MacD on Music: Houston, We Have A Problem

I’ve been doing this job now for almost two years (two years exactly this Wednesday), and in that time I’ve discovered a lot of great music, as well as getting to meet people as passionate about music as I am.

In that time, I’ve discussed a lot of music with a lot of people, but until recently I had yet to meet anyone that appreciated one of the great masterpieces of our time, an album that has been misunderstood for over a decade. That album is, of course, ‘Lulu’, the incredible album from Lou Reed and Metallica.

Upon its release in 2011, the album was met with hatred from practically everyone apart from myself, David Bowie and, the subject of this week’s column, Dylan Robinson, aka Radio Houston Project.

Dylan has been a part of the Derry music scene for a few years now, previously being a member of Gorilla Warfare and currently performing as Radio Houston Project. I caught up with Dylan recently and we spoke at great length about many, many things. Unfortunately, due to space limits, I can only share selected highlights here. Anyway, let’s start pre-RHP:

“With the predecessor to Radio Houston, I was making music 24/7 and was releasing stuff on my SoundCloud all the time. It was just mad creative energy and then, all of a sudden, in about mid-to-late 2020, it was just gone. I just stopped making music because it just wasn’t happening for me. It took me about a year and a half maybe, to actually release another track. That was in Spring last year.

"After that single release I started playing bass for The Heathen Choir and that became my focus for a while. It was great because it was the first time I was able to play with a band, and I didn’t have to worry about any of the writing or anything. I could just enjoy performing with other people.”

Next, we moved on to RHP: “Ideally, I’d love Radio Houston Project to be a band, but at the minute I’m trying to explore how far I can go with just one person. I’m trying to do as much as I can as well without having to rely on a laptop or backing tracks. I have a few bits of synth and drum machine bits that can be my band for me essentially.

"It’s something I’m still kind of working out, because I have songs that are far more electronically focused than others, then I’ve other songs that are more traditional acoustic or rock instrumentals. It’s just trying to work out what the best way to lay that out live is, so it’s not overly jarring.

"Still working on that at the minute but it’s exciting for me. It’s a work in progress. I might play the gig in Bennigan’s and it might be the only time I ever perform in that format. I might play the next show after that different or develop it further onwards from that. It’s been a long time coming. I started trying to get a band sorted for Radio Houston way back in 2021 but personal stuff just came in the way of that, and I wasn’t able to fully see that through. Thankfully, I’m friendly with some really talented people.

"People who I trust to work on music with me, because there’s a lot of musicians that I have love and respect for, but there’s only a select few that I know that if I show them something, they’ll be able to add something to it that I wouldn’t have thought of, and I’ll really like it and it’ll still suit what I’m trying to go for.”

“So that’s part of what I want to do next year, when it comes to releasing music under Radio Houston, I want to try and collaborate with as many people as I can. I always get excited when I hear other people’s perspectives on something because I always get in my head that the music I’m working on sounds way to similar to something that already exists.

"Sometimes that is the case and other times I’ll show a new song to somebody and they’ll be like ‘that’s really unique or original’ even though in my head I know where this comes from. It seems so obvious to me, but it might not be to other people.”

Alright, I have to wrap up with Dylan here. Radio Houston Project will be playing Bennigan’s this Saturday with support from Kid Apollo, Scol and Elston Grace. Tickets are £10 and doors open at 9pm.

Now, onto other business. First up is TeleZura, who have recently shared a bill with Big Love and Selador. Their new single ‘Wish It All Away’ is out now and available on all good streaming platforms.

Also, this Friday sees the return of the brilliant Seeger Sessions Revival, the tribute to Bruce Sprignsteen’s tribute to Pete Seeger. They’re going to be playing the Guildhall this Friday with tickets at £22.50 and doors at 7.30pm.

Finally, this Friday also sees the release of Paul Casey’s new album ‘The Long Road Back’, featuring the song ‘Peace Bridge’, written by Chris Rea. Paul will also be playing that night with Amberlight in St. Columb’s Hall Cinema. Tickets are £15 and doors at 8pm.

Finally, social time: The Seeger Sessions Revival can be found on Facebook and Instagram @theseegersessionsrevival, Paul Casey @paulcaseymusic, TeleZura @telezura and Radio Houston Project @radiohoustonproject.