Earning Their Strypes

Currently making all the right tongues wag thanks to their suitably tunesome take on old-school rhythm ’n’ blues and rock ‘n’ roll, Cavan quartet the Strypes’ star is unquestionably in the ascendant right now. Over the summer, they look set to soundtrack festival season in Ireland. With slots at Knockanstockan (more on that later), Electric Picnic and a shed-load of others all pencilled into their diary, the band’s brand of swaggering, 60s-tinged riffola has already made the likes of Tommy Tiernan, Glen Hansard and more as giddy as a gaggle of schoolgirls and it looks like it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the country follows suit.

“All the support we’ve been getting so far has been fantastic,” offers the Strypes’ tub-thumper Evan Walsh.
“It’s exactly what you want if you’re in a band. It’s a dream come through to be making progress and it’s better than nine to five, that’s for sure.”
Inspired by a BBC4 documentary on blues music, the band came to life two years ago and thanks to some good luck, great tunes and a strong work ethic, the four-piece have asserted themselves as being bona fide (whisper it) ones to watch.
“The band began about two years ago,” recalls Evan. “Myself and the bassist [Pete O’Hanlon] and guitarist [Josh McClorey] have known each other since we were very small and we’d been jamming over the years for a bit of fun.
“Two years ago we met Ross [Farrelly] through Josh’s parents being friends with his parents. He joined us as a singer and we started playing around the town at different events; then it became serious when we began playing festivals and clubs in Dublin.”
Feeling a little like square pegs in a round hole in their local area, the Strypes bonded over their love for the Sonics and the Stones and, much like similar-minded international acts like Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, decided to ignore current trends, preferring to plow their own path instead.
“I don’t really know why, but nothing else has ever really appealed to me other than rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll,” offers Evan. “We’re really into people like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Elmore James and as far as image and the way we play the songs go, we model ourselves on early Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds and bands like that.
“We’re quite alien in our hometown,” he continues. “There aren’t really many bands at all in Cavan. There’s a couple of acoustic singer/songwriters and that’s about it really.”
Armed with a stellar EP (‘Young Gifted And Blue’) and an ace video for the tellingly titled ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover’ (which Evan informs us was filmed over two nights in a disused hospital) the Strypes are aiming to put the summer months to good use by playing as many festivals as possible. They’ve also made some more famous fans in iconic ivory-tinkler Jools Holland and Dublin’s queen of raunch ‘n’ roll Imelda May.
“We’ve done a hell of a lot of festivals already,” smiles the drummer. “During one of them we met Jools Holland and Imelda May and that was good fun. It was great talking to Jools because we’ve the same rhythm and blues influences and we handed him a copy of the EP.
“We’re really looking forward to Knockanstockan. We haven’t played it before but we know other bands who have and they say really positive things about it and we can’t wait for it. We’re excited to see the Hot Sprockets again and it’ll be a brilliant weekend.”
With tentative plans being laid for a full-length album, the group, who have an average age of 15, are currently in talks with labels.
While Evan won’t be drawn too much on the subject for fear of jinxing any future deals, it looks likely that it won’t be long until the four-piece swap their school ties for support slots and Euro tours on a full-time basis.
“There’s been interest from a couple of record companies but it’s all up in the air,” he concludes. “A few labels are interested in getting us to record something, but I don’t want to say anything more as it might spoil everything.
“We’re all on our summer holidays now so we’ve been able to go at it as hard as we like because there’s no school to get in the way.
“I had my Junior Cert last year so that was kinda tricky balancing things, but we got through it alright. If it gets to a stage where we’re making enough money, it could become a full-time thing, so fingers crossed.”

The Strypes play Knockanstockan in Co. Wicklow, which takes place from July 27 to 29.