Et Jeeping dogs lie

“It means absolutely nothing!” guitarist MJ O’Carroll booms. Well, that clears up the mystery of the best name in Irish rock! “Basically, myself and Vam were out one night and, totally randomly, he came up with Myp Et Jeep.”

Surely the name confuses people, though?
“It’s kind of worked in our favour probably more than 50% of the time,” O’Carroll adds. “A lot of people think it’s a bit too confusing, while other people think it’s great. Only occasionally have we had problems with DJs not understanding how to pronounce it. Some of the biggest bands in the world have some of the most ridiculous names – like the Red Hot Chili Peppers!”
All natives of Kilkenny’s Thomastown, the band came together in somewhat unglamorous circumstances. Reminisces O’Carroll: “The lads were actually putting together a cover band sort of thing, just like a pub band and someone convinced me to join!”
Luckily for us, the foursome never got around to performing the token dodgy rendition of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’.
“We never actually did any gigs!” O’Carroll laughs. “I started writing songs and used us as a vehicle for that. Then we won the Battle Of The Bands in Kilkenny. That was an incentive to go forward a bit.”
Listing ‘90s royalty like Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age as their bread and butter inspirations, Myp Et Jeep make straight-up rock and are proud of it.
“Sometimes you get sick of the standard sound of indie bands. The American hard rock influence makes it more unique, makes you stand out from the pack.”
What’s on the agenda, lyrically?
“I’d say a lot of it was frustration with the music business at one stage,” O’Carroll admits. “Because I’ve been through a few bands in the past and I was a little bitter with people. There were a few who consider themselves big names and I got roasted a bit!”
I wonder how the Kilkenny music scene is thriving.
“It’s pretty good, actually. Kitler’s at the minute is a decent venue. They’ve had the likes of Mick Flannery and Lisa Hannigan play. Langston’s have just opened a new venue. R.S.A.G. performed at the launch. That’s probably going to be the place for a while.”
A lot of bands argue that it’s tougher to operate outside of Dublin, but O’Carroll makes no such complaint.
“We don’t mind it really. Thomastown geographically is pretty handy because we’re half-way between Cork and Dublin, Waterford’s only half-an-hour away so unless you’re going to Donegal or Belfast, there’s no problem. You do hear a lot of bands say it’s hard to get gigs in Dublin. The thing about a lot of Dublin bands is that they only do gigs in Dublin and you never hear about them going down the country.”
Debut album Blood Is Not Enough is out now.