The Strange Brew Summer Shindig 4 takes place in the Róisín Dubh on Thursday at 7pm and promises to be one hell of way to say ‘Goodbye July, Hello August!’ in the company of some of the best Galway and Irish indie, punk, and hard rock.
Playing are indie rockers Le Galaxie, hardcore/punk band Only Fumes & Corpses, new wavers Disconnect 4, folk-pop duo Music For Dead Birds, and the two very different and very brilliant bands - Blasterbra and In Search For The Lost Chord.
Blasterbra
Blasterbra - Anna McCarthy (vocals/guitar ), Evan O’Connor (guitar ), Stephen Folan (bass ), and Peadar Carney (drums ) - have been flying the flag for alternative rock, heavy rock, and Riot Grrrl! in Galway since they first came to attention in 2007.
Blasterbra was formed by Cork born, Galway based, Anna, who got the idea for the band’s explosive moniker by leafing through a friend’s book.
“I was in Mike from Cane 141’s house and he had this book of odd designs. One was a bra that was also a ghetto blaster. I thought a bra with speakers on it would be cool for your iPod and the name was punchy,” Anna tells me.
Originally a solo acoustic act, Anna became tired of the ‘singer-songwriter’ tag and wanted to form a band to explore her love of alternative rock and loud guitar. She had adopted the name Blasterbra for her solo performances but kept it as the band began to develop.
While Blasterbra is seen as being led by and centred on Anna, she stresses it’s a more collaborative entity.
“When Evan [also of Les Christpunchers] came along, we started writing together and he brought his ideas and interests to the music. We were looking for a long time to get the right musicians we wanted to work with. Stephen is very into electro and has played with The Commitments. Peadar is into all kinds of music. So we all bring something to the writing and to the sound.”
Nonetheless Blasterbra remains one of the few female fronted (and led ) bands in Galway and when it comes to heavy rock, females are still in a minority in terms of prominence and in slinging on a guitar with the distortion pedal switched on.
“It annoys me when people talk about ‘women fronted bands’ or ‘female music’, I’d just like it to be called ‘music’,” says Anna, “but I do admire powerful female figures in rock. I once heard it said about Courtney Love that while many women wear a guitar as a necklace, she wears it to play guitar. I take inspiration from that.”
A sign of Anna’s alternative rock roots is her love of drop-D tuning for guitar, whereby the low E is de-tuned a whole tone. “I was 16 and I wanted to play guitar and I loved the earthy, deep, raw, sound of drop-D,” she says. “I love the simplicity of it.”
The band has a demo CD which contains ‘Quiet You’ and ‘Sweetheart The Punk’, which has proven popular at gigs. Blasterbra is hoping to settle down to writing new material in the autumn with a view to expanding and developing their sound as well as record an album. Watch this space.
In Search Of The Lost Chord
Galwegian Dave Phelan is the one man band, songwriter, vocalist, and entertainer that is In Search Of The Lost Chord. Despite sharing his stage name with a 1968 album by The Moody Blues, that’s not where he took it from.
“My flat mate described Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual De Lo Habitual as being ‘in search of the lost chord’,” Dave tells me. “I asked him if I could use it as a name and he said OK. He thought he’d thought of it first! We didn’t know about The Moody Blues album until later.
“I like the name because it’s kind of jokey and mysterious. I don’t like one word name bands. I think it says something about the music in that I’m still searching and looking.”
Take a listen to Dave’s songs on www.myspace.com/insearchofthelostchordmusic and you will hear what he means. There is indie, folk, electronic flashes, even hints of power ballads!
“I use the word indie to describe the music because it’s a broad term,” he says of his approach to songwriting. “I might take an idea from folk music or from different kinds of rock music, but it will end up sounding completely different from what it started out as. I don’t take so much from the sound of say folk, but from the ideas behind it and to try and learn something from it.”
Dave records his music in his flat and admits to being obsessed with recording on any kind of equipment he can get his hands on.
“I use the computer and digital is very handy,” he says. “When it comes to recording drums I use digital beats and sampled drums. I’d love to use real drums but it wouldn’t be so easy pounding them when you have three flat mates!
“I love old equipment. I have those old valves that recording studios would have used in the 1970s and reel to reel tapes! I think I’ll use the reel to reel at the show. I’ll just switch it on and let it go with a load of ping pong effects and weird noises bouncing around the room! It’ll be a weird way to open the shindig.”
Dave cites Bon Iver, Dan Deacon, electronica, and John Frusciante as his inspirations, but he has a bee in his bonnet about Tom Baxter. “I can’t stand Tom Baxter,” he laughs. “If you like Tom Baxter don’t turn up for my set. I want to get a bit of rivalry going with Tom here!”
Well if Dave had to be locked in a room with Tom Baxter or James Blunt? “Tom Baxter,” Dave concedes. “As long as he doesn’t sing! Can I use his guitar to hit him?”
Admission is free. Those who come early can get Strange Brew Party Bags, free pours, and other treats.
