Home-recording buff, culinary wizard and fully paid-up member of the local indie cognoscenti – welcome to the cultured residence of turn singer Ollie Cole.
Dublin favourites Turn recently took to the highway for an Irish tour. Tanya Sweeney joined them for a trip to Limerick and an insight into what makes Ollie Cole and company tick.
The Heineken Rollercoaster Tour is taking to the road again and this time the capital is nobody’s hometown gig. From Kells come Turn, from Limerick Woodstar and from Cork The Frank and Walters. Next stop: a venue near you.
Ollie Cole of Turn pays a fan’s heartfelt tribute to the “genius lyricist and stupidly brilliant guitar player” who tragically took his own life two weeks ago.
Antisocial has been a long time making its way from the studio to the record shop but the good news is that, like the famous scene in Ice Cold In Alex, the result was certainly worth waiting for.
Kells three-piece Turn are on the crest of a wave, and are about to unleash their rather spiffing debut LP, Antisocial, on an unsuspecting world. John Walshe reports. Suit shoot: Myles Claffey
Following the news that the Eyebrowy cartoons are to be featured on The Last Broadcast, we can now reveal that their five-minute slots will begin next Tuesday.
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?
If you’ve been giving your local record retailer an earbending because they don’t have the eponymous Cake Sale album in stock, you need to apologise because its release has been put back a week to November 3.
There’s a delightfully breezy ambience to this album by two veterans of traditional music. Flute player Peter Horan hails from Killavil, Co. Sligo, while fiddler Gerry Harrington was born in Kerry, now lives in Waterford, and favours the Sliabh Luachra style – particularly evident during his solo turn on a pair of hornpipes previously recorded by Sliabh Luachra players Julia Clifford and Denis Murphy.
After a gap of half a lifetime, Steve Wall is back living in the house he grew up in and learning to love DIY. He also recalls his days as a greyhound. Photography by Cathal Dawson
Is style important? We asked six musicians, and the answer was a resounding ‘you betcha’.
Step forward Maria Tecce, Jerry Fish, Gabriela, Ollie Cole, Nina Hynes and Bjorn Baillie
The Frames and BellX1 stormed the palisades of Groningen recently as part of the Eurosonic Festival. John Walshe was there to see it happen and to revisit the spot where the great Mic Christopher met with his tragic accident. Plus: the latest news and reaction to the Frames’ new record deal
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.
A galaxy of Irish stars led by members of BellX1, Snow Patrol and Damien Rice have announced their support for a charity album, under the guise of the band The Cake Sale.
The Cake Sale does for Irish musicians what The Reindeer Section did for Scotland’s: i.e. it makes a group of disparate songwriters and performers sound like the most talented and cohesive band in the world ever.
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
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
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
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
Personally speaking, the death of the wonderful Elliott Smith was a major blow his year. I found out about his suicide through Ollie Cole, who had e-mailed me with a very succinct, “Elliott Smith is dead. He was my king”, on the day of his death.
Five years after their Hi-Lo debut, the former Stunning Brothers return to the fray with their strongest calling card to date. Recorded largely in the famed Black Box studios in France with the ubiquitous Dave Odlum at the helm, New Dawn Breaking is an immediately impressive record on almost every level (and very nicely packaged it is too in gatefold digipak!)
Northern hopefuls Fighting With Wire and rising Dublin electro act Robotnik are among those set to play this year's HWCH festival, with the full line-up just announced.
Duke Special has the tunes, the talent and the charisma to carry it all off. He’s also possessed of one of the most gorgeous voices in Ireland, and he’s not afraid to use it to its full potential.
Gorge yourself on a selection of exclusive (and in some cases never-before-seen) hotpress.com video interviews from Witnness past, as well as some of the artists gracing the stage at Witnness 2003
Cork favourites The Berries are set to release their brand new EP ahead of the city’s stint as European Capital of Culture. Plus the usual round-up of news from the domestic front
If someone unfamiliar with the current crop of Irish musicians were to cock an ear to Other Voices 2, they could be forgiven for thinking that Ireland’s rock ‘n’ rollers were mellowing out.
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.
