Softly spoken off stage and complete lunatics on it, Kila have torn up the rulebook with their wantonly eclectic mix of styles. music, inner anger, revolutions and, er, women who cure warts are all discussed, as the band’s Colm O Snodaigh talks to Peter Murphy.
A complex outfit who take traditional music into strange new territory, Kila fuse folk rhythms with all kinds of otherworldly sounds without losing their Irish identity
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.
Folk institution Kila met a dream collaborator in the shape of traditional Japanese musician Oki. Working together they’ve produced one of the most remarkable roots records of recent years.
There'll be a buzz of activity on Harcourt Street in Dublin over the coming weeks, with Kila, Just Jack, Peter Bjorn & John being amongst the newly announced gigs at the POD complex.
Ronnie Drew has heard the song that was recorded as a special tribute to him by U2, Kila, Simon Carmody and a cast of leading Irish musicians. He talks to Hot Press editor Niall Stokes about his reaction.
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.
Non-profit organisation Duisigh will use music to raise awareness and money for the victims of the horrific Chernobyl disaster that happened 20 years ago.
His plaintive violin playing will be familiar to fans of The Frames and Swell Season. Now Colm Mac Con Iomaire has finally gotten around to recording a solo album.
He's one of the most distinguised and individualistic figures on the folk scene, an artist who is not afraid to take risks or challenge convention. Now John Spillane has written a moving paean to Ireland - and to his mother.
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
Rossa O Snodaigh is a founder member of the hugely popular and widely acclaimed Irish trad/folk/rock outfit Kila, which he formed with two of his brothers in 1987. The band have released six albums to date, the latest being 2003’s superb Luna Park. They are just about to tour Australia and Japan. Rossa grew up speaking Irish in the family home in Sandymount in Dublin.
From “Outspan” to Glen Hansard, from Grafton Street to Hollywood – and onwards to Lisdoonvarna 2003. A portrait of The Frames as a most unusual band. Part one of a two-part special feature by Peter Murphy. [Main Photos: Mick Quinn]
Since most trad acts are essentially covers bands regurgitating note-for-note copies of tunes they’ve been spoonfed by somebody else, we must be thankful for outfits like Kila, Danu, Altan and Solas who invest new zest into an often clichéd genre. Thus, Waiting For An Echo is a challenging mix of old tunes and new, instrumentals and songs, fast and slow, happy and sad, tight and easeful, with a pot-pourri of influences.
Tonight RTÉ are giving you one more chance to see the special celebrity episode of the Raw Sessions, which features members of The Blizzards, Republic of Loose and more!
With just a few a minutes to go till the punters arrive, the Hot Press Chatroom is looking fab, and we're ready to rock 'n' roll, with times confirmed for this evening's acts.
Kilkee beach in County Clare will play host to the inaugral Cois Fharraige surf and music festival this September, which features the likes of Fun Lovin' Criminals and Ocean Colour Scene.
Jon Astley, the UK producer whose credits include Debbie Harry, Eric Clapton and The Who, has put together a monster 31-track compilation for the Tuesday’s Child charity.
Bloom with a view after a four year sabbatical, Hothouse Flowers are back. John Walsh talks to arch-otanists Liam, Peter and Fiachna about just
what it was that kept them out of the limelight (or should that be sunlamp) for so long.
Cathy Davey’s Tales Of Silversleeve has been installed as the 5-2 favourite to win this year’s Choice Music Prize, which is worth a none too shabby €10,000 to the winner.
With the same old trad royalty still being treated with grovelling reverence, promoter and manager David Caren thinks it stime the young and innovative got their dues. But will it happen? Report: SIOBHAN LONG.
Mac Con Iomaire may have started out as part of the Kila collective, but his range runs well beyond the Celtic pastoral and into the post-rock, the ambient and the neo-classical.
The new album from Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (pictured) is one of the folk records of the year. As is Steve Earle’s remarkable ode to his adopted New York.
U2, Andrea Corr, The Dubliners, Sinead O'Connor and Kila are among the acts who will appear on tonight's Late Late Show to perform their tribute to Ronnie Drew.
KMLA ARE a band who have no difficulty articulating a vision and a sound that?s at one and the same time intrinsically Irish yet insistent in glancing outward at the shapes and colours of music from all over the globe. Rossa O?Snodaigh, one of Kmla?s main movers and shakers sees roots music?s popularity as an inevitable result of the disillusionment with pop and rock formats.
Hot Press celebrates Irish Language Week with a series of features in both English and Irish, as well as interviews with prominent Irish-speaking personalities. Stay tuned for regular updates.
Trad quartet Lunasa, named to honour the Irish harvest god Lugh, who also gave his name to the month of August, have become something of gods themselves within the Irish trad scene. Jackie Hayden talks to them in the wake of the release of their new album Se.
Seneca's sorrowfully spirited anthems don't exactly fit in with today's high-energy trends, but that hasn't stopped them from creating a major buzz in the US.
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.
STUART CLARK looks ahead to SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST 98, which gets underway in Austin, Texas on March 18h and which will
feature a varied Irish musical bill of fare.
Having lived a peripatetic existence for several years, Katell Keineg has now settled in Dublin and is earning deserved kudos for her moody brand of arty acoustica.
Celebrating its 21st anniversary this summer, 1998's Galway Arts Festival promises to be the best ever. Hot Press' honorary Tribes-man, COLM O'HARE, previews the main attractions and offers a comprehensive guide
to the best places to eat, drink and make merry.
Kim Porcelli investigates Speakers’ Corner, the “forum for public discourse” currently running in Temple Bar each Sunday. The brainchild of Kila’s Rossa O’Snodaigh, the event promises all manner of political and social debate. But are the people of the Republic actually all that bothered? Photography Cathal Dawson
Like Groucho Marx may or may not have said, timing is (pause) …everything. As such, the two albums that electrified us this year (Interpol’s hugely moving, visceral masterpiece Turn On The Bright Lights; Justin Timberlake’s Neptunes-assisted pop‘n’B triumph Justified) were actually released in ’02.
There is many a haven for shunners of the Christmas Cheer like myself. Lots of lovely bands, singers, comedians and even hynotherapists are at hand to entertain the life out of us, and distract Santa while we throttle him. Right up to the New Year there’s so much going on you needn’t come home till Easter.
With interest in this year’s 10th Roundstone Arts Festival already building up, we sent our very own Roundstone Cowboy Jackie Hayden to check out this year’s line-up.
A visit from Larry Harvey, creator of Nevada’s legendary Burning Man festival, looks set to be one of the highlights of Dublin’s forthcoming convergence weekend.
Jackie Hayden calls round to visit Miriam Ingram’s current abode at the foot of the Dublin Mountains and gets to hear his first Christmas carol of the season.
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.
It?s real, it?s now and it goes all the way back to the source ? roots music is taking the world by storm and Ireland is very definitely on the map.
By siobhan long.
The folk and traditional community has been agog with rumours of a row between Facé and Imro. But the signs are that the organisations will be working together now.
Moving Hearts were of the most provocative trad groups to emerge from Ireland, with songs that touched on fraught issues such as the northern troubles. Now they’re back for a much-anticipated reunion show. But will the band stay together in the long term?
The industry may not have always liked them but their fans couldn’t be more passionate. Ten members, four studio albums, three managers and two major labels later, The Frames still managed to add up to more than the sum of their parts. Peter Murphy, with help from Glen Hansard and other key players brings the story of the band up to date in this, the final part of our two-part special [Photo Mick Quinn]
Danu may just be the hardest working band in trad. With their fourth album The Road Less Travelled only recently released and another promised for the spring, When Jackie Hayden put a number of key issues to the band’s accordionist Benny McCarthy and bodhran player and uilleann piper Donnchadh Hough he found that they don’t just work hard, they talk hard too.
Quite a few people could be surprised by Rónán Ó Snodaigh’s debut solo album. While there are large elements of folk present, the arrangements often have more in common with classical rather than traditional music.
Summer time, and the record stores are going to be full to bursting with some cracking albums across all genres. John Walshe examines the hottest album releases set to hit the shelves
After a four-year sabbatical, hothouse flowers are back. john walshe talks to arch-botanists Liam, Fiachna and Peter about just what it was that kept them out of the limelight (or should that be sunlamp) for so long.
The Government recently launched its National Anti-Racism Awareness Programme under the slogan "Know Racism". JACKIE HAYDEN talked to the Chairman of its Steering Committee, JOE MCDONAGH
The Irish language is currently enjoying its most significant renaissance in many a year. in a special report, Seán O Héadeáin investigates the rebirth of the most unfairly maligned element of traditional culture
Shane MacGowan interviews Sinead O’Connor for hotpress, with Olaf Tyaransen acting as referee. On the day, Victoria Clark also sat in. What followed turned into a wide-ranging and often hilarious exchange of almost Beckettian dimensions.
Robert Fisk is one of the most insightful war correspondents on the planet, his reports from Iraq and elsewhere the scourge of spindoctors, warmongers and tin-pot dictators alike. Craig Fitzsimons finds him on the frontline.
It’s Christmas, time for some of the leading lights of the Irish musical family to return from far-flung stages and convene for a traditional evening of reflection, revelation, conversation, merriment and, well, gargle. The guests: Glen Hansard and Colm Mac Con Iomaire of The Frames, Gemma Hayes, Mundy and David Kitt.
With ‘Yellow’, Coldplay captured the imagination of even the most resistant of hard-boiled rock’n’roll cynics. Now, as A Rush Of Blood To The Head achieves lift-off in the U.S., even the sky is no longer the limit.
Oppenheimer, Jinx Lennon, Joe Rooney and his very special comedy guests are the latest additions to the Hot Press Chatroom at this weekend's Electric Picnic.
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.
With a new 'best of' bringing the band's story up to date U2's guitar man steps forward to riff on good times and bad, the private life of a public figure, discovering the secrets of the universe on mushrooms and why, after all these years, few things match the high of being a member of U2.
Special hotpress.com members edition: "director's cut" featuring interview sections unavailable anywhere else.
David Holmes, whose latest album The Holy Pictures received a resounding thumbs up in the latest issue of Hot Press, will join the Hot Press Chatroom at the Electric Picnic.
Altogether a sumptuous, lilting and uplifting experience, one that’ll bliss-out fans of this ever-evolving, extraordinarily talented and brilliantly adventurous band.
Director have confirmed a major Irish tour and the details of a new song which currently doesn't appear on their platinum-selling We Thrive On Big Cities album.
In the broad arena, the Irish language has rarely been given the credit it deserves. Reasons abound for this state of affairs - a cack-handed policy regarding its teaching since the State's foundations, the cosy 'club' atmosphere of some of those who use it, alluded to by Liam O'Maonlai in a recent interview in this magazine, and the 'what use is it' brigade shouting from the rooftops.
Paul Simon's son Harper and his band Menlo Park - whose live show features bare-knuckle boxing and roasting pigs on spits - to play the Smithwicks Source Festival in late July
As George W. Bush’s visit to Ireland looms large on the horizon and ceremonial and security preparations go into the final phase, a different kind of welcome is being prepared elsewhere...
You'll already have heard that the winner of our Face The Music competition (and for that matter the grand-prize winner of €2000 worth of gear from Richer Sounds) - was one Derek Dunne of Drumcondra. Well, here are the few, the proud, the runners-up (...and we do mean "the few")
In the current issue of Hot Press, the musicians of Ireland have spoken - but what do they know? Have YOUR say on the top 100 albums of all time. Ever.
To celebrate their 10th birthday, The Ruby Sessions have organised four weeks of celebrations including performances from some of the best acts Ireland has to offer.
Spirit Store announces their upcoming gigs for the weeks leading up to Christmas and into the New Year with acts including Director, The Flaws, Declan O'Rourke and more.
For his long-awaited first solo album he’s chosen a bunch of mostly traditional songs and tunes, many of which have mystical (and mist-ical) undertones and overtones.
Make no bones about it, Box Heart Man is a cracking American rock album – not rock in the spiky haired punk or earnest grunge sense but the classic school of thinking, imbued with a sense of the nation’s musical history. Listen to the freewheeling scope of numbers such as ‘Build’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Jane’ and you instantly find yourself harking back to the glory days of the Long Ryders, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Lone Justice, rock with a sense of country and folk and a feeling of real spirit.
Make no bones about it, Box Heart Man is a cracking American rock album – not rock in the spiky haired punk or earnest grunge sense but the classic school of thinking, imbued with a sense of the nation’s musical history. Listen to the freewheeling scope of numbers such as ‘Build’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Jane’ and you instantly find yourself harking back to the glory days of the Long Ryders, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Lone Justice, rock with a sense of country and folk and a feeling of real spirit.
O'Snodaigh's songs exude a confidence and an intelligence that go way beyond the empty platitudes and three-chord trickery of yer standard Irish songsmithery.
It’s what every remembrance should be: not a reflection on the ache of losing him, but a celebration of our insane good luck at having had him in the first place.
Declan de Barra is an interesting character. Back in Ireland after a long stretch in Australia, where he fronted the well regarded Clann Zu, he is an eco-warrior by disposition. But on the enigmatically titled Song Of A Thousand Birds, he manages to maintain a healthy distance from any tendency to merely preach, instead investing even the most politically loaded tracks with a poetic intimacy.
Journey is not merely a trawl through the ubiquitous Donal Lunny's back pages but a compulsory purchase potted summary of three decades of Irish trad and the company it's been keeping.
Get a cross section of the Irish music industry to record/re-record tracks in their native tongue, thereby focusing the attention of the very group of people who hold the future of the language in their hands. It could have been awful, of course, a crass attempt to get down with the kids and make learning cool. Yet Ceol ‘06 manages to work on a number of levels.
Christy Moore declared “some of the finest songs I know are American, as are some of the finest people”. He expressed resentment that his involvement in the gig should be seen as anti-American. Moore made his point in the very simple but effective gesture of playing mostly American-written songs, before introducing The Haliburtons from Texas, who delighted the crowd with their own songs of protes
It's the small venue with the big heart - and the lavish backstage perks. Anna Legge takes us on a tour of Leitrim's Glens Centre, a space beloved of Damien Dempsey among others.
This album operates under its own internal logic, happens in its own dreamtime, the basic tracks being augmented with all the care and lightness of touch one would expect from musicians preparing their friend’s last will and testament
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
It's been called the "Exploding Plastic Inevitable Turnip", but don't let that put you off: the Flat Lake Festival is rapidly becoming a highlight of the folk calendar.
Following the demise of the Music Board last year, hopes are high that the incoming Culture Ireland committe will herald a new era in state support for traditional music. Plus the usual round-up of trad and folk news from around the country.
...here's the Hot Press Irish Music Awards, and a massive bash avec much live music is pencilled in for Belfast in April. Read on for the categories and nominees in full
From U2 to The Frames and Sinead O’Connor to Damien Rice, music has helped put this country on the map. So why is the government so slow to back the music industry?
A solo Jeff Tweedy show, a new Poozies retrospective, Christy appearing on Later With Jools, and Kila’s pre-Christmas shows: it’s a busy time in the folk world.
The summer months are seeing a whole host of festivals taking place, with the August Bank Holiday Weekend being the signal for en masse mayhem and madness. Music features largely in all festivals, with diverse tastes catered for, so there is something for everyone.
The Sex Pistols are back! In what has the look of a major coup for the event, punk’s great trailblazers are among this year’s headliners at Electric Picnic 2008, which takes place in Stradbally over the final weekend in August.
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.
Take one seaside town and a handful of bands which haven’t already played Ireland’s increasingly crowded festival circuit and voila! – you’ve got Cois Fharraige With Sony Ericsson.
The full lineup for Co. Carlow's Solas festival has been announced, with Autamata, God Is An Astronaut, Kíla and Republic Of Loose among the highlights.
Cellist Vyvienne Long and Kila's Colm Ó Snodaigh are among the artists playing at this month's Shoestring Collective gig in the James Joyce Centre, Dublin.
Musicians have reacted with anger to the revelation that albums recorded by international artists in Irish studios qualify as 'Irish' for radio airplay.
Following in the footsteps of such luminaries as W.B. Yeats, Ray McSharry and Tommie Gorman, western folk heroes Dervish have recently been honoured as Free Men of Sligo.
Alanis Morissette, Bob Geldof, The Chieftains, Dolores O'Riordan, The Divine Comedy, Katie Melua, Kila and Maire Brennan are among the first batch of acts to be confirmed for Beautiful Night, a free cross-border musical spectacular taking place on Saturday May 1.
Alanis Morissette [right], Bob Geldof, The Chieftains, Dolores O'Riordan, The Divine Comedy, Katie Melua, Kila and Maire Brennan are among the first batch of acts to be confirmed for Beautiful Night, a free cross-border musical spectacular taking place on Saturday May 1.
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
Opinions are somewhat divided on the future of trad – some feel the music should retain its explicit links with the past, while others contend that the only way for the genre to survive and flourish is through stylistic diversification. Plus the usual round-up of news from around the country.
Indie rock isn’t just about hip fringes and attitude. It means doing your own thing – not because you’re looking for fame and fortune but because you care deeply about music
After the London bombings, the Muslim community in Britain is feeling isolated, angry and under siege from new ‘anti-terror’ measures and anti-Islamic racism.
While the rest of you were off stuffing your faces with turkey, here at HotPress we were busily polishing our crystal balls in readiness for our annual gaze into the future. S
