Kidic A

Sometimes, band names mean absolutely squat. They are the result of a band flicking through the dictionary (Ash), or an accident that stuck (Therapy?) but for others, like Kidic, it’s symbolic.

Formerly known as Kid Icarus, the Dublin foursome found themselves at a crossroads last year.
“At the time we didn‘t have a website, promotional photos, or any gigs lined up,” begins frontman Morgan Brickley. “We pretty much had nothing, except a belief in Kid Icarus, but that was more of a project – we’d only play shows about once a year. So we drew a line under Kid Icarus and got serious. We changed our name to Kidic (pronounced kidik) and kept our head down working on new material until we were ready to launch an attack – which begins now.”
The activity of which he talks centres around the release of a single, the first in a trio planned for this summer. The follow-up is a remix of an older song, ‘Rhetoric’, and the third is a song that’s “two fingers to Rupert Murdoch and an indictment to all the lazy journalism of Sky TV,” he explains. But it’s with their lead single, ‘Holding Doors For Strangers’ that they’re hoping to make the biggest impression.
And it’s paying off. The track, a confident song that meanders between a broody and melodic that fans of Placebo and Coldplay will love, was A-listed on Phantom FM. They’ve also had interest from international A&R, and even praise from music mogul Howie Rosen.
“We got a call from him – a guy who’s worked with Kiss, Blondie and Frank Sinatra – and his quote was that it was the greatest song he’d ever heard. That was quite a compliment!”
To accompany the track, they splashed out on a video which stars Clare-born TV personality Tara Leniston, former presenter of MTV Asia and protege of Jackie Chan.
“I’m not sure how we managed to rope her in,” he mulls in answer to my question. “She’s pretty well-known in the States and in the Far East, but I guess she wanted to increase her profile here because she has a movie coming out soon, Meet Me In Miami.”
It’s certainly a coup – but was working with such a stunner intimidating for the foursome?
“She wasn’t intimidating because she’s got such a great sense of humour,” he reveals. “Beforehand, I was a little nervous because we’d never done any acting but she was great and really put us at ease. The whole thing was just a blast.”
Not so much for the owner of the cars they borrowed for the shoot – Morgan recalls how they had to cover up the number plate to film it, but then forgot to remove them after filming had finished.
He recounts: “Afterwards, he was driving around with obscured number plates, and so the Gardaí stopped him and took him down to the station! Thankfully, he was able to explain the situation and they let him off.”
While he band find themselves enter a bouyant domestic scene, they clearly don’t subscribe to the “music’s full” philosophy preached by Jeremy from the Peep Show.
“There’s just such a fantastic scene again, it’s brilliant,” Morgan enthuses. “We spent a weekend surfing in Clonakilty recently so we went to De Barra’s every night, and every night there were great bands playing.”
Which of his contemporaries would they rate the most?
”We all like different things and the only band we’d agree on is Royseven, but I’d also say Director.”
In fact both himself and bassist Colin Meagle come from Portmarnock, a mere beach-stone’s throw from Director’s abode of Malahide. With The Immediate also locals, it appears that there’s something of a scene brewing on the north Dublin coast.
“I was thrilled when I heard there were bands from Malahide that were doing well. But when I was young, there was always friendly rivalry between us and Malahiders; we used to think they were the enemy and I assume they thought the same about us. The Immediate would have an advantage because there’s more of them, but maybe we can take on Director in a punch-up!”