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Hot To Trot

Record label closure hasn’t stopped post-punk trio Jogging from becoming one of the most talked-about Irish bands of 2012. Darren Craig opens up to Celina Murphy about the making of their courageous second album.

Celina Murphy, 11 Sep 2012

Guitarist and vocalist Darren Craig doesn’t hesitate when I ask what’s his favourite thing about being in a band.

“Playing live is the fun part,” he confesses, and I believe him… at least until he describes what happens when Jogging are actually on stage.

“You’re going hoarse, sweat is dripping into your eyes, your eyes are stinging, you can’t really talk properly, you’re shaking…” he lists.

Granted, it’s not my idea of a good time, but without the tenacious live show, this charging rock trio wouldn’t be where they are today. Which is to say, on the lips of every self-respecting underground rock fan on the island.

“It’s tough,” Craig acknowledges, “particularly when we’re doing a few gigs in a row, but I don’t really see the point of playing in a band if you’re not going to give it 110%.”

Having released their debut LP to modest fanfare in 2010, the relentless rockers hit a minor speed bump in June of this year, when their beloved Richter Collective announced it was shutting its doors. Thankfully, Limerick indie label Out On A Limb offered to pick up where Richter left off, leaving Jogging finally able to unleash their forceful follow-up, Take Courage.

Not that this band have taken the conventional route to success. Craig and fellow vocalist Ronan Jackson only started singing as a “last resort” when auditions failed to yield a suitable new member, and their Stateside-sounding post-punk trademark appears to have come about quite by accident.

“We’ve never really aimed to go for a certain sound or anything,” Craig admits, “it just kind of happened. It just seems to be what the three of us do best together and with the equipment that we have. I’d say if we were in a different room with different equipment it would have been completely different, how the sound turned out.

‘We write in a small practice shed with no soundproofing or anything so it kind of ends up being loud and gritty and aggressive. We all slightly battle each other, not in a bad way, but just kind of trying to push each other for the best we can.”



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