The Goo 1
Interview Words: Adhamh Ó Caoimh LITANY OF FAILUR
ES The fifth volume of Litany of Failures is upon us, and it remains a most vital showcase of the talent that springs from these shores. With contributions from Róis, The Deadlians, and Elaine Malone studded amongst debuts from artists like Eros Blindfold, the team behind the compilation has once again gathered an assemblage of true visionaries. Work from genre flouting unconventionalist, Licehead sits comfortably alongside fresh perspectives on the traditional song from Landless, and all of it is magnificent. 2016 brought these humble beginnings with a four track cassette EP, collecting songs from That Snaake, Oh Boland, Junk Drawer and Shrug Life. In the harrowed years since, these entirely D.I.Y. produced compilations have only expanded in ambition and scope since their inception, and over the years has presented work from KEXP guests M(h)aol, the sorely missed Naoise Roo, the masterful songcraft of Junior Brother, and many more of the brightest hopes of the burgeoning Irish music scene. We had some words with Litany of Failures co-founder, Danny Carroll, 34 about the fifth incarnation, and the inception of this now longstanding series. How has it been, watching this project grow and develop from relatively humble ambitions? And is it gratifying, at all, now that people seem to be wising up to the Irish underground that you’ve been celebrating for nearly a decade now? I don’t know if that’s something that’s transitional, or if it goes through phases where people are more interested or less interested. It’s hard for me to say. I know that in terms of the project and how it started, it was pretty humble. We started in 2016 and it was just four bands, and it was more or less a way for us to tour together - as though we could justify doing a show in Belfast because there was a band from Belfast on a little EP that we put out, and likewise there was Oh Boland from Galway, and we did a Dublin gig and so on. That was the way it started, then it seemed obvious a couple of years later to try and make a bigger thing out of it with other people we’d gotten to know from gigging. I suppose we kind of developed a working relationship, Stevie Lennox in Belfast and Paul O’ Connor in Limerick and myself in Dublin, and just kind of grew from there. I don’t know in terms of engagement or interest with Irish music if people are more engaged now than they were then. It’s possible. And you’re working with Anthem Vinyl this year, for the records. How did that come about? Since Dublin Vinyl closed down, there was a bit of a void. We’d worked with them in 2018, for the second volume, but in the time since we’d put out two other compilations with overseas pressing plants. We were going to do that again, and we were very, very close to hitting the submit button and sending everything off, and then Anthem came on our radar. They’ve just started up and they’ve been very supportive, helpful and involved. I suppose being based in Ireland, they’re a little bit more personalized in their customer service. It feels like they’re more invested in it as a project so that’s been a nice thing, and obviously with them being based closer to us, there were