Laughing in the face of a global music meltdown, Colin Devlin has temporarily exited The Devlins to release a solo album Democracy Of One and strike out on a world tour.
GODZILLA (Directed by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. Starring a pathetic computer-generated monster and a host of actors so bad it would be cruel to quote their names.)
Colin Carberry talks to Jimmy Devlin, co-founder of the No Dancing label, which continues to provide an invaluable outlet for young Northern Irish bands seeking wider exposure.
A home-grown, low-budget offering about a Dublin-based dope-dealer and his struggles against the forces of law and order, Flick is by no means as bad as the recent glut of gangster Britflicks - but for a movie with such a promising and praiseworthy agenda, it suffers from a curious lack of heart and charm.
SEAMUS HEANEY once described Ireland as a country that went from the medieval to the post-modern in a generation. More than any other native band, Horslips embody that idea. Over their ten-year career, the band lurched back and forth from neo-classical Irish chamber music to progressive rock to acoustic folk to psychedelic pop to glam rock; here was one combo capable of going from Carolan to Caravan in a single bound.
They toured the world throughout the ‘70s, earning rave notices from Bono, The Edge and Melvin Bragg, upsetting the clergy, terrifying the American public in the company of Blue Oyster Cult and the J Geils Band and out-glamming even Bowie with their flamboyant sartorial taste. With a new DVD on the way and much speculation about a possible tour, legendary Celtic rockers Horslips here talk to Hot Press about a decade of adventure, decadence and great music.
Under the direction of Joe Devlin, the Focus Theatre has taken on an impressive range of projects – not least two plays that tackle burning contemporary issues. Devlin tells us how he’s been carrying on the Focus tradition.
Belfast boys General Fiasco may be one of the standout acts on the Oh Yeah showcase CD, but when HP catches up with the band, they're feeling a little, um, overexposed.
While they may disagree about context and certain details, the two new television documentaries about Bloody Sunday, far from being the "bloody fantasy" alleged by critics, offer accurate and powerful recreations of the events of that tragic and pivotal day. EAMONN McCANN, an eye-witness on Bloody Sunday, reports
I knew he wouldn't let me down. When Waterboys mainman Mike Scott enthused about this, the crucial third album, there was an inevitable underlying fear: everybody says that the new album is the best thing they've ever done - Barry Devlin once went into print claiming that 'The Unfortunate Cup Of Tea' was Horslips' masterpiece but we're not here to dig up the dirt... we're here to talk about *This Is The Sea*.
with a higher profile internationally than at home, and the support of heavyweight friends, The Devlins have recorded an impressive third album. COLM O'HARE reports
The Letterkenny branch of the human rights organisation compiles some of Ireland's top musicians in their third annual showcase of Unchained Melodies: Songs for Amnesty International.
WEEK AFTER week I try to remain the right side of well-mannered when some myopic PR person or director phones and says "There's a play coming up in the blah-blah-blah theatre and it's got great music that'll really appeal to your readers."
Along with the music, beer and scoffing, there was some serious talking done at the Electric Picnic. Shilpa Ganatra was taking notes as The Chalets, Flaming Lips, JJ72, Bob Mould, James Blunt, Tommy Tiernan, Declan O’Rourke and The Devlins were subjected to a public grilling by the Hot Press journalistic elite. And John Walshe.
He’s one of the most modest figures on the Northern Ireland music scene. But with David Holmes and Duke Special among his cheerleaders, it’s clear that Robyn G. Shiels is a special talent indeed.
The first single to be taken from the Devlins’ forthcoming ‘Consent’ album, ‘Static in the Flow’ is the kind of single that seems ideally suited to the airwaves in America.
As Gerry Adams and friends bask in the glory of another public relations triumph, EAMONN McCANN analyses the historical context of the current ceasefire, and assesses the scepticism surrounding the IRA s motives in calling it.
GEORGE BYRNE joins the stars of stage turned stars of screen at the CORK FILM FESTIVAL as one band's star-crossed story takes another unexpected turn. Snaps: GEORGE BYRNE.
What better way for an indie musician to spend an evening than checking out the wares in one of Europe’s biggest and best stoked music stores? Welcome to XMusic, guys!
Over the past twenty-five years, attitudes and experiences in the North’s two biggest cities, Belfast and Derry, have been markedly and vitally different. To understand why may help us to define both the opportunities for and the obstacles to peaceful change. Report: BILL GRAHAM
From song contest to presidential contest, the most unlikely candidate for Aras an Uachtarain continues to face down her detractors in RTE, in Hot Press and elswhere and give voice to what she believes is the forgotten silent majority in this state. dana rosemary scallon interviewed by joe jackson. Pix: colm henry.
Current affairs anchor – and Ireland's leading ‘yummy mummy’ according to the tabloids – MIRIAM O'CALLAGHAN talks about the challenges of raising eight children, her past marital woes and taking a pay cut at RTÉ.
ned o'hanlon and maurice linnane, the men behind media company dreamchaser productions, aren't given to false modesty. And why should they be, given that their recent list of clients includes Garth Brooks, U2 and the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame? siobhÁN LONG meets the men who once adopted Gary Oldman for an all-night bender in America.
You re the frontman with The Stunning, you make an innocent remark about farmers and acid house and you end up creating banner headlines in The Western People. Lorraine Freeney assures Steve Wall that this is the sort of stuff Hot Press never stoop to, and also hears about the new album, Deco in The Commitments and the art of bridging the rural-urban divide.
With an Irish tour approaching and a new album in the shops, Luka Bloom looks back on three decades that have taken him from busking in a pub in Newbridge to the big stages of Europe and America. In this candid interview with Jackie Hayden the man also known as Barry Moore talks about brother Christy, overcoming stage fright, finding an original voice, dealings with the music business, the need to combat racism - and why he remains a wannabe bogman
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
The 6th Mid Ulster Film Festival will take place from May 1–3 in the spectacular Ulster History Park, Omagh, screening over 80 films, with Q&As and fancy dress events.
The tabloids were aflutter earlier this week at the idea that Bono might be working on the forthcoming Spice Girls record. Unsurprisingly, it's not at all true...
The Strokes? Pah! Last night's jammed Billy Bob Thornton gig in Vicar Street (stars on the stage, stars in the audience, queues round the block) is the current front runner for gig of the year. Hot Press, of course, was there (consider us your private radio)
Theo Dorgan, the celebrated Irish poet, is the latest addition to the Music Show line-up. He has joined the panel entitled "The Arts Under Attack", which takes place on Sunday at 12pm.
So far, think classic '80s Depeche Mode, The Young Gods, Nine Inch Nails, Faithless and Death in Vegas - good goth/dance/pomp rock/freaked out fusion stuff - all shouty and melodramatic but still sweet and smooth
Just short of a quarter of a century since they last blitzed the nation’s ballrooms, Ireland’s most fondly-remembered and (lest we forget) culturally influential outfits finally return to the studio.
According to Buzz Records in Chicago, the sound that’s created by Irish band Half Film is “music for the solitary life”. Maybe it’s appropriate, then, that we’ve interviewed them without even talking, never mind meeting face to face.
Eleven cannabis dealers have been murdered in Northern Ireland, victims of the IRA’s Direct Action Against Drugs vigilante killings. So far, no one has even been questioned in relation to the killings...
He was one of the first true trailblazers in Irish comedy. Now, a decade after his death, a host of his friends will gather to pay tribute to Dermot Morgan.
If we can force the Western armies out of Iraq then we will have put a halt to the gallop of those who are using the might of the US military to impose their brute agenda on the world.
When the Northern powder keg went off, the conflict was painted as an ethno-religious one, rather than as a clash of political principles. But what was really going on remains unfinished business...
With politicians up in arms about flower-beds while Raytheon helps destroy Lebanon, it’s enough to make even Tony Blair frown. Thank god we still have rock.
RTE2 have plenty of live music action to keep us placated for the next few weeks - here's the line up of bands and when to catch them. For more about the Other Voices series, click on the link at the very bottom.
