Welcome To The Fig Time

FOR MOST bands, getting gigs, getting paid and getting a record deal are the three main problems. Not so for Limerick four-piece Figment. Their problems are more along the lines of getting parental permission to travel up to Dublin for a midweek gig at the Mean Fiddler or finding a club that doesn t throw them out as soon as their set is over.
You see, Figment are a ludicrously young band, with their average age of just 16, and yet they have a record deal and have already released one single in the form of the eminently hummable Come On Do Your Thing . In fact, three of the four band members are still in school, and don t sit their Leaving Cert until June 1999.
Figment formed in November 1995 in their hometown of Limerick, originally as a three-piece. We were mainly just doing covers, explains Cian O Sullivan, guitarist. We decided to start into originals but we were still stuck without a bassist. We had planned to go into a studio in town to record a demo and, the night before we were due to go in, we met Bernard [Hartigan, bassist], who has been with us since.
The band played their first gig in February 96 in Limerick, with three of the four still at the tender age of 14. That went very well. We got a good response but then we were kicked out because we were too young, laughs Brian McNamara (lead vocals/guitar).
Last summer, Figment signed a one-album, three-single deal with Limerick independent label Murgatroid Records, the home of fellow Limerick band, The Hitchers, as well as Siobhan MacGowan. The first fruits of the deal, the energetic single Come On Do Your Thing , was released in February. The second single, Blow Up Girl , a tale inspired by an inflatable doll, is due for release at the start of the summer, with Figment s debut album hitting the shelves in August/September.
I put it to them that it can t be the easiest thing in the world to try to balance the hedonistic lifestyle of being in a rock band with the more mundane realities of school life and studying for exams, quite apart from being evicted from licensed venues.
It s extremely difficult, laughs Cian, with parents shouting and roaring about everything. We re getting a lot of hassle. It s also very difficult to get gigs. A lot of gigs seem to be on Thursday nights and, with Friday being a school day, our parents are going pretty mental about that. Time-wise, trying to get homework done and then finding time to practise is not easy. But we re hoping to get a few gigs in over the Easter holidays.
LIVE OUTLET
The fact that Figment are so young is immediately evident in their sound, and, believe me, that s no bad thing. Energetic guitar pop is the order of the day, and their fresh, lively line in melodic crunch has been compared to bands like Weezer and Foo Fighters.
One of the main problems the band have with their hometown is the lack of live venues, which has been particularly evident since the closure of the Theatre Royal. At the moment, there isn t actually a decent music venue in Limerick, says Brian.
This lack of a live outlet has had a detrimental effect on the city s musical talent. The year before last there were about 50 bands in Limerick, says Cian. At the moment, there are only about eight or nine.
Right now, Figment are gearing up for a hectic summer, when there will be no academic hassle to worry about for three months, and they plan to bring their brand of catchy guitar pop around the highroads and byroads of the country. With a new single to promote and three months to do it, look out for Figment at a venue near you.
We ve actually only played two gigs since the release of the first single, says Cian. That s basically because we were tied down with school. So we re going to try to get as many gigs as possible during the summer. n