Hip to be square

When the three Dubliners agreed to be the support act for The Spies at the Workman’s Club last February, they could never have imagined what would follow. “We were just playing as normal and after the second song Ian (the band’s bassist) turned around and told me Morrissey was there,” recalls lead singer and guitarist Roy Duffy. “I wear glasses and I couldn’t see anything, so I was like, ‘No, it’s not true, it’s grand, just keep playing’. But then Ian kept messing up and he normally never does, so I could tell he was telling the truth.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Morrissey went up to the band after the performance to meet and greet them.
“He said we have good melodies and I just said to him, ‘Thanks... melodies... yes’,” Roy says. “We were all starstruck”, adds bassist Ian McFarlane. “From his reputation you wouldn’t expect him to be so nice but he was very friendly”.
Squarehead have only been around for about a year and a half, but the band’s reputation is already spreading across borders. Their songs are being played on BBC Radio 1 and 2, their hit single ‘Fake Blood’ will soon be released in the UK and they’ve already confirmed a few live dates for September in London, Liverpool and Leeds.

As for Ireland, they're already considered one of the best indie acts the local music scene has to offer; indeed, their first single ‘Fake Blood’ was voted number one Irish song for 2010. Their second single ‘Midnight Enchilada’ has enjoyed extensive radio play and their upcoming single ‘Mother Nurture’ has already become an indie-fan favourite. So how did it all happen?
“Me and Ian played in a band before, but they broke up a good few years ago,” explains Roy. “I started playing acoustic songs by myself, I was living in Berlin for a while and when I came back I wanted to record some of the songs so I asked Ian to help out with the bass. We recorded them and it was a snowball from there.”
Roy and Ian met Villagers’ drummer James Byrne, who owns the Any Other City record label, and he asked to put their recordings out. They discovered their drummer Ruan Van Vliet while he was playing a gig with his then band at Whelan’s.
“It was a really cold, snowy night, there was no-one there and when I heard him play I was like, ‘He’s an amazing drummer, I’ve got to steal him’,” Roy laughs.
Squarehead’s frontman and main songwriter came up with the band’s unique name; something his uncle used to call him when he wanted to slag him. The album title was Roy’s idea as well.

“We were just talking and one of us said, ‘Yeah nothing’, and I thought, it’s a good album title”, Roy explains.
“We’ve got to come up with a good lie ‘cos it’s not a great story”, Ruan jumps in, and everyone laughs.
Squarehead’s garage-pop bears the influence of Nirvana, The Wipers and The Beach Boys, while their personal music tastes range from ABBA to Dexy’s Midnight Runners. But the one band they all admit to loving are The Beatles. In fact, one of the album’s tracks is named ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’. Roy, the man behind the title, explains: “We’re all big fans of the guys – we don’t need to say that name – and when I was doing the lyrics it just came out. I don’t think song titles have copyright and it’s part of the song, it’s just kind of innocent”.
Like all true romantics, Squarehead released their single ‘Fake Blood’ as a 7" vinyl and they intend to do the same with the album.

“We just got the vinyls last week and it was a very exciting moment to finally hold the 12" record with yourself on it”, Ruan rejoices. As for their expectations from album sales, Ruan’s answer is very explicit: “Let’s just say that if this record doesn’t sell as much as U2’s last record we’ll probably pack it all in."
Yeah Nothing won’t be officially launched until September 17, but Squarehead are already halfway through preparing material for their next album. Should we expect something different to the dreamy garagepop of Yeah Nothing?
“Some of the first album stuff is quite lush in a ‘60s kind of way, but the new stuff is more like ‘80s, the sound is tighter, edgier”, reveals Ian. “It will be a musical shoulder pad”, he jokes and they all break into laughter again.