Cork
-
O Emperor: “A More Oblique and Meandering Way”
O Emperor return to Quarter Block Party on the Friday night, headlining the festival they helped place on the map with its first headline show in 2015. Mike McGrath-Bryan chats with guitarist/vocalist Phil Christie. It’s been a while for formerly-Cork-based psych-rockers O Emperor: two years, to be precise, since their last set of live excursions,…
-
Spekulativ Fiktion: “I Sense a Storm Building”
One of Irish hip-hop’s most authoritative voices is back. Corkman Seán Murphy, aka Spekulativ Fiktion, talks about his new EP, the scene in Cork, and even improvises a short tale for Mike McGrath-Bryan. 2017 has been a year of profound change and development for Seán Murphy, a Cork wordsmith, rapper and beatmaker plying his craft…
-
Cara Kursh: “I Sit Down and Wait to See What Pops Up”
There are many strings to the bow of Cork-based Galwegian Cara Kursh. Mike McGrath-Bryan sat down with a poet, a singer-songwriter, and a promoter of the arts in the city. Since opening its doors over two years ago, the Friary pub, situated at the corners of Shandon Street and North Mall, has become something of…
-
Rubyhorse: Ready to Shine
Having blazed a trail around the world for Cork’s indie scene in the late nineties and early noughties, Rubyhorse are lined up for a return this January at Ballincollig’s Winter Music Festival. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with guitarist Joe Philpott. One of the great hopes of the city’s music scene as the nineties wound their way…
-
The Shaker Hymn: “There’s No Redoing Things”
New single ‘Dead Trees’ sees Corkonian poppers The Shaker Hymn in hollering, apocalyptic form. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with vocalist Caoilian Sherlock about the process behind the band’s upcoming third album. It’s one of those odd things, independent music: for a wide umbrella of music that prides itself on creative freedom and cultural autonomy in order…
-
Young Rebels: The New Faces of Cork Music
As the Leeside scene turns a corner, Mike McGrath-Bryan salutes eight of the city’s hardest-working young music professionals. While the city’s venue situation slowly comes around of its own accord after a traumatic eighteen-month period of closures and gentrification, the roots of the beginnings of a renewal in Cork music lie embedded in the fertile…
-
Movember Cork: “It’s An Awful Shock to the System”
For many men, the discovery and treatment of cancer and other illnesses can be a very close shave. The Movember campaign, now in its ninth year, aims to grow awareness of the importance of men’s health and issues. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with Movember campaigner Ashley Hobbs on his Movember experiences. For the past nine years,…
-
Cuttin’ Heads Collective: “We’re Still Experimenting”
Cork’s community hip-hop outfit, Cuttin’ Heads Collective, celebrates its 2nd anniversary this weekend with a double-dose of live beats and pieces, including a big blow-out in the Poor Relation. Mike McGrath-Bryan checks in with Justin O’Donnell and Ross Herlihy on their journey so far and on whose head the blade falls next. In the summer…
-
The Kelly Family: Harp Magic at City Hall
Music has always been a family affair for RTÉ LyricFM’s Evelyn Grant and her family, especially the Cork Pops Orchestra. Ahead of their new collaborative show, HARP Magic, playing at the Cork City Hall, Mike McGrath-Bryan talks to Grant and her daughter Jean Kelly. The Cork Pops Orchestra has been, for many years, the point…
Mike McGrath-Bryan 