Malign and dandy

It’s been a tough few months for Evil Harrisons. Having released their acclaimed EP In If It Is in Spring 2007 and touring the socks off it, the band retreated into the studio to prepare for the recording of their debut album, demoing a massive three score (that’s 60, metricists) songs over ten months.

However, that old chestnut “musical differences” proved a bit too much for the quartet to bear, and resulted in the departure of guitarist Barry Dwyer in March of this year.
“We were moving in different directions,” says drummer Paul Carolan of the split. “It’s completely amicable. We feel like we’re in a stronger place to record the album now, as it’s taken out that voice of dissent as to song choices. It’s sped things along.”
That initial pack of 60 songs were then whittled down into a top 20, and the band went back into the studio to re-work them all again, with three or four completely different stylings for each.
“We’ve spent a lot of time working on the sound, the instruments, and how we’ll treat them for the album,” Paul explains. “We kind of closed ranks, got the head down and went to work.”
So with all this preparation under their belts, to say that the trio are eager to get into the recording studio is something of an understatement.
“We’re all chomping at the bit! Frothing at the mouth!!” gushes Paul. “It’s been a long time coming. We can’t wait. We’re almost on a song per day deadline for the time we’re in there, which is tough, but I think we can do it. When the red light’s on you’ve just got to go for it.”
The album, which will be recorded at both Westland Row and Sweet Studios in Baggot Street, is being produced by Ciaran Bradshaw – the man behind the aforesaid EP – with an eye to a February ’09 release.
“It’ll be a bit more piano-driven this time around. There’ll still be a good groove, and we want to add some strings and horns. I’m really into experimenting with piano sounds at the moment. I’ve been messing about with the sounding board of an old upright piano, and if you play that with a hurley it sounds pretty good. How did I discover that one? Well, we were at a party which went on until 10 o’clock the next morning and ended up in the back garden. Sitting out there was the old sound board of an upright piano and I started messing around with it. A friend came up and said, ‘No no no... You don’t play it like that, you have to play it with a hurley’, so I gave it a whack, and it sounded brilliant! I’m trying to find somewhere to get it in the album, so keep your ears open for that!”
While vandalising pianos sounds like excellent fun, the band members’ stated musical tastes are much more delicate and reserved.
“Everybody has a very rich and varied taste,” he explains. “Ronan is more into Gershwin and Rodgers and Harte – songwriters from the 1920s, but also Morrissey, Life Without Buildings and James Joyce and stuff... He likes a lyrical style that’s quite conversational, but where the lyrics still have a lot of weight behind them, and he likes to play with the rhythm of language. Myself and Nick (piano), we’ve been listening to Sufjan Stevens, where the parts are all nicely thought out so you get a nice rich sound, but behind it we’re pulling in influences from Motown songs for the drum and bass lines. It’s a bit of a strange mix, but we think it’ll work.”
While they plan to tour heavily in the new year, the band are laying low gigwise until they find themselves a new guitarist.
“The first priority is to get the album done,” Paul asserts. “Then we’ll start looking for the right person.”
Perhaps they could do it INXS style, Hot Press suggests, and have an open-audition TV show on TV3? “
"Sure,” he laughs, “Ireland’s Next Top Evil Harrison. That’d be great.”