Small Church - On Our Radar Q&A: "I do like to dig through negative emotions, but trying to portray them in a way that’s more up in the air"

Your music is very moving – do you find yourself using songwriting to speak about negative emotions?

Andrea: I do like to dig through negative emotions, but trying to portray them in a way that’s more up in the air. It could be a very specific negative thing for me, but I try to word it in a way where other people can interpret it in their own way.

When I write my lyrics, to me, it’s very specific, because I know what I’m talking about. Whereas if I was to come back to that song in a couple of months, I’d be like, ‘What the hell was I talking about?’ But you can still draw the feelings from it regardless, which is what I want to do. It’s more a subconscious scream of feelings…

How was the recording process for your new EP?

Cillian: We did it a different way, where we tracked everything live, so you could get immediate feedback. It was really hands-on, we didn’t add a lot of effects after – we used our pedals while we were in the room. So we had feedback straight away.

How did putting out your second release differ from your first EP?

Andrea: There’s a lot more labour of love gone into this one. Our first EP, when we made it, was our first experience in doing that. We really took our lessons and put in the effort for Sock Puppets.

Seán: With the first EP, we were so desperate to just get anything out – we needed to have something that exists out there. We probably didn’t spend that long on recording, on mixing. And for this one, we got a grant. So, we had more options and time to get it done.

Are you inspired by the music scene in Limerick?

Andrea: It’s really important, ‘cause if everyone’s kind of doing collaborative stuff as well within the scene, then it’s not a bunch of separate bands – everyone is working together trying to put gigs on, trying to make music.

Seán: And because there’s lots of people around us who are good, we want to be good. But we also want to be different – something that’s not quite the same as what’s out there.

• Sock Puppets is out now.