The Goo 1
Editors Note MAR-APR 24 JOHN BRERETON Contributor
s: David Carr Adhamh O’Caoimh Aaron Kavanagh Stephen Stone Paul McDermott Dan Hegarty Ethan Golding Jack McBain Andrew Peard Max Heyraud Diana Stokes Oran O’Beirne Cliodhna Ryan Niall McGuirk Conor Farrell Paul Fitzpatrick Alan Monnelly Garry Baylon Shar Dullaghan Louis Scully Design & Layout: foxandmouse.ie Photography: Sparkie McGuinness (cover pic) Social Media: Adhamh O’Caoimh Allie Ryan Editorial: John Brereton jb@hkm.ie Listings Editor: Christine O’Growney Listings: thegoolistings@gmail.com Sales: Stefan Hallenius sh@hkm.ie - 087 3271732 Kevin Gibbons kg@hkm.ie - 085 8697078 Published by: HKM Media, 73 Leeson St Lower, Dublin 2 08 MELTS DISCUSS THE RELEASE OF THEIR NEW ALBUM FIELD THEORY Trycksak 5041 0004 13 NIAMH BURY ON SIGNING TO CLADDAGH RECORDS AND HER NEW MUSIC 16 THE PALE FRONTMAN MATTHEW DEVEREUX ON HIS SOLO PROJECT 40 JACK MCBAIN'S NEW RAP & HIP HOP COLUMN FEATURES TRAVIS X ELZZZ PAGE 3 The punk rock DIY ethos is alive and well and living in our bedrooms. Technology really has become the key enabler in creating music on an egalitarian level as kids (and their parents) in Blanch, Finglas, Portobello, Drimnagh, Dalkey, Greystones, Coolock and Malahide and all over our tiny island work in earnest at home to pump out tracks daily for us to review. It’s staggering how much music we receive and how much of it is really really good. The domestic hip hop and rap scene utilises this tech wholeheartedly and is blossoming into a creative force field whereby it’s only a matter of time before some of these acts go international (we’re tipping TraviS x Elzzz). The great groundwork done by collectives such as Choice Cuts, Word Up Collective and Soft Boy Records, amongst others, is paying off bigtime and it’s wonderful to see the DIY ethic, the collaborations and the genuine bonhomie amongst acts in support of each other's creative feats within this musical community. It’s taken us a while to find someone to head up our coverage of the genre but we are delighted to have Jack McBain onboard to provide monthly reviews, previews, interviews and news so please email him at thegoohiphop@gmail.com with your music. In this issue.. In this issue we feature an act that are already making sonic waves abroad and look set to copperfasten this with the release of their superb new album Field Theory. Dublin four piece psyche outfit MELTS have been in various different combos over the years but have found the perfect vessel to hone their individual talents into a unified force. They tour extensively throughout the UK and Europe soon before a homecoming headliner in the Button Factory on September 28th. Niamh Bury is a stunning new voice on the booming folk scene and a gifted writer of songs that sink deep into the heart. Along with ØXN, Niamh is one of the first new artists that have been signed to the historic Claddagh Records label in almost two decades and the first fruit of this alliance, the brilliant Yellow Roses album has just been released. Jumping out from a long established band to make a solo record is never easy but Matthew Devereux, frontman of The Pale, has done just that. Scratching a creative itch, Devereux releases his second solo album House Devil on April 12th and it fuses his theatrical instincts with a darker approach to his songwriting craft, pitching up somewhere between camps Waits and Slyvian. His interview with Stephen Stone in this issue is a great read and an illuminating abridged history of a Dublin legend. S E V A R N Ä E M N K T