The Sanskrit Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: Northern sounds: In music, timing is just about everything. As they prepare for their moment to shine Andrew Hamilton chats to Sanzkrit frontman Dave Marron, the latest offspring of the new northern scene.

FEBRUARY 2006, and the world begins to spin for Sanzkrit. Tipped by Hotpress and others as one of the hopes of the year, the Monaghan four-piece seemed on the very cusp of something. An EP was released and well received, and all seemed just right for take-off. But even then, as the buzz began to gather around them, the band showed that most unusual of characteristics, patience. Still adjusting to life as a four- piece, somewhere deep inside the Sanzkrit psyche they knew that the timing wasn’t right, they just weren’t ready. Their time would come, but just not then. “Yeah, that EP was the first thing that really launched us nationwide and a lot of things started to kick off for us from there. The reviews were positive so we knew that we were moving in the right direction. There was a bit of a buzz in the area with bands like The Flaws starting to get a lot of interest from record labels who were coming to the shows. We were playing at a lot of those shows with The Flaws so instead of splashing out and getting a loan to record an album then, we decided to hold out and see would a deal come through. We held back from doing it all DIY at that stage. I guess we were very young and we didn’t have the fan base. I think it might have been a waste at that time, you know, we didn’t want to record an album that people wouldn’t hear. We want- ed our debut album to be special and the last thing we wanted was for our first real piece of music to be falling on deaf ears,” said Dave. 

CPIArchive2008d · The Sanzkrit Podcast

The Lisa Hannigan Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: Sewing it alone. With a new album and a new musical life, Lisa Hannigan is an artist on the up. Andrew Hamilton chats to the soft spokes songstress and find out about making music as a cottage industry and life after Damien Rice.

LOOKING in from the fringes, all seemed calm. Six years had brought unriveled success; countless gigs in sold-out venues, three million album with all the trimmings. The kingdom was theirs to share. On March 26 last however, all that changed. On that day Damien Rice announced to the world that his professional relationship with Lisa Hannigan had “run its creative course”. Suddenly, and for the first time in her career, Lisa was unemployed. While the exact ins and outs of the ending of this musical pairing remain a mystery, Hannigan’s six years on the road with Rice are times that she remembers fondly. "I never really found it [working with Rice] stifling. I mean, I met wonderful people during that time, a lot of the people that I am still working with. To get to travel and play gigs and see how that works, and then to do recordings and learn how that worked, I learned so much from that and had a lot of fun doing it at the same time,” she said. 

CPIArchive2008d · The Lisa Hannigan Podcast

Unseen Sounds: The Van Diemens Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: REARED in Miltown Malbay on a steady diet of trad and roots, J Healy was a soul destined to sing. From his earliest days, playing on the accordion at the feet of his father Jack, his life has been propelled forward by sounds and words. Trad was his first love, but it wasn’t until years later when he would discover the music that would truly drive him forward. Word by Andrew Hamilton.  

“I grew up in a house full of music. My dad played the button accordion and a lot of trad music. He played the piano and the accordion as well, he gigged all his life and just loved music. I started off playing guitar and bass and a bit of banjo and the fiddle. When I left west Clare to go to college in the NCAD in Dublin I saw Rory Gallagher on the TV one night. I was blown away. He had the whole lot: the passion, the power, the image, the balls and the honest," said J. 

CPI Archive 2008c · The Van Diemens Podcast

The May Kay Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: Anointed since conception, karate rockers Fight Like Apes are about to fulfill their musical destiny. Ahead of the launch of their debut album next week, Andrew Hamilton chews the fat with head monkey, Maykay.

FIGHT Like Apes are a band of contradiction. Too filthy for pop, too sugary for punk and too technologically inept to be takes seriously in the world of electronica. Devoid of a category they invented their own, and are now the undisputed kings of the world of karate rock. Yet the contradictions don’t stop there. Whether through their live set (all head-butts and handstands), general image or lyrical references to cutting people with glass, the Apes have garnered a reputation, in some quarters at least, for being that bit aggressive. That image is something they were keen to ad- dress when putting together their debut album. “People will hear a different side to us in this album. I think that songs like ‘Tie Me Up In Jackets’ and ‘Knuckle Head’ are a bit of a new side to us, something that people maybe haven’t seen yet. I mean, those songs were written a long time, back at the same time as ‘Jake Summers’ or ‘Digifucker’, but they are different,” says Maykay. 

CPI Archive 2008c · The MayKay Podcast

Unseen Sounds: The Serious Mischief Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: STARTED life as west Clare’s first reggae covers band, Serious Mischief have taken the long route to composition and original music. Words by Andrew Hamilton. 

After a decade in the shank, the Lahinch five piece are branching out and are expanding their unique musical canvas. Serious Mischief go into the studio next week to record their debut album. Still centred in reggae, the album promises to be an infusion of different styles, sounds and attitudes. “It’s unique music all right, and it’s not necessarily all reggae either. There is all sorts of influences on the album - we are not strictly sticking to that genre. But reggae is where we are coming from so that might be the most apparent,” said Jon. 

CPI Archive 2008c · Unseen Sounds: The SeriousMischied Podcast

The Travis Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: After capturing our hearts with their unique brand of Scot-Pop, Travis are about to bare their teeth. Andrew Hamilton talks through the rebirth of the invisible band with stickman Neil Primrose.

YEARS before Hendrix stole his flaming guitar trick from Pete Townshend’s bag of musical tricks, the scene had already been well set. Whether recording overdubs in toilet cubicles or ritually sacrificing your instruments at the end of each show – a band’s first instinct has always been to gather near the chaos at the edge of reality. No guitar player begins life wanting to write songs about broken love with happy endings. Similarly no young drummer ever imagines a future playing slow foxtrot beats while his lead singer drones on ad nauseam about one thing or another. Put simply, the first inclination of any band member is always to rock. It is perhaps this primal musical instinct which has led Travis to take their new album Ode to J Smith in a totally new direction. “It’s definitely a more raw album. Totally. I think it’s been a reaction to spending two years making the last album with that melodic pop thing that we do very well. I think we wanted to do the same as we have always done except to do it a lot quicker,” said Neil.

CPI Archive 2008c · The Travis Podcast

The Jon Kenny Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: After battling illness and a crisis of style, Jon Kenny is back and ready for road. Andrew Hamilton chats to the Limerick comedian about about turning back to front for his new, stripped down show. 

IT’S often said that life begins at 50. That along with a cake and an extra handful of grey-hair; the turning of the half-century brings with it a new sense of freedom. Like somewhere, somehow, a mystical reset button has been pushed and the past is wiped clean. The future becomes once again undetermined. In the Summer in 2000, with the d’Unbelievables clearing all before them, you might have thought that the future seemed anything but undetermined for Jon Kenny and Pat Shortt. Ongoing success seemed assured, as Ireland’s greatest comedy double act carved out their place in history. It was in those months however that Kenny was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma - and in a blinking, everything had changed. After battling through his illness, Kenny reemerged in an entertainments world that he no longer recognised and was forced to build again from scratch. The intervening years have seen him gain much critical acclaim as a theatre actor, musician and singer - but they also seen a more surprising change - the reinvention of his first love and the forging of a new comic talent. It’s been almost like starting from scratch, but I guess I’ve been in lucky in a lot of ways with this one. I wanted to take a lot of the stuff out of the set and just deal with myself,” said Kenny.

CPI Archive 2008c · The Jon Kenny Podcast

The 28 Costumes Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: 28 Costumes have emerged as the great white hope of the Liverpool music scene. Andrew Hamilton chats to front man Tony Reilly about carrying a city’s expectation, Jay Leno and the Spank album that never was. 

THEY say you should never meet your heroes. That’s true perhaps, but as Tony Reilly from 28 Costumes (the Cossies) will surely testify, it can sometimes pay to follow your hero around Austin Texas for a week and then ring up his wife one morn- ing for a chat.That bizarre scene, which unfolded at last years South By Southwest Festival (SXSW), allowed the Cossies to make their American television debut on the Jay Leno Show and have a brief encounter of the best kind with the Flaming Lips. “We went to SXSW last year and we have always been huge fans of the Flaming Lip. I remember when we were starting off the band we always used to talk about the bands who would influence us and the ideology of the music that we wanted to make. One of those bands was definitely the Flaming Lips. So Wayne Coyne has always been a huge hero for us,” said Tony Reilly.

CPI Archive 2008c · The 28 Costumes Podcast

The Mark James Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: As he prepares to embark on his musical odyssey, Andrew Hamilton has a questions and answers session with Moyasta singer songwriter Mark James.

AH: First of all Mark, what got you into music? Mark: When I was a kid my parents were into old rock and roll - 60’s and 70’s rock and roll like Dylan and Hendrix - all the obvious ones. They were really into music and I can remember myself and my brother sifting through their records and pretending to be DJ’s. We would listen to their music for hours. 

CPI Archive 2008c · The Mark James Podcast

Unseen Sounds: The Meadhbh Boyd Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: CLASSICAL pianist, pop-minimalist and trad troubadour - Meadhbh Boyd is very much her own woman. Painted since birth on a rich musical canvas, this multi-instrumentalist straddles genres with ease - always mixing, always shaping.

Her music may be difficult to categorise, not sitting too snugly into any pigeonhole, but it sounds different and original. And that, for Meadhbh, is the most important thing. “Ya I suppose that musically I am in a bit of an identity crisis right now. But I don’t think that it is a negative thing necessarily. Maybe it might be- come a negative thing in the future - people like to know what you do and what you’re up to - they like putting people in a box. At the moment I don’t think I necessarily fit into any of those boxes. But you work with what you’ve got. You have to work it, you have to find your comfort zone and be bold. You have to have some neck and confidence.”

CPI Archive 2008c · Unseen Sounds: The Meadhbh Boyd Podcast

The Saw Doctors Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: Reluctant heroes. Andrew Hamilton chews the fat with Leo Moran from the Saw Doctors.

THE air was thick and bitter-sweet as Peter O’Toole climbed the 17 steps from the floor to the stage of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angles on a May evening in 2003. More than 40 years in the business, and with seven Oscar nominations already under his belt, you might have thought the overriding emotion would have been one of joy, satisfaction at very least. Yet, as O’Toole finally grasped his honorary Oscar, the reality of the situation came into focus - he would never win an Oscar for real. Many of the same emotions clouded a Dublin stage in December as the Saw Doctors claimed their Lifetime Achievement Meteor Award. “I said at the time that we were going to treat it like a milestone and not a tombstone and I’ll stick to that. It is a double edged sword to get a lifetime achievement award. But you have to take what you get in terms of the media and awards. All the people who have got that award in the past are still there, still alive and kicking,” said Leo. 

CPI Archive 2008c · The Saw Doctors Podcast

The Jimmy Cake Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: Andrew Hamilton chats to Lisdoonvarna man Jürgen Simpson, one giant slice of The Jimmy Cake.

WHETHER you view it as a great experiment - concocted by a crack team of mad musical scientists – or the accidental result of unprotected innovation in sound, The Jimmy Cake is the beautiful freak of Irish music. With undoubted passion and an unbridled sense of experimentation, the band managed to at once break every rule, while at the same time stay true to the values of their craft.  Over the last eight years they have turned all perception of Irish pop on its head, proving that different can be popular and have shown themselves as much much more than a group of classical virtuosos on a slumming mission. In the early days of the Jimmy Cake the band was really only an experiment. No one expected to turn into anything like it did. We had no lead singer, no singer at all in fact and with some very unorthodox instrumental groupings,” says Jürgen. 

CPI Archive 2008c · The Jimmy Cake Podcast

The Rory Gallagher Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: Rising out of the ashes: Andrew Hamilton caught up with former Revs front-man, Rory Gallagher, and found out about his slow redemption in Lanzarote and the Clare man who saved his career.

THERE was a moment when everything went black for the Revs. After cornering the Irish tiny-rocker market in the early breaths of the naughties - the boys from Donegal soon discovered that everything they touched no longer turned to gold. They were growing older, and with that their music had started to change and mature. The decision that presented itself was both simple and brutal; stay frozen in time like a musical Peter Pan and keep selling records or, be true to themselves, change styles and take the chance of falling into obscurity. They chose the latter, and like so many decisions made with righteous intent, they paid the price. Their final twist came early last year, in a small German town, in the middle of the bands last tour. One morning, in the early German mist, a line was drawn in the sand. Staying put meant a short walk to the tour bus where their manager was waiting patiently, while stepping over that line meant a trip to the airport and a quick yet still painful death. “The weird thing about it is that it never came to a total close. We never really fell out or never really broke the band up per say. It just went really stale. We went through three managers in six years and we were just running out of options. I sensed it was over when we were in Germany - our third album was doing much better over there than it was in Ireland. We were touring around there and playing some really good gigs but, at the same time, we were all coming home from there with €100 each for a tour. That’s tough when you are turning 26 or 27,” said Rory. 

CPIArchive2008b · The Rory Gallagher Podcast

Unseen Sounds: The Breakdown Rambler Podcast

CPI Archive: Unseen Sounds: Breakdown Rambler.

BANDS are like families right? Well, if so, allow me to introduce the Breakdown Rambler clan. A mixed marriage of folk and rock, the family is held together by twin sons, trad and funk, perpetually screaming for attention the back seat of the car, while old grandpa blues sleeps gently in his rocker. This, you might say, is a long way to go for a simple image, but in my experience there’s nothing like the gratuitous use of a metaphor to perk the interest for what’s to come... “We all got together in college and met through the MusicSoc up in Galway. Niall and Fiachra were doing a lot of busking at the time and one night we got drunk together in the GPO and said fuck it, we’d form a band. We were a long time looking for a drummer until we found Guillaume - and then the civil service stole him. It’s true actually, every member in the band is a civil servant bar me,” said Joycey. 

CPIArchive2008b · Unseen Sounds: The Breakdown Rambler Podcast

The Seneca Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: As they prepare to take on America this autumn, Andrew Hamilton has a little Q&A with Liscannor-based band Seneca. 

Seneca: statesman, stoic and advisor to Nero. As unlikely as it may seem, there would appear to be some genuine parallels between the Roman philosopher who lived in the time of Christ and the local band that shares his name. Like the philosopher, this Clare, Limerick and Mayo hybrid have had to graft hard to find their place in the sun. Both also possess a fine command of language, an ear for the philosophical and both left their place of birth in search of success and fame. AH: So tell us, how did Seneca come into the world? Rob: Well we have been going together for about three years now. Brendan is from Scariff and Daragh is from Sixmilebridge and we all came together down in Limerick. I’m from Mayo myself and myself, Daragh and Yvonne, the base player, had been in a band before who broke up.  

CPIArchive2008b · The Seneca Podcast

The Dandy Warhols Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: In Fathead Bohemia. Andrew Hamilton caught up with Brent “Fathead” DeBoer of the Dandy Warhols and chats about recording pressure, the mysterious Odditorium and the love/love relationship with My Bloody Valentine.

GREAT conifers give way to concrete at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. There, in the shadow of the green mountains, lies Portland - town of many horizons. Over rock to the north is Seattle and the cold razors edge of grunge and post-punk. Yet, a short migration south brings San Francisco, with the heavy heat of Golden Gate Park and a flower on every musician. The baby bear in this musical Goldilocks zone, Portland is neither too hot nor too cold. It may rain all year round but, musically at least, the weather there is just right. There, from the cold steal of the Fremont Bridge, the great Odditorium comes into view. A mass of amps, video cameras and ashtrays - the Odditorium is a meeting ground for the creatives and home of the Dandy Warhols. “There was the same pressure recording this album as it always has been - it’s just a constant stream of decision after decision. I mean we are always trying to make the grooviest record that we possibly can,” said Brent DeBoer of the Dandy Warhols. 

CPIArchive2008b · The Dandy Warhols Podcast

The MP3Hugger Podcast

A Clare-based blogger has begun a revolution in music. Andrew Hamilton talks to MP3Hugger about the release of his first record and the true meaning of independent music.

THERE are points in history that resonate long after they have past. On June 10, 1789, the Communes of Paris rose up in revolution and in an instant gave the people of the world the values of liberty, equality and fraternity. On August 6, 1945, a small metal device called ‘Little Boy’ landed on the rural Japanese city, ending one war, but shaping decades of politics that have yet to fully play out. June 13, 1985 was one such day. On that day in Wembley Stadium, the eyes of the world watched as art stopped imitating life and began instead, to shape it. It was on that day also that U2 stepped up, and in twelve and a half minutes of musical perfection transformed themselves from mere musicians to musical and cultural icons. But there was an even greater resonance. U2s Live Aid performance helped launch thousands of new bands in hundreds of countries. And with that, the musical journey of the MP3Hugger. “I guess I’ve always been mad into music and indie music in particular. I remember going to college back in Galway and really getting into The Wedding Present and Toasted Heretic, people like that. But ever since I watched Live Aid back in 1985 and watching that U2 performance, I don’t know, I guess since then music has just meant something special to me,” said the MP3Hugger.

CPIArchive2008b · The MP3Huggar Podcast

The Nanci Griffith Podcast

CPI Archive 2008: Nanci Griffith is a phenomenon of country music. The Grammy winner chats candidly to Andrew Hamilton about beating cancer, the Blue Moon Orchestra and what she likes to call the Irish factor. 

TEXANS are hard-headed creatures. At their best, they can be stubborn old dogs - never ready to admit defeat or raise the white flag. At their worst, well, at their worst their sheer single-mindedness and determination can be overwhelming, almost in fact to the point of nausea. There’s more than a touch of that single-mindedness in Nanci Griffith. A daughter of Austin - home of the City Limits, South by Southwest and the infamous 6th Street clubs - she possesses a unique cultural geography; the hardness of Texas and the softness of Austin. It’s a combination that has clearly worked. Having spent decades using her Austin side to graft her way to the top of the country music pile she was struck down with breast cancer back in 1996. After digging deep and beating that off, she was struck again in 1998, this time with thyroid cancer. It was at this time that the thick- skinned Texan came to the fore. “It was tough but you get through it,” said the 55-year-old. “It effects you, I think it changes you. But in a good way. I think that it teaches you to live in the moment and enjoy every minute of your life. If it’s not fun don’t do it."

CPIArchive2008b · Nanci2021

The Gorbachov Podcast

CPI Archive July 2008: As he packs his bags for a two week Latvian odyssey, Gorbachov’s Alan Hennessy took five minutes to share his thought on Rage Against the Machine, Waterford and the pressures of being Ireland’s best young band. Words by Andrew Hamilton.

WHEN the Soviets held sway in the east - and the cold hands of Stalin and Malenkov gripped nations beneath the hammer and the sickle, the land, it seemed, was at peace. Held together by fear, the communist nations were silent places - devoid of unauthorised festival and music. When Bethel in west New York, Woodstock to you and me, exploded into three days of music and peace in the autumn of 1969, the communists, for once, had no answer. But much has changed in Eastern Europe since those dark days and festivals like Exit in Serbia and Sziget in Budapest are now among the biggest and best in the world. It is perhaps slightly fitting then that an Irish band called Gorbachov (purposely misspelled I’m told) should now be undertaking a festival mission out east. “We are heading over to the Salacgriva AB Festival which is the Latvian version of Oxygen or the Electric Picnic. It’s great, we have four or five dates in Latvia then over the next few weeks. Fatboy Slim is playing at the festival on the same day we are playing and the Manic Street Preachers are playing the day before. There will be a heap of Latvian bands as well of course,” says Alan. 

CPIArchive2008b · The Gorbachov Podcast