Journalist/Broadcaster/Author
Tony Clayton-Lea This music lark? It all started, recalls Gemma Hayes, in the late 1990s, in her sister’s bedroom in Dublin. There was a party in full swing downstairs, but she was hiding away from it, passing time by strumming her sister’s guitar and trying to sing a song. But then someone knocked on the bedroom … Read more Interview: Gemma Hayes
Brooklyn, June 29: David Byrne is on precious downtime, but he’s still eager to talk in his um-er-oh-maybe-I guess manner; it’s the verbal shorthand for what makes his nervous tics tick, but it’s so ineffably David Byrne it’s almost endearing (except when they go on to deliberate amongst themselves, that is; then it becomes … Read more Interview: David Byrne
Intro: In memory of Adam Schlesinger, who passed away early April, 2020. You’ve seen it on MTV – the way Rachel Hunter might look at you in the video for Fountains of Wayne’s new single, Stacey’s Mom. If there’s any justice, the song will make the New Jersey band very famous and lots of … Read more Interview: Adam Schlesinger/Fountains of Wayne
Slow, deliberate and with meticulous attention to detail, Trent Reznor isn’t the kind of musician to deliver glib answers. Put this down to the Nine Inch Nails frontman (and film soundtrack composer) having the kind of self-discipline that comes with not only maturity but also having lived a life fully charged. In other … Read more Interview: Trent Reznor
When you can get a word in edgeways, Aisling Bea (born O’Sullivan) might just take notice of what you say and engage with you. Otherwise, this most charming and talkative London-based Kildare comedian/actor/writer will carry on chatting. This is a default setting, she advises you, brought about when you are raised in a … Read more Interview: Aisling Bea
As career changes go, transferring from pharmacy to songwriting makes sense – both professions need chemistry and a willingness to help people feel better to make them work successfully. Just ask Sallay Garnett, the Irish-Sierra Leone singer and actor who discarded one for the other and survived to tell the tale. Graduating … Read more Interview: Loah
Dark, demented, tormented, torrid and tetchy? Oh, I don’t think so. The Cure’s Robert Smith might have gained something of a reputation in his 40-year-plus tenure as the leader of one of the most enduring of alternative post-punk bands, but these days you will find him basking in the glow of sun shining throughout The … Read more Interview: Robert Smith
Outside the office windows, Dublin hums along. Strains of a busker singing his heart out filter into the room; the stops and starts of city centre traffic underscore the calm conversation with one of Ireland’s most recent creative success stories. You know the face, you know the name, you know the frame, but there was … Read more Interview: Hozier