Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Park

Deaf Animal Orchestra started as a bit of a laugh for singer/guitarist Joe Harney. “Originally myself, Alan (Davy, bass) and Niall (Hogan, drums) started playing in old sheds and garages,” he says. “Anywhere we could find that wasn’t too cold. Our original aim was to play The Forum (in Waterford city). We had such lofty ambitions!”

Having achieved that milestone early in their career, did they set their sights on more dizzying heights?
“To be honest,” Joe resumes, “we’ve just drifted to the point where we are now. Time has flown. When I look back over the gigs we’ve done, the recordings we’ve made, the radio play we’ve been given, even this interview, I think: how the hell did this happen?”
In November 2007, the original three members were joined by guitarist Alex Soikans, who'd just parted company with his previous band, the psychedelic funk outfit Jay Jam Fly Jive.
“Alex was a perfect fit for us. With him on board, there’s a lot more space for the sound to develop. We did our first gig with him after hardly any rehearsal and when that went well, I knew it was fate.”
After a few less-than-perfect attempts at home recording, the band found a home at Martin Quinn’s Jam Studios in Meath. Compared with their original demos, it’s clear that working with Quinn has brought a maturity to their sound.
“He’s a pro – he’s really pushed us. We’ve learned enough from him to keep getting better and better. When we started out, we were always bickering about recording big stadium floorfiller tunes or downbeat melancholy/serious stuff. Martin taught us that the two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.”
The relationship with Quinn has so far yielded four releases. The Three Diatribes EP emerged in November 2006, soon followed in February ‘07, by the footstomping single ‘All Together Now’, which made a major impact on radio. Last summer they brought out the sublimely beautiful ‘Falling Asleep’ and March of this year has seen the sonic majesty of ‘An Ape Odyssey’, a free download single via their www.deafanimalorchestra.net website. An album is on the way, probably in early 2009.
Without wishing to sound pretentious, the Deaf Animals describe themselves as being quite cerebral.
“You shouldn’t feel ashamed to have an education,” Joe asserts. At the time of writing, bassist Alan is a week away from handing in his PhD thesis on computer network theory. With his new qualification, he’s soon to join the exalted ranks of rockstar academia, which includes Art Garfunkel (PhD in Mathematics) and Brian May (PhD in Astronomy). Should they ever meet, no doubt they could have a deep and profound discussion about the meaning of 42.
Harney himself has studied psychology at college. In fact, the name Deaf Animal Orchestra comes from Joe’s interest in Primatology.
“I’ve been obsessed with apes for a while now," he divulges. "A few years back I really got into cognition and culture, the origins of the mind, how language and culture developed – when humans first used tools. That sort of stuff really struck a chord with me. I was amazed at how humans and apes, chimpanzees in particular are so alike. Chimp social behaviour is so advanced and very similar to ours, but their body language is much more sophisticated. I think that humans have lost of lot of our vocabulary of gesture, which is a pity.
"If you ever get the chance to watch a family of chimps, and then observe a human family, you’ll see it for yourself. Physicality can be quite beautiful.”
Not wishing to venture down too serious a path, Joe is quick to conclude the discussion on a musical note.
“We’re all about enjoyment. I mean, why did you starting listening to music in the first place? Enjoyment! It’s all about having fun, which I think we do.”