Interview with Paddy Usher

Success and tragedy are two bipolar stepping stones consistent with musicians and bands around the world who have tread the line of fame and fortune with the ultimate goal of “Making it”. This analogy is no more apparent than with Paddy Usher, who has recently re-emerged from temporary music exile with a fresh sound and new ambition to finally capture the dream that has, on countless occasions, slipped through his fingers. We caught up with Paddy and his new band to chat about past, present and future plans, and specifically the upcoming launch of their single You Are So Much Better Off.

1. Your First taste of success came when winning the 1997 Hot Press Demo Marathon. What doors did that initially open for you?

This was an opportunity to meet and talk with an industry panel, most of which were Industry Experts and D.J’s. I suppose the most interesting guy I met was Johnny Lappin who was very open and easy to talk to. He liked the vocal approach and song ideas I had which was uplifting as he has worked for many major Irish artists like Aslan, Sharon Shannon and Liam Reilly (who might I add is one of the best Irish song writers and his contribution to music is just not celebrated enough). There was great exposure throughout the midlands via radio stations, news papers and small record stores. We had a good following at this stage anyway and seemed to be packing out shows which were great, but the exposure through Hot Press was the best thing as it gave us better access to bigger gigs in Dublin.

2. Your version of “Play That Funky Music” gained you notoriety, but what were the pressures that came with that?

We were playing rock/funk and the whole way through the 90’s as I remember it the charts seemed to be dominated by dance music. We wanted to capture or do a tune which would get the attention of all music lovers and this seemed like a great tune to do. The pressures were firstly taking on such a big and well know song, trying to put our twist on the tune and hoping that people would like it. There is a big vocal presence in the original so trying to do that justice was a big thing also, I also changed the backing music and put a monster bass line over it to make it even more dance floor friendly, it seemed to work for that time and space.

3. You have played with some big names in Irish music, most notably Shane McGowan, Aslan and Kila. Do you prefer the stage or the studio? Which one is taking up more time presently?

It has been a great experience supporting Kila and Aslan, great guys, supporting Shane McGowan was an experience. Let’s just say there were some images I will never forget. I always like going into the studio because you get better clarity on what you are recording and tend to find different directions and production ideas for the song or songs your working on, but generally song is structured and pretty much finished before I hit the studio. The other thing is it depends where you are recording and who you are working with, it’s very important for me to feel comfortable with whom i am spending the time with as I will have an infinite amount of ideas and roads to go down, this of course is to make sure I get the best of myself and the best for the song.

Currently I am spending just as much time on stage, the new experience of “The Paddy Usher Band” is quite challenging and lots of fun. The band are second to none and are all great lads, fantastic players, very versatile and great guys to work, full of ideas, they really have a great spirit about them and I think it’s really reflecting in the new recordings and live shows, they are really rocking.

4. You were enjoying success and a US tour when a professional and personal tragedy struck, when two of your fellow members of Jacuzze Jungle died in a vehicular accident. Can you tell us of the events leading up to and surrounding this? How did affect you and you music?

We were rocking all over N.Y & N.J for over a year, met some great people and worked with others that had a great love of the songs I was writing and playing live, wow the shows over there were very energetic. The crowd loved us wherever we went because we were like lunatics on stage and always gave em something to talk about, word spread very quickly and the shows were electric.

We came home for two weeks to do a few shows and see loved ones when disaster struck, David Clinton (Bass) my lifelong friend was struck by a car in the early hours of the morning and passed away, approx two months after that Kevin Tuomey (Percussion) another lifelong friend was also struck down by a drunk driver whilst cycling home, we were just after having a quite pint and a chat. It was a terrible tragedy to lose two great guys that were a huge part of my life. That was a very dark period and a troublesome time for us all.

Things slowed up quite a bit and the Jacuzze Jungle band that so many people had high hopes for began to dissolve and fade away, there were some other occurrences that were unforeseen, and played a big part in the withering away process, (I need not go into now) when you have played music with people like Dave and Kev all your life and have such a great understanding of each other, well let’s just say they were irreplaceable.

After a rest period I began to write again, got some new guys and got back out on stage again. The tunes were a little different and I went down a more Southern Rock & Acoustic/Bluegrass/Folk road. I suppose no matter how many times you are struck down you have to saddle up and ride that horse again, and keep on riding until you break em. Lots of people just say to hell with it, but music is my love passion and life, if I gave up music I may as well set the concrete boots and head for the river.

5. Judging by your website, you seem to have quite a few new tracks nailed down. What is your writing process?

Ah the classic question, I have an abundance of material and I’m always adding to the collection and putting down as many ideas as possible. My song writing process is usually generated from acoustic playing and then laying melody, having said that the ideas for writing can come from anywhere so if parts are working great, if not pick another bottle and try again. I try to keep things as simple as possible, I think with song writing, you either have it or ya don’t.

6. What can we expect from Paddy Usher after you launch your new single, “You Are So Much Better Off” on May 8th Academy?

The Paddy Usher Band are hard at work, and the first single release 8th May I the Academy (“You Are So Much Better Off) is going to be a very exciting time for us, we will have dates listed on the website www.paddyusherband.com of shows up and down the country and were trying to get the songs to as many ears as possible. We would really like the get good Irish music back out and on the radio, as opposed to the nonsense that I’m hearing in the charts all the time, times are a changing and we as a band are going to be pushing as hard as we can to open up the channels for Rock n Roll. Please come and check us out.

The Paddy Usher band will Launch their new single You Are So Much Better Off in the Academy on May 8th.

For More information on Paddy Usher visit www.paddyusherband.com or www.myspace.com/paddyusher

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

For those of you who already disagree with the above title…. It’s my opinion and I don’t care! (Stomps feet)
How fitting it is for this album to be given such an accolade (by me) so soon after they surpassed all expectation with an electrifying performance at Dublin’s O2. For an album that truly cements them as modern greats, the band are refreshingly humble about such new acclaim. (Remember what happened to KOL…). I truly attempted to bite my tongue when given such a formal platform to review an album of this quality, but alas! I have no will power.
David Coverdale (of Whitesnake and Deep Purple Fame) was quoted recently in Classic Rock Magazine saying “It used to be bands would promote their album by going on tour, now it’s the other way around”. The successes of such a change in landscape is no better highlighted than in the anticipation one gets for seeing Kasabian live after listening to West Ryder’. Every Song has a dominant, comprehensive and larger-than-life suited aggression to them that only further forces you to imagine how ultimately overwhelming it would be to stand with tens of thousands all screaming “Get Loose, Get Loose”.

Quite Simply, the album of the year. 5/5

Album Review: The Vagabonds

Rarely has a debut EP such an immediate effect as to warrant a review, but every so often a band comes along that intend on building the foundations of their following through said medium and have the masses awaiting the debut album upon its eventual release.
With Bands like Iggy and The Stooges getting a much appreciated recent return to touring, it has opened the gates to the Punk of old getting a positive revival. The Vagabonds have seized this opportunity with their new self titled EP, boasting three tracks that would knock Jimmy Purseys socks off. All completely different and original, they still boast that old Punk essence. Track 1, “When James Met John” gives the entrée of the aforementioned flavour with similarities to The Ramones. But they really deliver on Track 2, “John Mellor” as they delve deeper underground to a sound not too distant from The Stooges themselves. This is all turned on its head with the final track, a mellow emotional “For Real”, which could have been recorded by a depressed, yet still on form, Flogging Molly.
For all its similarities it still has a new-comer element, which may be down to production, yet is still an element worth clutching to.
A strong debut, promising for a genre thought to be lost in nostalgia.

3/5

Album Reviews: Clockwork Noise and Channel One

Clockwork Noise – Yes and No and Everything In Between

I’m sure Clockwork Noise have admittedly taken some time (no pun intended) in getting a follow up to the debut album If I wanted, I could, but it seems to be worth the wait. A voice suiting classic American Prog-Punk mixed with a band suited to playing National Concert Halls makes this album the easiest to listen to time and time again.
Imagine a softly enunciated Daryl Palumbo (sorry Glassjaw fans) in a band spanning genres worth listening to well past the age of seventeen…. This is quite apparent in the probable track to look out for Egoeccentric. A brilliantly mixed, refreshingly funky and upbeat yet relaxing album, this is a statement of what is still to come from a band with all the talent and drive needed to succeed. Very much looking forward to the third installment. ****



Channel One – Sound To light
Another band trying to leap that defying hurdle of a new album release, Channel Ones attempt has left them in the clouds, as they truly surpassed expectation. Sound to Light has the makings of superiority in its rock/electronica division, yet speaks humbly as a follow up to previous records. Every song seems to create a landscape to further encapsulate you until the end, which seems to arrive instantly. So much so that you may replay Sound and Light many times to fully appreciate its depth. And to undermine my own previous comment, if Simon and Garfunkel were a modern Electronic rock band, this is what the soundtrack to The Graduate would sound like. ****

Interview with Junior85 for Connected Magazine

There is no doubt that musicians these days work extremely hard for any, albeit slight, progress in the industry. One man who defined that concept is Tony Higgins, also known as Junior85. In the last 12 months Tony’s workload has been heavier than Santa’s sack at Christmas, and with his ambient electronic sound getting some much deserved recognition the work is beginning to pay off. Since February of this year Tony developed a new idea to get as much of his music released as humanly possible, releasing five EP’s between then and April. Along with all he is doing on solo projects he still finds time to regularly play drums for Indie Pop outfit So Cow and occasionally collaborates with Local Living Guy, Vince Mack Mahon and Viking Moses to name but a few. Tony recently got back from the States and gave Connected the opportunity to find out the goings on in the mind of Junior85.

1. You seem to be mad for EP's at the moment! Tell us a bit more about why you are releasing new material so frequently?
I'd been working away on music for years without really finishing
anything to a level I was happy with. I was always sort of looking at
stuff and thinking, how do I make a coherent album out of this? By
shortening it to EP length, I found it much easier to get things done.
From February to April, just for the heck of it I set myself a
deadline of completing an EP a week. It was a way of getting away from
endlessly trying to polish tracks to absolute perfection and never
getting anything finished! Once I got going, I really got into it and
was able to plan out a path for completing lots of EPs, it was a great
motivation. I have at the moment about another 7 EPs planned out and
which I was sort of methodically working through, though a bit
scattershot at the moment.
I'd try to bring the tracks to as close to release quality as I could,
then let them go. I'd say with most of the stuff I did I got it to
sort of 90% of more or less what I'd be happy with, and it's a good
thing to let them go at that stage than hang onto them forever. I also
have a friend whose photos I love, and releasing so many EPs was a
sneaky way of using as many of her photos as I could before someone
else did!




2. You work on a lot of side projects, such as So Cow and Local Living Guy. What keeps you so busy? Are these other projects your way of keeping in touch with other forms of music?
I just love playing with other people! I make myself available as much
as I can around Galway, I'm always happy to drum for other folks. It's
something that I've done for years, and its a little bit part of the
ethos that we had since Stress!! (Promoters) started, where we used to have an
improvised music jam at the end where anyone was welcome. It's
definitely a way of keeping in touch with other styles too, as the
other folks I play with are generally in styles of music that I don't
make much of myself. I don't think there are that many drummers around
who are willing to give as much time to stuff and be open to diverse
musical ideas so it just means I get to play a lot!


3. What do you do to unwind? (Please do not be too honest!)

There's not much unwinding to be done these days! It's pretty much
flat out all the time, but I enjoy playing and making music a lot so
it doesn't really bother me too much. I'm quite often happiest when
I'm making some music or playing and it's going well, it's very
satisfying. An awful lot of the time things that I do to unwind, such
as going to gigs or listening to music drift into work when I start
studying them or thinking about the bands for Stress!! gigs!


4. Your sound can be compared to anything from Aphex Twin and Unkle to Massive Attack and even Radiohead. Are you aiming for a specific genre or is uniqueness the key?
I'm a big fan of the above bands, and also the likes of Boards Of
Canada and The Books, so I am probably aiming a bit for a sort of
ambient sound. I love a lot of other genres of music too which the
styles of the releases are pretty mixed up. I love the idea of the
variety of releases that someone like Jim O'Rourke does and making
loads of EPs makes it easier to do different styles. When I'm doing the ambient stuff, the main thing I'll be concentrating on is taking the corners off it as much as I can, removing parts that break the mood and stop "suspension of disbelief" sort of. I listen to
stuff a lot just when I'm falling asleep and also when I'm just
pottering around doing something else in the house, and if anything
sort of jumps out then I try to work it out of it. It's a sort of
inactive listening, non-concentration on it. A lot of the music I do is
also improvised, so I'm probably also looking for directness from it.
I like clarity.

5. One of your specific genres stated on myspace is Live Electronica. Any gigs coming up so we can see that in effect?
That's a next step alright. I've done lots of gigs of live improvised
electronics and noise music but no gigs of the ambient stuff off the
EPs. There's a lot of layering and messing I do on them production
wise so that I'm going to have to think about how to do a live show
with them. It's something I'm definitely hoping to do. I'd love to do
more of the live electronics gigs of before too, but it sounds nothing
like the EPs!

6. Are you an "odd socks don’t matter to me" kind of guy or do they always have to match?
Nah, I wear odd socks all the time. If it's a matter of necessity,
it's grand by me.

7. You spent some time in America after the initial frequency of EPs.
Business or… Otherwise?
That was playing with So Cow for two months, which neatly added a
bookend to the EP project. I tried to keep working on EPs while on the
road there to continue doing one a week but it was just too flat out
all the time with traveling and playing. Since getting back I've kind
of struggled to get back into it too, or at least to work at a focused
level. I have 3 EPs I'm working on right now but I'm finding it hard
to concentrate on just one of them!


8. Will you ever get tired of playing gigs in Galway? (I genuinely love that
city!)
Not at the moment I wouldn't say, there's a lot of interesting things
going on. Galway's a city full of musicians, and while for a bit there
wasn't so much original music going on there is now.


9. Bigger picture time. What’s on the horizon for junior85?
I'm not sure there's ever a bigger picture; as long as I can keep
tipping away at EPs I'm pretty happy. Every release gets some more
music out there and improves my production techniques etc. I'd like
to get more people listening to the music as much as possible of
course and perhaps do some physical releases with other folks away
from the EPs being free to download. It was really nice to get lots of play for the
EPs on An Taobh Tuathail on RnaG.


10. What’s your favorite word?
Tough question. I never think about my favorite of anything!


With more EPs in the works and clear plans to get his live performances ready for the public, we should definitely keep an eye on the horizon, as Tony Higgins’ Junior85 will be galloping over it sooner or later. To hear more from Junior85 check out www.myspace.com/roadsignsofourage



Words by Dave Quinn

David Turpin: Haunted! album review for Connected

With the growth in popularity continuing steadily, electronic music and its vast sub genres are getting a longer wave than anticipated. This is also giving opportunities for new acts to emerge in a still commercially successful category. David Turpin is one such act, releasing his debut album Haunted into a genre that never seems to end. But that doesn’t mean any old thing will be accepted. And that’s just the problem. With the Pop side of electronic music being controlled by the likes of LeRoux, It is hard to think of any similar music being anything more than a below par imitation. Now maybe that would be considered music snobbery, but in David Turpin’s case, regardless of why it is judged so, Haunted is definitely below par. The album seems to be caught in two minds, a comparative to 808’s on the production side but with a lot less effort, the vocals are something not quite adhesive enough. Not wanting to sound too cruel, but at times the album is so insipid it could have been released by on of the members of N*Sync nobody knows the name of. The stand out track is most definitely Dorothy Gale, but is the only one worth mentioning as this record never takes off or captures enough interest to give it a second listen. A feeble attempt. 2/5

CODES: TreesDreamInAlgebra Album Review for Connected

Codes’ heavily anticipated debut album has finally reached our ears, and to already welcoming acclaim. But is this just another case of mediocrity shrouded in patriotism? Just once I would like some real quality to emerge and prove that this country can still produce great modern music.
There is a possibility that the aforementioned time has come in the form of Trees Dream In Algebra. CODES define themselves as alt/electronic, but I for one found it quite difficult to define such a unique sound. The album bounces from melodic, soothing tone to an anthemic, almost overwhelming character. How does this work together? Surprisingly well in fact, and its ability to keep you intrigued throughout is another positive note for arguably one of the best debut albums from an Irish band in recent years. With the power this record projects, I can honestly expect CODES to be selling out the larger venues in years to come. What it all comes down to is this; CODES have released a debut album worthy of such acclaim – a beautifully subtle yet powerful album that envelopes the listener from beginning to end. Truly stunning. 4/5