Music
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Ganglions: “We Might as Well Make a Thing of It”
Melding the smarts of math-rock with a warm but smart-aleccy pop streak, Sheffield/Cork trio Ganglions have come into their own in the past year or so, marking the release of debut EP Fetch! with their maiden Irish excursion, including an appearance at this year’s Quarter Block Party in Cork. This week sees the trio return…
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Juanita Stein: Taking on a Global America
After five years of writing and recording, Howling Bells frontwoman Juanita Stein’s debut album foreshadows her debut solo tour. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with her ahead of her upcoming Fred Zeppelin’s date. A long road has led Juanita Stein to where she presently stands: as frontwoman and rhythm guitarist of London-based outfit Howling Bells (and before…
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Le Galaxie: A Galaxie of Stars
Ahead of their upcoming appearance at City Hall, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with Le Galaxie frontman Michael Pope about the band’s Cork connections, their last album, and wild saxophone takes. One of the sleeper success stories of Irish independent music in the past two decades, synthpop outfit Le Galaxie emerged in the late 2000s from the…
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Holy Fuck: Electronic Machine Comes to Cork
Nearly ten years removed from their debut full-length, Holy F**k continue to take electronic sounds and reconfigure them on the fly. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with keyboardist Graham Walsh ahead of next week’s Cork gig. Emerging in 2004 as part of a musicians’ collective in their home city of Toronto, Canada, four-piece Holy F**k take a…
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Ryan Kershaw: Using His Buzz to Teach the Guitar
New Zealand guitarist Ryan Kershaw has brought together music education and personal development in a unique self-directed guitar course. Ahead of a unique workshop in Cork City, he speaks with Mike McGrath-Bryan about the music industry, pop-psychology, and what brought him to Cork. Without wanting to dip too deep into the grab-bag of rock‘n’roll clichés,…
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Hermitage Green: “We’re Very Bloody Lucky to Be Doing This”
Hermitage Green vocalist Dan Murphy speaks with Mike McGrath-Bryan about Townlands Carnival, following up their debut album, life on a major label, and more. The run-up to this year’s Townlands Carnival is another in a long series of winding turns for Limerick-based folk-rock outfit Hermitage Green. Formed in the earlier part of the decade, the…
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Jeru the Damaja: “It Feels Like the Nineties Again for Me”
Hip-hop survivor Jeru the Damaja arrives at Townlands Carnival this weekend with nearly thirty years of tunes at his disposal. Speaking with Mike McGrath-Bryan, he touches on hip-hop’s golden age, his own experiences, and the challenges that await him in the future. The sign of a relevant artist is one that refuses to rest on…
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Cork’s Venue Crisis: Have Heart
Cork’s arts scene faces major troubles in terms of spaces for practice and performance. And while the issues are important, we’ve been here before on a regular basis, writes Mike McGrath-Bryan. “Cork Gets Her Heart Back”, read the headline of an article on Totally Cork man Gary Meyler’s blog The G-Man, when independent music institution…
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Cork Community Gamelan: Sound the Gongs
Cork Community Gamelan has finally found a permanent home in the city-centre, and Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with UCC’s Kelly Boyle and Music Generation Cork City’s Margaret O’Sullivan ahead of the project establishing itself in earnest. Since being installed in University College Cork nearly twenty years ago, the Javanese Gamelan that resides in the college’s Sunday’s…
Mike McGrath-Bryan 