Psychotic Distraction

Like the majority of musicians who ply their trade around Dublin, Karl Elworthy has been around the block a bit. He and the four others members of Distractors have served time various bands before fate brought them together, although, as it transpires, their relationship goes back a lot further.

“We all met in Bruxelles about 10 years ago so we all knew each other, but we were all in different bands,” says Karl. “Circumstances arose about a year ago whereby we were all at a loose end, so we decided to get together and see what happened. What happened was Distractors.”
Mention Dublin pub Bruxelles to anyone of a certain age or postcode and they’ll immediately feel they have the measure of Distractors. So did they hang out in the dark depths of the metal bar? “We wouldn’t have been in the metal bar, more across the way. At the time we were all 16 or 17, so Bruxelles was probably the only place we could get served in. It wasn’t as much to do with music as you might imagine.”
Having formed an early bond, the four (Karl, Ciaran Kavanagh, Andy Behan and Noel Kavanagh) headed off in different musical directions, although all along the same lines. “We were all always in rock ‘n’ roll bands, but they didn’t work out for one reason or another. Then we decided to get this on the go and it seemed to click straight away. Within a couple of months we started writing songs and it felt like the kind of band we all wanted to be in.”
Add drummer Robbie Barrett to the equation and they were ready to move forward. “I think so, yeah, but we’re more into writing good songs than having one defined sound. We’re quite diverse in that one week we might write a rock ‘n’ roll song and then another week we might use dance beats or come up with a ballad. We’re not constricting ourselves to just one sound.”
The public calling card has been the single ‘The Last Stand’, which started life as a mere demo but was deemed by the band to be worthy of their debut release. “I thought it was a three-minute pop song in a sense that was easy on the ear. We sent it into Phantom and within a couple of weeks it was number one on their chart, the most played song on the station. It took us a bit by surprise but we always believed in the song from the start.”
With radio play under their belt, further media attention was to follow. “Even the likes of the Sunday World and The Star did pieces on us after hearing the song. Phantom FM is amazing for Irish bands, I don’t think we would have got most of the media that we’re getting without them. Getting that sort of coverage gives you a bit of hope. We really believe in the songs and that they speak for themselves and hopefully people will get that, I think they will.”
One of the most striking things about the single is the video that accompanies it, focusing on a day in the life of two inner-city Dublin kids.
“A couple of mates of ours did it for us. It definitely came from the song. There are a lot of little Dublin touches in there, which were nice to get in. It’s the places in Dublin that we’re all from, we’re from Finglas and the Liberties. The two lads in the video are Noel’s little brother and his mate from Finglas.” The bit when they give a TV a good seeing to with a camán in particular is a classic. “Yeah,” laughs Karl, “it felt like it wasn’t the first time they’d done it.”
As cities like Dublin continue to develop at such an alarming pace, does Karl think there’s a danger that certain areas are getting left behind? “That’s definitely the case,” he affirms, “but it’s going to happen everywhere. Where we’re from you see certain little changes, but there’s still a massive sense of community there. It’s where the best bands stem from, the kids have nothing to do so they pick up instruments. The amount of bands from places like Finglas is great.”

Distractors play Hard Working Class Heroes, Dublin at the end of September.