By Elle Kelleher, Contributor University Express sat down with three-quarters of Belfast-based psych-tinged Krautrockers Junk Drawer to talk about new releases, the state of the live music scene and accidentally prophesying the pandemic. University Express: So, can you talk me through how guys know each other? How did all this start? Brian Coney [bass]: Well,…
By Cathal Donovan O’Neill, Music Editor Welcome back to our look at Bandcamp Friday! This piece continues last issue’s column, where I talk to Colm Cahallane of HAUSU Records. This issue we’re talking to Dan Walsh of Fixity, the Tan Jackets, Cork Improvised Music Club, and much more. The Cork multi-instrumentalist is a big proponent…
By Cathal Donovan O’Neill, Music Editor The fence at the end of my lane’s looking shaky, and I blame Kate Bush. I was taking a drive with her last week, performing a three-point turn that quickly acquired several more points, when she took control of the wheel, pulled the clutch up a little too far…
By Cathal Donovan O’Neill, Music Editor Back in March 2020, online music retail platform Bandcamp announced that on the first Friday of every month they would cut their cut on items sold from about 30% to nothing, leaving all funds to the artist. It was a great move on a marketing and moral basis, but…
By Julie Landers, Staff Writer I didn’t enjoy writing this article, and you’re probably not going to enjoy reading it. Before deciding to write about the environmental impacts of music consumption, it was far easier to say ‘streaming good, vinyl bad’, and even then that wasn’t easy at all. I love the acts of collecting…
By Elle Kelleher The new year, meant to be full of hope and promise, has instead brought with it yet another blow to Cork’s creative and cultural scene: the closure of legendary arts and music hub, The Kino. As the city fought to maintain a soul amongst a slew of hotels and glass office eyesores,…
By Cathal Donovan O’Neill – Music Editor This year’s RTÉ Choice Prize is coming up soon, with both the album and single shortlists having recently been released. Here’s the lowdown on who’s up for the prize, what they can win, and how you can help your favourite. The RTÉ Choice Prize has been going since…
By Cathal Donovan O’Neill, Julie Landers, Elle Kelleher, Fionn Kelleher I was only dancing By Elle Kelleher I rang in 2020 at a gig in the Kino. Surrounded, not just by my social bubble, but by strangers who would be my best friends by the end of the night, I danced until my clothes were…
Writes Elle Kelleher With live music events essentially cancelled, I checked in with Rebecca Dineen and Robin Daly, Chairperson and PRO of UCC MusicSoc, to see how they’ve been adjusting to Level 5 restrictions. University Express: Was there a degree of apprehension in how you were going to get the ball rolling this year?…
Constance Keane is a force to be reckoned with. Alongside being drummer for punk band M(h)aol, making her own music under Fears and managing Laura Groves, Keane is also about to launch the collective and management label TULLE. TULLE is specifically for women and non-binary musicians which, in a heavily male-dominated industry, has the potential…