Phil Roche

Catching Up With…Rhob Cunningham

Ahead of his first gig in Dublin since taking on 20 shows in Berlin over the summer, I interviewed Berlin- based Dublin singer Rhob Cunningham. Rhob spoke to me of his internet ‘win’, how the Dublin and Berlin live scenes weigh up against each other and how he can’t wait to hear Jennifer Evans’ upcoming LP. Rhob will launch his album The Window & Dayon Thursday 18th September at The Button…

Music Interview: Royal Blood’s Ben Thatcher

Support slots at Arctic Monkeys’ Finsbury Park shows, a barnstorming performance on the John Peel stage at this year’s Glastonbury, the blessing of Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page and one of the year’s most anticipated début albums…Royal Blood‘s rapid ascent since forming in 2012 has seen the Brighton based band take in some unforgettable experiences.

On the release of their eponymously titled…

Ten Country Singer- Songwriters Everyone Should Know

Ireland’s long love affair with country music goes much, deeper than Garth Brooks gigs at Croke Park. Here are 10 country artists that everyone should hear.

Ernest Tubb’s iconic record shop, 417 Broadway, Nashville, TN.

  Originally published in the print edition of The Irish Post, 6th August 2014. Please click here to read the feature on IrishPost.co.uk.  10. Guy Clark

Although 72 year- old…

Ten Albums That Get to the Heart of Ireland

Mean green machine: Irish music has had its finger on the pulse of the nation.

Originally published in Rí- Rá, The Irish Post’s entertainment supplement

DOMINATINGas we do in the field of literature for works that have reflected the society in which they were conceived- the plays of Brian Friel and Sean O’Casey, the poetry of W.B. Yeats and Patrick Kavanagh, the novels of James Joyce and John…

Formed in 2010, Dublin three- piece Swords have elicited comparisons to everyone from Portishead to Cat Power. Ahead of their headline gig at The Button Factory on 25 July, with support from Deaf Joe and Elastic Sleep, singer Diane Anglim talks about her first experiences with musical notation, Jeff Buckley’s Grace and reveals a mild obsession with David Byrne’s white suit.

Dublin- based band…

Live Review: Jack White, live and in person, at Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London, Thursday 3rd July, 2014

One of only a handful of indoor dates on the current stretch of his tour in support of second solo LP proper Lazaretto, Jack White’s seamless blend of folk, blues, country, hip- hop and old- school rock n’ roll reveals an artist who combines a wealth of experience with youthful hunger and enthusiasm, writesPhilip Cummins

Jack White attacking his Fender Telecaster. Photo: David Swanson. Source: J…

Catching Up With…David Bryan from Near FM’s Pure Phase

Spinning a broad variety of genres every Tuesday night on Dublin’s Near FM (90.3 FM) from 10:30pm –  11:30pm, David Bryan’s Pure Phaseis a blissful hour for avid listeners of everything from Psychedelic rock and Shoegaze to Garage rock and Krautrock; from Ry Cooder and Love to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Timber Timbre. I spoke to the Dublin based DJ about discovering music in his early teens,…

Music interview: Peter Hook

A band ending under tragic circumstances only to be reborn and end again due to in- fighting within the band; record company collapses; financial ruin; writing and recording World Cup anthems; Blue Monday…there’s little Mancunian musician Peter Hook hasn’t experienced in music. Ahead of his appearance with his band Peter Hook & The Light at Live at Leopardstown on Thursday 10th July, Philip…

Live review: Real Estate, live at Whelans, Tuesday 27th May, 2014

Brooklyn based five piece Real Estate. Image: Facebook

Originally published by Entertainment Ireland on Wednesday 28th May, 2014. To read the original, please click here

  TONIGHT’S capacity audience at Whelans (Promoters moved the gig from The Workman’s Club to Whelans, due to demand) is good news for anyone who was under the impression that guitar music is dead. Support act Jet Setter,…

Live review: Codes, Live at Whelan’s, Friday 30th May, 2014

Dublin four piece Codes, live at Whelans. Photo: Ruth Medjber

Originally published by Entertainment Ireland on Tuesday 3rd June, 2014. To read the original, please click here.

IT’S hard not to watch Dublin four piece Codes- two members of which live in Dublin, another two based in London- and not recall Bono’s claim that U2 were always “a band of the future”. Melodic, uniquely 21st century…

I’m thinkin’ ’bout my smartphone / When ya gonna ring it, when ya gonna ring it? : Jack White calls out audience members fixated with their phones during gigs

Nashville-based singer- songwriter Jack White complains that audience members at gigs are apathetic and fixated on their phones instead of matching the energy that he and his band give out to them. He’s absolutely right, writes Philip Cummins.

I smell a rat: Jack White has voiced his displeasure at Generation Y audiences obsessed with their phones.

THE REVOLUTION will, as with everything else,…

Music review: Natalie Merchant by Natalie Merchant

Her first offering of completely original material in 13 years, Natalie Merchant’s eponymous album is a triumph, writes Philip Cummins Originally published by Entertainment Ireland. To read the original, please click here

Natalie Merchant’s eponymously titled new album is a triumph.

Following 2010’s Leave Your Sleep, a concept project thematically focused on childhood, featuring British and…

Ahead of her May 29th appearance at K-Fest in Killorglin, County Kerry, prodigious 18- year old singer- songwriter Bridie Monds- Watson shares her appreciation for Pink Floyd’s work on record and film, what it meant to her to grow up in Derry and what piece of priceless music memorabilia she wants more than anything.

Soaking it up: Derry singer- songwriter Bridie Monds- Watson.

Originally…

Catching Up With…Daithí

Catching Up With… is a new series whereby I ask 21 questions to figures from music, theatre, TV and film. First up is Galway based Clare musician Daithí Ó Drónaí.

Clare musician Daithí Ó Drónaí. Image: Daithí Facebook page

Originally published by Entertainment Ireland. To read the original, please click here.

MERE MONTHS AWAY from the release of In Flight, his eagerly awaited début album,…

Ahead of her first Irish tour, during which she performs as part of a duo, Mama Kin- that’s Danielle Caruana to her Mum & Dad- spoke to us about the importance of the great outdoors to her writing process, incorporating her colourful family history into her songs and her curiosity about Irish folk music and storytelling. Originally published by Entertainment Ireland. To read the original, please…

In Praise Of…Surf by Roddy Frame

Recently reissued by AED records for Record Store Day 2014, Roddy Frame’s 2002 album Surf is a slow- burning masterpiece that everyone should hear, argues Philip Cummins

“Majestic”: Surf by Roddy Frame.

…I’ve written an album about day-to-day life in London; about being 38 and wondering what you’re going to do next.

RODDY FRAME claimed the above in a 2002 interview with the Guardian’s Will…

Interview: David Holmes, DJ, Producer, Composer

Hanging out as a teen in Terri Hooley’s Good Vibrations record store, scoring soundtracks for Soderbergh, including Rodriguez’s ‘Sugar Man’ on a 2002 mix tape compilation ten years before the Oscar-winning ‘Searching For Sugar Man’ documentary…Belfast DJ, composer and producer David Holmes’ musical odyssey has been nothing short of fascinating. With UNLOVED, a new project featuring Keefus Green…