MacD on Music: Kings for a day

Recently, as you may recall, I wrote about the significant overlap between music and royalty when I spoke to Prince Regent. This week, I’m speaking to another member of the musical monarchy, Ryan Harling of Little Kings.

Little Kings have been releasing music for a few years now, with their EP ‘Vignettes 2020-2022’ coming out in 2023. The past few months have seen a re-emergence of sorts, playing Electric Picnic a few weeks ago and now taking part in Glór Ár Linne, a program run by Raidió Rí-Rá, Ireland’s national Irish language youth and pop station in partnership with Creative Ireland and Dublin City Council.

The scheme “aims to foster a new generation of Irish language bands and artists with mentorship and creative spaces” and the final showcase will be taking place in The Grand Social in Dublin this Wednesday (17th September).

I caught up with Ryan in Hang Ten to talk about Glór Ár Linne, Electric Picnic and Chappell Roan: “Back in May, I took up with the Raidió Rí-Rá scheme Glór Ár Linne. I’ve been non-stop since then, playing a couple of gigs in Dublin, we played at Electric Picnic then we had a gig in Derry last week in Hang Ten and this week we’ll be playing the closing gig for the scheme in The Grand Social. It’s been a busy few months and I look forward to releasing some new music bi-lingually in the next few months.”

“Between studying a diploma in Irish, a part time Masters and working full time I’ve put the music on hiatus but now things are quieting up on that end and we’re so back baby, we’re so back!”

I asked about Electric Picnic: “The festival are big supporters of the Irish language and they’ve got a site set up just for that and a stage where there’s plenty of Irish language acts, including ourselves, Lisa Murray, John Spillane, who’s a big inspiration, as well as some other participants from the scheme.

“It was non-stop. It was dryer than Stendhal, and I love Stendhal but by God it was touch and go sometimes, but we survived, nobody drowned in the amount of rain that came in and it was lovely.

“I was able to sing along with all three songs I knew from Chappell Roan. I got plenty of practice last year with George Houston for Not Really 3 on Halloween. Five Chappell Roans on stage in Bennigan’s, it couldn’t top that but it was close.”

Naturally, I had to ask who did it better, George or Chappell: “George Houston alone, easy. I saw a bit of him at Electric Picnic. I saw his last two minutes.

“I arrived half an hour in expecting another half an hour but it ended immediately afterwards, but still. Bennigan’s had five Chappell Roans so it’s simple maths.”

Back to Glór Ár Linne and the showcase this Wednesday: “The scheme has been going on since May and this gig will be a way to wrap it all up and invite the Irish language community together and have a little party so it’s going to be very fun.

“The scheme consisted of me travelling down to Dublin on numerous 5am buses so I’m keen to celebrate it and have some lovely memories of meeting all the facilitators that were there showing us the ropes of how they got to be performing at the level they’re at, which is a fantastic inspiration. It’s a gig with five acts and I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be myself, Aoife Mullan on cello and vocals and Leah Bell on violin, vocals and synth.”

And that’s it from Ryan and Little Kings. They’ll be playing The Grand Social in Dublin this Wednesday. Tickets are available on Eventbrite at €17.07.

Now, onto other business. This Friday will see the release of the first single from Polar Bolero’s upcoming EP. ‘The Bride’ will be available on September 19th on all good streaming platforms.

READ MORE: MacD on Music

Also, last week saw Sister Ghost begin her Ireland and UK tour in the Union Bar in Belfast.

The tour will be continuing this Saturday (20th September) in Dublin with a gig in BelloBar before moving over to Scotland and England. Tickets are on sale now on Eventbrite and Dice.

Another gig this week, this one a bit closer to home. As seen in last week’s column, Cora Harkin will be playing a headline gig in the Nerve Centre this Friday (19th September) with support from Reflect. Tickets are £5 plus booking fee and are selling fast so get them while you still can.

Also, last Friday saw the release of the new album from Louise DaCosta. ‘Ad Astra’ features mainly breakbeat and experimental electronica with vocals from some of the finest spoken word artists and vocalists on this island, including Frank Rafferty, Abby Oliveira, Mairead Carroll, George Hutton, Grace Day and Gavin McFadden. The album is available now on all good streaming services.

Finally, time for the socials. Louise DaCosta can be found on Instagram @thelouisedacosta, Cora Harkin @coraharkinmusic, Sister Ghost @sisterghostofficial, Polar Bolero @polarbolero and Little Kings @littlekings.