Mullingar has been the hometown of Joe Dolan, Niall from One Direction and The Blizzards. 2014 might just be the year the Westmeath town adds another act to its musical legacy.
The Academic are only young lads but their radio-friendly melodic pop/rock tunes, best represented by debut single ‘Bear Claw’, have caught the ear of many a UK A&R rep already.
So much so, that when they played a pub gig at the Other Voices Music Trail in Dingle in December, there were 17 reps who flew over to the remote Kerry town just to see them. Mostly like to do a “Strypes” in 2014.
Fan Footage video from the Dingle show.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
Typo somewhere:
“Other Voices Music Trail in Derry ……… the remote Kerry town”
Derry or Dingle?
Great sound from those guys; will be looking/listening out for them.
Dingle not Derry.
Great tune, will have to keep an eye on these fellows.
Also, maybe its just as I’m heading towards fogeyism myself but is it me or
are bands getting younger these days?
Can think of a few recent examples from an Irish context ( Little Green Cars, TDCC, Strypes, Bleeding Heart Pigeons, Soak, Daithi etc) where bands have barely emerged from the Leaving Cert or equivalent and they have already signed, sealed and delivered a fairly decent debut album.
Is this a music industry thing, get em young and mould them in your shape? No pesky girlfriends or scenesters to distract them, tour tour tour and then rinse and repeat.
Are the days gone when bands might meet and form in college. No industry for twenty-somethings?
Is the likes of JVMM an industry veteran at the relatively tender age of 30?
Or was it in fact ever thus?
It’s certainly the case as you get over 30, bands seem younger but really, all those bands you’ve mentioned grew up with lots of access to music equipment and technology to get out there into the world.
These are savvy kids, and they got noticed early cos of the internet in general. They also know how the world works and that you have the show their talent first, hence better first albums.
They’re also ambitious and hard working – they’re not waiting for the industry to do the work for them though they will take advantage of that beast so they can reach a larger audience.
As for bands who meet and form in college, I dunno – they obviously have other things that might get in their way – studies. Maybe, There are not a lot of people who go to college to form a band in general?
There is plenty of room for all ages I think – it’s the songs that make the artist not their age ultimately.
Very good points. Access to technology and equipment coupled with strong parental support are very potent weapons in the arsenal of any young act.
The disruptive nature of new technologies is definitely a plus, and hopefully can aid any young act who might not be able to rely on familiar connections.
I dunno why I sounded a bit bah humbug earlier, cos to be honest, because in reality the amount of high quality new music that can be found on these shores is phenomenal and I for one am definitely excited to keep an eye on any homegrown talent, young, old and in between.
Yes, it’d definitely a positive thing. Onwards and upwards!
I pitch many acts to labels and the bigger the label the more age is an issue, its among the very first questions asked by talent scouts or label heads, becomes less of an issue for electronic acts and with boutique or smaller labels, but its a big thing.
Fantastic band. James From Frantic Jack was Looking after them earlier last year and asked me to check out Bear claws and i immediately Loved it! Saw them Support Delorentos then in November and Thought they had so much Potential. The bass and Drum players are so in sync!