Chakra Can
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.
Craig Fitzpatrick, 28 Oct 2011
London calling, London calling… Dubliner Gordo Whittaker is on the line, talking about his band’s new abode.
“We’ve been based here for about a year-and-a-half. We’re all living together bar one of the lads. Nice and intense! We’d done as much as we could do in Dublin. We had interest from UK labels but it’s so hard to get them to fly over to see you in Ireland, so we said let’s just up sticks and go to the source.”
Ah, the glory days of Celtic gloom return. Time to cross the Irish Sea and find some work in Lahn-dahn.
Seems the right course of action for The Chakras thus far. Within six months they’d signed to Planet Function, the rock division of the renowned R&S label. Plus the English crowds have taken to their anthemic, Verve-indebted rock quicksharp.
“They’ve been really receptive,” Gordo enthuses. “Playing Kasabian’s after-show party was absolutely brilliant – fucking nuts! We got onstage at 1.30am and the place was just going insane. Everything from people singing the songs back to us, a mini-riot broke out… we had it all in the space of 45 minutes! Then headlining Club NME at Koko was probably one of the best experiences of my life. You have 1,200 people going absolutely ballistic from the first note to the last.”
So we have five Dublin lads – Gordo and brother Rocky, Ian, Bryan and Richie – spreading the good word of Irish rock around Britain, travelling in an ex-Royal Mail van they “aptly named Eamon.”
Still, they headed home to record that debut LP. Released in September, Build Me A Swan is an atmospheric piece of work, possibly owing to their “semi-haunted” surroundings.
“We went down to this 130 year-old school hall in the middle of nowhere in Roscommon. You couldn’t find another person around if you wanted to. It was an amazing place to write, really bizarre. Doors banging, weird noises. We all got on the buzz and started trying to freak each other out and pull pranks.”
Some more time was spent in Grouse Lodge and then London. And it took time.
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