A Letter From… Northern Ireland #2

The month in Northern Irish music...

It has been a busy month for music in Northern Ireland; August was home to the annual festival Belsonic in Belfast and the lesser known Playlist festival in Derry. Belsonic saw the likes of the extraordinary Rams Pocket Radio sharing the stage with Thirty seconds to Mars and having the opportunity to play a sold out show to Mars cult following, the Echelon. Belfast Ska/Punk local legends Pocket Billiards took to the stage and played a blinder of a set, in support of iconic Ska veterans The Specials.

The smaller scaled Playlist festival showcased a wealth of home grown talent where the newly Yogen records signed Furlo were the true highlight of the weekend.

The most exciting band coming out of NI at the moment however has to be none other than Intermission. The 3 piece which consists of two of the former members of Warner Bros signed, Kharma 45 have been hotting up the NI scene with their own brand of alternative rock. On the verge of releasing their debut EP, No Reason, later this month the boys gave us a first look at their new release. Musically, this EP combines the distinctive roar of front man Glenn Rosborough with dirty riffs and the blisteringly powerful drumming of Phil Curran. Stand out track has to be Money, with its incendiary hooks; it’s hard to imagine you are not listening to this record in a boozy bar room sweating it out with hundreds of other fans. The EP is five tracks of raw, energetic and commanding rock which showcase a band hungrily cutting their teeth on the NI scene.

Sitting down with the band they gave their own insights in what’s to come for Intermission…

Well boys, tell us all a little bit more about Intermission. How did it all come to be?
Glenn: It all started when I left the band Kharma 45, which Phil and I used to be in. I had a real desire to do something with a lot more edge and sadly Kharma didn’t do that for me. I came home to Derry got the head down and started bashing out tunes, and then I brought Bradley into the fold. He’s been my best mate since I was 7 and Phil and I have been playing together now for about 10 years, I couldn’t imagine better people to be in a band with.

If you each had to state your musical inspiration, who would it be?
Glenn: The Who, Iggy and The Stooges, bit of Nirvana thrown in for good measure.
Phil: John Bonham!
Bradley: Rush, The Beatles, We are Scientists.

Who would you like to definitely see stop clogging up the airwaves?
Glenn: Pop’s got a lot to answer for lately! You would think in a world where artists are struggling that they’d be able to find someone who could string a sentence together! Lyrics these days are shocking! Thank god for digital radio.
Bradley: what’s called “R’n’b”…There is a lot of musicians who would be rolling in their graves if they knew what passes for R’n’b these days!

You’re in the process of releasing your debut EP. Tell us a little bit about the recording process?
Glenn: It has been great for us! We have been able to do the whole thing ourselves recording in both my bedroom and Phil’s garage. Not exactly Abbey Road but it’s been so useful being able to do things ourselves. I can write a tune on a Monday and by the Sunday we have a full finished production. Plus when were making it we can search out any creative route without worries of time or money. It’s quite liberating really.

What can fans expect to hear on the record?
Bradley: pure, unadulterated rock!
Phil: songs we love and hopefully others will to.
Glenn: Hopefully lots of good songs! We try to keep ourselves busy songwriting wise, so we hope there’s a good mixture there for people to get their teeth into. We just hope people come away from listening to it feeling like they’ve got something from it!

Glenn and Phil, you both are former members of the Warner signed, Kharma 45 and enjoyed two successful years on the road. Did this experience influence what you wanted to do with Intermission?
Phil: It was a great experience and we learnt a lot about the music business, it definitely improved my live playing and my drumming generally. I think that this time around the music is a lot more true to ourselves and reflects our influences a lot better.
Glenn: We got signed basically over night; we went with the flow and had a great time doing it. Though I never felt I had a clear enough voice in that band. I think through doing it I learned how far I could compromise what I wanted to do and the importance of being honest with yourself creatively, let alone with others. I love the feeling of being armed with nothing but guitars and drums and playing like your life depended on it. I don’t think I ever would have got that staying in Kharma.
We learned so much from not only playing on the road but with working with producers like Jim Abiss and Youth. It set us up really well for the future.

What are your plans for the future as a band? Any tours in the making we might look forward to?
Yeah! We are going to be touring non stop after the release of our EP. Then tour until we run our bodies into the ground.

And finally, does Intermission have a life philosophy that they and their music live by?
Be honest with yourself and your music, work hard and play every gig like it’s your last!

Keep up with what the Intermission boys are up to on: facebook.com/intermissionni
twitter.com/intermissionni

Words: Dorothy Lawrence

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