Category: Entries 2011 P-T

The Kartels – Don’t Let Them Get You Down

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Q1. Where are you from?

All members are from Dublin.

Q2. Musical influences?

Guns ‘n’ Roses, Jimi Hendrix, Rage Against The Machine, Alice In Chains, Metallica, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, David Bowie, Neil Young, Paul Weller, Manic Street Preachers, The Rolling Stones & U2Oasis, The Beatles, The Sex Pistols, Stone Roses, The Who,The Jam, Paul Weller and Neil Young.

Q3. What’s your song writing process?

Philip and Aidan are the song writers in the band. They first come up chords and then the melody and then try get the topic/words to suit the tune.

Q4. Most bizarre gig experience?

Playing in the local pub when an intoxicated man who looked like Topcat the cartoon character, came up and start changing the settings on the amps and trying to sing into the microphone to one of our songs.

Q5. If you could share the stage with anyone, who would it be and why?

Kings of Leon as they are producing great albums one after the other. Also their live shows are brilliant and create a great energy. The most top rated band at present.

 

In their own words

In 2007, Aidan McKeever and Philip Hennessy, joined together to write songs while keeping an eye out for a bassist and drummer. Phil and Aidan were alreadyacquainted having worked together on several other bands. The break-up of a local brand Gengus, came as a god send for the lads, as it resulted in Dean Doyle joining up with them, now all they needed was a drummer to complete the band. It was at Oxegen that year when Rob Kavanagh joined the band. After a conversation with Dean the guitarist decide to ditch his axe and take up the bass instead. Thus, The Kartels were born.

The band’s early days were spent gigging in venues synonymous with Dublin’s music scene such as EamonnDoran’s  and The Hub. It wasn’t long beforeTheKartel’s retreated to local venues in order to fund the recording of  their first song. Until Tomorrow was recorded in the Orion Recording Studios located inBlessington Lake, where the likes of Jaded Sun and TheJordonaires have also recorded. The band continued to play locally, building a strong following and raising their profile. After raising enough funds the band then recorded their second song, The same old feeling, in the K9 Studios in Deansgrange. The band enjoyed the hospitality so much so they returned to the studio to record yet more songs.

The Last two years have been kind to the band, not only have they broken out of the local scene to take on venues such as Whelans and The Mezz with great success. Since 2007 they have mastered their performance, meshing well together and finding their definitive sound. Their resonance has been compared to that of Liverpudlian Band , The Coral, and they have become one of the unsigned bands to see in Dublin.

 

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The Ambertones – Tonight

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Q1. Where are you from?

Knocklyon/Rathfarnham area in Dublin.

Q2. Musical influences?

The Beatles are the dominant reason why we started learning our instruments. We massively try to emulate the catchy element of their music. Other influences include Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Thin Lizzy, The Kinks. On a more contemporary level, Radiohead, Oasis, John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Mumford and Sigur Ros are enormous influences. Irish heroes such as Thin Lizzy, Glen Hansard, U2, Snow Patrol, The Coronas are enormously inspiring for us also.

Q3. What’s your song writing process?

Song writing process is simple. First comes the music as we write songs to sum up how we’re feeling. Then the lyrics will be built from the mood of the song. We tend to write positive songs about aspiring to make a name for ourselves in the industry as we feel everyone can associate with the dream of being successful at anything they might do.

We very much follow the process of verse-bridge-chorus in order of establishing a build within the song. We very much seek for our songs to reach a certain peak in order for listeners to get into the songs and we believe this is what makes them memorable. Therefore, with a catchy song that listeners can empathise with, we believe we have the perfect mix for a successful song.

Q4. Most bizarre gig experience?

Most bizarre experience was when we got asked to play a random gig in the Sugar Club by a booking agent we know well. We arrived for the sound check and saw that we were playing before Director and the Coronas which terrified us. It so was bizarre gracing the same stage as such incredible bands who went on to do amazing things in the industry. It was instantly obvious how tight those bands were compared to us so it gave us a nice wake up call to get our act together.

Q5. If you could share the stage with anyone, who would it be and why?

I think individually we would all pick different people but we would all agree that jamming with John Mayer would be a dream come true. If anyone knows him well they’d know that he is probably the best guitarist around these days. If anyone has seen his “Where the Light is” DVD you can see him do things no one else can on a lead guitar. Another reason for picking him is that he has an 11 piece band playing comprised of outrageous musicians so sharing a stage with them would be out of this world. We would recommend everyone to check him out. We must mention Sigur Ros also though. Their live act is sensational as well as being so unique.

 

In their own words

The Ambertones formed in June 2010 after they secured a support role in the prestigious Academy venue in Dublin. The Rathfarnham based band followed this success by performing in exclusive venues such as Whelan’s, The Sugar Club and the Village. They completed the year writing new material before finally deciding on Driftwood Studios to record their debut EP with Jason Carroll. The band released their self titled EP on March 3rd on iTunes on the same day as their EP launch in Crawdaddy. The “Tones” received an incredible reception and also debuted new tracks such as “The Fighter” and “Good Luck is on the Way”.

The EP launch and recent gigs have brought great attention to this exciting new band. Myspace hits have already reached over 35,000 and sales on iTunes remain extremely consistent. The Ambertones aim to expand by seeking entry onto the Irish festival scene in summer 2011.

To find out more check out their Myspace.

 

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Tara Stewart – Yellow Man

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Q1. Where are you from?

I am from a small-ish town called Alice Springs in the Northern Territory in Australia AKA right in the middle of the country.

Q2. Musical influences?

My musical influences would be Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Buckley and new acts such as Sia and Marina and the Diamonds.  I also love watching other acts at sessions for example gives me a lot of inspiration to write.

Q3. What’s your song writing process?

My process is to write down interesting quotes people say to me throughout my life and then I form a story/song around that. For example when I was back home in Australia and my partner was in Holland he sent me a Christmas present, and when I received it my father said “I hope that’s not a diamond in that box”. So from that I made the lyric in one of my songs called Timeout “my papa said I hope that’s not a diamond in that box”.

I love to exaggerate normal events and stories in my own life because it helps me create something interesting however at the same time it also has some meaning and a connection to me to it.

Q4. Most bizarre gig experience?

Hmmm bizarre gig experience, I do not recall anything to crazy but one interesting event was being asked to sing Mustang Sally at a gig and the man offered me 100 Aus Dollars just to sing that song.

Q5. If you could share the stage with anyone, who would it be and why?

I would definitely share it with Stevie Nicks! I love her voice, style everything.

 

In their own words

Tara is a 20 year old Irish/Indian musician born and bred in Australia. Having grown up right in the centre in a town called Alice Springs Tara learnt many instruments from a young age, these included Guitar, Flute, Drums, Mandolin, Accordion, Singing and recently the Saxophone.

In 2007 Tara recorded her first EP in Sydney and soon supported headline Australian acts such as Jet, The Waifs, Behind Crimson Eyes and Jon Stevens.

For the last couple of years Tara has been teaching the Flute and Voice to students. She was also featured in a female magazine called REAL mag for her artwork whilst also selling her work all across the country to businesses, individuals and boutiques.

2011 is the year Tara decided to move from Alice Springs to Dublin to expand her music and explore the world outside her home for a while. Soon Tara will be recording a new EP and she is hoping to be participating in many festivals to come this year.

 

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Supertonic Sound Club – Truly Something Special

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Q1. Where are you from?

We’re a Dublin based band but have members from the USA, Armenia, the UK as well as from Ireland.  As the title suggests, we’re a ‘sound club’ so we also have a number of guests involved too who come from France, Jamaica and beyond!

Q2. Musical influences?

We’ve huge admiration for the great studios and labels like Stax, Tamala Motown & Studio One and their way of working with their house bands providing such an identifiable sound.

Q3. What’s your song writing process?

It varies but sometimes a couple of us work on new tracks together, often imagining how for example the likes of Al Wilson, Jean Knight, Ken Boothe etc. would’ve sounded like singing them.  This  gives the track some identity and from there we pass it onto our organ player/producer, Jim who adds some finishing touches or some more ideas.  As we were writing ‘Scheherazade’, we had some of the old reggae singers in mind and luckily we then managed to get Dave Barker on board.  We have plans to approach some of our other favourite singers from the Northern Soul and Reggae scenes to provide vocals on some of the new tracks we’re recording at the moment.

Q4. Most bizarre gig experience?

We’re just really getting going on the live scene this year so no bizarre experiences as yet.  It wasn’t a gig but our appearance on Balcony TV must’ve looked quite bizarre as 9 of us piled onto a tiny apartment balcony

Q5. If you could share the stage with anyone, who would it be and why?

We all really got met out of a mutual interest in Northern Soul, Boogaloo Jazz and Funk, Ska/Reggae and Brit R’n’B so we’d love to share a stage with some of the original artists from those genres.

 

In their own words

Supertonic Sound Club are a new Dublin based 8 piece band playing a mix of soul-funk with a touch authentic reggae/ska.

Mark Lamarr, BBC Radio 2: “Very nice funky soul…superb!”

Craig Charles, BBC 6 Music: “I really rate this Dublin based outfit…clever arrangements and they’ve done a fine job of attracting vocalists who can really carry the tunes”

Eamon Carr, The Herald: “Supertonic Sound Club to go supersonic…infectious”

Eoin Butler, The Irish Times: “Top-notch”

Chris Maher, 4FM: “Absolutely fantastic”

Last year the band recorded a 5 track session for the BBC (for Mark Lamarr’s ‘God’s Jukebox’ show), made live appearances on RTE’s ‘The View’ and 2FM’s ‘The Tommy & Hector Show’ as well as releasing their debut single (on limited edition 7 inch vinyl only).

Their debut album is due to be released later this year featuring a number of vocalists including New York’s Shelly Bukspan, London’s Saranagati and Jamaican Reggae legend, Dave Barker, the voice of Dave & Ansel Collins who scored a UK No. 1 in 1971 with ‘Double Barrel’.

www.myspace.com/supertonicsoundclub

www.facebook.com/supertonicsoundclub

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Supercasino – Neighbourhood

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Q1. Where are you from?

We all descend from different areas, but were raised in or around the town of Saffron Walden, Essex.

Q2. Musical influences?

Writing wise I wouldn’t say we use influences although we are all massive fans of different styles and genres of music

Q3. What’s your song writing process?

We can start by writing the hooks and melodies add vocals then structure, or we have ideas that we just jam with and they develop from there.

Q4. Most bizarre gig experience?

A bus load of B’day revelers decided to hold party at a gig we did, and everyone in fancy dress, so we played to Darth Vadar, a giant smurf and the Seven Dwarves

Q5. If you could share the stage with anyone, who would it be and why?

Freddie Mercury…enough said!

 

In their own words

Supercasino are a five piece band hailing from the rural town of Saffron Walden, Essex. Consisting of Colin Finlay on vocals, Si Phillips and Dan Edmans lead guitars, Tom Rose Bass and Paul Williams on drums. This vibrant lively bunch play an energetic, ecletic range of sounds hooks and beats, delving into punk, ska, hiphop, indie, funk beats to really raise the roof off of any venue they ply their trade in. A must see for the future.

 

 

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