Hot Press Summit 2013

The Hot Press Christmas Summit has always been about donning fake reindeer antlers, swapping tall rock ‘n’ roll tales and seeing how much damage can be done to the Trinity St. credit card before somebody behind the bar says, “Unless you leave now without causing any more trouble we’re going to call the Guards!”

We’re sure all of the aforementioned will be done again today, but as we gather in the Workman’s Club the festive mood is tempered by everyone’s shock and anger over the death of Savita Halappanavar.
Eager to have their say on the matter are:

Danny O’Reilly – The Coronas man moved to London at the start of the year where, in addition to band duties, he helped Bressie assemble the debut album from Voice Of Ireland winner Pat Byrne. A major ambition will be fulfilled on December 14 when Danny and the boys play their biggest headlining show yet in the Dublin O2.
Ryan Sheridan – Songwriting foray to Memphis completed, the former busker signed on the dotted line last month with Universal Music Germany, and kicks 2013 off with an extensive Euro-jaunt supporting Rea Garvey, the ex-pat Tralee singer who’s stadium-sized in that part of the world. First though he joins The Coronas for that mega-gig of theirs in the O2.
Sean Arkins – Lead singer with The Original Rudeboys whose highly eventful 2012 includes supporting Swedish House Mafia, Cheryl Cole and Maverick Sabre, getting to number three on the Irish album chart with This Life and telling Chris Brown where to stick his O2 support.
Laura Sheeran – Not content with releasing her own wonderfully eclectic What The World Knows album, this year found Ed’s Galwegian cousin indulging her inner synth-pop alien as part of Nanu Nanu.
Vinny Neff – The Derryman left home in 1999 to study architecture in Edinburgh where he met his now Django Django bandmates. Their eponymous album earned them a 2012 Mercury Music Prize nod and enough Irish fans to recently sell-out the Dublin Button Factory. He’s gigging tonight in Brussels so joins us via-Skype.
Mick Pope – Handler of guitar, synth, percussion and vocal duties with Le Galaxie whose current Fade 2 Forever EP is a must-have. Few acts had as busy or triumphant a summer festival season as the Dublin electro bangers, whose cross-channel stock is also rapidly rising.
Maverick Sabre – It’s been one memorable moment after another this year for the Hackney-born, New Ross-raised Irish hip hopper who if it hadn’t been for that pesky Lana Del Rey would have got to No.1 in the UK with his debut Lonely Are The Brave album. On TV almost as often as The Angelus but not blessed with Padre Pio-like powers of bilocation, Mav’s on speakerphone to facilitate his participation in tonight’s 250th birthday edition of Never Mind
The Buzzcocks.
Johnny Holden – Frontman with This Club, The Artists Fomerly Known As Hoarsebox, whose ‘I Won’t Worry’ was among the 2012 Choice Music Prize ‘Song of the Year’ nominees. Also chosen by AIB to soundtrack their latest ad campaign (a rare example of a financial institution getting it right) it’s one of ten very good reasons to invest in their Highlife album.
Stuart Clark – The Hot Press Assistant Editor who, despite the Savilegate controversy that’s engulfed Newsnight, has always fancied himself as a bit of a Jeremy Paxman.
Introductions over, let’s get down to HP Summit business…

Stuart: In relation to Savita, you probably have to go back to 2005’s anti-Iraq War protests for the last time Irish people were so collectively outraged about something. Enda Kenny got it spectacularly wrong in his Time magazine interview when he said that abortion legislation was “not a priority for government right now.”
Laura: This poor man [Praveen Halappanavar] has lost his wife, his baby, his whole family. It’s sickening and it’s wrong and it should never be allowed to happen again. My reaction when the first Dáil protest happened was, “I can’t go down there. I’m scared that the sadness I have will turn into extreme rage. If somebody in front of me says something I don’t agree with I might go for them or something.
But why not go if you’re going to be that angry? Maybe that’s what we need to do more.
Mick: I was at that protest and this black woman, who wasn’t affiliated to any political party, was so angry. She cursed and went crazy and the whole place was like, “Yes!” We wanted to feel injustice. We wanted to feel indignant. But most of all we wanted to feel fucking angry!
Ryan: If this were France, there’d be riots. As a nation, we’re too inclined to go, “That’s terrible… fancy a pint?”
Danny: The surgeons going, “This is a Catholic country…” That’s no justification for what happened.
Johnny: At the end of the day, Fianna Faíl and Fine Gael are both conservative Catholic-oriented parties with very little genuine interest in distancing themselves from the church. You’ve Labour and Sinn Féin on the peripheries making a bit of noise about it, but political change in this country is painfully slow.
Mick: For me the separation of church and state is huge. Hospitals are no place for Catholic rhetoric. Schools are no place for Catholic rhetoric. Sorry, I’m going off on one here!
Vinny: I can’t believe the medieval outlook on abortion that still exists in the Republic. Women have no self-governance – they’re reliant on the state whose laws are bound to the church. When I tell my friends in England, they’re like, “What, there’s no right to choose?” Their faces drop because they’ve had it since the ‘50s and ‘60s. It sickens me that a woman’s died because of such religious petty-mindedness. Not that it’s a whole lot better in the North – the Catholic and Presbyterian nutters were united in their protests a few months ago when the Marie Stopes Clinic opened in Belfast. Again, I had my non-Irish friends saying to me, “Your country’s mad!”
Maverick Sabre: I’ve been in such a work bubble that I’ve missed out on all this, but what you’re saying is horrendous. First thing I’m going to do after this is read up on it.
Stuart: Nicely put, everyone. On to a cheerier subject – casting a steely eye over 2012, what were your favourite moments?
Laura: Personal highlight would definitely be the first Nanu Nanu gig we did in January. It was at the Ones To Watch festival in Whelan’s and the place was packed. To separate Nanu Nanu from what I do as a solo artist, I’ve created this character called Glitterface who’s covered in sequins. I had a photoshoot as her this morning, so there’s probably a few stuck on me still!
Sean: For us it was releasing the album and it selling. We were constantly told in the beginning, “It’s not going to happen. Nobody here’s interested in the urban side of things.” This Life going gold is a kick in the face to those people. We’re stupidly proud of proving them wrong!
Danny: Getting to tour in the UK and Europe has been brilliant for us – even when it involves mad 11-hour dashes from Warsaw to Budapest with a driver who’s had to OD on Red Bull to keep himself awake! We did the legendary German TV show that Rory Gallagher and Van Morrison were on, Rockpalast, and Cork Live At The Marquee, which goes down as one of my all-time favourite gigs.
Stuart: Having gotten to the point where The Coronas are world famous in Ireland, you moved over to London at the start of the year, didn’t you?
Danny: The bigger you get in a small place – which let’s face it Ireland is – the fewer gigs you’re able to play. If things weren’t going on overseas, we’d sort of be twiddling our thumbs. I was in a bit of a comfort zone here, which having to prove yourself to 50 Germans who’ve never heard of The Coronas soon pulls you out of!
Maverick: Seeing my name and “sold-out” above the Brixton Academy door was a big one for me. We played the second stage at the V Festival and had 15,000 people watch us, which was a humbling moment. Being on Later… With Jools Holland was massive too.
Stuart: Are you going to get your own back on Lana Del Rey for stopping you getting to No.1?
Maverick: I’ll try! I couldn’t really compete with the way she was selling; it was unstoppable. But, you know, if you get to No.1 with your debut what’s there left to achieve?
Johnny: Being nominated for Choice Song of the Year and getting to No. 2 on the iTunes chart were both pretty cool. We also put an En Vogue cover we’d done up on YouTube and within 24 hours En Vogue’s Dawn Robinson tweeted to say how much she liked it. We checked with management to see if it was a fake account and it wasn’t. Which begs the question, “What’s Dawn Robinson doing with her time?”
Laura: I saw En Vogue in Crawdaddy. They were supposed to be in Tripod but the gig was moved. It was full of girls screaming and just five or six guys at the back.
Mick: One of whom was me! Playing to what couldn’t have been more than 200 people must have felt a comedown for a group who’ve topped the American chart.
Laura: They were getting all sweaty and passionate about it though.
Mick: Le Galaxie’s 2012 highlight was not getting nominated for a Choice Prize! Electric Picnic was incredible – we were scared being on at two in the morning in the main arena, but the crowd went nuts. Mary from Fight Like Apes sang N-Trance’s ‘Set You Free’ with us, which was definitely a moment. Another bananas one was Indiepedence… despite, or perhaps because of the mud.
Danny: We’ve played the last three Indiependences, and each time it’s been a step up in terms of the numbers attending and the quality of the acts. Shane who runs it is our production manager as well, and he says they’re finally getting to the stage where they might make a bit of money from it. He knows what punters want and how to look after bands as well.
Ryan: It’s one of the best festivals I’ve been at.
Danny: We did Sea Sessions as well – another washout in terms of weather, but amazing atmosphere.
Mick: Anyone have power-cuts? We had one for about 20 minutes at two in the morning at Castlepalooza. You can’t even say, “Hello, sorry, this isn’t our fault.”
Stuart: Yeah, and Le Galaxie don’t have an acoustic mode to switch into…
Mick: You have 12 minutes battery time on your laptop, so if everyone came really close, maybe…!
Danny: The power for the whole of Dame St. and Temple Bar went when we were playing the Olympia. We shone some torches and sang a few acoustic songs, but then it became a health and safety issue.
Ryan: I needed to get out of Ireland for a month so I could concentrate on writing the new album. I toured and busked a bit, just like in the old days. Nashville where I’d planned to stay was too Disneyfied, so I headed down to Memphis, which is an amazing place to hang out and play music. It’s touristy too, but I love Graceland. You totally get the vibe of Elvis having lived there. There’s also a tiny house 15 miles away in Holly Springs called Graceland Too. This nutter, who’s the world’s biggest Elvis memorabilia collector, lets you visit any time you want, day or night. I’m going back next year for a charity motorbike ride. Irish Dogs For The Disabled asked me, “Would you drive for two weeks from Chicago to New Orleans on a Harley” and I was like, “No, no, no, I might be doing something!”
Stuart: Vinny, overlooking the fact that I had Django Django at 8/1 with Paddy Power to win and you didn’t deliver, the Mercury ceremony must have been a bit of fun.
Vinny: Apologies to anyone who backed us. I did say not to – “We don’t stand an earthly” – but your misplaced faith in us is appreciated! The live TV and room full of music industry people parts are stressful, but once they were out of the way it was party party! If not best album, I like to think we were best dressed on the day. Our shirts were customised from fabric we designed ourselves and we got the suits from an East London tailor friend of ours.
Stuart: I trust you’ll be looking equally dapper when you play Other Voices Derry next year as part of the city’s UK Capital of Culture celebrations.
Vinny: The new bridge is opening and the Turner Prize is coming from there… Derry wasn’t that exciting a place growing up, but it is now! I also want to go and see Teenage Kicks: The Musical, which I understand is being worked on at the moment. From the Undertones documentaries I’ve seen, there’s plenty of material to draw on.
Stuart: I was at the FAI Cup Final the other day in the Aviva and whenever Derry City scored there was a blast of ‘Teenage Kicks’ on the PA!
Vinny: Yeah, I had a celebratory drink when I heard Derry had beaten St. Patrick’s Athletic 3-2. I used to take my little milk crate and stand on the terraces at the Brandywell.
Stuart: What do you make of the death threats that have come ex-Derry player James McClean’s way since he refused to wear a Sunderland shirt with a Remembrance Sunday poppy woven in to it?
Vinny: That’s a total overreaction. I think it’s for everyone to decide what the poppy symbolises – obviously it’s not just the World Wars – and whether they want to wear it. My girlfriend’s a Londoner whose grandfather died at the Somme, so she wears one for him. En route to a gig in Holland we visited the Western Front where among all the war memorials was one for the Dublin Fusiliers, which I didn’t really know existed. You can’t help feeling it was a tragic thing.
Danny: I think he had the right not to wear it as well. He had family involved from his own estate that were killed by British soldiers. We actually played at James McClean’s birthday party and they were a lovely group of people. We hadn’t met him before, but he’d come to see us a few times. A really down to earth guy – he doesn’t drink or anything. There shouldn’t have been a big hoopla about him not wearing a poppy.
Stuart: Talking of sport, Mav, I understand you’re a keen student of the pugilistic arts.
Maverick: Yeah, I’m still raging because I was offered tickets for the Amir Khan/Carlos Molina fight in Vegas before Christmas but can’t go. Khan absolutely has to win that one. I didn’t know much about Katie Taylor before the Olympics – the UK media were obviously focusing on their own people – but what a boxer! I was jumping around the place when she won. It was one of those monents when you feel super-proud to be Irish.
Laura: My Grandma went to the Olympics for her 88th birthday and somehow managed to wangle a press pass for the final. She was right in the front-row, which was great because she used to help run a boxing club in Gorey.
Danny: Well blagged, Grandma! I was in London and tried everything to get tickets, but couldn’t. It had that Italia ’90 vibe where a complete stranger would come up to you and give you a hug.
Mick: We didn’t get that from the Euros, that’s for sure!
Stuart: I think you’ll find Marco Tardelli said that it’s been a “fantastic year” for Irish football.
Mick: Bollocks it was!
Stuart: Something that really shocked me was Field Music – a band with top 50 UK albums and a Mercury nomination to their credit – telling us in the Hot Press Speakeasy @ Forbidden Fruit that they only make five grand a year from their rock ‘n’ roll activities.
Mick: As much as that? As far as I’m concerned, if you’re getting anything, how did you do it? Everything Le Galaxie earns goes straight back in. What do we get personally? Literally zero.
Maverick: There are more talented musicians doing day-jobs than are signed. That’s a fact because labels rarely want to put time and effort into building artists these days. It’s got to be in the mould of what they think is successful – ‘the new Usher’ or ‘the new Bob Dylan’. You’ve got to fit into a neat little package. A lot of people are being lost that way.
Stuart: How did you manage to buck this unfortunate trend?
Maverick: I got my Leaving Cert at 16 and left school knowing that I wanted to do music. There was never any other option in my mind. I worked in a restaurant cleaning dishes and serving food and a petrol station, saving all the money so I could come back to London. It wasn’t just music that I came over here for, it was my own personal reasons. I needed to find myself; I needed to know who I was as a person more, I needed to grow. The music scene was – and is – far more flourishing in the UK, especially in terms of what I do. The mainstream Irish media still doesn’t get hip hop. There’s this mocking view of us using our own accents and being from areas and talking about our own lives. It’s looked down on, which is crazy.
Johnny: There was a letter going around on Facebook addressing this thing of jazz musicians being asked to play in restaurants for free. “We can’t pay you anything but it’d be good for your profile and you might sell a few CDs.” So this jazz guy sends a letter back to a restaurant saying: “I’m having this dinner party and I wonder if you’d come along and cook? We can’t pay you any money but…” That’s constantly happening to us as well. “There’s no fee but you’ll be seen by loads of people…”
Laura: It’s going to cost us €165 in van rental plus petrol to get to a gig tomorrow in Coleraine, which is paying less than that. There’s no budget for a lighting guy or a sound man. We know that’s the case though, so it’s okay. I’d rather play and lose money than not play. Well, within reason!
Mick: To get Le Galaxie up on stage costs us a minimum – and I mean minimum – of €600 to €700.
Danny: Our record went platinum here and we still haven’t made money off album sales. 15,000 copies sold and we’re only at breakeven with the record label. You’d have to be selling serious amounts to get anything approaching a living wage. Records nowadays are just a means to get people to your gigs where hopefully they’ll buy a t-shirt or a poster or whatever else is on the merch stand.
Johnny: I was at Rufus Wainwright in the Iveagh Gardens this summer and halfway through the show he asked people to buy the CD. Everyone was laughing thinking he was messing but, no, he was serious. This is a major international act struggling to make ends meet.
Laura: That one t-shirt, those three CDs, whatever it is, is your petrol home. Girls were approaching me after gigs going, “Aw, I love your nails!” because I do dramatic ones. I thought, “Right, let’s make loads of them so when they come up next time I can say, ‘Yours for a tenner!’” Girls mightn’t buy CDs continuously but they’ll buy beauty products.
Johnny: I didn’t get into music to create an underwear line…
Laura: As musicians we need to change our focus because we know music’s not going to sell. At the end of the day it’s free…
Johnny: Like these pints!
Stuart: Exactly! I wish it was different and you guys were getting monster royalty cheques twice a year, but there isa concern that the ‘War on Piracy’ is nearly as futile as the ‘War on Drugs’. As un-fucking-fair as it is, will the music industry have to come up with new revenue streams?
Vinny: You have to make sure that anything you put your name to is worth having. I’m an architect and the other three guys are artists, so the visual side of things is massively important. If you stick really well designed posters inside your really well designed double vinyl sleeve, people might think it’s worth coughing up twenty quid for. Some fans might be totally happy with an MP3, but we’re into the aesthetics.
Laura: A lot of my stuff is handmade. For every album I do a run of 30 or 50 depending on what it is, which includes lyric-books, prints of the front and back cover, a DVD of the videos, the CD itself and a note saying, “Thank you so much for supporting me!” I don’t know where they heard about me, but I got an order the other day from Japan! It may have lessened but there’s always going to be a desire for the physical, tangible object.
Stuart: Mick, did you suddenly get zillions of downloads when you stopped selling your Laserdiscs Nights 2 album, and stuck it on Bandcamp for free?
Mick: You mean the non-Choice nominated album?
Johnny: Bitter!
Mick: I’m being funny! Yeah, we did, but after Electric Picnic people were still buying it even though they knew it was free. Our heart was warmed.
Sean: They believe in it so much they want to support it.
Mick: There are conscientious music buyers out there.
Johnny: They’re all over 30!
Sean: We’ve young fans saying to us, “I haven’t got a credit card to pay the 99¢ I need to open an iTunes account. The minimum I can buy is a €15 gift-card. I haven’t got that either.” That’s pretty much saying, “I’m going to download it illegally.” You can’t go, “Don’t do that!” because I’m fucking happy they’re listening to us and coming to the gigs.
Maverick: You have to realise that this is the world we’re living in. We can’t go around to people’s houses and start smashing up their laptops and iPods and tell them to go buy a record player and get it on vinyl. I wish we could bring everyone back to buying records and reading the names of all the musicians on the sleeve; make them appreciate that what they’ve got in their hands is a piece of art. That time’s gone, so let’s capitalise on what we do have. Make the music as amazing as possible, shoot great videos, have special-editions with stuff on that fans are going to want it…
Stuart: Right, fingers on the buzzer for our rapidfire round… the best album you heard and gig you saw in 2012?
Vinny: I stumbled across this Ghanaian guy, Bola, who does these weird, bass-heavy tracks with a drum-machine and a two-string lute. The picture of him on the cover is a photo-booth one, so it’s a total DIY job. Hot Chip were beyond amazing at the Pukkelpop festival in Holland, as were Gulp who supported us on tour. It’s our drummer’s cousin, the bassist from Super Furry Animals and his girlfriend who does these quite ethereal vocals.
Laura: Katie Kim’s Cover & Flood. It’s a double album from a Waterford songstress. Really simple musical things, but it’s so striking and beautiful that you get drawn in straight away. I didn’t get to too many shows this year because I was doing my own stuff, but Die Antwoord in the Academy blew me away.
Sean: Those mad South African rappers…
Laura: Yeah, a girl and a guy who I suppose are kind of South African ‘white trash’. Loads of people think they’re really racist whereas they’re actually mocking that sort of attitude. They must have done 25 stage dives – they were so energetic.
Sean: They’ve a video (for ‘Fatty Boom Boom’) taking the piss out of Lady Gaga. She’s walking down the street in her meat dress and there are loads of lions following her.
Stuart: She goes to a gynecologist, has a live King Prawn removed from her privates and then gets mauled to death by one of the lions who’s been lying in wait outside…
Laura: She wasn’t happy about it. I think she tweeted them saying, “Sold-out in South Africa tonight, man, that’s how I do shit.” Lady Gaga offered them a support tour and they turned it down, so there’s obviously bad feeling there.
Mick: You’d think she might have seen the humour in it. Our Fade 2 Forever EP was obviously my favourite record of 2012, but in terms of other artists I really like Bantum. He’s changed his style a bit over the years, but always remained interesting. Gig-wise, Wild Nothing who were supporting the equally immense Walkmen in Dublin. They’re classified as dream pop – a term that makes me feel sick – but really rocked in places. We played the Berlinfest in September, and I made a point of going to see Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, aka this guy Orlando Higginbottom who dresses in a stegosaurus outfit and has two sort of fly girls dancing with him.
Sean: Mav nailed it at the Strawberry Fest in Enniscorthy. Because it was his hometown – or near to it – they came out in their thousands and it was awesome. I was watching from the side of the stage thinking, “This is how you do it!” Personally, I take great pride when there’s an Irish lad headlining. It’s great to get big international names like Fifty and Kanye in, but even better when it’s one of your own.
Maverick: I should have said Strawberry Fest earlier as one of my highlights. This is going to sound cheesy, but it felt like I was coming home to a little session in one of my mate’s houses. Even though there were 5,000 or 6,000 people there, it seemed really intimate. What was lovely is that there are hundreds of friends and family members I’d gladly have put on the guest-list, but in order to support me and the event they bought tickets.
Danny: What were your favourite gigs and records, Stuart?
Stuart: Gigs is a seven-way tie between Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Jack White, Andrew WK, Delorentos in Murcia, Primal Scream in The Grand Social and Grimes at the Picnic, and albums it’s neck and neck between Bruce, Leonard, Delorentos, Grimes, Jake Bugg, Stars, The Vaccines and some bunch of chancers called Django Django.
Mick: Not fair, you got more than us!
Stuart: I’m in charge, so I can do anything I want!
Maverick: My favourite gig was a couple of weeks ago in Union Chapel. Liam Bailey – this guy from Leicester who for me is a voice of this generation – played a stripped down gig there with a load of guests. He was the vocalist on Chase & Status’ ‘Blind Faith’, one of the biggest UK dance songs ever, and released an album on Amy Winehouse’s Lioness label, Out Of The Shadows, that sort of got lost. He’s 26 or 27, from Nottingham but down now in London and a very good friend of mine. At the minute I’m listening to him, Lianne La Havas and this X Factor guy James Arthur. He did a Mary J. Blige song there a couple of week’s back and, man, his voice!
Danny: Union Chapel is a big church in Islington and the sound’s incredible. I saw Glen Hansard there on his last tour with a big band and, like Sean was saying, felt really proud because it was an Irish artist putting on this world class performance.
Ryan: Paul Simon at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park was pretty amazing. He plays for three hours and doesn’t break sweat. We were in one of the tents. It was our first London gig and I thought no one would show up, but it was packed.
Stuart: Having survived Swedish House Mafia in the Phoenix Park, The Original Rudeboys also got to open last month for Cheryl Cole. How was it?
Sean: My house is literally five minutes walk through Sheriff Street to the O2, so one moment I was sitting there having a cup of tea with my mother and father, and the next there were 14,000 screaming kids in front of me. It’s cool when we’re supporting a fully live act; not so much when it’s backing tracks and stuff. The main thing for us was getting to play the O2. When we became a band, meself and Rob had three things we wanted to be on – the Late Late Show, the Hot Press cover and the O2 stage. We’ve done all three, so we can retire! No, we’re still new to this game and learning constantly.
Stuart: The O2 really sorts the men from the boys/women from the girls in terms of being able to put on a show that reaches out to Row Z. Are you nervous about playing there, Danny?
Danny: I wasn’t, but now you’ve said all that I am! We could have gone to MCD, “Let’s do another run in the Olympia”, which is my favourite venue, but you’ve got to keep setting yourself challenges. We’ve had numerous meetings with our production managers because we don’t want to get up there and just bang out our songs. We’ve been looking at other arena bands and literally robbing all their tricks. The bouncy balls and the confetti… I doubt we’ll make much money from the O2 because it’s such a big production.
Stuart: Mav, what did you make of the Garda Commissioner’s anti-“electric music” tirade following the trouble at the Swedish House Mafia gig?
Maverick: He’s some old Garda general saying that on TV to scare an older generation. “Electric music is going to turn all your kids into drug addicts!” The police and society in general are always going to go, “We have a problem; let’s pin it on someone.” Gang shootings in London? It has to be the fault of grime music. Someone ODs or gets beat up in Dublin? Let’s blame Swedish House Mafia. Everyone knows that the majority of house and trance comes from the era where drugs were a massive thing; it’d be ridiculous to think otherwise. But that doesn’t mean if you’re into electronic music you’re going to go out and batter people. I’m sure there’s been hundreds, thousands of dance gigs in Ireland where there hasn’t been violence or other issues. Why doesn’t anybody bring up heavy metal or rock gigs and say, “Oh, look at the aggressiveness in this music”? Go to any pub or club on a Saturday night throughout the UK or Ireland and a fight will break out. It’s nothing to do with the music; it’s the attitudes of people.
Stuart: Adam Jordan, your mate from Wexford who’s playing with Plan B, says you’re hoping to come home together next year and work with the likes of Lethal Dialect and Sons Phonetic.
Maverick: I’ve known Adam for years, he’s my brother. There’s so much great Irish hip hop – Costello, GI and, like you say, Lethal and Sons Phonetic who are from down the road in Waterford. I always try to keep up to date with the boys and get them to send me new tunes and beats, but with the album and all the touring, I’m a bit out of the loop. Next year though I’m going to find the time to go back and jam with the guys – y’know, mess around and see what comes out of it.
Stuart: Is the UK industry aware of what’s going on here?
Maverick: Not really, but then they weren’t aware of The Streets until he released Original Pirate Material. There’s always an opening for somebody coming at things from a fresh angle. It’s taken a bit of time, but Irish hip hop’s found its voice. It’s talking about politics and situations that young people living in Dublin, Cork, New Ross or wherever can relate to. It’s not pretending to be British or American. People just need to get used to the accent and realise that there’s stuff going on that wasn’t in that BBC documentary about Irish hip hop. They didn’t do the scene justice.
Stuart: Sean, The Original Rudeboys had another opportunity to play the O2 with Chris Brown, but turned it down because he’s a woman-beating scumbucket.
Sean: The other lads in the band have history with domestic violence, and were totally against it. We declined it quietly, but Walshy who’s the ukulele player mentioned it in a radio interview and all hell let loose.
Danny: What makes it weird is that Rihanna seems to have forgiven him. Her call, but what message does that send out to her fans; especially young female ones? It was a very brave decision and fair play to yas, Sean, for making it.
Mick: It’s a very confusing thing for young women to have their idol say, “You know what? It’s fine.” It’s important for young men like you to make that stand. I’ve had girls ask for Chris Brown when I’m DJ-ing – it’s my bread and butter because obviously bands pay fuck all – whose attitude when I say, “No!” is, “Look, Rihanna said it’s cool!” I’ve genuinely had these conversations and it’s really depressing.
Sean: 85% of the online reaction we’ve had has been positive, but there are also fans of ours saying, “What the fuck are you doing, this is Chris Brown, he’s amazing!”
Stuart: Would any of you have gone, “Fuck it, that’s 14,000 people!” and played the gig?
Maverick: I got offered Dublin and Belfast as well, but I turned it down. I said to the Rudeboys I supported their decision when I found out about it. I’m not a fan of Chris Brown’s music, but it’s the Rihanna situation I objected to.
Vinny: My girlfriend wouldn’t let me. She’s a strong female so, yeah, that would have to be a “no”!
Mick: I don’t think Chris Brown could get some two-bit busker from Temple Bar to support him nowadays.
Stuart: So, what do you guys have planned for Christmas?
Maverick: Heading back to County Wexford. My father’s a musician, so we’ll go to one of his gigs or have a session back in the house.
Ryan: We’ve dancers in the family too, so after the turkey it turns into a bit of a Michael Flatley convention!
Johnny: I’m always, “I want a quiet one this year” but after three drinks I’m up singing Nina Simone’s ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’.
Laura: At some point in the day I’ll sing this old traditional Irish song, ‘Do You Love An Apple? Do You Love A Pear?’ Badly because I’ll have had a few.
Danny: In ours it’s, “Please can we have one day when everyone shuts the fuck up!” That’s what comes from being a family of singers.
Stuart: Got a party-piece, Sean?
Sean: Er, not a musical one but I can fit anything from a pencil to a fork right up me nose!
Stuart: Which has rendered us all speechless. Happy Christmas!
Everyone: Happy Christmas!
V