Their spiky dancefloor hit ‘I Can Talk’ is fast becoming this year’s ‘A-Punk’ and they’re about to take their extraordinary live show Stateside, piggybacking with the almighty Phoenix. Given that Kanye West, Daft Punk and Wayne Coyne are already fans, where do Bangor trio Two Door Cinema Club go from here? Celina Murphy catches up with the local boys done good.
The little-known tale of a group of Irish troops who switched side in the American-Mexican war of the nineteenth century is the inspiration for a unique collaboration between THE CHIEFTAINS and Ry Cooder (with Liam Neeson roped in for good measure). The Chieftains' Paddy Maloney explains the inspiration behind this fascinating project.
They used to be droney and mysterious but now MGMT’s best mates YEASAYER have gone all pop. With a bit of luck, they might even be giving Rihanna a run for her money on the dancefloor.
He's known as the king of trance. Now TIESTO is making a foray into old-fashioned pop music. He explains why he's embarked on a change of scenery, and gushingly explains why U2 are one of his favourite bands (even if he hasn't heard all their albums).
Armed with an album that channels the spirit of Studio 54 and superheroes, Australia’s Gabriella Cilmi returns to the music world this month, and Edwin McFee talks to her about her love for Dizzee Rascal, her desire to have super powers and what it was like having a leak beside Pharrell Williams in the portaloos at Glastonbury.
Selected as the Best Irish Male singer at the Meteor Awards 2010, CHRISTY MOORE first emerged as a performer towards the end of the 1960s. Since then, he has become one of the most distinctive and influential voices in Irish music. A magnetic performer, his work variously with Planxty, Moving Hearts and as a solo artist, has been widely acclaimed and he is regarded among his international peers as one of the pre-eminent folk singers.
Louth-based alternative fivesome TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN may call to mind a bunch of musical fugitives, but there’s no tracking down a band that mixes Vocoder distortion with banjo strumming.
She is the brightest pop star of the moment. But Marina Diamandis – who records as Marina and the Diamonds – doesn’t want to be a blink-and-she’s-gone starlet. As her debut album is released she tells Paul Nolan why she’s in it for the long haul, why celebrity culture has spun out of control and why she’s putting romance on hold to build her career.
In this era of iTunes and illicit downloads, it takes a great deal of chutzpah to release a triple album – much less one inspired by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Paul Auster. Duke Special explains how his most idiosyncratic LP yet came to pass.
Northern Irish DJ Fergie had an eventful noughties, winning support from such luminaries as Carl Cox, James Lavelle, Dubfire, Miss Kittin and Laurent Garnier, and also hosting his own BBC Radio 1 show for six years. What have been the highlights for him over the past ten years?
Currently readying herself for a tour with Laura Marling, 19-year-old Alessi Laurent-Marke, aka ALESSI’S ARK, spills the beans on how founding her own ’zine resulted in her recording with Bright Eyes man Mike Mogis.
From humble origins, a singer-songwriter night has grown into a fertile breeding ground for up-and-coming talent, including Glen Hansard, Damien Dempsey and Gemma Hayes. David Gray even popped along one night to check things out. The man behind the music, Dave Murphy, looks back over 20 years of unearthing exciting new artists
From international superstar DJ and soundtrack co-ordinator to curator of Belfast’s cultural past and – who’d have guessed it? – sensitive songwriter, David Holmes has flitted between multiple identities this decade. He leads us on a trip down memory lane.
Through ten years of extraordinary turbulence, other contenders have squared up to U2 – but the Irish four-piece have seen them all off to retain their crown as the biggest, and millions would agree the best, band in the world.
Florence Welch started the year a virtual unknown, and ended it an eccentric pop genius worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Bjork, Kate Bush and Siouxsie Sioux.
She had her first major hit in 2000, as part of Destiny’s Child. Since then, her career has gone into overdrive, as she mastered the art of live performance, clocked up the solo hits, made a successful transition to the big screen and, just by the way, married one of black music’s most successful dynamos, Jay-Z. It’s been a hell of a decade for the girl from Houston, Texas.
In 2000 he was a young musician with nothing to tie him down. The intervening decade was a remarkable one for Damien Rice, who scaled the heights with his wonderful debut album, released in 2002, and simply titled O. But far more important to him than all of that is the fact that he loved, and then lost, an extraordinary woman by the name of Lisa Hannigan.
This fortnight Sunderland’s Field Music release their new album Field Music (Measure) after a three year hiatus. Edwin McFee meets Peter Brewis to talk double albums, break-ups and reunions.
Screen heartthrob turned emo pin-up Jared Leto stakes his claim for musical immortality on 30 Seconds To Mars’ new album. Here, he talks about falling out with his record label, channelLing U2 and leaving Hollywood behind.
He’s ditched the acoustic guitar and gone electric for his new long-awaited new LP. Fionn Regan talks about second album difficulties and the influence of Jack Kerouac and Dylan Thomas on his artistic progression.
These New Puritans’ second album Hidden – a beautifully bizarre fusion of baroque orchestration and glitchy dance beats – is being spoken about as a shoo-in for a Mercury nomination. Just don’t mention the fact to frontman Jack Barnett!
His brand of flamboyant piano pop has made him a star. But can Mika sustain his momentrum as the novelty fades? Funny, he’s been wondering about that too.
He’s Tom Baxter’s kid brother, huge in France and Peter Gabriel is such a fan he signed him to his record label. Ladies and gentlemen meet CHARLIE WINSTON, the latest UK crooner set to capture Irish hearts.
They say good things come to those who wait, and that hoary old saying is certainly true for Setmaker. Edwin McFee talks to the band about their six-years-in-the-making debut EP and also hears about how stealing band members can sometimes be a good thing.
In the 90's, they blazed a trail of draggy, druggy excess. Now cross-dressing goth-popsters Placebo have cleaned up their act and found happiness in the simple things...
As their long-awaited second album crashes into the US charts at number one, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig talks about Afro-beat, their love of The Edge’s guitar playing and their debt to the great soundtrack composers – and explains that the charges of cultural carpetbagging rested at their doorstep are unwarranted.
An extraordinary talent he may be, but Paolo Nutini is one of the most unassuming and likeable stars to have emerged in aeons. He talks about his Italian heritage, the influence of Damien Rice, marijuana as a source of inspiration and why he avoids blogging like the plague.
As Cork’s finest, Ladydoll, gear up to unveil their debut album, singer Finn Sedas talks about the trials and tribulations of being in an independent band, why the four-piece don’t want to be a part of a scene and plans for the future.
19-year-old Eliot Pauline ‘Coco’ Styler-Sumner, aka I Blame Coco, might be Sting and Trudie's daughter, but her spiky brand of punky disco testifies that she inherited her parents' drive and talent rather than their moolah.
Julian Casablancas and Grizzly Bear are fans. Now Baltimore duo Beach House look set to conquer the mainstream with their dreamy sound. They talk about the mean streets of their home town and confront the critics who claim they’ve heard it all before.
Los Angeles kids Local Natives are as green as they come, but that’s not going to stop them from harmonising their way to the top of the alt. rock ladder.
They’ve survived fights between band members and fashion trends only to emerge stronger than ever with their fifth album Invaders Must Die. Edwin McFee catches up with THE Prodigy to hear about where it all went right for the dance-punk legends.
It’s nearly a year since the virtuoso guitarist broke his wrist and dislocated his entire right-hand while on holiday in France but today, Newton Faulkner sounds (and looks) like one of the healthiest people I’ve ever met.
“I’m just really, really, really, really glad to be back on the road,” he beams.
Matt of Manchester indie-dance euphoria merchants DELPHIC tells Patrick Freyne about the benefits of ripping things up and starting again and discusses the making of their debut LP Acolyte.
In just two short years, Here Comes The Landed Gentry have marked themselves out as one of the most potent live forces in the North. Celina Murphy meets guitarist Rion McCartney.
No, this isn’t an article about home decoration (insert your own DIY musician joke here). With a quietly sensational brand of blippy alt-pop DAVID TURPIN has blazed a trail through the Irish music scene. After the release of spooky sophomore album Haunted!, he chats to Celina Murphy about life, death and beyond.
On the eve of her biggest ever date, a homecoming gig at Dublin's O2 Arena, rockabilly queen Imelda May reflects on whirlwind year, talks about the scourge of heroin when she was growing up in inner city Dublin and tells how it feels to be acclaimed as the "Irish Amy Winehouse".
A supergroup that doesn't suck?
Them Crooked Vultures are certainly flying in the teeth of convention with their wonderful debut. Bassist John Paul Jones – you might remember him from a little known seventies band called Led Zeppelin – talks about working with Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age.
Ahead of their two-night residency in Dublin, dance music legends BASEMENT JAXX talk to Edwin McFee about their new direction, the resurrection of the electro scene and why they’ll never listen to the critics.
7 Worlds Collide is a once-in-a-lifetime get together featuring members of Wilco and Radiohead, Johnny Marr, KT Tunstall and Bic Runga – all curated by Crowded House’s Neil Finn. He talks about how the project came together.
She’s taken a rollercoaster ride to the top of the pop food-chain – but Little Boots’ Victoria Hesketh seems curiously unfazed by her year of living crazily.
Post-rock supergroup BATTLES talk about scoring an internet hit, whipping up Japanese ravers and why you should never, ever describe them as ‘math rock’.
... what’s a nice indie rock pin-up doing playing private parties for millionaires in Russia? Self-confessed pop-tart Charlotte Hatherley talks about strutting her musical stuff for Moscow oligarchs, jetting around Central Asia with Bryan Ferry and thunking a bass with rock pixie Bat For Lashes.
They were the first true Irish rock stars, a band that blended Celtic mysticism and proggy excess with eye-popping results and paved the way for U2 and The Boomtown Rats. Now, three decades since their last tour, HORSLIPS are back. To coincide with their hotly-anticipated O2 show and new ‘Best Of’, the band talk about dropping acid, Father Ted-like encounters with outraged members of the clergy and hanging with the ‘walking pharmacy’ that was Motörhead’s Lemmy.
The waterboys’ mike scott talks about his ambitious new project in which he sets the work of wb yeats to music - and discusses the challenges of bringing the endeavour to the stage
Grabbing five minutes with starlet of the hour PIXIE LOTT is harder than you might think. We sit down with the ‘Mama Do’ singer – and try to find out what she’s really like beneath that manicured pop persona.
When five-year-old Michael Stafford was uprooted from his life in Hackney to a new home in County Wexford, it seemed unlikely that the wee innovator would be getting nods from the Beeb and selling out shows in London’s finest hip-hop establishments at just 19 years of age. Celina Murphy hops on the MAVERICK SABRE bandwagon.
Since last we met jazz mangler JAMIE CULLUM, he’s gotten engaged, been nominated for a Golden Globe and become bezzie mates with Clint Eastwood, all in the space of a six-year musical hiatus. As his fourth album drops, he chats to Celina Murphy about going from Twentysomething to thirtysomething.
Jack White loves them, Tiesto reckons they’d be better off as electro-pop starlets and hordes of teenage girls long for them to be their big sisters; Celina Murphy tracks down Tegan Quin to she if she can’t make up her own mind about twin sister act TEGAN AND SARA (and maybe settle those pesky Irish bloodline rumours while she’s at it).
Their odd-ball sound is hard to pin down, but that hasn’t prevented indie rockers 8 Ball from becoming one of the most buzzed about Irish groups on the scene.
He's gone from bashing out Brel covers in pokey Dublin clubs to crooning 'New York, New York' while gazing at the Manhattan skyline.For his latest project, the wonderful story so far. Jack L has pushed the boundaries yet again by collaborating with up and coming Irish Novelist Anna McPartlin. Here they talk to Hot Press about their intriguing hook-up and explain how your career can lead you to some very strange places...
EDITORS’ new album finds them re-booting their sound with the help of super-producer Flood and the Prussian soldier’s helmet gifted to him by Bono. Also on the agenda when the band meet Stuart Clark are fatherhood, baby poo, Brooklyn block parties and stealing Michael Stipe’s megaphone.
Spare a thought for Julian Casablancas. His bandmates having flown the nest to do their own side-projects, he’s confessed to feeling, well, at a bit of a loss these days. To fill those empty days, the lead singer for The Strokes has embarked on a solo career of his own. Edwin McFee catches up with the frontman on the eve of the release of Phrazes For The Young and finds out all about the record that he never thought he’d make. Plus, Casablancas also reveals why he doesn’t miss his old sparring partners one bit.
Following up one of the biggest dance choons of 2008 couldn’t have been an easy task for cosmically-minded production duo SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO. Maestro primate number one Jas Shaw puts it down to a little bit of crafty collaborating and a lot of vintage *nsync records.
Guitar heroes Rodrigo Y Gabriela have gone from busking on Grafton Street to jamming with Metallica. The acoustic duo talk about their long, strange journey, their fantastic new album – and their debt to the metal world
For a few dizzying months in 2007, New Young Pony Club were London’s pre-eminent ‘it’ band. But despite a Mercury Music Prize nomination, commercial success never quite arrived. Now they’re regrouped and planning another full-frontal assault on the pop universe. Singer Tahita Bulmer talks about the personal traumas that coloured their new record and explains why they’re not angry with La Roux for stealing their electro-pop thunder.
Electro-rock godfather Gary Numan talks about his friendship with Nine Inch Nails, his appearance on The Mighty Boosh and the challenges of staying relevant after 30 years in the business.
Patrick Freyne interviews chief Charlatan tim burgess, about 20 years of music, a new collaborative album and his role as a mentor for this year’s JD Set band competition.
Having built up a solid reputation on the gigging circuit, blues outfit Ali and The DTs have just released their debut album. Harp player Christian Volkmann discusses the details of their unique sound with Colm O’Hare.
She first caught our ears as the breathy vocalist covering ‘Let’s Dance’ on the Ballygowan ad, but Miss Paula Flynn now has her own album of original songs on release.
This year over 15,000 young people took part in the Irish Youth Music Awards competition. We catch up with winners Magick Guvnors Radio Bottle to talk nerves, victory and their unusual name.
Mr. Hudson talks about his mentor Kanye West’s Taylor Swift meltdown, the challenges of hanging with the hip-hop elite when you’re a skinny white guy from Birmingham and why the death of Auto-Tune is greatly exaggerated.
Patrick Freyne talks to Mikel Jollett of Airborne Toxic Event about posturing indie rockers, his abortive career as a novelist and the worst week of his life.
Winning an oscar was a culmination of a life-time's struggle for GLEN HANSARD. But success extracted a heavy toll on the singer, plunging him into self doubt and leaving him feeling confused and adrift. As The Swell Season prepare to release their second album, he talks about the long road back to sanity, his romantic break-up with songwriting partner MARKETA IRGLOVA and why, having derided Ireland in the press, he’s now proud of his home country
again. Plus Irglova talks about the end of their love affair and the challenges that fame and Fortune bring.
On a fleeting visit to Dublin the legendary Jack White sat down with Hot Press' Stuart Clark to discuss his past life as an upholsterer, jamming with Bob Dylan. Jimmy Page and The Edge and going for dinner with Loretta Lynne.
As Scottish tunesmiths BIFFY CLYRO prepare to release their fifth record Only Revolutions, Edwin McFee chats with bassist James Johnston and hears all about working with Josh Homme, why their latest sonic manifesto is their most positive to date and why he’s glad he doesn’t have to support Limp Bizkit anymore.
Last month the eternally under-rated indie outfit The Cribs released Ignore The Ignorant, easily their most ambitious and critically acclaimed record to date. Catching up with the band in Belfast Edwin McFee talks to Gary Jarman and new recruit Johnny Marr about press attention and expectations as well as hearing about how the former Smiths guitarist has found a new home with the brothers from Wakefield.
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.
They’re the Highest Band In Ireland (a more wholesome title than it sounds) but that doesn’t mean Killarney three-piece TEN PAST SEVEN are stopping at the top. Bassist Matt Shallow chats to Celina Murphy about going instrumental, spotting their name in horror movies and serenading mountain goats.
