Till Communication

You know, it must be pretty sweet in Cashier No. 9-land right now. They’ve just released their epic-sounding, swoonsome debut album To The Death Of Fun, they’ve got a veritable shedload of summer festival dates on the cards and music fans from outside of the six counties are finally starting to wake up to a fact us Nordies have known for quite some time: Danny Todd and Co. know how to craft a truly great alt-pop tune.

When we recently caught up with the band’s frontman, filming the video for their new single ‘Lost At Sea,’ he seemed more than happy with how everything is falling into place.
“I have to say, it’s a relief getting the album out there and I’m happy that people are starting to hear it,” says Danny Todd. “It’s getting reviewed at the moment and it’s good to finally have it on the shelves. It did get to the stage where we wondered when it would ever get finished, but it’s all
good now.”
Comprising former members of local luminaries Alloy Mental, Yakuza, The Embers and more, Cashier No. 9 have been lurking around the NI scene in some shape or form since the turn of the millennium and over the years they’ve morphed into a sci-fi country-tinged five-piece with American West Coast pop sensibilities and Belfast-inspired black humour. Their ten-track debut represents years of hard graft that have seen the band tread the boards of countless pubs and clubs around Ireland and the UK, and to say the LP has been worth the wait is a little bit like saying James Corden is quite partial to the odd pie or three.
“We paid for the album ourselves, so it took a lot of time to record and get everything right,” explains Danny. “We went in and recorded it about a year-and-a-half ago and had 15 or 16 songs done, but after living with that for a while we realised that it wasn’t the album that we wanted to put out, so we went back and did four or five extra tunes and then David [Holmes] pushed us to explore everything further. I think those four or five newer songs made the record – we built everything around them. It’s been a long process, but it’s turned into something that we’ll be proud of in 20 years time.”
Something of a labour of love for everone involved, Danny tells us that they jumped at the chance to make their debut album with the acclaimed Belfast-born DJ.
“I’ve admired David’s work, so when the opportunity came to go into the studio with him we grabbed it with both hands. He’s a great, great guy and he really got stuck into it. He took time out of his own work schedule to do the album and we’d take two weeks here and two weeks there when he wasn’t working on a movie, and record in a studio in Belfast that’s beside my house. We also went to LA to do some tracks for 10 days and that was a really
inspiring experience.
“The whole thing was a dream collaboration really,” he continues. “There were times when I showed him ideas and played him songs that I’d be full of beans about and he just took them and tore them apart and breathed a new life into them. If I had to make a comparison I’d liken the whole experience to what George Martin did with The Beatles. He’s interested in doing the next record with us too and he’s got ideas on how we should develop in the future.”
Featuring guest appearances from the likes of legendary harmonica player Tommy Morgan, who performed on the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, To The Death Of Fun is deservedly starting to gain mainstream airplay and if all goes to plan it should go on to become the perfect soundtrack to the summer.
“This summer looks like it’s going to be great for us,” says Danny. “We’ve dates all over the place and I really want to start playing more gigs down south too. We’ve got the record out and we’re getting a bit of radio play, so we’re hoping it’s going to be one of our best shows of the year.”