Tasked with interviewing 10 bands appearing at this weekend's 10th anniversary Hard Working Class Heroes, LAUREN MURPHYdevised a crafty format – get them to come up with questions for each other. Dublin four-piece Bouts kick off by firing a deep probe at Hush War Cry
BOUTS: If you could be any other band at any other time, who would it be and why?
HUSH WAR CRY: We would be Tears for Fears, on March 7th, 1983, the day they released their debut album, The Hurting. Were currently attempting to write our first album; what a feeling it would be to have written a record as timeless and brilliant as theirs. Here’s hoping!
Our question: What are your favourite lyrics or spoken words of all time, and why?
SERTONE (SertOne): As an instrumental artist/producer, I couldn’t think of a more difficult question – but has to be a lyric I chose to get incorporated into a tattoo. It’s taken from J Dilla’s Nothing Like This, from the Chrome Children compilation out on Stone’s Throw. “Incomplete when you’re away, you turn my nights into days”. Sounds like something from an emo band, not a gully rapper/producer from Detroit – but that’s the genius of Dilla.
My question: You can take one dead musician/celebrity to a dinner party – who and why?
SI SCHROEDER: To have to go to a dinner party at all, let alone bring a musician or celebrity with me, seems a grim fate – inarticulacy or egomania! Should I choose an inspiration? Someone to learn from? Or an entertaining guest? For charisma and wit, John Lennon would be ideal – but he’d drink too much before the soup and belittle everyone. Imagine interrogating Franz Schubert over the cheese plate about unwritten symphonies. However, I think I’d choose Robert Johnson: in a low murmur, beneath the babble of cross-table small talk, fuelled by whiskey and cigars, he’d whisper the truth of that meeting at the crossroads.
My question: How do you know when a song or piece of music you’ve been working on is finished?
GROOM: I actually think a song is never truly finished and is subject to change at any time. But there’s often a point at which you intuitively realise that the song is making you feel the way you want it to. That’s the point at which we can play it live without feeling The Fear – or commit it to record – and hope that others feel this too.
Our question: How important is collaboration in creating your music? Do you think that a singular vision is more important, or is working with others best?
YOUNG WONDER: I think collaboration is extremely important for the Young Wonder sound. When you think about it, our music is a collaboration anyway, I suppose, between my beats and Rachel’s vocals. Personally, as a producer I love working with different people. It’s like you’re musically creating an image for the artist in your head and it’s exciting trying to get that idea out. I think I work best with people, especially if I am a fan of their work already, as that just makes it easier and all the more fun to do.
Our question: When working on your music, how do you start a track? And what inspires you to make music?
SIMON BIRD: I generally start with a small loop; something textural, a simple chord progression or beat, and then start adding layers to it until the loop that I’m left with is quite dense. Then I’ll deconstruct it, and start building the structure of the song out of the different layers, deciding when I want the different parts to come in, etc. When I was growing up, I always saw myself as having a future in visual arts. I think the reason I switched to music is because it became clear to me when I started university that I lacked the passion of other students in my class. It’s a boring answer, but I think what inspires me to make music is just simply my love of music. It’s the only thing in which I have both a genuine interest and a degree of competency.
My question: At this stage, we are all well aware of the fast-approaching Rapture, the destruction of mankind and the violent deaths of everyone we care about at the hands of our oppressive reptilian overlords. With that in mind, how do you justify working in the self-indulgent field of independent music?
OWENSIE: Force of habit.
My question: In the process of choosing a name for your band, who came up with the worst name – and what was it?
COME ON LIVE LONG: One of the names suggested was Theatre of Lunacy. The person who suggested it shall remain nameless for the purpose of not getting slagged! We’re still called Theatre of Lunacy at our rehearsal studio, actually – we never changed the name on the account, so when we ring to book a slot, there’s always a bit of confusion. We should really sort that out.
Our question: In your experience, how do you think the Irish gigging scene compares to other countries?
EATENBYBEARS: It’s a double-edged sword. There are so many gigs by great Irish (and visiting) acts that don’t get the attendance they deserve here; crowds are diluted across events in cities where there could be 20 great shows a week. Also, as we learned in Portugal, the sun changes everything. Nobody wants to go out in the rain, and open-air gigs can be amazing.
Our question: What would your dream project as an act be if there were no restrictions, financially or otherwise? (World tour on stilts? 10-disc album produced by Timbaland?)
BOUTS: Play every major festival in the world in one year, with Spike Jonze shooting the whole thing before crafting the action into an Eternal Sunshine-like musical mind melt that leaves viewers stunned and moved upon its celebrated cinematic release. Thereafter, Bouts retire into mysterious reclusiveness.
Heroes one and all: HWCH 2012 highlights
LISA O’NEILL
Beguiling folk-pop from the wilds of Cavan that’s as feisty as it is funny, with a hugely memorable voice and songs about Bob Dylan, heartbreak and all points in between.
CONOR MASON
There are echoes of Badly Drawn Boy in this Derryman’s sound, but his indie blend of piano and warm harmonies is distinctive in its own right.
GIRL BAND
The Dublin quartet’s loud, trashy sound borrows liberally from punk, metal and grunge. Prepare to be deafened.
SHIPS
Slickly modern synthpop from girl/boy duo that effortlessly references the likes The Human League without sounding dated.
HERITAGE CENTRE
They’ve been around a few years, but these indie rockers understand the importance of fine-tuning. Nods to bands such as Grandaddy and Weezer abound.
EATENBYBEARS
Belfast by way of Brooklyn. Some of Eatenbybears’ songs sound distinctly Vampire Weekend-esque, with afro-beat rhythms and harmonies. Others sound like Foals at a fairground. It’s all good.
THE STRYPES
The past-their-bedtime jokes have already been done to death. The only point of mentioning these rock’n’rolling teenagers’ ages is to acknowledge their unbelievable proficiency.
DOTT
This woozy, grungey, garage-pop trio from Galway have some sharp, snappy songs and great harmonies in their canon.
DEAF JOE
Deaf Joe’s dreamy, dark lullabies based around piano and guitar aren’t exactly your average Saturday-night soundtrack, but these fragile, spirited songs are things of real beauty.
SKELOCRATS
“Supergroup” sounds too formal a description for this Dublin quintet: “five mates having a laugh” is more apt. With members drawn from some of the best bands in the Popical Island indiepop collective, Skelocrats are ramshackle, rowdy and a lot of fun.
Plus five more things on the bill . . .
PANEL DISCUSSION: THE MANAGERS, THE BUTTON FACTORY, TODAY 2pm
An international delegation of band managers come together for a discussion that’s sure to interest bands and fans alike.
HWCH IN THE CITY: RED SAIL, THE JEANIE JOHNSTON, SATURDAY 2.15pm
The harmony-infused folk trio a venue that’s a famine boat museum.
POP-UP SHOP
The pop-up shop at Filmbase will feature Irish independent labels such as Popical Island, YesBoyIceCream, Delphi, Reekus, 1969 and Out on a Limb selling their impressive back catalogues.
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
The Twisted Pepper exhibits some smashing snaps from Irish music photographers, selected by Le Cool magazine.
TURN ON, TUNE IN AND COP OUT
If you can’t make it along to the shows, fear not. 2FM and 2XM have you covered, with acoustic sessions, interviews and live sets broadcasting across the weekend.
