Bressie Or Not: Here He Comes

Since calling time on The Blizzards, Westmeath man Niall Breslin has assumed the alias ‘Bressie’. The newly single musician is slogging away on his debut solo album Colourblind Stereo from his adopted home in Blighty.

“I’m producing it, it’s very difficult,” he says.“I’m writing it, performing it and mixing it. I was kinda’ involved in the production on some of The Blizzards stuff, but not as heavily as this. It’s tough training. I’ve got complete control over it. I wouldn’t advise everyone to do it.”
Whilst employing electronic beats on the new album, Bressie is committed to using a real drummer and real guitars.
“I think musicianship is far more important and always will be. If I had a gun to my head, to make a record either with organic or electronic, organic would always win for me. I would never make a 100 per cent electronic record. I value human creativity too much. “
Since moving to London 18 months ago, the Mullingar native doesn’t see a lot of his former Blizzard bandmates. Declan, Justin, Anthony and Aidan are still in Mullingar.
“I get in touch with them every time I go home. These aren’t guys I meet in the pub over a pint. I’ve known them since I’ve been five or six. I don’t know if we’ll ever do it [another record] for any other reason than we want to make a record. I don’t think we’d do it for any commercial reasons. When the time comes and everyone feels right to do it, we’ll do it.”
Niall muses that: “Music is like the Mafia. If you’re in it then it’s impossible to get out. I feel like no matter what I do with it, it’ll be impossible to get out.”
Midlands accent fully intact, Bressie continues: “At the moment people won’t know a lot of the material. They’ll be curious. I don’t expect people to start jumping around or to get the same response we got with The Blizzards. You have to earn that.”
Niall is no stranger to tough crowds. After recording ‘And Another Thing’ in 2009, inspired by Eoin Colfer’s new Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy novel, The Blizzards played at the fan exhibition in London – “it was 3000 people in dressing gowns, the biggest geeks you ever saw. Out of any other gig I’ve ever done in my life, that was the most nerve-wrecking.”
That said, he has previously entertained crowds while battling violent illness: “The second year
I did Oxegen I had food poisoning. It was messy. There was vomit in buckets at the side of
the stage.”
The new album, due for release this autumn, has a distinct retro tinge.
“I’ve always been obsessed with ’80s culture, music, films and haircuts. I love how ‘unreal’ it is. It seems like it never happened, like it was in some crazy fuckin’ dimension.”
Keeping in touch with Ireland through London pub TV screens, Niall is patiently waiting for
the Irish to succeed in the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.
“I hope Ireland will do a whole lot better this time. We are one of the best teams in the world. I sat in a pub and watched Rory McIlroy win the US Open, I saw Ireland beat England at cricket. I really hope they get to a point where I can get pissed a lot.”
Warming to the theme, he declares: “I think the recession has made Ireland a better place. Our identity was being robbed from us. We were becoming fucking horrible people. Creativity is much more appreciated in times of recession. You can sit in the pub on a Friday night with a guitar. You can be damn sure everyone’s getting into the session and not thinking about their bank account.”