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.
The twisted dance-punk of Hard-Fi is inspired by the angst of suburbia. But that hasn’t stopped them reaching for the stars – or breaking into an airport.
In the same week that Channel 6 launched with its exciting re-runs of Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond, American TV viewers had to make do with the sixth season premiere of the boring old Sopranos.
In Case Of Fire are one of a clutch of NI bands that are helping to spearhead a new alternative Ulster. With a string of high profile festival dates on the cards, they talk about their plans for world domination.
Paul Wilkinson of widely touted Coleraine duo, The Amazing Pilots, on the making of the group’s Dave Odlum-produced debut album, Hello My Captor, joining artists like Jarvis Cocker and Evan Dando in paying tribute to Lee Hazlewood, and surviving a visit to the real-life Twin Peaks.
You mightn't expect to find Ireland’s sharpest new indie talents tucked away in a rural abode, but that’s where The Immediate have decamped, ready to lead the fight against MySpace while making the punters dance.
QUADROPHONIC diarist DONAL SCANNELL chronicles the Dublin-based collective s recent jaunt around the US of A, and reports that Uncle Sam is currently welcoming drum n bass with open arms. Pic: Bruce Dye
A year ago they were being paid fifty quid a gig, now they’re one of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll bands on the planet and about to take the Oxegen main stage by storm. A pun loving Stuart Clark discovers how Franz Ferdinand have become Top of the Fops.
Never mind figgy puddings and partridges in pear trees, there’s some serious seasonal business to be done as the annual HP-7 summit gathers in the crucible of cultural discourse that is The Central Hotel’s Library Bar.
Everyone's favourite punk-pop pranksters Fight Like Apes report exclusively from their recent trips to Canadian Music Week and the South By South West indie festival in Austin, Texas.
Brushing shoulders with the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bertie Ahern is currently all in a day’s work for hugely acclaimed singer-songwriter, Juliet Turner. But, as she tells Hot Press, the singer’s Northern Methodist upbringing has left her with a distaste for the spotlight and an overwhelming desire for creative and personal independence.
The Irish music industry has spawned a number of official bodies and companies, who provide invaluable services especially relevant to artists going the independent route. But what do these operators actually do? Here, we present a handy run-down on the key bodies and expert companies out there waiting to serve you.
Each March hundreds of indie rock hopefuls from around the globe descend on Austin, Texas for the South By South West rock festival. And each year, the event throws up a new batch of buzzy contenders. Vampire Weekend, MGMT and The Virgins are among the recent newcomers to have cemented their reputation with storming SXSW turns. A few weeks ago, some of the Irish music scene’s hottest debutantes made the long trek to Texas for SXSW ‘09, among them fancied old-school rockers Dirty Epics. Frontwoman Sarah Jane Wai O'Flynn brings us a frontline report.
