‘Bo Diddley’ is the debut single of a young band from Dublin called Joe Maxi.
‘Bo Diddley’ is a reshaped and distinctive rock tune that is most certainly unique. With lyrics that divide systematically into the thick but melodious guitar riffs, ‘Bo Diddley’ goes above and beyond to capture the depths of the intense and captivating sound that Joe Maxi is creating. ‘Bo Diddley ‘is Joe Maxi’s first single and will be included on their first EP, which will be released late 2022. The track is produced by the multi-instrumentalist and extremely talented Janksy.
Speaking about the track, the band say;
“We are a band from Dublin. We are overjoyed to have released our first single and cannot wait for people to see what else we have to offer. Produced by the multi-instrumentalist and extremely talented Janksy, in Temple Lane Studios. We are a young and energetic group of lads, who are shaping sounds together with their wild range of influences, such as Pixies, Fontaines Dc, Black Midi and Kings of Leon.
Our next song ‘Centz of Reality’ will be released on the 9th of September on all streaming services”
Irish songwriter, multi instrumentalist and producer Gavin Murray, aka Trick Mist, shares his new single and video ‘Boring Bread’ Aug 17th and announces his second album ‘The Hedge Maze and The Spade’ will be released September 21st via Pizza Pizza Records.
Boring Bread is a song centered around a memory of an everyday experience with his Grandmother. About the song Trick Mist says“Boring Bread is a song about going to the shop with my Nan to buy bread as a child. It’s an exploration of mundane things’ mysterious capacity to be filled with romance and beauty. I based the song around a sound which acted as a microcosm for this enduring and always in need of celebrating phenomenon; the bread slicer machine in Lidl.”
The video for the song was entrusted to Graham Patterson.
This is the third installment of Trick Mist’s ongoing music video and podcast series ‘Tracing Places’ (funded by the Arts Council of Ireland). The project involves 4 artists making 4 videos for 4 new songs and an adjoining 4 part podcast series hosted by Trick Mist.
“I’ve been working with these amazing artists in an unusual way. The artists were given full creative control over their art, making music videos based purely on their reaction to the song. Basically how it worked was I would send the artist the song and the lyrics. That was it. I would offer no directives. I see the video when it’s finished. Simple as that! My ambition is to emphasise individual perception, place it on a platform and celebrate it. When the works are completed I will host a stand alone 4 part podcast series. Each podcast will essentially be a discussion with the artist about the work created, their ideas behind the video, their interpretation of the song and my ideas behind the song. We’ll really try and tease out the intersection (if any) between us. There might not be any and that’s cool too. It’s all to play for. This will be the first time our concepts will meet. We’re going to communicate them here, on the podcast, out in the open.”
Videos and adjoining podcasts releasing from April 2022 onwards.
Participating artists: Katie Ball (Just Mustard), Bob Gallagher (Lankum, Villagers, Gilla Band, Junior Brother) Graham Patterson (The Mary Wallopers, Junk Drawer, Bleeding Heart Pigeons, Post-Punk Podge & The Technohippies) and Donal Dineen (David Gray, Katie Kim, ‘This Ain’t No Disco’ Music Series)
Science tells us that our ability to remember the past and our ability to imagine the future are deeply intertwined. Trick Mist’s second full-length The Hedge Maze and The Spade sees him remember and imagine in equal measure. Catapulted into a period of forced introspection after the death of his 96 year old grandmother with whom he shared a remarkably close relationship. The album’s initial impulse was a quest to explore and understand this relationship as it passed into a new phase.
“I was always wrecking her head asking her about things in her life and old ways of living. She was always very insightful about what felt like another world to me. When she died I thought I needed to continue the exploration and figure out what lessons can I take from our experience together and how can I implement them into my future. In the face of big challenges like the climate crisis maybe we can learn something from older generations.”
Sonically the album is strikingly ambient and mediative and sees more relied use of space and melody. Trade mark experimentalism is plain to see in organic-sample laden electronic productions but also finds new expression lyrically and in the more traditional realm of folk singing. Oddity and accessibility share a harmonious platform.
The Hedge Maze and The Spade is a layered tapestry, a therapeutic space, a travel log of an inner journey with many universal truths along the way.
Pre Orders for the 12’’vinyl are now open Along with limited edition T-Shirts and Print.
Gilla Band are sharing a new track and video, “Backwash” from their upcoming album Most Normal, out October 7, 2022 on Rough Trade Records. “Backwash” was directed and animated by Mortis Studios and follows earlier single “Eight Fivers”, which was accompanied by a video directed and animated by Mortis Studios with additional help from Ruben Hernandez. “Backwash” is available as a Big Love exclusive 7”, limited to 120 copies.
“The initial idea for the whole album was that it would loosely sound like a dream,” singer Dara Kiely explains. “We didn’t really stick to the brief but it led us down different sonic avenues. ‘Backwash’ is one of the few tracks where the words represent a dream-like circumstance. The lyrics are from a stream of consciousness rant, weird imagery and all that. The track is about attraction – fancying someone and not knowing what to say exactly. It’s an indirect love song, knowing you like someone but can’t quite articulate it. Thinking that you have already expressed your feelings, but like waking up from a dream you’ve forgotten what you actually have said or felt.”
For their first album as Gilla Band, the foursome have redrawn their own paradigm. Most Normal is like little you’ve heard before, a kaleidoscopic spectrum of noise put in service of broken pop songs, FX-strafed Avant-punk rollercoaster rides and passages of futurist dancefloor nihilism.
Covid lockdown robbed Gilla Band of any opportunity to try the new material out live, but the pandemic also incinerated any idea of a deadline for the new album. They were free to tinker at leisure, to rewrite and restructure and reinvent tracks they’d cut – to, as drummer Adam Faulkner puts it, “pull things apart and be like, ‘Let’s try this. We could try out every wild idea.”
The group also fell under the spell of modern hip-hop, “where there’s really heavy-handed production and they’re messing with the track the whole time,” says bassist Daniel Fox. “That felt like a fun route to go down, it was a definite influence.”
The common thread holding Most Normal’s ambitious avant-pop shapes together is frontman Dara Kiely. Throughout, he’s an antic, antagonistic presence, barking wild, hilarious, unsettling spiels, babbling about smearing fish with lubricant or dressing up in bin-liners or having to wear hand-me-down boot-cut jeans.
Most Normal is Gilla Band’s third album; it was self-produced, and recorded and mixed by bassist Daniel Fox at Sonic Studios and their rehearsal place. The album will be available on limited-edition blue vinyl and a limited edition alternate cover with white vinyl. Pre-order is available at: https://gillaband.ffm.to/mostnormal
Tour Dates:
9/9/22 – Asten Heusden, NL @ Misty Fields Festival
Villagers joined us this morning for the presentation of an IMRO Award in recognition of his album Fever Dreams.
The IMRO Number 1 Award was introduced to acknowledge IMRO members who reach number 1 in the album charts here in Ireland.
The depth of emotion communicated in the songs of Conor O’Brien is reflected in his two Ivor Novello awards, for Best Song – “Becoming A Jackal”, and Best Album – Darling Arithmetic, which formalised his reputation as one of the leading songwriters of his generation. Of even greater significance is the relationship Villagers have built with their audience, one coloured by a great sense of communal catharsis and the capacity for articulating the affairs of the heart that are too often left unspoken.
Fever Dreams is Villagers’ 5th studio album. Written over the course of two years, the main bodies of the songs were recorded in a series of full-band studio sessions in late 2019 and early 2020. Over the course of the long, slow pandemic days, O’Brien refined them in his tiny home studio in Dublin, and the album was then mixed by David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The xx, FKA Twigs).
O’Brien says on the gestation of Fever Dreams: “I had an urge to write something that was as generous to the listener as it was to myself. Sometimes the most delirious states can produce the most ecstatic, euphoric and escapist dreams.”
Villagers’ album Fever Dreams is out now on Domino Records.
‘Tenebrave’ is the latest release from Dublin artist Ring Saigo. It is a melancholic reflection and celebration of nocturnal habits, a soft call-to-arms for the night owls of the world. Articulated with a dark, steady groove and densely-layered choruses, it features a duetted vocal with Nashville’s Kristen Rogers.
Ring Saigo’s real name is Alex Ryan; he has been the musical director and multi-instrumentalist with Hozier, both on the road and in the studio, for over eight years.
He is the co-writer of ‘As It Was’ from Hozier’s Billboard-topping ‘Wasteland, Baby!’, and most recently arranged the strings for his acclaimed Other Voices ‘20 set, featuring Crash Ensemble. He has also worked as a producer with acts such as Saint Sister and Nashville’s Wildeyes. Active as Ring Saigo since 2018, his previous releases have spanned numerous genres and styles, with all aspects of each recording performed and executed by him alone.
“‘Tenebrave’ is ultimately about finding a way to accept one’s own tastes, no matter how ‘other’ they may seem. As something of a night owl myself, I am of the belief that there are many more important things in life than the hours one chooses to keep. And perhaps the motivation that some find in the sun, others may very well find in the peaceful and mischievous hum of night.”
The accompanying music video was written & directed by Patrick Ryan, who has previously directed work for Hozier, Wyvern Lingo and Ring Saigo. Starring Robyn Trout, it provides a brief window into the nighttime world of an insomniac popstar. The video was shot by Tommy Fitzgerald, designed by Ciara Kelly, styled by Adam Walsh and produced by Lagoon Company.
Alice Kiernan today announces her brand new single ‘Golden’, due for release Friday August 26th across all major music platforms.
Speaking about the release Alice said:
“Golden follows the processes of healing and overcoming a bad time. It’s about how life can start to become clear and golden again without you really noticing it, even if you still think you’re stuck in your rut, that is part of the process. I think it’s one of my favourite songs I’ve written and a message that is very important to me.”
Alice is a 26-year-old singer songwriter and musician from Meath, based in Dublin.
Alice began singing and playing guitar at the age of 12 and by the age of 16 began her music career by gigging and performing in venues around Dublin and Ireland. She has supported some of Ireland and the UK’s biggest acts including Ham SandwicH, Paddy Casey and Matt Cardle in venues such as Whelan’s, The Academy, and Cyprus Avenue. Through gigging and posting covers and her own originals online, she soon gained a small following which created the foundation and gave her the confidence to start releasing music independently.
Golden takes inspiration from various female pop artists such as Lorde, Florence, and Griff. The song focuses on the power of time healing when you least expect it..
‘Golden’ is available on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and all other music platforms from Friday, August 26th.
Billow Wood are a male/female Irish band who fuse their unique brand of instrumentation with multi-vocals and harmonies.
Taking inspiration from Irish folk melodies and modern contemporary rhythms, they are creating their own unique sound.
Billow Wood are back with Down Stream, an uptempo uplifting song which pushes home the message of being free within yourself and leave your devils at the door and to Let it all go. Inspired by folk and pop, Down Stream is full of Billow Woods trademark full vocal harmonies.
Joined by the talented Laura Callaghan on banjo, this song will have you foot tapping and singing.
Down Stream was mixed and mastered by Alex Browick.
Down Stream is available to download on all streaming sites from August 18th 22.
Embracing his country leanings, Lane delves into writing his upcoming album to reflect on how his life has evolved while still taking stock of his inspirations. ‘Paradise’ embodies Lane’s fondness for the tongue in cheek yet touching writing of John Prine and Randy Newman, while also incorporating the intimate instrumental chaos of the Avett Brothers and The Mountain Goats.
‘Paradise’ encompasses a satirical view of everyday imperfections but finding the happy moments in between that make it a paradise. Lane reflects on the single as;
“It’s really an ironic song where it’s a case of “here’s everything that sucks, or can go wrong” but I’m at the happiest point of my life. No matter where I am in my life I’m still going to find things to complain about, but I can at least take stock of all the great things around me in my chorus. I guess it’s a sort of mindfulness via a crank.”
Gaining steady acclaim for his motley of musical stylings and intimate manner of writing in the reception of his previous EP releases, with the amalgamation of his early EP’s “People Break” (2017/2018), his duo of live improv EPs, “Making It Up As I Go Along Part 1 and Part 2”, country and folk stylings of his EP “Weak Beneath The Knees” (2020) and single “Don’t Take It From Me”, Lane received the nomination for the Irish Post’s Indie Artist Of The Year 2018.
All releases leading to the catalyst of his debut album “Outer Monologues” (2021), Lane has received glowing notoriety for being a “serious one-to-watch” from Hot Press Magazine, IMRO, Finbar Hoban Presents and Sinusoidal Music, to name a few, along with receiving playlisting across Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer Music. Headlining a solo, full capacity album launch in Cork’s Winthrop Avenue for “Outer Monologues”, Lane’s tour continued to include supporting the iconic Charlie Parr and Tootawl throughout Irish venues and his debut performance in London’s Lion Records. Paradise marks the beginning of a new chapter for Podge Lane that is not to be missed!
Powder house are a 3 piece Irish Indie band from Mayo, Ireland.
The group consists of lead vocalist and guitarist, Conor O’Shea, Bassist Brian McHale, and drummer/percussionist Luke Dunne.
Powder House have shared stages with acts such as Lisa Canny, acclaimed Irish singer songwriter David Keenan and have participated in various performances on both local and national stages including a headline show at the Ruby Room at The Royal Theatre Castlebar in April 2022.
Having released their well received and critically acclaimed single “Years” in April of this year, Powder House are now releasing the second of a series of new singles in 2022. The bands upcoming release “There You Go”, marks somewhat of a more sensitive and tender side to the band’s sound palette.
The song is carried beautifully through a harmonic and melancholic Guitar part by Conor O’Shea and a rather unique Afro Cuban rhythm from Drummer Luke Dunne.
As the song reaches its crescendo, the ambience and dynamics displayed throughout the track are replaced by a wall of controlled aggression as O’Shea finally belts out a powerful and earnest vocal line whilst a thunderous rhythm section under bassist Brian McHale and drummer Dunne take the song to its climatic end.
“There You Go” is a powerful and emotive song that showcases a more dynamic and texturised side to Powder House’s ever growing sound.
‘There You Go’ was recorded, mixed and mastered at Beardfire Studio, Dublin by veteran producer David Virgin and his sons Rohan and Al.
In their collective 6 decades in music they’ve worked in studio or on stage with the likes of Nick Cave, INXS, Cat Power, Billy Bragg, Leslie Dowdall and John Cooper Clark.
Recent productions include All The Queens Horses (International Songwriting Competition Winners), Patricia Lalor (now with Atlantic Records), alt pop icon RUNAH as well as working with Powder House on their previous single “Years”.
“The song was written during an unfortunate event. A reflection of life, running wild. Death. The drug taking of our generation. Forgiveness and violence on the streets.”
“The picking style of John Martyn is used in this track, a sort of pick and go that he used. The simplicity of an Airborne Toxic Event riff with a vocal style we just thought suited the song ourselves really. Our drummer Luke said it reminds him of Snow Patrol.”
Powder House signed a deal with German Based Label “FBP Music Group” in March 2022
“There You Go” will release August 19th 2022 through “FBP Music Group”.
IMRO Creative Rooms is an online content series that invites artists to share an intimate insight into their creative process, by showing the spaces they create in.
Local Boy is a Dublin based musician who creates highly idiosyncratic pop music which he
oversees entirely from inception to mastering – having spent years honing his abilities as a
producer and an engineer despite his young age. He invites listeners into his sonic and lyrical world packed with hip-hop beats, colorful guitar chords and creative wordplay.
In the short time he has been releasing music under the Local Boy moniker, he has racked up millions of Spotify streams, supported international acts such as Easy Life, Hobo Johnson, and Open Mike Eagle, sold out his several headline gigs in both Dublin and London. In 2022 he signed a lucrative publishing deal with industry giant Peermusic for his original compositions and his burgeoning crafts of production and songwriting.
Following up on the successful release of the ‘Local Boy Helps Himself’ EP in summer 2021
which saw several tracks added to high-profile Spotify editorial playlists such as ‘New Music
Friday’, ‘Our Generation’, and ‘Peach’ – Local Boy then returned with his well-received 2022 single Reality, an honest rumination of the artist’s mental health struggles.
Local Boy is now gearing up for the release of an album which will complete the trilogy he began with his 2019 EP release. The album expands on the themes explored in Local Boy’s previous releases, with several songs critiquing the difficulty of making a living in modern Ireland – Local Boy however never loses his optimistic outlook throughout the record with several tracks including lead single ‘Milkshake Pilltaste’ celebrating life’s simple pleasures.
How important is it for you to have a dedicated creative space?
I think any artist, be it audio or visual can attest to how much of an effect your immediate surroundings can have on your workflow and creative process. If you don’t feel completely comfortable in your environment it’s a lot more difficult to let yourself be as vulnerable as is necessary for self expression!
I’m lucky enough to have a spare room in my parent’s house that I can use as a little makeshift studio. It’s not the most hi-tech set up but I’m mindful of how much of a privilege any extra space is in our housing and rental market. Access to a dedicated space is just another way our material conditions dictate who does and doesn’t get a voice in arts and culture, so it’s extremely necessary to invest in programmes and advocate for political change so we can ensure everyone has a chance to create!
What makes this space work for you?
Although my room isn’t soundproofed or treated as a high end studio would be, I’ve come to understand how to work around this and compensate for it in my mixing. I also like to do endless vocal takes until I’ve found the one so recording at another studio would get extremely expensive very quickly!
As you can see it’s extremely messy and chaotic, but I’m a real creature of habit when it comes to production so I have it drilled into me where every instrument I need is and I can navigate it surprisingly efficiently. I could definitely use a few YouTube tutorials on cable management though!
In what way(s) does this space influence your output?
People often comment on an element of childlike innocence in some of my music that I’ve always attributed to one of my major influences, Daniel Johnston. Now that I’m looking at it in the context of this question though, I think some of that feeling might come from the fact that I’ve been working on music in this room since I’m a child. In fact, I used to keep my toys here but they’ve slowly been replaced by more adult concerns like glockenspiels, kazoos and melodicas.
What’s your favourite instrument/piece of kit? And why?
My Cam’ron poster is important for inspiration but I think my Focusrite 2i4 audio interface is an amazing and very affordable piece of kit! I use it to record almost everything from vocals to guitars to all the other little instruments I throw in my songs and to me ear it holds up against much more expensive alternatives.
What would make this space better for you?
Ideally it would be soundproofed and I’d add a little more analog hardware to my workflow, but for the most part I’m very happy with how it’s served as a home studio for the past few years! Computer software has made the gap between home and pro studios a lot narrower over the past couple of decades and I’m really happy I’ve been able to avail of it!
