TD 1
spent a lot of time re-recording guitars rather t
han trying to fit them in during mixing, we wanted to keep each instrument sounding as close as possible to the source recordings. – Are there any musical influences on the album that might surprise people? Any ideas that you applied to the recording that came from an unexpected artist? S: Wednesday is very influenced by electronic music generally, at least on the tracks that were written later. We try to avoid copying ideas from a specific artist. David: But that is inevitable on some level… KT: A lot of influence is taken from film scores and how they build tension. We all listen to Campbell. But we’re definitely all mad into hiphop, me and David shook Q-Tip’s hand once! – When did you first hear you were nominated for The Choice Music Prize? How did your families and peers react? Have you been getting some looks around town? KT: I got a text from my boss about it and that’s how I found out, it was fairly wild, then my phone started buzzing as if I had friends and all! It’s so cool that we were nominated. I’m very happy about it, probably way too happy to be able to put into words. D: Bizarre, wasn’t expecting that at all. S: We were shocked, it was very exciting. A lot of people were delighted for us, which is really nice too. M: I avoid social media so I think I was the last to hear about it. I was at home cooking something and David sent me a message with the poster. I don’t think it really hit me until I told my girlfriend and her reaction really brought it home. The whole thing is still a little surreal to be honest. – Any other Irish acts you would have liked to have seen make the cut? D: Elephant’s 88 should be there - it’s an amazing concept album by a very talented human. Also, Paddy Hanna’s Frankly, I Mutate, Arthuritis’ I’m Great and Trick Mists Both Ends are all fantastic. – How do you feel about the idea of “music prizes” in general? Is it beneficial to have art compete against other art? Is it a good way of shining a light on music coming out of Ireland? KT: I’m really not sure how to feel about the whole thing, it feels great to be nominated for one of these prizes so I’m not gonna talk down on them. But, music is such a taste thing and everyone has different preferences so it’s really hard to make comparisons. And this should be obvious but nobody should make music to be rewarded by someone else, making the thing you wanna make should be rewarding enough. It’s an added bonus to be rewarded by someone else, but that shouldn’t be a reason to do it. – It seems more and more new Irish acts are coming from “Rock Schools”. How do you feel about that? As a band that has played at your fair share of showcases Just Mustard’s debut LP Wednesday is out now on Pizza Pizza Records They play the Workman’s Club on Saturday February 16, €10, and the Choice Music Prize in Vicar Street on Thursday March 7, €28. justmustard. bandcamp.com/ album/wednesday and smaller festivals - have you noticed the increase in bands coming from Rock Schools? KT: Unless someone tells us they are from a “Rock School” I find it hard to tell. It’s easy to tell if promoters went to “rock school” though. Rob: The more class Irish bands coming up in general – or from these institutions – the better, in my opinion. It’s a sign that their system is working and that their students are getting good information and support. It’d be an awful waste of time if there weren’t any bands like these emerging. D: Whatever works. There’s no correct formula for how to start a band or a project. What matters is that they are honest and care about what they are creating. It would be great to see more DIY events and communities popping up to help grow artists independent of colleges and industry programmes, though. We try to do some stuff in that way with Pizza Pizza Records and are really inspired by the likes of DIYLK Limerick. – Finally, with the potential of a big win on the horizon, has any of the band ever won any awards or competitions before? KT: I won a competition on SMTV when I was a child but they thought I was a boy. I think they misheard my name (Katie Ball) and thought my name was Paul? They sent me out boys toys which was really disappointing. So, I don’t really have any experience in the whole winning thing. I’m actually still raging about it. 79