Rage Against The Freeloaders

One of the highlights of this year’s Music Show will be the launch on Saturday of the global Artists’ Charter, which aims to begin a proper process of engagement between artists, music companies and telecoms, and to ensure that the erosion of the earning capacity of ordinary musicians is reversed.

Taking part in the accompanying panel discussion will be the barrister who drew the charter up, Gavin Bonnar, Horslips’ Barry Devlin, Gemma Hayes, Steve Wall and Bressie who believes that our government and State bodies don’t do nearly enough to support Irish musicians.
“I’m sure they’ll point to the Artists’ Exemption Scheme as an example of giving musicians a dig out, but there are only a handful of people making enough money to benefit from it,” he proffers over a rocket-fuel double espresso. “We went for an artists’ grant a few years ago in Westmeath when The Blizzards had just released their first album and were starting to move, and they assumed that because we were signed to a label we had lots of money. Even though we were in fact totally skint, they gave it to some obscure English artist living in the back of beyond. For fuck’s sake guys, I was born and bred in this country and trying to create employment in terms of roadies and sound guys and lighting crew.”
Bressie has emerged as a very independent and provocative voice. His views on piracy and the whole SOPA debate are equally forthright.
“You keep hearing how piracy affects the music industry. I’ve a 360 deal – my label Sony get a piece of everything – so it’s affecting them a little bit, but not nearly as much as it affects me,” he resumes. “At the end of the tour, the person who makes the least amount of money is yours truly, who’s written the music and created the project. There’s something fundamentally wrong with that. Plumbers expect to be paid for their work. Doctors expect to be paid for their work. The people running charities expect to be paid for their work. Why should musicians be different?”
Part of the problem is that it’s only established artists with a few hundred thousand in the bank who are prepared to speak out against illegal downloading – newer ones are afraid to do so, in case they’re perceived as being money-grabbers.
“Most good bloggers get paid for doing it, so who do they fucking think they are to tell us we should give our music away for free?” Bressie fumes. “The big issue is, not enough people are educated as to what it takes to make a record and the shit you have to go through. You could be a priority signing to Sony worldwide, spend two years making a record and then be told the production’s not right or they can’t hear a hit single. The whole concept of the album as a piece of art has been belittled to the point where musicians are losing their sense of self-worth. The Blizzards sold 75,000 records in Ireland and never saw a penny from it. We have to reverse that trend.”
On a more upbeat note, Bressie is thoroughly enjoying his role as a Voice Of Ireland mentor.
“My initial reaction when I was asked to be on it was, ‘No, I don’t want to be involved in another show that humiliates people on a Saturday night’,” he reveals. “I wouldn’t have touched an X Factor-style thing with a barge pole, but the producers explained that this’d be different. The contestants would be judged solely on their musical merits and given constructive critcism rather than being ripped apart because it makes for entertaining TV. The ‘having your back to them’ part is obviously a bit of a gimmick, but it means you’re judging their singing, not their image.
“I’m confident that whoever wins The Voice will have the opportunity to build themselves a proper musical career,” he adds. “By ‘proper’ I mean taking their time to release three or four albums rather than rushing out some awful hodge-podge of covers, which lands them back on the scrapheap. With the X Factor you have no say in the producer; hardly any say in the songs; and very little say in how you’re marketed. You’re essentially a puppet, there to make short-term financial gain for somebody, rather than a really great record.”
Well, that’s well and truly put Simon Cowell in his place! Nervous or not, Bressie has turned out to be a TV natural who’s not afraid to lock horns with his fellow mentors. So much so, in fact, that one newspaper spoke of his “scarcely hidden contempt for Kian Egan.”
“Let’s set the record straight,” he resumes. “I wasn’t sure that I would, but I absolutely get on with Kian, who – believe it or not – is a massive Metallica and Megadeth fan. We have completely different ideas as to what we’re looking for and clash all the time on camera, but there’s no personal animosity.
“I’ve never put myself in the same category as Westlife. I did the toilet tours of the UK and Ireland in a Hiace, five of us sleeping in the same hotel room – that’s if we could afford a hotel! I’m not saying that makes us any better than them, but boy bands and rock bands are in totally different industries. Kian would be the first person to tell you that Westlife are in the entertainment game.
“He’s a smart guy who along with his band mates has stuck to the script for 13 years; built up a huge fan base; been really well managed by Louis Walsh and in June will be playing two massive sell-out shows in Croke Park. Shane and Mark also happen to be two of the best male pop vocalists this country has ever produced – I’ve heard them on their own and Jesus Christ, they can sing. People assume because they’re so big that Westlife are egotistical but they’re actually quite shy and unassuming. I’ve a lot of mutual respect for them.”
Bressie did threaten to break Mr. Egan’s fingers though.
“Oh, that was mortifying!” he groans. “I said it in relation to him nicking some of my chips, but they edited it into an argument we were having over a singer. I came across like a meathead bouncer, which is just not me!”

Bressie plays the Music Show in the RDS, Dublin on Saturday, February 25. His new ‘Breaking My Fall’ single, from his debut album Colourblind Stereo, is out now.