HousePlants is the new band teased by Nialler9 socials last week which is Bell X1’s Paul Noonan and producer Daithí…
‘What’s With All The Pine?’ is the debut track from the band, which bloomed from the pair’s collaborations on a Daithí song ‘Take The Wheel’, which lead to further collaboration and eventually a new band and a desire to make music they could play at a 2AM festival slot.
As time wore on, we increasingly felt the need to make something that shook us out of the fog. Something rattly, loose and defiant that blew the cobwebs away. Music that we could imagine playing at a 2am festival slot.”
The band’s debut song is called ‘What’s With All The Pine?’ inspired by the Zoom windows into each other’s houses and rooms we’ve all experienced recently:
“An attempt to speak to one of the phenomena of this time; the sometimes soul-crushing Zoom calls, the efforts to convey a certain taste or togetherness with our backgrounds – while all around us is going to shit! – having a snoop, an interest in others’ private spaces and a certain judgy-ness around it all.”
Says Noonan:
“Having made ‘Take The Wheel’ together for Daithí’s most recent record, I sent him a song last summer by way of a ‘Howaya?’, really, but also for his banger sensibilities!. We began trading ideas with the idea that whatever we were doing was not ‘Take The Wheel’, that we go the other way and make music that was visceral and a release of sorts.”
Daithí adds:
It doesn’t feel like one of us featuring on the other’s music – it’s greater than the sum of its parts. I’ve always worked as a solo producer so forming a band has been a lovely experience. There’s magic in seeing one of your ideas being worked on from a different point of view, sending music to someone you trust and having it return as a brand new piece of art. The more you work together on an idea, the further it goes until eventually you can’t see the seams. It’s something completely unique.”
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.
