, more so for radio than people because everybody who actually heard it liked it.” Then you go and do your new thing, which luckily for me has gone well.

MICK: The Ash album was quite heavy, which probably scared off radio and The Thrills needed to disappear for six months so that people would miss ‘em.

ANNIE: It’s hard turning stuff down, but at the same time you don’t want to over-expose yourself.

STUART: Apart from the elimination of third-world debt and bringing about peace and reconciliation in the Middle East, what are your goals for 2005?

ANNIE: To finish school, make a Rats Of The Shining Path record with Mick and start another band I want to get together.

LAURA: To release a really good record I can be proud of, which all being well, will be in the summer.

NEIL: 2005 is going to be The Year of Other Stuff. I want to see more of my daughter than I have done over the past 12 months, work with other people and do a covers album.

STUART: When’s that coming out?

NEIL: When I’ve made it, give us a chance! As for what’s going to be on it, I’m currently canvassing opinion.

MARK M: Let Me Be Frank…But Better! 2005 for us is all about making the next record.

STUART: And opening for U2 on their How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb world tour?

MARK M: We’ve heard this but no one’s actually asked us yet. It depends on when and where they offer. We couldn’t do three months straight in the States, but if it was Europe or something shorter like that, brilliant.

MARK G: I’m working on the score for an indie movie called Loggerheads with Karl Odlum. It’s a tragic story about a guy who loses his family which is going to the Sundance Festival in January. I’ve written two song songs for it and the rest is instrumental.

MICK: It depends on how much more we tour Tomb…, but we’re demoing stuff now with a view to starting work on album
number two in March.

STUART: Lads, Happy Christmas!