Interview: Whenyoung are the Indie Heroes Making Waves on Both Sides of the Irish Sea

2pm. Dean Hotel, Dublin. Your Hot Press correspondent is delighted to learn that, following a rowdy night in Kilmainham, Whenyoung frontwoman Aoife Power and drummer Andrew Flood are as hungover as he is. Nick Cave is to blame. Although fingers must also be pointed at Patti Smith. On one magnificent evening, the two rock legends played their hearts out in Dublin crowd; not to have had a few drinks would have been to miss the sense of occasion. However, while HP was just there to watch, Whenyoung found themselves the sole support act on the night.

“It was bizarre,” says frontwoman Aoife. “We had such a good turnout for our set and we were really pleased with that. Then right after, we ended up standing at the side of the stage when Patti Smith first came on. We were dancing like mad until someone came and kicked us off.”

“Patti Smith has been a huge influence on us,” says guitarist Niall Burns, joining us at the table (all three members are nursing wines and Guinnesses). “We started the set with one of her poems and we’ve done that for the past year-and-a-half, so to be in her presence was very special. I ended up in Ryan’s pub after it with Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith’s guitarist – just letting him talk about Patti and Sam Shepard and the Chelsea Hotel back in New York in the ‘70s.”

Rubbing shoulders with music heavyweights is nothing new for the band. After releasing an incredible cover of ‘Fairytale Of New York’ last year, Whenyoung found themselves added to Shane MacGowan’s birthday celebrations in the National Concert Hall, where Bono, Sinead O’Connor and Nick Cave (once again) took to the stage.

“I was so nervous for that one,” says Aoife. “We all were. There was a real sense of occasion about it.”

Nerves or not, the show was a succes. Did they get talking to Nick Cave’s people at the NCH and arrange the support slot on the night then?

“We had dinner with him,” says Andrew. “And I got incredibly nervous – I was drunk and fell off a chair… So I don’t know if that was the reason.” “We didn’t ask questions,” Niall adds.

“We just rode the lucky wave,” Andrew finishes.

HEAVEN ON EARTH

In truth, luck might have less to do with it than the trio are prepared to admit. Having paid their dues on the difficult gig circuit in London, Whenyoung have quietly emerged as one of the brightest indie-pop bands of the day. Their incredible live performances got music mags in the UK capital excited, while verified bangers like ‘Pretty Pure’ and ‘Actor’ meant that the folks back home got a taste of what they were up to. Their most recent single, ‘Heaven On Earth’, is a critique of materialism and our warped sense of values. “This is heaven on earth,” sings Aoife in the chorus. “But I see hell / Oh I see hell”.

“I was working as a gardener in west London at the time, going to wealthy people’s houses, and then going back to live in East London. I just saw the contrast – what people have, what people aspire to have. What people value.”

Beginning their career in a city of eight million was no easy feat. Whenyoung hadn’t even played in Ireland before they made their move to London five years ago. But now, they’ve just debuted their first release after signing with Virgin EMI. How did that come about?

“There were a few different labels interested,” says Aoife. “We met with a lot of people.”

“Got the free dinners,” Niall laughs. “But we honestly just clicked with them. We got speaking to a guy outside a show one night from Virgin, and he kept saying to us that we reminded him of Television or Richard Hell. We thought, ‘OK this feels right, he’s one of our favourite people.’ Anyway, he invited us to talk to a few different A&R people and we clicked, more so over music than anything else really. I also think, signing with a major label, it was nice to meet someone who was interested in music, rather than just business.”

Signing with Virgin obviously came with the knowledge that there are dozens of other acts on their roster. Was there a fear of getting lost between the major label cracks?

“We grew up on all these indie labels,” says Niall. “There is a lot of people in bands who don’t sign to major labels because of that sort of fear. Which is understandable. But I think you have to have the confidence in yourself that it is going to work, and you won’t be another one of those bands. We had enough confidence in our own music that we weren’t scared.”

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FROM LIMERICK TO LONDON

Confidence is no doubt an important quality to have, especially for a band whose lead singer still retains a notable Limerick twang in her voice. Much like Dolores O’Riordan – who wasn’t a direct influence but whose success with The Cranberries most certainly paved the way for aspiring Limerick singers – Aoife refuses to put on a voice which isn’t her own.

“That’s the way I’ve always sang and I wasn’t going to change it,” she asserts. “I hate when people don’t sing in their own accent. I really admire it when you can hear an accent, because immediately you get a sense of identity; you know where they’re from and what they’re like. It’s also just easier than faking it.”

A level of anonymity allowed the band to build up their following, gig by gig, year by year, living a life that was decidedly “far from glamorous”, but which solidified their personal, and working, relationships. Now though, they have their eyes set on getting back on the Irish scene.

“We were speaking recently about doing some more shows in Ireland,” says Aoife. “We’re doing All Together Now and Electric Picnic and then we’ve got some other shows in the works for September/October, so definitely, Ireland is on the cards. Just because we don’t live there doesn’t mean we’re not proud to be Irish. It’s emotional to go back and play at home, and not only because our families are out there in the crowd – there’s something nice about having Irish fans out there.”

BREXIT, REPEAL & THE REST

The trio had been away from the country just long enough that it prevented them from voting in the recent Repeal referendum, but they’re quick to say that it was an issue close to their hearts.

“We were so nervous,” says Aoife. “We’d been talking to Irish friends and they didn’t have a clue what the result would be.”

“We saw the ‘No’ posters everywhere…” adds Andrew.

“When we saw that, I thought, ‘I don’t think this is going to happen’,” says Niall. “And because we weren’t in Ireland, we were kind of safe on the outside. I don’t know. I thought that perhaps the feeling was that people in Dublin thought it was definitely going to go through. Like people being in their own bubble. It was kind of like being here in London when the Brexit debate happening and everyone was like, ‘Of course Brexit is not going to happen.’ Then it did.

“But Ireland feels more progressive now than the UK does. Which is weird because we were such a reserved nation for so long.” Niall shakes his head. “I don’t know what’s going on in the UK, but it’s in a bad place.”

Determined to end things on a positive note, the band are looking ahead to an album release, which could be more imminent than we’d imagined.

“There’s been lots of talk from our managers,” says Niall. “For the album, we really want to get it right and not just make another indie album. We also want to make something really special; we’re focusing on that now, as well as trying to negotiate upcoming tours and gigs.” “We’re doing our first UK headline tour in September/October,” notes Andrew, “and we’ve got a Dublin date in there. We’re doing our first European shows in the autumn as well, so it’s nice to be able to do more now in the next six months. It’s really exciting.”

Whenyoung’s ‘Heaven On Earth’ single is out now. They play All Together Now at Curraghmore House, Co. Waterford over the August Bank Holiday Weekend.