Joining me on this special bonus episode are Dr Richard McMahon (lecturer in History at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick) and Mike Smalle (academic librarian, musician and former frontman of the great Galway band Cane 141) to discuss Bring Your Own Hammer, a collaborative project that brings historians and composers together to create new song c…

On this episode I’m joined by Liam Heffernan and Ricky Dineen from Big Boy Foolish, a post-punk duo from the northside of Cork City who have just released their debut album – Stall the Ball. Ricky was the guitarist in the legendary bands Nun Attax, Five Go Down to the Sea? and Beethoven and Liam Heffernan played guitar with another Cork band Mean F…

A short video preview of Episode 40 – Hiding From the Landlord by Nun Attax, Five Go Down to the Sea? and Beethoven.

A short preview of Episode 40 – Hiding From the Landlord by Nun Attax, Five Go Down to the Sea? and Beethoven.

On this episode I’m joined by Martin McCann and John Brereton of Dublin band Sack for a deep dive into the making of the band's second album Butterfly Effect. It's a long conversation talking in their first band, Lord John White, moving to London, signing to Lemon Records, touring in the UK, the release of their acclaimed first singles and their de…

A short preview of Episode 39 – Butterfly Effect by Sack

On this episode I’m joined by Liam McKahey and Davey Ray Moor for a deep dive into Cousteau’s self-titled debut album from 1999. Cousteau were formed in London in the late 90s when singer McKahey, from Cork, hooked up with songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ray Moor, from Canberra. Cousteau’s self-titled debut album was released in 1999 by the sm…

A short video preview of EP38 - Cousteau by Cousteau

A short preview of Episode 38 – Cousteau by Cousteau

This episode is a deep dive with Sean O'Hagan on Hawaii by The High Llamas. A long chat, bookended by stories about Arthur Lee and Love, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. In between we touch on everything from Cillian Murphy, The Coral, Mercury Rev, Sean’s 2019 album - Radum Calls, Radum Calls, signing to V2 Records, Gideon Gaye, A&M’s Jerry Moss an…

A short video preview of EP37 - Hawaii by The High Llamas

A short preview of Episode 37 – Hawaii by The High Llamas

This is a special bonus episode of the podcast. An Draíocht is a radio documentary I produced in 2023. With the assistance of Eoin ‘Stan’ O’Sullivan, Sliabh Luachra musician in residence, I immerse myself in the music of Sliabh Luachra by going on a quest to track down six Irish traditional vinyl records released in 1977. It was first broadcast on …

For this episode I’m joined by Dara Higgins, and brothers Diarmuid MacDiarmada and John Dermody to discuss the Jimmy Cake's second album, Dublin Gone, Everybody Dead. We chat about their first band together, Das Madman, the formation of The Jimmy Cake, the recording of their debut album Brains and how nine (and then ten members) of a band handle th…

A second short preview of Episode 36 – Dublin Gone, Everybody Dead by The Jimmy Cake

A short preview of Episode 36 – Dublin Gone, Everybody Dead by The Jimmy Cake

Carol Keogh joins me to chat about The Tycho Brahe, the band herself, Donal O'Mahony and Diarmuid MacDiarmada formed in 2002. This Is, their debut album was released in 2002 and Love Life, its follow-up was released in 2003. Prior to The Tycho Brahe Carol and Donal were in The Plague Monkeys and before that again Carol, Donal and Diarmuid were in T…

A short video preview of EP35 - This Is by The Tycho Brahe

A short preview of Episode 35 – This Is by The Tycho Brahe

Dale Grundle and Alice Lemon from Catchers join me to chat about their band Catchers. Formed in Portstewart in the early 90s the band were signed to Setanta Records and moved to London. 'Cotton Dress' their debut single was awarded 'Single of the Week' in Melody Maker and the band recorded Mute, their debut album, with Mike Hedges in France. Mute w…

A short video preview of Episode 34 – Mute by Catchers

A short preview of Episode 34 – Mute by Catchers

Will Merriman joins me to discuss Little Dark Mansion by his band The Harvest Ministers. In a long conversation we discuss: the band’s history; self-releasing their debut single in 1991; its reissue by Sarah Records in 1992; the release of two more singles on Sarah; recording their debut album; signing to Setanta records; releasing two more albums …

A short video preview of Episode 33 – Little Dark Mansion by The Harvest Ministers

A short preview of Episode 33 – Little Dark Mansion by The Harvest Ministers

Steve Wall joins me to discuss The Stunning's debut album, the band’s history and how they self-financed their first four singles in the late 80s. We talk in detail about Paradise in the Picturehouse and how it eventually spent five weeks at No. 1 in the Irish Albums Chart. In a wide-ranging chat Steve also talks about: Irish radio programming; lac…

A short video preview of Episode 32 – Paradise in the Picturehouse by The Stunning

A short preview of Episode 32 – Paradise in the Picturehouse by The Stunning

Nick Kelly joins me to talk about Twist, the debut album by his band The Fat Lady Sings, released on East West Records in 1991. The NME called Twist, “a trembling monster of a pop record” and declared The Fat Lady Sings, “Ireland’s Finest band.” Five singles were released from Twist (‘Dronning Maud Land’, ‘Man Scared’, ‘Arclight’, ‘Deborah’, and th…

A second short preview of Episode 31 – Twist by The Fat Lady Sings

A short video preview of Episode 31 – Twist by The Fat Lady Sings

A short preview of Episode 31 – Twist by The Fat Lady Sings

A short teaser for the next few episodes.

Dave Hackett presents Keeping Track on UCC98.3FM. He describes the show as: “an alternative music and interview show.” Dave presents a really great show and has had some really interesting guests on recently. Dave asked me all about how I got into producing radio documentaries, the ethos of community radio broadcasting, how To Here Knows When came …

This is a special bonus episode of the podcast. Back in 2017 Niall McCormack and Dr Ciarán Swan curated the Green Sleeves exhibition in the National Print Museum. “This exhibition examines the Irish-printed album cover. Included album covers were all designed or printed in Ireland. The work was completed for Irish groups, who worked at home or abro…

Simple Kid - aka Kieran MacFeely - discusses his two albums from the early 00s – simply titled 1 and 2. Sometimes they’re referred to as SK1 and SK2. MacFeely first came to prominence in the late 1990s when The Young Offenders, the Cork glam-infused band he fronted released a couple of memorable singles, but their big break never materialised. Kier…

A short video preview of Episode 30 – 1 & 2 by Simple Kid

A short preview of Episode 30 – 1 & 2 by Simple Kid

In this episode Paul Ruxton, Cormac Gahan and Bill Twomey from Boa Morte join me to discuss their 2002 debut album Soon It Will Come Time To Face The World Outside. The album was produced by Daniel Presley (famed for his arranging, mixing and engineering work on Spain's The Blue Moods of Spain) and released on Francis Macdonald's (Teenage Fanclub) …

A short video preview of Episode 29 – Soon It Will Come Time To Face The World Outside by Boa Morte

A short preview of Episode 29 – Soon It Will Come Time To Face The World Outside by Boa Morte

In this episode Lee Casey and brothers Niall, Fergus and Barry McCormack from Jubilee Allstars join me to discuss Lights of the City their 2000 album released on Independent Records. Lights of the City was produced by Thom Monahan from The Pernice Brothers and recorded in a shed of in Windy Arbor. It’s a record about a pre-Celtic Tiger Dublin, a ci…

A short preview of Episode 28 – Lights of the City by Jubilee Allstars

In this episode Eoin Stan O'Sullivan joins me to discuss The Prawn Lawn and Brang by The Shanks. From Newmarket in North Cork, The Shanks arrived in Cork City in 1990 fully formed having spent a few years gigging around North Cork and Kerry. The Prawn Lawn was recorded in Connolly's of Leap in West Cork by Paddy McNicholl and released on his imprin…

A second short preview of Episode 27 – The Prawn Lawn & Brang by The Shanks

A short video preview of Episode 27 – The Prawn Lawn & Brang by The Shanks

In this episode Andrew Ferris (guitar/vocals)and Jamie Burchell (bass) join me to discuss how Jetplane Landing was formed after their previous band Cuckoo disbanded in the late-90s. Zero For Conduct, the band's debut album, was recorded in Jamie's homestudio in Bognor Regis and released on the band's own Smalltown America label in 2001. Jetplane La…

A short preview of Episode 26 – Zero For Conduct by Jetplane Landing.

For this episode I present my documentary, Dancing in the Disco - the story of The Sultans of Ping. It tells the band’s story from humble beginnings in Cork to topping the Indie Chart in the UK, touring the world, releasing three albums including their incredible debut - Casual Sex in the Cineplex - and sharing stages with their heroes, the Ramones…

A short video preview of Episode 25 – Casual Sex in the Cineplex by The Sultans of Ping