After years of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, Stevie Scullion, AKA Malojian, is about to take his rightful place at Northern Irish rock’s top table.
As he prepares for a show at the Belfast Nashville Songwriters' Festival, Nick Lowe shares anecdotes about Wilco, Elvis Costello and his father-in-law Johnny Cash.
Meet Liz Green, the former teacher who has a voice like Billie Holiday fronting Antony and the Johnsons. Not bad for an artist who’s childhood dream was to the world’s firest female snooker champ.
As one of thousands of aspiring singers waiting tables in LA, Philadelphia girl Christina Perri didn’t stand much of a chance of being discovered, but one YouTube clip and three minutes of television later, she was one of the biggest-selling new artists of the year.
Waterford songsmith Katie Kim charmed us with her debut album Twelve. With the release of her 20-track follow-up Cover And Flood, we’re ready to be swept off our feet all over again.
They’re the comedy hip hop troupe ripping it up in Blighty. Ireland’s Abandoman talk about the challenge of making rhyming funny and discuss larking about with Alexa Chung at Daisy Lowe’s 21st. As you do.
The Northern Ireland music scene has never been in ruder health. As another year stretches ahead, your humble correspondent makes his predictions as to who is going to make it to the top in 2012.
She’s already an eccentric treasure in her native Australia and now she’s ready to take on the world. More importantly, Megan Washington is ready to conquer Ireland.
Formed against a backdrop of intense tragedy We Are Augustines are the Springsteen-sound-alikes you don’t want to slap in the face. Singer Billy McCarthy talks frankly about the family death that inspired the group’s extraordinary debut.
His debut on Shady Records just released, Alabama’s Yelawolf has been tagged of late as a countrified Eminem. Talking to Craig Fitzpatrick, the Southern gent reveals he just wants to make ‘the hip hop Pet Sounds.’
They’re a bunch of hot new rockers with an iconic frontwoman and the stadium sized sound. Meet Sleeper Agent, the coolest thing to come out of Bowling Green, Kentucky since John Carpenter.
Producer, musician, occasional dancer – Cork electro-hound
Toby Kaar is a man of many tricks and talents. 2012 could be his year, once he gets that pesky degree out of the way…
Hmmm... 2011, the year of global economic crisis and a punishing domestic budget. But it seems the old adage of creativity flourishing in times of recession is true, as we added a plethora of top long-players to our iPods, and basked in the glow of a dizzying array of exquisite live performances. Long live the downturn!
Jackie Hayden looks back on a year of exciting new music from emerging Irish artists, amid conflicting views about a number of key issues that will continue to provoke debate
in 2012.
Ahead of their trip to Eurosonic and February show in the Academy, The Minutes fill us in on how they spent Winter 2011 on the road getting hassled by the Bundespolizei.
As Primal Scream prepare for their massive Dublin O2 show on December 29, guitarist Andrew Innes reflects on losing Mani to the Roses, where to next for his own band, the brothers Gallagher and why he’s dying to work with Kevin Shields again.
Pop rock is getting a pretty bad rap these days, but that hasn’t stopped Dublin foursome The Brilliant Things from taking on the charts with their ambitious self-titled debut album.
Celina Murphy meets the UK’s hottest production duo Chase And Status to discuss making dreams come true, putting Rihanna on the backburner and what happened when hundreds of Tom Jones fans turned up at their show.
She’s come from nowhere to be a European-wide chamber pop phenomenon, a veritable Bjork for the dinner party set. But Agnes Obel confesses that overnight success has come at a heavy price.
One drummer boy finding his feet after leaving the grinch in his old band behind, one indie songstress that got snowed in with her new boyfriend. Andy Burrows and Emmy The Great both have Christmas albums out with their new respective musical partners. Let the Yuletide battle commence...
As the divine St. Vincent, Annie Clark performs ethereal orchestral pop. Still even a dulcet indie waif has to cope with a killer hangover every now and then.
Sweeping instrumentals, hallucinations and Liam Neeson. It all adds up to one of Ireland’s most essential new bands. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Overhead, The Albatross.
She’s a muse, a role model and a style icon all in one, but how much do we really know about indie’s favourite frontwoman? Florence Welch opens up to Hot Press about chilling with Karl Lagerfeld, wowing the crowds at the Grammys, and why the best day of her life is just around the corner.
After a seven year sabbatical, Mary Black has released what might very well be the finest album of her long and wildly successful career. Imelda May, America and her musical offspring Danny O’Reilly and Róisín Ó are all up for discussion as she shares a jar with Colm O’Hare.
Good and bad tidings this forthnight. On the positive side, General Fiasco have stopped pandering to the playlisters and released a scrumptious new single. Less positively, the wonderful Cat Malojian are no more. Pass the Kleenex.
Having broken up – romantically if not creatively – with Swell Season partner Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova is now forging a path as a solo artist. She talks about going it alone and discusses for the first time her astonishingly intense relationship with Hansard.
We’ve watched Libertines legend Carl Barât do some crazy things over the years, but joining the cast of a French opera has got to be his most shocking career move yet.
As lead guitarist with The Coral, he helped pave the way for bands like the Arctic Monkeys and The Zutons, but these days, music is taking Bill Ryder-Jones in a totally new direction.
He’d become synonymous with eccentric behaviour, but now Adam Ant has his depression under control and feels more creative than ever. The 80s pop vagabond talks to Stuart Clark about his relationship with punk svengali Malcolm McLaren, his struggles with bi-polar disorder and being "raped" by Steve Jobs.
Jo Whiley talks to Stuart Clark about her crusade to make TV safe again for rock 'n' roll, and why she's pretty sure Bono was joking when he called Chris Martin "a wanker"!
They bonded over their love for Radiohead and originally featured the word ‘camogie’ in their name. You could say We Cut Corners are an indie band with a difference.
The Coronas are on the march. Having spent six weeks in LA working with studio guru Tony Hoffer on their third album Closer to You, they are about to embark on a campaign for world domination that will take them right through next year. So what is it that makes the band tick? In a remarklably revealing interview, Ireland’s most down-to-earth frontman Danny O’Reilly tells Roe McDermott about the making of The Coronas’ masterpiece, why he’d never go solo, working with his mammy – and how a certain blonde beauty has stolen his heart.
Diagnosed last year as suffering from Alzheimer’s, Glen Campbell is Ireland-bound next month for a last hurrah. His hit-laden career, the time he depped for Brian Wilson in the Beach Boys, hanging with Elvis and his remarkable new album are all on the agenda as he talks to Colm O’Hare.
He’s the success story of the year and not even your humble Hot Press know-it-alls predicted it – scruffy song and guitar man Ed Sheeran may have just signed his first record deal six months ago, but he’s already shifted a million singles, with album sales not far behind. Celina Murphy meets the 20 year-old folk-rapper to talk fans, Lego and sneaking into Beyoncé’s album launch.
As Jay-Z’s long-term engineer, Young Guru is responsible for precisely how the hip hop superstar sounds. Fresh from lending a hand to the next wave of talent at the Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid, he spoke to Dave Hanratty about the responsibilities of his job, the importance of education and why Public Enemy’s Chuck D was wrong to single his boss out for criticism.
Putting the Catholic guilt that comes from being of Irish-Mexican stock behind her, Lindi Ortega is staking her claim as a 21st century Dolly Parton, with a little help from Brandon Flowers and… Kevin Costner?
Her foul-mouthed rhymes and fearless attitude make Nicki Minaj look like Taylor Swift, so it’s no surprise that in a few short months, she’s wrapped every discerning music blogger around her little finger. Celina Murphy gets an earful of Azealia Banks.
Two Irish men walk into an Australian bar and start playing dance music together. A decade on, having established themselves abroad, Dave Goode and Johnny Sonic of The Potbelleez are coming home.
In a turnaround that not even the most savvy pop commentators saw coming, Nicola Roberts has done a musical 180°, going from Girls Aloud wallflower to the coolest pop star in Britain in just a matter of months. Celina Murphy hops aboard Team Ginge.
Having lost ground with their extremely difficult second album, CSS have come up with a new record, La Liberación, which returns them to the top of the electro-rock pile. Ed Power talks new beginnings and catsuit chic with Lovefoxx.
After Oasis ended in a flurry of kung-fu kicks and punches, Noel Gallagher went away and quietly made a solo record, which could just be his finest collection of songs yet. In a revealing interview with Stuart Clark, he talks about new beginnings, making babies, Amy Winehouse, Morrissey, John Lydon, the Queen and that violent night in Paris with Liam.
As the Red Bull Music Academy kicks off in Madrid, Declan Lennon, aka superstar DJ in waiting Krystal Klear flies the flag for Ireland. He talks expectations, trends and the popularisation of dubstep with Dave Hanratty.
It reads like the spec of some terrible Hollywood screenplay; troubled young rapper cheats death to become a chart-topping sensation. But Stephen Manderson, aka Professor Green is yet to have his sweeping, orchestral climax.
Love, brotherhood and Japanese robots; you’ll find it all on the debut album by Galway’s answer to Maroon 5. Celina Murphy meets radio-hogging family band The Kanyu Tree
Though it tends to be overlooked in favour of indie and rock, there’s a thriving underground urban scene in this little nation of ours. As he releases his debut EP, French native DJ iZem talks about merging Irish elements with dubstep and reggae to create a unique and exciting sound.
You don’t need me to introduce you to Carrie Davenport. If you’ve picked up this mag at any point over the last few years, or logged on to any number of local band blogs or music sites – the chances are that it’s one of Carrie’s photos that’s snagged your attention.
The Chakras have set up camp in London and have the man who discovered The Verve and The Smashing Pumpkins in their corner – as well as other lovable eccentrics and Chelsea legend Kerry Dixon.
What happens after your opinion-dividing indie band fades away and you find yourself back where you started? For Thrills’ sticksman Ben Carrigan the answer is clear: you reinvent yourself as a sensitive songwriter with aspirations to write for the screen.
He was the boy wonder of country rock before drugs, illness and an inability to rein in his creativity got in the way. Now Ryan Adams is hitched to a movie star and ready to proclaim himself an artist reborn. He talks about the long road to redemption and explains why he was never such a lost soul in the first place.
Mama’s Boys were one of the greatest Irish hard rock bands ever. Guitarist Pat McManus continues to perform and record. He talks guitar with Colm O’Hare
We knew we were in for a great show when we turned up at Spies’ single launch back in April, but we sure as hell didn’t bank on bumping into Morrissey at the merch stand. Celina Murphy tracks down guitarist Neil Dexter to find out how a bunch of teenagers caught the eye of rock’s most discerning frontman.
At just 30 years of age, Lisa Hannigan has gone from being Damien Rice’s sidekick to establishing herself as one of the most important new artists in contemporary Irish music. With the release of her second album, Passenger, she is set to take the world by storm. But behind the natural beauty is a remarkable woman who is beginning to reveal the depth of her mysteries…
He is the singer and songwriter with one of America’s most highly rated cult bands. He is also one of the most acclaimed US novelists to have emerged in recent times. But it would be hard to find anyone less driven by ego or a desire for celebrity than Willy Vlautin, frontman with Richmond Fontaine. In fact what he hankers after is the opportunity to slip off into the woods alone – and write.
London by the way of Wexford and back again, it's been a strange journey for the man with the voice you just can't pinpoint. Since Maverick Sabre last spoke to Hot Press things have really taken off for the "male Amy Winehouse."
She was the overnight sensation ten years in the making. As she prepares to make her way to Sligo Live KT Tunstall talks about how it’s getting ever harder to sell records, speaking her mind about Shakira and being splashed all over the tabloids.
We’ve dug out the party hats and streamers round this manor to celebrate the tenth birthday of Smalltown America Records. Their durability offers an inspirational example for anyone interested in plotting a musical career away from the corporate mothership.
Kinshasa One Two might seem like just another of Damon Albarn’s side-projects, but for the Congolese musicians who play on the record, it’s a rare chance to have their music heard overseas. Celina Murphy meets two of the LP’s producers, Kasabian collaborator Dan The Automator and XL Records boss Richard Russell.
They’ve toured with AC/DC, hung out with the Stones and inspired Def Leppard. Now, The Answer are ready to step up to the next level with their poppiest album yet.
Cult favourites for years, Beirut look set to truly hit the big time in 2011 (they’ve just graced the Hot Press Electric Picnic chat room, for lawd’s sake!). But the road to indie-stardom was far from straightforward for singer Zach Condon, as he explains in a revealing interview.
Once hailed as the voice of a generation, it’s taken Staines rockers Hard-Fi three albums to learn how to keep their egos in check. Celina Murphy sits down with Richard Archer to talk fame, guns and the power of positivity.
With timeless throwback number ‘I Need A Dollar’, Californian neo-soulster Aloe Blacc proved that you don’t need David Guetta and a Soft Cell sample to make it big on the radio. Ahead of his Irish live debut, the honey-voiced singer opens up to Celina Murphy about leaving rap behind...
Rapidly emerging as one of the most inventive and intriguing artists in the land, genre-hopper David Lyttle discusses jazz, hip-hop and his new soul direction.
He was lucky to shift 100 copies of his debut single, but these days, Elliot Gleave will stop at nothing to get a number one album. London rapper-turned-chart-topping dance mogul Example talks to Celina Murphy about fame, collaborating with Faithless and how Kurt Cobain inspired the lyrics on his new album.
Their debut album was an experimental foray into ballsy freaktronica, but on stage Cork trio Zombie Computer really let their eccentricities out. Celina Murphy quizzes the Regional Winners – South about recording, gigging and working with a Motown legend.
It was bare-faced pluck that earned Limerick foursome Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters a place in the Play On The Day finals last week. Now, Celina Murphy catches up with the spirited doom rockers to talk fans, photo shoots and life on the dark side.
They’re the cross border band going places in a hurry. On a cold day in Clontarf Mojo Gogo talk about the North-West musical scene, their burgeoning far east fanbase – and the extremes some fans will go to express their devotion.
They’re young, gloomy and extremely irked over the state of the nation. At least winning Play On The Day seemed to cheer them up. We give you Leaders Of Men, the hot new contenders from south Dublin.
He fantasises about killing Bertie and Biffo, armed himself with a baseball bat during the London riots and has some choice words for people who think he walked out on The Blizzards. He’s also made a solo album, Colourblind Stereo, which he hopes people will care about enough not to illegally download. Niall Breslin pulls no punches talking to Stuart Clark.
They may be Belgian, but there’s precious little waffle as Deus frontman Tom Barman discusses the hard times that inspired the band’s latest record, his relationship with Blur’s Damon Albarn and his parallel career as budding, if occasionally frustrated, filmmaker.
With a glossy mane of shocking red hair, a certain fashion- hungry torch singer was an obvious choice to headline this year's Arthur's Day celebrations, but, as Celina Murphy finds out, there's more to Paloma Faith than a cartoonish sense of style. With a second album on the way, the 26 year- old crooner talks to Hot Press about hooking up with Chaka Khan, Prince and the mysterious MF Doom. Plus, why she can't wait to drape herself across a piano in a dingy Dublin pub (before you ask, yes, she will take requests!).
Gruff Rhys has recently engaged in a collaboration with Phil Collins. Yes, it’s true. Horrified Super Furry Animals fans, please read the small print below before rushing to judgement...
Having spent the last few years taking up the mantle of his hero Bruce Springsteen with The Gaslight Anthem, Brian Fallon is ready to launch his new project, The Horrible Crowes.
They blew Smashing Pumpkins off-stage and, with a little luck, could have been as big as U2. Now the great lost band of 90s indie rock Whipping Boy are on the reunion trail. From his new home in the depths of Leitrim, frontman Fearghal McKee talks about the group's colourful past and their future ambitions.
As excitement over this year’s Arthur’s Day continues to grow, Maud in Cahoots singer Maud Reardon recalls the 2010 festivities, when she got to headline at Guinness Storehouse and share the stage with Gary Lightbody.
Paul Staines’ poisonous pen has made him one of the most influential men in Britain, but don’t worry if you don’t recognise the name. Known by his alias Guido Fawkes, Staines is currently preparing for an appearance at this year’s Electric Picnic. Celina Murphy speaks to the man behind the UK’s most sensational political blog.
Ahead of their Stradbally slot, Ed Power caught up with Arcade Fire, the massive band currently making waves from Stradbally to Saskatchewan. They talk about the pressure of success, the incessant U2 comparisons and explain why they won’t let the haters get them down
If you’ve heard anything by London/New Jersey/Hiroshima rockers Yuck, you’ll know that they’re ‘90s alt. rock revivalists who wear their influences on their sleeves. Celina Murphy catches up with guitarist Max Bloom to talk touring, recording and why they’re determined to kill it at this year’s Electric Picnic.
Ahead of her Electric Picnic slot Hot Press catches up with Joan Wasser — aka Joan As Police Woman. On the agenda? Musical adventures in Ethiopia, James Joyce’s love letters, falling for werewolves and news of a still-under-wraps collaboration. words Craig Fitzpatrick
