MacD on Music: Backroom Deals

We Irish are a versatile bunch. In our rich history, we’ve given the world it’s finest punk bands (Dick Tracy and the Green Disaster, followed closely by the Undertones), rock bands (Thin Lizzy, Aslan and more), some of the best folk music to ever grace the earth (The Dubliners, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Mackem, the Wolfe Tones) and invented the genre of Atmosfolk (Saint Sister).

Recent years has seen the rise of Irish rap music, with artists such as Dirty Faces, Kneecap and Kojaque making names for themselves at home and abroad.

This week I’m talking to the Backroom Bandits (Néata, aka Corán Gillespie, Daidi Óg, aka Harry Óg Harrigan and Mr. Foclóir, aka Olly Page), Derry’s latest contribution to this ever-growing scene, and who’s debut album ‘Antarctica’ is out today.

I met with Corán and Olly recently and they told me about the group, the recording of the album and what they’re hoping to do in the future:

Mr. Foclóir: “We met each other in school and we both like doing the tin whistle, playing trad, doing all that there. There’re wee music practice rooms in our school and one of them is a back room so we just thought ‘why don’t we start a music group called the Backroom Bandits?’”

In terms of their main influences, it was a simple answer. Mr. Foclóir: “Kneecap, one hundred percent, and a bit of the Rubber Bandits for the name.”

Next up was the album. Mr. Foclóir: “We’ve a whole album recorded called ‘Antarctica’ and we’ve got three singles. That’s all really. We’ve just been recording it off a laptop. We’ve got a wee home studio.”

Néata: “I’ve been making the beats for it, and he sings and then Harry makes the lyrics and does some Irish for us.”

Mr. Foclóir: “He’s fluent in Irish so we just thought we may as well take him on board. We used to have two other members, but they left. They’ve been doing A-Levels, so it was just too much.”

“The recording was easy enough, surprisingly. There was some stuff you ran into, like is this loud enough, am I mixing this right, all that stuff. We’re going to try to get a better set up.

“Right now, we just have a wee home mic and we’re using a laptop for it, so we’re going to try to get better equipment. We’re using Distrokid [to release it] so it’s on all platforms. For now, we’re just planning a digital release but if it does come to it we’ll do a physical version.”

I asked them what the reception to their singles has been so far. Mr. Foclóir: “It’s been alright. There’s not been much recognition, but we were on that online radio Over The West and that did give us some good attention. It gave us some followers, gave us some credit. If you look us up on Google the first thing that comes up is this boy on Reddit talking about how we just want to be Kneecap. That gave us some publicity and got us some views on the videos.”

Finally, I asked them what they wanted to do in the future. Mr. Foclóir “The next few months, we just want to try and get our music pushed out to people. Right now, we’re just a small group in Derry but we want to try and get it out to the likes of England, Scotland, Dublin, all that craic.”

And that’s it from the Backroom Bandits. Their debut album ‘Antarctica’ is out today on all good streaming platforms so go listen now.

Now, onto other business. Stendhal has recently announced the second round of acts for this year’s festival and, I have to say, they’ve got some of the best this year. As well as headliners Heather Small (of M People) and the Zutons, gracing the Stendhal Stage(s) this year will be Lavengro, Reevah, Problem Patterns, The Logues, Virgins, Boy M5, Renegade Zoo, Tessio and TomCat.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Nerve Centre will be presenting a stage featuring some of the best acts Derry has to offer, including Parker (whose debut album ‘Never Let This Go’ is available now in Cool Discs), CHERYM (whose debut album ‘Take It Or Leave It’ is also available in Cool Discs), John Deery and the Heads (who have several albums available in Cool Discs), The Wood Burning Savages (performing an acoustic set), Polar Bolero, The Suite and more. Get your tickets now while you still can.

Finally, time for the socials. More information about Stendhal can be found on Facebook and Instagram @stendhalireland or at stendhalfestival.com and the Backroom Bandits can be found on Instagram @thebackroombandits.