Canadian songstress Emm Gryner has toured with David Bowie and released a collection of Irish rock covers. Her new album might just be her most ambitious, and mysterious, yet.
Five years ago no-one would have believed it. But with dance music reaching new heights of popularity, Irish rock ’n’ roll is engaged in a desperate fight for its very survival. Reporting from both sides of the battle line: Stuart Clark
The news of Rory Gallagher s tragic death has sent seismic shock waves through the music world. Here was a man who managed to combine the gift of being an authentic creative genius with the even rarer gift of being a genuinely decent, honourable human being. Over the next six pages, Hot Press pays tribute to both the legend and the person, with contributions from the stars, friends, fans and colleagues who were touched by the Gallagher magic, and takes a trip through the backpages of an extraordinary career.
Meet hot new Dublin quintet THE HIGH BABIES. They re endorsed by Bret Easton Ellis, produced by Kim Fowley and wanted by Madonna. Could this be the first great Irish rock sensation of the 21st century?
PETER MURPHY reports. Cathal Dawson gets the pics in.
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.
With 1993 going down as the year that Irish rock finally emerged from U2’s shadow, HOT PRESS takes an introductory look at four of the rapidly emerging outfits that are poised to make headlines and sell bucket–loads of records in ’94.
Schtum, Ash, Joyrider, Compulsion.
During the late eighties, Aslan were among the most celebrated of Irish rock acts, immensely popular at home and signed to EMI, a major multinational label, on which they released their debut album, Feel No Shame. And then it all came unstuck, amid squalid tabloid accusations of drug addiction, egotism and recrimination. Now they re back, older, wiser and more resolute but with their musical batteries recharged, a new contract with BMG under their belts and that old emotional band intact. Report: Liam Fay (with additional reporting by George Byrne).
During the late eighties, ASLAN were among the most celebrated of Irish rock acts, immensely popular at home and signed to EMI, a major multinational label, on which they released their debut album Feel No Shame. And then it all came unstuck, amid squalid tabloid accusations of drug addiction, egotism and recrimination. Now they’re back, older, wiser and more resolute – but with their musical batteries recharged, a new contract with BMG under their belts and that old emotional band intact. Report: LIAM FAY (with additional reporting by GEORGE BYRNE). Pix: MICK QUINN
Exclusive: Kevin Shields, the missing presumed lost genius of Irish rock, re-emerges to tell the truth about sandbags and barbed wire, the making of Loveless, early Dublin days with Gavin Friday, Liam O Maonlai and U2, and his Bafta-winning work on Lost in Translation.
Proof that Irish rock is in rude good health, Evil Harrisons boast slick metal riffs and vocals reminiscent of Josh Homme on this track, but who cares? That home-grown intrinsically Irish romantic title does all the donkey work. Of course it vies for attention with the B-side’s “Quit raising my Cane!”
“I want so much to open your eyes/’cos I need you to look into mine”. Seriously, who is Gary singing to? I like to think that the pin-up of Irish rock still writes his songs for someone in particular and that he isn’t just pulling at his many female fans’ heart-strings, especially when the predictable orchestral bit kicks in towards the end. If this is indeed the case, she’s a lucky lady. If not, shame on you Mr. Lightbody!
In Dublin’s Nine IX Lives, we have that rarest of things – a convincing Irish rock band. Although they nail their colours firmly to the punk-pop mast, there’s a definite metal edge at work here, right from the opening riffs and their early Iron Maiden feel. It’s not perfect by any means (the production needs to be meatier and at six tracks they’re stretching their material a bit) but this is hugely encouraging stuff.
Can’t say I’ve been too taken with these current golden boys of Irish rock, but this track is actually pretty respectable; not good enough to justify the hype in and of itself (and certainly not when taken in the context of their other material), but certainly the best thing they’ve yet put their name to. A trashy low-slung bassline, a riff that half-inches ‘Blister In The Sun’, and an enjoyably frenetic drum pattern – not altogether unpleasant, though I’m yet to be convinced that this is anything more than a stopped clock’s time of day.
The sound is very old school Irish rock, which may suit the string of original acts currently retreading the boards but doesn’t exactly suggest that Lucas are looking to re-invent the wheel.
ON PAPER, Black 47 could've saved Irish rock 'n' roll. A mouthy, unrepentantly Republican NY-based combo with the eclectic sensibilities of Fishbone, the rebel zeal of Dexy's or Little Steven and a fired up frontman in the form of Wexford expatriate patriot Larry Kirwan,
Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves can't but arrive as a Big Statement. The Virgin Prunes were always elitist, dissembling, treacherous spies in the house of Irish rock.
Canadian songwriter Emm Gryner has released a covers album of Irish rock classics. But what inspired her to tackle Horslips, The Undertones and Gilbeert O'Sullivan? And why didn't The Pogues make the cut?
Being dropped by a major has helped THERAPY? relocate their soul. The result is shameless – “a very simple punk rock’n’roll record,” says ANDY CAIRNS proudly.
Interview: PHIL UDELL
The Stables in Mullingar has become an essential stopover on the Irish rock touring circuit. Here, the venue's booking man, David McLynn tells Jackie Hayden about the current state of rock in the Midlands.
Donegal three-piece The Revs have in two short years become one of the country's most successful independent outfits, but, as Nadine O'Regan discovers, the majors are beckoning
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
Jackie hayden meetsjournalist turned PR guru, Tony O Brien and speaks to him about his rock n roll adventures with the likes of U2, Michael Stipe and Bruce Springsteen.
Following on from Hot Press' extensive polling of musicians around Ireland, we herewith present The 100 Greatest Irish Albums Of All Time as voted by You, the population of hotpress.com
Silence. there is all too little of it. Elevators whimper with muzak, grocery stores boom non-stop consumer announcements , college dormitories wail a grotesque collage of Robbie Williams and The Doors.
Still making great music after all these years, Van Morrison is an Irish genius worthy of comparison with the most enduring ’60s legends such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young
Every generation has to make its own mistakes. Sad fact is that artists now have less time than ever to prove themselves before being unceremoniously dropped by their record companies or abandoned by a fickle fanbase.
Republic Of Loose are that rarest of beasts – an Irish rock band who can get their groove on. Ahead of the release of their new album, they talk about standing out from the crowd.
No-one knows a city like a local and so we asked Mike Edgar to be our guide to Belfast. Here he chooses ten things for visitors to do in the North s leading city. Only one problem: he forgot to tell us where to get an after-hours drink!
An estimated 100,000 people showed up in the Phoenix Park for the O2 sponsored gig that featured Samantha Mumba, Ronan Keating, Mundy, Six, David Kitt and Kells' rock outfit Turn. Would one of the local scenes hottest contenders shine brightly enough to win the hearts of the nation’s pop kids?
Jerry Fish – or if you prefer, Gerry Whelan – is what you might call a happy man right now. In fact, if the guy were any higher, the boys in blue would probably stop him on the street and ask him to piss into a cup. Not only is he preparing to close on his most successful professional year in a decade, he’s also received a rather momentous early Christmas present. Some 28 hours before our meeting, the singer’s partner Niki had given birth to a baby boy, their second child. Mr Fish, as you can imagine, is coasting on cigars and brandy and goodwill to all men.
The Walls are about to embark on their most extensive Irish tour yet, including their biggest Dublin gig to date at the ambassador and may be about to finally break the bank
You cook them, we serve them up in the Q&A cantina. At the table to answer the questions posed, in our second serving this fortnight, by members of hotpress.com: Ash
From the legendary names of Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher, through local heroes like Rudi and Stump, to 21st Century Irish stars like Bell X1 and Snow Patrol, this album is definitely worthy of its name. An impressive trip through five decades of Irish Musical History indeed.
After more than 15 years in the business, Aslan are still able to command massive, devoted audiences in music venue and record shop alike. John Walshe joins the Lions' club on the road
They’ve been heralded as the biggest thing in Irish rock since U2 – a prediction that proved prescient when The Script romped to the top of the charts with their debut album.
He’s played with The Corrs and was a member of the real-life Commitments. CONOR BRADY talks about life as one of the great unsung mainstays of Irish rock and roll. photos Ruth Medjber
How Eric Eckhart quit his swish job, sold his house and cars, split with his girlfriend and burned his picket fence in order to pursue his creative vision.
Hotpress hitch a ride on the Wilt tour bus for the band’s whistle-stop tour of Europe. For tales of on-stage abandon, backstage debauchery and bizarre drumming accidents, read on. Plus Cormac Battle’s tour diary
Well, skip a light fandango if it isn’t The Pale, back with a new EP after the long absence that followed their massive contribution to the Irish rock scene of the early nineties. The Final Garden sees them re-emerge as a sturdier yet looser musical unit than of yore.
With the launch of a commemorative series of Irish postage stamps celebrating four of the nation's most important rock legends, we revisit some of the seminal moments in the careers of Phil Lynott, Rory Gallagher, Van Morrison and - first - U2
A year after Mic Christopher’s untimely death, his family and friends are celebrating his life and music with the release of his Skylarkin’ album and a star-studded gala live performance
Starting at Moray Firth Radio in Inverness and ending seven days later at BBC WM in Birmingham, ASTERIX are on a mission to conquer England s airwaves. Joining the tour in Nottingham,
SUSAN DARLINGTON witnesses three days of maps, mobiles and milkshakes.
The latest radio listenership figures suggest that the once embattled Today FM is finally emerging as a credible national alternative to RTE. In the second of a three-part series, Jackie Hayden meets IRMA winner, Hot Press Readers' Poll champion and Pet Sounds-smith Tom Dunne
They were the great new hopes of Irish rock. Until, with their second album in the can, they decided to, er, call it a day. Thankfully, Delorentos have changed their mind and are about to step back into the fray with new LP You Can Make Sound. Hot Press joins them for a contemplative walk by the sea.
We’re not sure whether it’s having one of the coolest names in music or boasting a killer live show that’s got Kilkenny four-piece Myp Et Jeep where they are today. But we certainly aim to find out.
Three bands, 10 venues, 12 dates, four DJ comperes and two high-profile corporate sponsors, including the official national pop station. Jackie Hayden talks to the bands scheduled to play this year’s RTÉ 2fm 2moro 2our, coming to a town near you.
As rock’n’roll’s finest get ready to remake ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ Colm O’Hare talks to the man who kickstarted it and numerous other hits, Midge Ure.
Former Prayer Boat frontman Emmet Tinley on the break-up of his old band, the challenges of forging his own solo career and the joys of artistic independence.
Though practically unheard of in their home country, Dublin metal band Primordial nonetheless have a huge worldwide following and are expected to sell up to 20,000 copies of their excellent new album, The Gathering Wilderness. Interview by Phil Udell.
The next generation of Stanley Kubricks cut their creative teeth on some of Ireland's finest bands: hotpress.com brings you video streaming of the completed works from the Tisch film school in New York
Nope, it’s not a Jim Morrison tribute; it’s an initiative which sees musicians such as The Blizzards, Neosupervital, Julie Feeney, Roesy and Brian Palm design a special set of doors.
As frontman of Galway’s Toasted Heretic Julian Gough was an enfant terrible of Irish rock. Then he jacked in music to become a best-selling writer. With his old band preparing to reform, Gough reveals his loathing of television and explains why his home town is the cosmopolitan capital of Ireland.
Eyebrows were raised in the Irish rock community at Dave Fanning’s appointment as a panellist for RTE’s next series of You’re A Star. Colm O’Hare gives him a chance to explain why he doesn’t care.
The mother of Philip Lynott has seen her home in Dublin double as a place of pilgrimage for fans of the Irish rock legend – and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Adrienne Murphy speaks to ASLAN, in the midst of recording their live album. Under discussion: the dangers of chasing fame, and the importance of self-belief.
STEPHEN RYAN has made his songwriting reputation on the byways rather than the highways. Now, with a new REVENANTS album finally on release, he takes NICK KELLY on a trip off the beaten track. Pics: Bernard Walsh.
Cork act Kooky, aka Tony O Sullivan, has just released his debut album, The Good Old Days, but it s been a long time a comin , as John Walshe found out.
John Walshe meets Paul and Ashley from The Frank & Walters and hears all about their latest album, Beauty Becomes More Than Life, why they don t want to go to posh parties and how major labels take all the fun out of being in a band.
You know them as heartfelt songwriters. But when they’re not mucking about in the studio, Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh enjoy nothing more than a game of cricket. And they’re not just in it for the cucumber sandwiches, either.
When Michael D. Higgins suggested that U2 and Neil Jordan should be studied in Irish colleges, all hell - if Mr McPhisto will forgive the expression - broke loose. However, there may, on some of Michael D.'s critics' part, be a deliberate attempt to misconstrue what he said. By Bill Graham.
Brendan Wade and Paul Bell have both enjoyed long and varied musical careers. Now as THE SWANS they speak to ADRIENNE MURPHY about their soon-to-be-released new album.
The latest radio listenership figures suggest that the once embattled Today FM is finally emerging as a credible national alternative to RTE. In the final of a four part series, Jackie Hayden meets No Disco founding-presenter, new-music savant and legendary nighttime DJ Donal Dineen
Over the past number of years, Today FM has consistently supported Irish music, playlisting records by local artists and doing in-studio sessions on a regular basis. in the process the station has played an important part in the increasingly impressive chart and sales achievements of irish acts.
While Johnny Cash held what Nick Tosches called the “imprimatur of ageless cool” among the young punks, his repertoire, like that of Hank Williams, provided staples for the country ‘n’ Irish and showband canon, from the slickest old pros down to the most inept of part-time bar bands.
Kieran Kennedy has just released a solo album – the Donal Lunny-produced Pagan Irish – but, he tells Colm O’Hare, The Black Velvet Band are still alive and well.
In just two years the 2fm 2moro 2our has grown into a high-profile showcase for Ireland's best new talent. Ahead of the latest jaunt, the featured acts tell Colm Russell what it means to them.
Coldplay, White Stripes, Strokes, Queens, Garbage, Oasis, JJ72, Franz... With a whole slew of major albums in the pipeline, it looks like ‘05 will be the wrong year to kick that addiction to noise.
In 1991, five years after the death of Phil Lynott, the late Bill Graham wrote in Hot Press of Philo's enduring legacy. Over ten years later his words are as relevant as ever
The most momentous journalistic event of the decade nay, the millennium has come to pass. They said it could never happen, but after months of careful pre-planning and tense negotiation, nick kelly has finally interviewed NICK KELLY. Here, the Stars Of Heaven fan remorselessly grills the former Fat Lady Sings mainman about his long sabbatical from the music industry, his perception of modern culture, and his cracking new album Between Trapezes. Pix, gimmicky t-shirts and
unfeasibly large trousers: mick RAGING PUFF QUInn.
She has become the public face in Ireland of Gender Identity Disorder. Now Sara-Jane Cromwell is campaigining to raise awareness of this serious, but widely misunderstood, medical condition.
Musical trends come and go but the blues continues to thrive. In Ireland, the scene is now stronger than ever. With her reputation growing internationally, Mary Stokes talks about her role as a performer - and her friendships with numerous blues legends. Oh, and Van Morrison's birth sign!
With Lights Of The City, underground faves JUBILEE ALLSTARS have finally made the album they ve always talked about. And they re still talking about disappearing Dublin, real Irish pop, love songs, dinner parties and much more. words: EAMON SWEENEY. Star Charts: Declan English
In the past, many Irish people suffered from an inferiority complex about their own culture – about the language, music, film and literature of this island. But music is one arena where things have changed dramatically. Report: Jackie Hayden
From Chet Baker through Joe Cocker to The Cranberries, the world of music owes the late Denny Cordell an enormous debt. Bill Graham pays tribute to an inspirational craftsman who made Ireland his final home and resting place.
Beginning 1989 as complete unknowns and ending it with a major international recording deal, two well-received singles and acres of press coverage, the scale of An Emotional Fish s progress has been the envy of their contemporaries. But how did the band go from being minnows to the catch of the year? Paddy Kehoe dons his waders to find out.
Most people know Philip Lynott and Thin Lizzy as the swashbuckling rock ‘n’ rollers who produced hard rock classics like ‘The Rocker’, ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ and ‘Don’t Believe A Word’. But there were other fascinating forces at work in Ireland at the end of the ‘60s, with poetry and folk music both influencing the rock scene hugely. Philip Lynott was at the heart of that development – a charismatic star in the making with a deep romantic streak and an innate lyricism that separated him from the crowd. Now, these qualities have been captured, as never before, on a remarkable CD, released for the first time, free with HotPress. Read on...
The author of the influential *AwopBopAlooBopAlopBamBoom*, Derryman NIK COHN has helped lay the foundations of serious rock criticism. Here, the author of the short story on which "Saturday Night Fever" was based talks about his latest book, "The Heart of The World". and tells JOE JACKSON why Elvis is King and Dylan is crap.
A spell in jail and another working in the music biz helped push Ollie Byrne in the direction of running a football club. The colourful Shelbourne chairman offers some typically forthright views on Dunphy, Racism, the FAI and the National Stadium as the new domestic season gets under way.
As the station nears the end of its first year on the air and celebrates the two-year extension to its licence, any appraisal of Anna Livia Radio has to be made in the context of the current debate on the ethnic music cleansing at RTE Radio 1, Minister Higgins' plans for the revamping of the Broadcasting Act, and the general despair at the failure of the current Irish radio network to deliver on the promises made to sell us the deal in the first place. Report: JACKIE HAYDEN.
Beaten down by the acrimonious collapse of In Tua Nua and lifted up by a hard-fought victory over cancer, leslie dowdall is back with a new album and new outlook on life. I m just delighted to have been given a second chance, she tells joe jackson. Pix: COLM HENRY.
Beaten down by the acrimonious collapse of In Tua Nua and lifted up by a hard-fought victory over cancer, Leslie Dowdall is back with a new album and new outlook on life. “I’m just delighted to have been given a second chance,” she tells Joe Jackson. Pix: COLM HENRY.
It's a double home-coming as U2 return from their odyssey 'round the globe to bring "The Joshua Tree" tour to their fanatical Irish supporters in Dublin and Cork. Bill Graham reports.
Well, okay, it's SOMETHING HAPPENS, so that's overstating it a bit. Still, having taken a fair few industry beatings over the years, the band are no longer inclined to simply turn the other cheek. At the end of a year in which they toured the States with Warren Zevon, released a "Best Of ..." and are bringing it all back home for Christmas, Olaf Tyaransen finds the band can snarl as well as smile.
Northern rockers Therapy? are back in the saddle with their tenth studio album Never Apologise, Never Explain – and as Andy Cairns tells Tanya Sweeney, their rabble rousing punk ethic remains as sharply ingrained as ever.
The story of how Paul Brady was transformed from a superlative folk artist into a superlative rock artist in a blinding flash of light (well, fifteen years actually). Today's reading is by Niall Stokes.
Invisible Armies have just released their killer debut EP, A Neutral Space. Richard Brophy talks to Leo Pearson, one-third of the band s core assault squad.
Guitarist richArd hawley explains why legal wrangles and a lack of media exposure have not affected the meteoric rise of Sheffield s longpigs. Askin t questions: peter murphy.
Think about direction, wonder why . . . It’s eleven years since Stano released his debut album Content To Write In I Dine Weathercraft. Despite his genuine originality and dedication to his art over the intervening years, he remains one of Ireland’s most enigmatic performers, more appreciated on the continent than in his homeland. Interview: Joe Jackson
The emergence of The Boomtown Rats inspired a new generation of in-your-face Irish bands who re-energised an Irish music scene that has become moribund and predictable.
It’s been a hell of a year for The Thrills, propelled from rehearsal rooms in rainy Dublin to a number one album, sell-out shows and limo-driven tours of L.A. at night. Hotpress catches up with the band as they kick off an irish homecoming trek with an exclusive Dublin fan club gig.
For the launch of his second album, UNDER THE MOON, MARTIN HAYES returned from his new home in Seattle to his native town of Feakle, deep in the heart of Clare. BILL GRAHAM travelled west to meet one of the musicians responsible for the resurgence in Irish music and discuss his roots in the local tradition, and speculate on the possibilities and conflicts opening up within the genre.
The Walls and The Jimmy Cake do their bit for European unity by bringing their music – and an insatiable appetite for the craic – to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Our reporter Danielle Brigham survives to tell the tale.
U2, Elvis Costello, The Pogues, The Waterboys, Emmylou Harris, Hothouse Flowers, The Everly Brothers, Christy Moore just some of the dozens of artists who contribute to an adventurous new five part TV series which traces the extraordinary return journey that Irish traditional music has made to America and beyond. Here, Liam Fay previews the programmes, talks to Philip King who originated and nurtured the project and hears many of the participants explain how they discovered the importance and influence of Irish music.
NIALL STOKES takes a very personal journey back through the music and memories of a friendship with a man he was proud to have known
THE DRIVE to Cork was a lonely one. Ry Cooder on the deck, that sweet slide guitar shooting off tracers: the memories, stacked up like a vast
rack of on-line CDs, kept slipping in and out of the engagement slot. No need ever to press the play button. Now and then I had to hold back the
tears as the music of past friendship flooded the car and, with it, a terrible awareness of all the things that might have, but hadn't, been done.
Though their second album, All The Way From Tuam, has yet to hit the shops in Britain, The Sawdoctors are beginning to pack em in in the strangest of places like Norwich and Leeds. Bill Graham talks to Leo Moran about the band s phenomenal success to date and, against a backdrop of cynicism among rock s self-conscious cognoscenti, asks the perennial question: what is hip?
Twelve months ago The Cranberries were unknown outside of the hippest rock circles, now with the platinum success of Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? they stand as the first Irish band to genuinely crack America since U2.
Much of the media attention given to them has focussed on Dolores O'Riordan, a singer whose unique approach to her craft underlines the defiantly independent path the group has trodden all the way to the top of the Billboard charts. Here she talks to JOE JACKSON about what by any standards has been a perfect year. .
Are Bono and the boys just a really good rock band or have they succeeded where the priests and politicians have failed and unlocked the neuroses of our colonial past? Joe Jackson indulges in a spot of cultural sparring with John Waters and finds the author of Race of Angels: Ireland and the Genesis of U2 well able to maintain his guard.
PACK YOUR LEMSIP AND NIGHT NURSE AND PREPARE TO DO BATTLE WITH THE BEIJING FLU AS THE SAWDOCTORS TACKLE THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND ON THEIR LATEST TOUR. CURRENTLY BETWEEN LABELS THE BAND’S U.K. FANBASE IS INCREASING STEADILY, EVEN IF THE CONCEPT OF ‘DESIGNER BOGMEN’ HAS YET TO PENETRATE THE SHIRES
CHECKING THE TEMPERATURE: BILL GRAHAM.
With Thin Lizzy now officially a thing of the past, Philip Lynott is preparing to start anew with Grand Slam. At this transitional point in his public career Tony Clayton-Lea sought out the private Lynott to ask him his views on a wide range of issues including music, politics, religion, sex, drugs, Ireland, parenthood and rock'n'roll stardom. The result is probably the frankest and most revealing interview Philip Lynott has ever given.
Life has never been so sweet for Pugwash's Thomas Walsh with a cracking new album, a song on an A-List Hollywood movie, and a cricket-loving pal to play with.
Promoter Jim Aiken, who passed away recently, was a hugely important and universally admired figure in the Irish music scene. Here, leading industry representatives pay tribute. (free content)
They looked great, played great, wrote great songs and, in PAUL CLEARY had a frontman with bundles of charisma. Yet THE BLADES never followed U2 into the stratosphere. On the occasion of the release of a retrospective set GEORGE BYRNE rewinds the tape
Philip Chevron's career has been nothing if not varied. From the early days with the Radiators through his collaborations with people like Agnes Bernelle and right up to his current work with The Pogues, he has proved himself to be a consistently fine songwriter and performer. In the first part of a lengthy and intense interview, he talks to Eamonn McCann about his childhood, his love of Broadway musicals, the Horslips connection, the genesis of the Radiators and his fleeting career as a journalist.
Elstree, remember me, went the old Boggles tune. The location is a far-flung suburb of north London, former nerve centre of an entire B-movie industry, now home to television shows like East Enders, Holby City (wandering through the corridors, your correspondent comes across a room identified by the rather ominous notice: Make-up - GUTS), and of course Top Of The Pops.
Having had his fill of Eurovision and being ripped-off on the Irish circuit, Louis Walsh went for broke with the boys who would be boyzone. Now he can afford to speak his mind. JOE JACKSON is all ears.
Having had his fill of Eurovision and being ripped-off on the Irish circuit, louis walsH went for broke with the boys who would be boyzone. Now he can afford to speak his mind. JOE JACKSON is all ears.
With the release of their acclaimed third album Flock, which went straight to No.1 in Ireland, Bell X1 have staked their claim not just to greatness, but also to potential world domination – a possibility which is reinforced considerably by their powerful showing in the Hot Press Readers’ Poll. Here, in an emotional and revealing interview, the band’s photogenic frontman Paul Noonan discusses life, art, love, death... and music.
With the release of his second solo album, Running Dog, Nick Kelly has cemented his reputation as one of the leading contemporary songwriters in Ireland. Here, the former Fat Lady Sings frontman talks to Jackie Hayden about the break-up of one of Dublin's most respected bands, financing his solo career through the largesse of his fanbase – and the ongoing joys of artistic independence.
We are going to spare you all the obvious puns about going back to basics, catching this particular fish in the raw or even the irrefutable truism that fins ain t what they used to be. But as you can see from the accompanying pictures, there is something particularly vulnerable about people when they re naked. Dropped by Atlantic Records, stripped of all the corporate support, funding, and of course bullshit this is how An Emotional Fish stand before the public, on the launch of their independently-produced Sloper album. Not that either the band or lead singer are without the support of people who matter. Ger is photographed with his wife Lorraine . . . Interview: Colm O Hare.
Long before boomtime Ireland there was boomtown Ireland, a country where the national symbol was not a tiger but a rat. to coincide with the release of the best of the boomtown rats, Bob Geldof looks back to the tepid Irish scene of the mid-’70s from which the rats emerged, biting, snarling and laughing, to take on the establishment, Britain and, almost, the world.
Republic Of Loose are one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Ireland during the last decade with one of the most charismatic lead singers ever to bestride a stage in the country.
We are going to spare you all the obvious puns about going back to basics, catching this particular fish in the raw or even the irrefutable truism that fins ain’t what they used to be. But as you can see from the accompanying pictures, there is something particularly vulnerable about people when they're naked. Dropped by Atlantic Records, stripped of all the corporate support, funding, and of course bullshit, – this is how An Emotional Fish stand before the public, on the launch of their independently-produced Sloper album. Not that either the band or lead singer are without the support of people who matter. Ger is photographed with his wife Lorraine . . . Interview: COLM O’HARE. Pix: MICK QUINN.
The Sultans of Ping may have a penchant still for fetishwear and dirty three-minute pop songs but they’re definitely mellowing as Stuart Clark discovers when he meets Niall O’Flaherty and Pat O’Connell for
afternoon tea. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
Cakes: Mr. Kipling
The last 18 months have been a hell of a ride for The Thrills, catapulted from the relative obscurity of the south dublin suburbs to the top of the uk charts, rubbing shoulders with Van Dyke Parks and Peter Buck along the way. But are the band suffering from diver’s bends? is that laid-back california-in-my-mind facade starting to crumble? We put on our therapist’s hats and endeavour to find out, if something’s gotta give, what gives?
If you want to make a demo that won't be used to blackmail you a few years down the road to fame and fortune, there are a few things you should know. Here, the experts tell Niall Crumlish what they are.
Never mind pressies and OD’ing on cranberry sauce, the important thing about Christmas is that it signals the return of the HP-10 Summit. Absolutely no blushes are spared as Ireland’s rock ‘n’ roll elite dissects the musical year that was 2006. Keeping order: Stuart “Paxman” Clark. Taking photos: Graham “Paparazzi” Keogh. Taking the piss: Eyebrowy
Never mind pressies and OD’ing on cranberry sauce, the important thing about Christmas is that it signals the return of the HP-10 Summit. Absolutely no blushes are spared as Ireland’s rock ‘n’ roll elite dissects the musical year that was 2006. Keeping order: Stuart “Paxman” Clark. Taking photos: Graham “Paparazzi” Keogh. Taking the piss: Eyebrowy.
Having already conquered Ireland and the UK, SAMANTHA MUMBA is poised to join Britney and Christina at the top of the American pop chart. Not bad for someone who two years ago was fired from a panto by Twink! Now, with her new album Gotta Tell You ready for release, the Dublin singer talks candidly to JOE JACKSON about drugs, sex and the break-up of her parents marriage
After being a magnet for A&R men during the 80s, Dublin has recently developed into something of an underachiever. The city may have the second biggest growth-rate in Europe but there are a hell of a lot of gigs and records that simply aren t selling. peter murphy casts a critical ear over the capital s music scene and decides that what s required is a full-scale artistic enema.
the frank and walters are back addressing the nation. Our man on the inside, Peter Murphy, shares a day in the life of the Cork threesome as they record a radio session for RTE.
During the heady days of Italia ’90, The Stunning provided the unofficial soundtrack to the nation’s summer-long party, playing a series of uproarious shows around the country and treating the top-ten like their local. thirteen years later, having just re-released their classic album, Paradise In The Picturehouse, the group reflect on what a long, strange trip it’s been and why they’re not ready to hang up their guitars just yet.
There are no saints in love. That’s a lesson The Frames’ mainman Glen Hansard learned the hard way – and which he articulates in the bittersweet love songs that make up much of the band’s new album The Cost. Hot Press hits the road with the band for an extended interview, conducted in radio studios, backstage areas, tour buses – and one very dedicated fan’s house.
With his upwardly mobile CV and flash lifestyle trappings, VIP publisher JOHN RYAN looks like the personification of the Celtic Tiger at its most all-consuming. Not so, says the man himself, believing he has paid a high personal price for his business success. But can he take the flak as calmly as he dishes it out? JOE JACKSON finds out. Pictures: Colm Henry
One of the government’s most vocal and effective critics, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte could well be the next Tánaiste. He talks about iPods, happiness, gay marriage, breaking the law - and Enda Kenny’s hairdo.
Berlin s LOVE PARADE attracts over one million people for an event mixing techno and hedonism.
Olaf Tyaransen went there with high expectations, but found something empty at the heart of it all. Pics and handcuff props:
PETER MATTHEWS.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the dissection of the rock ‘n’ roll year that is the Hot Press Summit. Gathering round the table are the good and great of Irish music, but who let Podge & Rodge in?
With compass in hand and their newly unfurled Map Of The Universe nestling comfortably on their laps, Blink are boldly going where few Irish bands have gone before. But what happens when they get to Cork and Ballybunion? Intrepid explorer LIAM FAY dons his rucksack, climbs aboard the Blinkmobile and survives to tell the tale.
At the end of an exciting, painful and earthshaking year, Bono reflects on the political and the personal – from drop the debt, September 11, Afghanistan and Genoa to the death of his father Bob, the birth of his son John and the enduring friendship which underpins U2’s music and career. Interview: Niall Stokes
[this interview originally appeared in the spectacular Hot Press Annual 2002 - used in the pictures below - a very limited number of this unique collectors item will shortly be on sale - email u2@hotpress.ie to reserve a copy]
IN THE FIRST PART OF A WORLD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN THE LAST ISSUE OF HOT PRESS, BONO UNVEILED THE NEW U2 ALBUM, SPOKE ABOUT ITS GENESIS IN CYBERPUNK LITERATURE AND THE BAND'S HUNGER TO PUSH ROCK'N'ROLL TO ITS LIMITS. HERE HE ELABORATES ON HOW U2 GO ABOUT WRITING THEIR SONGS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF GLOBAL CHAOS, HIS ARTISTIC REFERENCE POINTS OUTSIDE MUSIC, THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF HUMOUR, AND HOW HE ADMIRES THOSE WHO 'PARTICULARLY AGGRESSIVELY' DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD. AND THEN THERE'S THE STORY ABOUT JOHNNY CASH AND THE EMU. CAN THIS MAN BE FOR SURREAL? INTERVIEW:JOE JACKSON.
So Bono and the lads did appear at last night’s IRMA Meteor Music Awards in the end (you would, too, if you had eight of them to collect). Read on for the IRMA results in full
Today is the 22nd anniversary of the death of Irish rock legend Phil Lynott. To mark the occasion, Hotpress.com is revisiting some of the Thin Lizzy man's most notable appearances in the pages of the magazine.
The Irish rock artist will preview his new single, 'Ido's Dog Fight', to more than 20,000 Leinster fans during the rugby game against the Llanelli Scarlets on Saturday 19 December.
The new Hot Press follows hot on the heels the biggest weekend in Irish rock 'n' roll history, with The Ultimate Oxegen report, plus a world exclusive REM interview.
And now it, and The Stunning, are back – albeit for a limited period only. If you were one of those who thrilled to this first time round, chances are that this reissue will leave you all dewy eyed and nostalgic.
Music Review | Album
29% | 20 Apr 2007
Jackie Hayden
Dry County's unique brand of electro-rock mixes conventional instruments, drum loops, synths, buckets, boxes and a nutritious diet of influences, from the Boards Of Canada to Kraftwerk, The Propellerheads and Radiohead.
With something of a renaissance having taken place in the Dublin independent scene over the past few years, now seems as good a time as any to bring ourselves fully up to speed with the sounds emanating from the Belfast underground.
The Blizzards are the latest Irish stars to be added to the line-up for Music Show, which takes place in the RDS on October 3 and 4, adding hugely to a bill that already includes The Coronas, Imelda May and Republic of Loose, among the current leading lights of Irish rock.
Like many trades the music industry has its own language unique to itself. To the untrained ear conversations between musicians and industry pros can sound indecipherable, or have a completely different meaning to modern English.
For the uninitiated Demo Dip provides a handy sampler to some of the often used phrases and linguistics devices preferred by the musical fraternity.
For Some Strange Reason is a mature and confident sounding album by a band who could show some of their younger rivals how to write decent rock tracks.
RELISH
Another Downpatrick act with the chance to make good. Now signed to EMI Ireland, a single is due presently. Previous demos found them mixing a gleaming American rock sound with soulful vocals, not unlike Roachford or Terence Trent d Arby. A challenge to anyone s marketing department, but still preferrable to the average indie toss.
Formed by Eoin McEvoy and Frank Kearns, CWN had the big sound and bombast of acts like Simple Minds and Big Country but, eventually, not enough hits to fuel the machine. Now the re-release of their debut Urban Beaches, plus bonus tracks, and the first release of the cancelled No Shelter give pause for a re-evaluation.
Aside from “boosts for the whole country”, “taking our place among the greats” and all the other woolly notions which surrounded the Republic qualifying for germany, Stephen Roche winning the Tour de France and U2 finally cracking America, 1987 will hardly go down as one of the most memorable of rock’n’roll years …
The Llamas records are truly lush affairs, drawing on everything from Beach Boys-style dream pop-harmonies and continental, Gainsbourg-referencing strings to ethnic rhythms and mellow post-rock ambience to create a dazzling aural tapestry.
Anthony Gibney has lined-up several support slots on singer-songwriter Nick Kelly's upcoming tour, with a list of future TV and radio slots just confirmed.
Wired To The Moon are back and more determined than ever after a string of disappointments. They spoke to John Walshe about their new material, and recalled how it all began playing for a free burger.
Renowned Irish recording engineer and producer Brian Masterson has been added to the line-up for Music Ireland 07, which takes place in the RDS from October 5 to 7.
Equip For Success
No matter how brilliant you or your band are musically, poor equipment can destroy your chances of fulfilling your potential. COLM O HARE gets a few pointers from the HALL OF FAME ALL-STARS, who play the greatest Irish rock and pop songs in the world ever(!), every Sunday afternoon in HQ at The Hot Press Hall Of Fame, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin. Pics: CATHAL DAWSON
Is Plastic Orange Ireland’s Top Of The Pips? JACKIE HAYDEN unpeels RTE’s latest rock show, gets right to the core of its raison-d’être, almost goes bananas, but, er, stops well short of taking the pith.
What an average week for Irish rock. Shane MacGowan in marriage rumours, Brian McFadden explains why he refused to squirt all over Kerry and Bono gets it from the Queen.
There’s nobody else quite like Damien Dempsey. His vocal style is very much an acquired taste. It takes a few listens before you start liking it, but after a while and you wonder where he’s been all your life.
With The Book Of Lightning, Waterboys fans will be thrilled to have Mike Scott back on form, while the uninitiated will get a chance to understand what all the fuss was about.
’86 inspired the realisation that rock’n’roll now encompasses such a broad spectrum of self-contained categories (Hip-Hop, Metal, AOR, ad infinitum) operating simultaneously that the possibility of any truly revolutionary movement on the scale of ’78 would appear to be singularly remote.
“And now we havf ze results of ze ‘elseekni jooury” … burble, squeal, zeekzrrzzsngtum … oops, we’re sorry, we’ll write that again … the result of the Hot Press jury, who wish to profusely thank David Byrne for all those pints he bought us in the International Bar last week – even if he did rather endanger his chances with all those neo-structuralist musings about The Bogmen.
Meath County Council have received a formal licence application from Slane promoters, with the date - confirmed as "the Lord's Day" - drawing protests from the local parish priest and tabloid media
Andre Antunes, ace percussionist with Republic of Loose, was born in Brazil. Here, he waxes lyrical about his memories of his native country, and offers tips on where to visit.
What a strange warp we were in. On Good Friday, I walked through an almost deserted BBC building in Ormeau Avenue with Mike Edgar, the producer of the Heineken Hot Press Awards show, as well as one of the presenters. Deeper into the bowels we went, along claustrophobic corridors, until we finally came to Edit Suite No.5.
A simmering dissatisfaction with the amount of Irish music being played on Irish radio bubbled over at Music Ireland, with a debate that was, by turns, lively and illuminating.
'91 was the year The Commitments rocked our world, along with Blondie, Bowie, The Wonder Stuff and An Emotional Fish. Plus, "The Begrudger's Guide To Irish Rock" (and no, we're not sure what that is either)!
It was a year of cut-backs, cut-ups, cut-offs, cock-ups, condoms, market crashes and country music! A year also where the song and anti-song vied or dominance – and both survived.
Album number three sees them progress to such a startling extent that they have a right to believe both critical acclaim and commercial success will follow.
They have got it all going on: big beefy choruses, a rhythm section that don't lose their nerve at high speed or volume, a nice line in multi-tracked vocal melodies, and guitars like a gravel bath
There s no sign of Derry s finest turning into the Rolling Tones but neither is there much sign of any new contenders ready to challenge the supremacy of THE UNDERTONES
"U2 make me think", it's been said. That criterion is used a lot these days, because as rock'n'roll gets older, its priorities and values change. It spreads itself out and becomes more adjustable, like a toy.
Some people reckon that Bob Dylan has sold out by flogging his music on a lingerie commercial. but our consumer affairs correspondent disagrees and has some even better ideas for Irish rockers
The Hot Press Irish Music Awards proved to be as keenly contested as ever with U2, Ash and The Corrs emerging as big winners. But the number of awards acknowledging nascent talent prove there’s more heavy-hitters waiting in the wings
Fans of the electric guitar will be pleased to hear that a special double lecture has been lined up to coincide with the Rockchic exhibition, currently running at the National Museum of Ireland.
As part of the build-up to Music Ireland ’06 in the RDS next month, hotpress has launched a nationwide campaign to encourage musicians to support their local instrument shop. Jackie Hayden explains the central importance of the local store to the Irish music industry – and to every musician’s livelihood.
In the lucrative lottery which 80s Pop has become, the concept of a hermetically sealed sound and visual from a group has reached an obsessive level. Seemingly gone are the days when a band could through a few sideways shapes to cause a mild panic in the Marketing Department or head off at an aural tangent to befuddle radio programmers.
In the 80s, every second person you met was setting up a video production company. I was reminded me of the late Peter Cook s response when he met an out-of-work actor at a party and on being told he was writing a novel, Cook retorted, What a coincidence, neither am I!
Today, instead of writing novels or setting up video production companies, setting up websites is the buzz phrase, especially for those associated with young bands.
For 25 years Music Maker have been a central force in the Irish instruments industry, their premises in Exchequer Street in Dublin a veritable musical mecca for international and Irish customers alike. Latterly they have expanded into distribution with MIDI (Musical Instrument Distribution Ireland) and were also involved in the initiative to create the permanent memorial to Rory Gallagher being unveiled this week. Jackie Hayden talked to the key players about the Music Maker success story, and even heard the one about the man with the child's organ!
It’s shaping up to be the mother of all battles of the bands as Dublin heroes Bravado square up against Waterford’s Gorbachov in the Murphy’s Live 2008 final in The Savoy, Cork on May 15.
A question mark continues to hang over Bono's motivations for associating with sundry right-wing politicians. Plus: why there has to be an alternative to the dogmatic positions adopted by the Provos and the Indo on the Northern issue.
Now that American rock ’n’ roll has succumbed to its self-destructive urges and with its British counterpart reduced to self-indulgent navel exercises, the stage is now set for the radical rejuvenation of Irish music both as an international commercial viability and as a cultural touchstone for the new generation at home. Bill Graham meets philip king, the captain of the flagship of the latest revival river of sound, and finds that in the wake of the Riverdance phenomenon, it’s full steam ahead for Irish trad. Pix: NUTAN.
A WORK of such complete and utter meaninglessness as to border on the profound, Million Dollar Hotel is by some measure Wim Wenders' most pretentious, most self-indulgent and least affecting work to date, although we'd probably accept it from just about anyone else.
On 25 August 2001 - twenty years after first appearing there in support to Thin Lizzy - U2 play Slane Castle. NIALL STOKES reflects on the extraordinary journey that has led up to this historic, and beautiful, day
Think you've got them all right? Or maybe you fancy a sneaky peak (you're only cheating yourself you know!). Either way, you've got the questions – we've got the answers....
Any day now a hombre called Padre Alessio Parente will arrive on these shores to whip up support for the canonisation of an Italian madman who called himself "Padre Pio."
The use of rock music for soundtracking and advertising purposes has opened up important new avenues for artists eager to get their music out to a mass audience.
U2, Simon Carmody and Kila have led a collaboration on a special tribute to Ronnie Drew, which was recorded in Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, over the past few days.
Rain-soaked lovers; galaxy-straddling astronauts; the dawn's early light; the late night taxi; the broken hearted people; the reawakened dreams; and through it all, casting a warm, twinkling eye from above, the stars. This is Ken Sweeney's world. And it's a wonderful place to be.
With Bono and Simon Carmody orchestrating it, and Kila minding the gap, the recording of a tribute to one of the most important and widely loved figures in the history of Irish music turned into a very special occasion indeed.
‘That’s entertainment’ was the message of the year but not as Paul Weller intended it, for in 1986 popular music was closer to mass entertainment as Declan McManus’ pater knew it than any year since Elvis Presley swivelled his hips on the Ed Sullivan show.
An Omagh girl of Methodist farming background, with an unassuming determination to match, Juliet Turner has already come some distance from the straightforward and endearingly earnest folk thrust of her roughly recorded debut, Let’s Hear It For Pizza.
Twelve months ago The Cranberries were unknown outside of the hippest rock circles, now with the platinum success of Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? they stand as the first Irish band to genuinely crack America since U2.-Much of the media attention given to them has focussed on Dolores O’Riordan, a singer whose unique approach to her craft underlines the defiantly independent path the group has trodden all the way to the top of the Billboard charts. Here she talks to JOE JACKSON about what by any standards has been a perfect year. Pix: Michael Quinn.
Aer Rianta’s Annual Arts Festival takes place this year from the 6th to the 12th of February at Dublin Airport. Now in its seventh year, the festival is a massive undertaking and is the first and only event of its kind to take place at an airport terminal, anywhere in the world. Featuring both performing and visual arts, this year’s festival promises to be the most ambitious and exciting to date and a quick glance at the impressive line-up should confirm exactly why, writes Colm O’Hare.
I used to sit up nights fretting about LiR, puzzling over their hyper-intricate arrangements and their gratuitous exhibition of their flawless, and often pointless, musical technique
Wide Eyed and Ignorant is a pop album; taking into account the fact
that A House are advocates of the distictively off-kilter, shambolic,
hopelessly romantic school of pop founded by The Go Betweens way
back when
Contract-filler is a dirty word in the music business. It's an expression used to describe a shabby or rushed record - a record that lacks commitment or interest on the musician's part.
Moving Hearts' posthumous offering The Storm, is by Donal Lunny's admission on Dave Fanning's Rock Show recently, an unashamed contract-filler.
It is, of course, exceedingly easy to ridicule the Flowers. Hardly Irish modernists they've often come across as dream-dazed in their Celtic haze, a band whose
emotions have outstripped their creative sense and whose neo-hippie leanings actually owe less to Timothy Leary, San Francisco et al than to the juvenilia of the
early Yeats before he most belatedly lost both his virginity and feyness at 29.
