Olaf Paul Tyaransen was born in Dublin in 1971, but spent his formative years in Galway. He began contributing to Hot Press in 1991, and has since gone on to establish a national profile as one of Ireland’s most adventurous and controversial writers. In 2010, he published Selected Recordings: 2000-2010, his fifth book, which included inteviews with pop icon Lady Gaga, Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner and Irish legends U2, Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor. In this issue, he meets cover star Lisa Hannigan and puts his questions to presidential candidate Michael D. Higgins.