Month: October 2017

The Sound of Belfast festival coordinated by the Oh Yeah Music Centre, returns for a forth year, with a dedicated showcase for local artists. The programme includes a mix of live gigs and talks, awards, conferences and music industry days as well as community programming and special events.

The Festival incorporates The Northern Ireland Music Prize in Association with Blue Moon. It will take place at the Mandela Hall on November 11^th and includes the presentation of an Oh Yeah Legend Award to Vivian Campbell followed by a full live set with his band Last In Line. The evening will also feature performances from three of this years NI Music Prize nominees, Arborist, Joshua Burnside and Robocobra Quartet.

Other highlights across the week include the launch of Native (Nov 4^th), a music mart for local artists. There’s an opportunity to get your vinyl signed by participating acts, and there will be live music on the day from artists Jealous of The Birds and Duke Special.

Oh Yeah has been celebrating ten years across 2017 and on November 4^th the centre will round things up with a dedicated party. Special guests from across the years will be announced through the month of October.

Over the ten days there are events at nine Belfast venues including The Limelight, The Empire, The Sunflower Bar, Voodoo, The MAC and the Black Box. Gigs will feature more than 60 acts, comprising Ricky Warwick and Damon Johnson, The Bonnevilles, Sister Ghost, Strange New Places, Leah McFall, Callum Stewart, Rory Neillis, Civil Simian, Burning Codes, No Oil Paintings, ROE, Wood Burning Savages, Mongol Gentelmen’s Club, The Tragedy of Dr Hannigan, Empty Lungs and many more acts to enjoy.

The Breaking Into Music Youth Conference returns to inspire and signpost young people towards creative careers, and the Music Cities afternoon is back for continued discussion with local and UK industry professionals. There’s a return to the Brexit debate, a focus on the success of Northern Irish songwriting and discussions on accessible spaces and places for musicians and fans.

Charlotte Dryden, of Oh Yeah says, “Sound of Belfast is about turning the spotlight up on local music. Belfast has an abundance of talent and there are gigs throughout the year, we want to promote and celebrate that. Our homegrown talent includes bands fresh out of their first practice through to internationally celebrated names. It’s a great opportunity to fully focus and check out new music, whet the appetite and return for more once you’ve been introduced and even reintroduced”.

Sound of Belfast also includes community event Urban Affinity, on November 8th. Delivered with the support of Belfast Harbour, this event gives young people from disadvantaged backgrounds an opportunity to access and participate in several music tasters across the day.

www.soundofbelfast.com

Rising Irish 4-piece The Academic have pulled off a first-of-its-kind Facebook Live performance of their latest single “Bear Claws,” using the audio/video time lag to create a cool visual loop pedal. See for yourself here:

Here’s how: The band rearranged each instrument on “Bear Claws” to fit Facebook Live’s delay, with each loop getting more complex, adding instruments, rhythms, and melodies. Additionally, by projecting the video live from a soundstage they created an infinite tunnel consisting of all the previously recorded loops.

Frontman Craig Fitzgerald says, “by ‘hacking’ Facebook Live we really tried to push our live performance to a different type of level. Everything had to be timed perfectly. From the musical loops to the choreography. ” We noticed a delay in Facebook live from the moment you go live, to the moment it actually shows up on people’s walls. This inspired us and we thought it’d be cool to turn that lag into a video and audio sampler.”

The Academic’s rise in the past year and half has been staggering – in that time they’ve sold out shows across Ireland, the UK and Europe, supported bands like The Strokes (at Hyde Park), Pixies and Noel Gallagher, racked up millions of Spotify plays – all independently and with just a 5-song EP to their name. Currently on a 25 date US Tour, The Academic play their only Irish headline show of 2017 at Vicar Street on November 4^th followed by a UK and European Tour. Their highly anticipated debut LP is out early next year. For more information check out www.theacademic.net

One of the key names in the ever growing and acclaimed Irish urban music scene, Super Silly are four musicians who first met playing gospel in their local church, bringing a rare sense of passion and fun to modern RnB. Tipped for great things in 2017 by the likes of Nialler9, Goldenplec and The Thin Air, the quartet of Whodis, Glory, Solbas and Grvz began a run of releases for in March with ‘Not Ready To Leave’, a track that mixed classic soul and RnB, modern hip-hop and the joyous energy of their gospel roots. It was accompanied by the band’s first ever music video, directed by Seán Clancy. The summer also saw them collaborate on a remix of ‘No Pressure’ with Australian producer Odd Mob for their first international release, hitting some of the key Spotify dance playlists and receiving radio support from the likes of Pete Tong in the UK and Triple J in Australia.

After appearing at some of Ireland’s key festivals the band return with ‘Mile High Club’ – produced by Dublin beat maker Plant Food. A track that sees them take yet another musical turn, it has already been played on by Jamz Supernova on BBC Radio 1Xtra, as well as RTE 2FM, Today FM, Spin1038 and 98FM amongst others at home.

The song acknowledges how hard it can be for a struggling musician when prospective partners are looking for a more stable, if not glamorous, lifestyle. It asks them to have a little faith, as one day soon they’ll be living the high life….

Upcoming Shows:  

21.10 Bray, Harbour Bar

11.11 Dublin, The Sugar Club

Super Silly on :  FACEBOOK  | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE

Dave Flynn’s Irish Memory Orchestra is a thrilling uniquely Irish phenomenon that has brought audiences to their feet at every concert they have played, from Dublin to Moscow,
The Word Premiere of Flynn’s Memory Symphony will be performed by an 80 piece orchestra at Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral on 4th November. The world first will also feature special guest Máirtín O’Connor.

The Memory Symphony is the first symphony composed to be performed without sheet-music. Using a kaleidoscopic mix of ancient and modern instruments, some of Ireland’s best musicians will join to create an extraordinary sound like never heard before!

Tickets for the World Premiere are on sale now exclusively through Eventbrite.

Hermitage Green are set to release their hotly anticipated E.P. Gold & Rust on 20 October. The six track E.P. is produced by Matt Lawrence (Adele, Amy Winehouse, Mumford & Sons) and includes current single ‘Lions Share’.

Hermitage Green have also announced details for their massive winter tour including dates in Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, UK and Ireland with tickets for all dates on sale now.

The Limerick band has seen massive success over the past year, including the release of their debut album ‘Save Your Soul’ to performing on the main stages of festivals worldwide including Ireland’s Electric Picnic. They most recently celebrated a sold out headline show at King Johns Castle in their hometown of Limerick and performed their second headline show at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre last month.

An acoustic folk rock band, Hermitage Green have successfully built a dedicated legion of fans across the globe thanks to their captivating and unforgettable live sets. Playing gigs in South Africa, Australia, United States, Canada, Dubai, France, London and of course Ireland.

Hermitage Green’s unique arrangement of instruments includes the bodhrán, djembe, rhythmic guitar and banjo sets them apart.

‘Gold & Rust’ is available for download across all digital platforms from 20 October 2017.

Tracklisting

Lions Share
Overawed
Mountain
Shine
Insane
Bring it on Down

GOLD & RUST TOUR

October 14th – The Spiegeltent, Wexford
October 19th – Cork Opera House, Cork
October 20th – Treacys Hotel, Ennis,
October 21st – Lukers Bar, Shannonbridge
October 26th – McGettigans, Dubai
October 27th – McGettigans, Abu Dhabi
October 28th – McGettigans, Singapore
November 1st – Prince Bandroom, Melbourne
November 2nd – Finn McCools, Brisbane
November 3rd – Australian Music Week, Cronulla
November 4th – The Lair @ Metro Theatre, Sydney
November 5th – Badlands, Perth
November 24th – The Empire, Belfast
November 25th – Duke Street, Warrenpoint
November 30th – Liverpool O2 Academy
December 1st – London O2 Islington
December 2nd – Birmingham O2 Academy
December 4th – Glasgow O2 Academy
December 5th – Manchester Academy 3
December 15th – INEC, Killarney
December 22nd – The Set, Kilkenny
December 29th – The Roisin Dubh, Galway
December 30th – The Roisin Dubh, Galway

http://hermitagegreen.com/
http://www.facebook.com/hermitagegreen
https://www.instagram.com/hermitagegreen/
http://twitter.com/hermitagegreen
http://www.youtube.com/user/hermitagegreen

Wicklow singer songwriter, Kim Hayden, follows up her recent single, The Other Woman, with a stunning duet featuring the vocal talents of Ben Cully.

Kim Hayden discovered singer/songwriter Ben Cully when she was judging ‘Teenstars’ back in 2015. Ben was runner-up that year. Kildare native Ben started singing when he was 7 years old and first picked up the guitar two years later. Now at only 18 he is well on the path to a promising career in music. Ben went on to be one of the youngest acts to play at Electric Picnic and has his very own headline show in the Academy Dublin in November. When Kim heard Ben’s voice and his distinctive way of delivering a vocal she knew one day she wanted to collaborate with him. And so she did. And the results speak for themselves.

Kim and her producer/co writer Blujacker had just written something special and knew it needed a unique male vocal to convey the mood of the song. Kim showed Blujacker Ben’s vocals and after just three lines of vocals, was convinced it was the voice they needed. Kim and Blujacker contacted Ben immediately and after two days recording and a further two days of production and mixing, one of the most haunting and memorable songs to come out of Ireland in 2017 was born. ‘Trouble’.​

Trouble is taken from Kim Hayden’s debut album, The Other Woman, which is available now.

Violet is the new release from Irish born musician Joey Ryan. Violet is a soulful track taken from his 2016 release Fall Through the Night, which saw Ryan refine his sound with he help of Cork based producer Christian Best in Monique Studios.

Having relocated to Berlin Germany in mid 2016, Violet sees a collaboration with the Berlin based Kopperkollectiv who have previously worked with many successful German acts through their Berlin Open Stage music video series.

Shot in Berlin city and surrounding area during summer 2017, Swedish dancer and choreographer Siri Elmqvist created a modern interpretive dance sequence to interpret the character of Violet, bringing an edgy and dark element to the video, in contrast to sonic color of the music.

Currently in the studio recording the first tracks of what will become his next album, Ryan has spent the last year touring in mainland Europe in promote of the German release of Fall Through the Night, including a 28 date tour in Germany, Belgium and Holland in February.

In celebration of the release of Violet, Joey Ryan Trio will be undertaking a quick tour through Germany’s main cities, before returning to Ireland and Denmark in early 2018.

www.joeyryansite.com