Relish The Music

Everyone over 25 remembers Relish, the Downpatrick group who hit the ground running back in 2001 after landing a record deal with EMI and releasing their platinum-selling debut, Wildflowers. Four chart-topping Irish singles followed, a top spot on the Japanese most-played list, and an unlikely request from Westlife to cover their single ‘Rainbow Zephyr’.

Ken Papenfus, the band’s lead singer, laughs at the recollection, “Yeah, we did a number of gigs in Sligo and Westlife were there, hanging around local pubs at the time. They were big into Relish. They came up to us one night and asked for a copy of our album. Then a year later they called us up and said they really liked the album and wanted to do a cover of 'Rainbow Zephyr'. We were like, ‘Yeah why not?!’”

Reworked as ‘Hey Whatever’, the Westlife cover was a UK top 5 and an international hit, but were the band happy with their psychedelic lyrics being changed? “We knew they were going to change the words. I’d actually have been really surprised if they’d gone for the original lyrics to be honest, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing! I was glad they stayed true to the energy and the vibe of the track, and yeah, we loved what they did.”

Relish’s first two albums, Wildflowers and Karma Calling, were highly regarded in Ireland and abroad and went platinum and gold respectively. They even garnered some high-profile fans such as U2’s Larry Mullin and Brian May from Queen. “That was just unbelievable,” Ken enthuses. “We were doing bits and bobs in the UK when Brian May came across our music and liked it. It was just really encouraging to know that someone like him appreciated what we were doing and what we stood for. Especially because we’re fans of Queen as well. To know that someone you’re a big fan of likes your music is a really great feeling, we were honoured!”

While their success quickly gained momentum after they were signed to EMI, it took them a long time to reach that place where they felt comfortable in who they were as a band: “It wasn’t easy”, Carl, Ken’s brother and the drummer of the band, reflects.

Prior to their record deal they spent years building up a relationship with the labels; gigging, recording new demos every few months, and sending them out to record companies. Then finally the day came when their efforts felt like they were paying off. Carl remembers: “It was this one demo that struck a chord and once a few record companies heard it and liked it, it just sort of spread. Suddenly everyone wanted to come to our living room in Downpatrick to hear us!” (laughs)

“We got signed in 1999, after our first EP came out. Then we spent a couple of years touring, we must have done 150 gigs a year at least! We were just everywhere and I think the success of the group built over those 2 years. For us the live thing is the most important, that’s what we’re about. We’ve always been a live music outfit, the recording sort of came after”.

After the success of those first two records, it seemed as though Relish had all but vanished. This wasn’t the case. Having enjoyed a lot of success in Asia particularly, and garnering a huge following in Japan, Relish released a third album in Japan, entitled Three Times.

After this the band decided it was time for a break: “It wasn’t coming easy to us so we stopped for a while,” Ken remembers, “Then we started jamming with people and different bands. We did some stuff with Paul Weller too, really just experimenting to see what would come out of it. I think those experiences helped us because we were able to rediscover who we were and to accept it.”

Feeling renewed and reconnected the band began to work on a new record, the outcome is one they were very happy with. Ken becomes more animated at the mention of Connected, which was released late last year: “It’s much in keeping with the spirit of Relish, of what we are. It just happened quite naturally really.”

This time around the band steered clear of record labels and decided to take the independent route: “We decided not to use massive studios again. In the spirit of independence that we’re in at the minute, we thought it would be the best approach.”

Relish fans will get an opportunity to hear songs from the new album, including their new single ‘Together You’, when they play their first date in Dublin in over a year: “I can’t wait,” Ken beams with excitement, “We’ve put a lot more work in since the last time we played here and I’m really looking forward to going back through the three records on the night.”

Catch Relish at the Academy 2 on June 22. Connected is out now.