Author: Press Officer

Night time in Montreal | New Release From Peter O’Malley

Written by Press Officer on February 24, 2014. Posted in News.

Irish immigrants take with them, their love, their music, their spirits but not their souls. Those they hide under stones or rocks only to be reunited on their return.

In this short 4 track EP, you’ll find a taste of what is called modern Ireland. but you won’t find any mention of the greedy landlords or crocked banks, that’s for another day.

This EP is for those who were forced to leave and those forced to stay, and those who find hope in this small island of rivers, rocks and sky and in those that see, feel, and touch it’s soil.

The songs were all recorded and mixed in LanahroneStudio and Shaggy Mane Studios and mastered in Wavmaster Limerick.

Sleep THIEVES RELEASE CITY OF HEARTS SINGLE, ALBUM DUE THIS SPRING

Written by Press Officer on February 24, 2014. Posted in News.

“Bewitching, beguiling, dark-hearted…infectious, substantial noir-disco.. electropop” –Irish Times

“..think wave-y-gothic vocals (Austra/Fever Ray/The Golden Filter) floating in and out from the dark to the bright side and back!” – Deer De Bois

Sleep Thieves release their second single on February 25th via Minty Fresh.. “City Of Hearts” features haunting, dreamy, cinematic vocals backed by a pulsing synth beat, kicking off the countdown to their upcoming album You Want The Night due this Spring. Solar Bear’s Rian Trench mixed the track.

You Want The Night will be the band’s first album, following up their Islands EP from 2012, and their single “Sparks” from 2013.

The Dublin-dwelling trio comprised of Sorcha Brennan (vocals, synths), Wayne Fahy (Vocals, synths, bass, programming), and Keith Byrne (synths, guitar, bass, programming) met through Twitter where they bonded over film soundtracks and vintage synths.

The band is currently touring and working on the video to “City Of Hearts”. Sleep Thieves will definitely entice you to stay up late, whether to dance or drift off in a daydream, but don’t hold that against them.

Young Dublin Songwriter Reaches Semifinal Stages of International Songwriting Competition

Written by Press Officer on February 20, 2014. Posted in News.

IMRO member, 17 year old Katie Laffan from Walkinstown, Dublin has been listed as a semifinalist in the International Songwriting Competition 2013 with her infectiously catchy song Bubbly.

Katie writes, performs and produces all of her own music on Logic pro. She started playing drums at the age of 11.

Katie also plays guitar, piano keyboard, ukulele and pretty much anything that makes a sound.

Katie first emerged to prominence when she was the winner of the inaugural Hot Press/ALCATEL ONETOUCH competition, The Big Break, in 2013, at the age of just 16. “It was ‘Bubbly’ which decided the competition in Katie’s favour,” Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. “It is an amazingly fresh and catchy, feel good slice of lover’s rock that is a certain global pop hit, if it is given the platform. Katie really is a huge talent with remarkable international potential.” Currently studying for her Leaving Cert, Katie is gearing up for big push, once that hurdle has been cleared.

I’ve Got You – New Release From Paul Byrne

Written by Press Officer on February 13, 2014. Posted in News.

Paul Byrne first came onto the music scene as the young drummer for Dublin new wave band ‘Deaf Actor’ in 1979. In 1983 Paul was a founder member of the internationally successful rock band ‘In Tua Nua’. With a career including stints in Sugar Candy Mountain, The Texas Kellys, Rocky DeValera & the Gravediggers plus Shane McGowan’s The Shane Gang, Paul has an established track record as a musician, producer and composer.

Now it’s time for Paul to come out of the drum shadow and release his own solo material for the first time! “I’ve Got You” is taken from his forthcoming album which is due for release in May 2014. In “I’ve Got You” Byrne has managed to write a feel–‐good love song free of angst and with a good dose of insight and humour.

Website – www.paulbyrnemusic.com

Facebook – www.facebook.com/paulbyrnemusic

Twitter – www.twitter.com/musicbyrnepaul

Femmepop & Timecop1983 New Single “Our Time”

Written by Press Officer on February 13, 2014. Posted in News.

Femmepop and Timecop1983 have teamed up again to bring you a New Single “Our Time”. The single is released on Valentine’s day, Friday 14th.

“Another Brilliant Song by Femmepop” Mike Rogers InterFM Japan

“Like it a Lot” Marc Riley BBC Music 6

“You could call it dream pop that sounds like a collaboration between Cocteau Twins, School Of Seven Bells, and Luke Vibert…” Dan Hegarty RTE Radio

” Hot Property …very good, somewhere between Dawn Landes and Tanya Donnely and musically it’s a distillation of Breeders , Mazzy Star and The Lemonheads” Dublin Castle London

“A true talent. Amazing songs with a wonderful voice someone to watch out for. Richard Usher BBC Radio

“A favourite of ours for ages now, and we’ve finally got her in to record an acoustic Session, and it’s brilliant! Hailing from Cork Ms Pop will blow you away with her beautiful vocals.” Dan Hegarty RTE Radio

“Margaret O’ Sullivan’s exquisitely heartrending voice would make even Tanya Donnelly want to throw in the towel” “An airy, delicate, intelligent sound that will imprint itself on your bones. Absolutely gorgeous.” Hotpress Magazine

Visit Femmepop Here:
http://femmepop.bandcamp.com/
www.facebook.com/Femmepop
www.twitter.com/femmepop
www.last.fm/music/Femmepop
www.soundcloud.com/femmepop

Buy Femmepop Here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kick-Ep-Femmepop/dp/B0016OLYP4
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/kick-ep/id276851416

Cronin announce Irish dates, new video and free download

Written by Press Officer on February 12, 2014. Posted in News.

Cronin return to the live scene with some dates in Ireland in February and March.

To coincide with the live dates and St Valentine’s Day the band are giving away a new song titled “Bury Me By Your Side.”

The song features contributions from Waterboy Steve Wickham and vibe master BP Fallon and is accompanied by a video shot and edited by the band in various locations in the UK and Ireland.

Live Dates

Sun 16th Feb – Monroes, Galway. With Steve Craddock.

Thurs 20th Feb – Number 1, Mullingar. With Steve Craddock.

Thurs 6th March – Whealans, Dublin. With Leaders of Men.

Weds 12th March – The Crane Lane, Cork.

Sat 15th March – The Brudenell Social, Leeds, UK.

Cronin is the new musical project from Irish brothers Jonathon and Michael Cronin.

Leaving Ireland in the last recession on the early 90’s to live in the North of England shaped their musical influences,style and aspirations.

Since returning to Ireland 10 years ago they have set up their own recording studio, Transmission Rooms in Longford, released acclaimed singles and albums under the moniker The Aftermath, featured music on 2 major motion pictures amongst other things.

They make music in their own Transmission Rooms recording studio that is based in the rural setting in the middle of Ireland. Along with them selves they collaborate with friends and hero’s to make music.

“Immense.” Stuart Clark, Hot Press Magazine.

Percussion Tutor Required For Masamba Samba School

Written by Press Officer on February 12, 2014. Posted in Industry News.

Masamba Samba School is a busy music collective based in the historic Liberties area of Dublin. They are seeking applications for the post of Music Tutor, a position funded through the Community Services Programme of the Department of Social Protection.

This is a full-time position (39 hours per week), with a basic salary of €19033 per annum, and the probability of significant performance-related bonuses.

The job will primarily involve delivering percussion workshops with children and young people in the greater Dublin area, but the successful candidate must be open to working anywhere on the island of Ireland and with diverse participant groups.

Essential

Percussion skills to grade 8 or higher, or relevant practical experience

Good Communication Skills

Good Teamwork Skills

Good Computer Skills (Word, Excel, Photoshop, Web and Email)

Strong Personal Motivation

Desireable

Teaching experience

A full, clean driving license and access to a car or van.
All application must include at least 3 relevant referees.

The Community Services Programme is a labour activation measure, and candidates must fit one of the following criteria:

a. Person in receipt of Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB), Jobseeker’s Assistance (JA) or one parent family payment (OPF).

b. Persons in receipt of disability allowance (DA), invalidity pension, blind persons pension or other disability benefit.

c. Travellers in receipt of Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Assistance or one parent family benefit.

d. Stabilised and recovering drug mis‐users.

e. People employed from Tús, Community Employment (CE) and Job Initiatives (JI) schemes are deemed eligible. Former RSS workers who were previously CE placements are also eligible.

f. Ex‐prisoners.

Successful candidates will be Garda vetted

Applications can be emailed or posted and must be at the Masamba office no later than 5.30pm on Friday, 21^st February 2014. Interviews will take place the following week.

Masamba Samba School, Unit 12F, Liberties Enterprise Centre, Newmarket, Dublin 8. Tel. 01-4163901, Email. info@nullmasamba.com, Web. www.masamba.com

Irish Composer – Dean Valentine – Blazing A Trail In Hollywood

Written by Press Officer on February 10, 2014. Posted in News.

Irish soundtrack composer Dean Valentine is blazing a trail in Hollywood with his talent for writing punchy scores for the trailers to major blockbuster releases. He is currently in the running for an Award at the 2013 Trailer Music Awards for the track that he composed for Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Trailer 2).

Last year, Dean scored the official trailer for the Paul Greengrass directed feature film, “Captain Phillips”, starring Tom Hanks, and in 2012, scored the US trailer music for Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus”.

Dean also scored the feature documentary, “Close to Evil”, which premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh. The documentary tells the story of Tomi Reichenthal, a survivor of the Bergen Belsen concentration camp who now lives in Ireland.

Derry’s CultureTECH Festival Announce Dates for September Event

Written by Press Officer on February 6, 2014. Posted in Industry News.

The team behind CultureTECH, the now annual festival of digital technology, media and music, have just announced their dates for this year’s event. CultureTECH 2014 will take place from Monday, September 15th to Sunday, September 21st at locations across Derry-Londonderry and promises to be even bigger than previous events.

Now the biggest digital and creative industries event in Northern Ireland, CultureTECH attracted an aggregate audience of around 24,000 in 2013 as part of Derry-Londonderry’s City of Culture celebrations. Although the programme for the festival won’t be released until April, the organisers are keen to build on last year’s success and are promising an even more ambitious programme.

As festival Director Mark Nagurski explained: “2013 was a breakthrough year for the festival in terms of its scale – we hosted over 150 events and sessions across the week, with over 500 artists, musicians, speakers and performers taking part. 2014 will continue in the same vein, with events for industry, young people and communities across the city.”

“Obviously we don’t want to give too much away just yet, but we’re delighted to be working with existing partners like the University of Ulster, DANI Awards, Nerve Centre, Generator NI, the Chamber of Commerce and the Belfast Media Festival again in 2014. Events like the City Arcade, which attracted over 8,000 players last year, are coming back bigger than ever and our CultureTECH Junior programme will expand to fill the full week, with the aim of working with 15,000 young people across the city. We’re also working on some exciting new projects with local partners like the Verbal Arts Centre as well as internationally-renowned cultural organisations from both the UK and USA. One of the most exciting new additions will be a city-wide communities strand to the programme, with events taking place in neighbourhoods across Derry-Londonderry and further afield.”

Details of the programme will be released in April but the organisers have stressed that they’re keen to speak to as many potential partners and participants as they can. “If there’s anyone out there that wants to be part of the festival, now’s the time for them to come talk to us about their ideas.” Mark added.

You can check out last year’s festival programme by visiting www.culturetech.co or get in touch with the team by email on info@nullculturetech.co

Dave Fanning ‘Thumbs Up’ for The Dennis McCalmont Band!

Written by Press Officer on January 27, 2014. Posted in Artist Spotlight, News.

Legendary Irish Radio and Television Presenter ‘Dave Fanning’ has just playlisted ‘Loverboy Blues’ the New Single by ‘The Dennis McCalmont Band’ on his RTE 2fm Radio Show.

This is welcome ‘Good News’ for the Mayo-based four piece, whose recently released #SoulRecall Album has been playlisted on Radio Stations across the Globe including UK, Europe, and the USA.

The Musical tightness of The Dennis McCalmont Band comes from 10 years of loyal friendship and musical explorations with seasoned campaigners Michael Buckton (electric guitar), Craig Donaldson (bass) and Donald Hoban (drums).

Singer Songwriter McCalmont and his band of troupers add their own exquisite personal touches, as can be heard in their exuberant ‘Live’ Performances, and on the most recent recordings of stunning compositions such as ‘Speeding Train’ , ‘Let The Spirit’ and ‘Missing Person’. These recordings feature on the Soul/Funksters’ New Album #SoulRecall, which has been mastered by Ciaran Byrne, whose impressive studio CV includes Sinead O’Connor, U2, Van Morrison and Metallica.