Twist And Turn: CLASH Meets Cardinals
Irish band Cardinals supported New York’s Been Stellar on their UK and Irish tour a few weeks back, and before their Glasgow gig at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut we took the opportunity to talk Aaron Hurley (bass) and brothers Euan Manning (guitar, vocals) and Finn Manning (accordion) about their eventful year.
Catching them in reflective mode as 2024 drew its final breaths, Cardinals looked back on a year that saw them release their self-titled debut EP in June 2024 on So Young Recordings. A myriad of highlights saw the band end their breakout year with two show sin New York. Completed by Darragh Manning (drums) and Oskar Gudinovic (guitar), the Irish group blend indie rock heft with folk-hewn introspection, their poetic songwriting earning comparisons to R.E.M. in the process.
Julia Mason traces their story.
—
—
I first saw you at Left of the Dial, Rotterdam in October 2023, and you released the single ‘Roseland’ your first on So Young Recordings the following month. How did working with the label come about?
Aaron: We started talking to So Young in February of 2023 so there was quite a long period between us starting talking to them and then releasing something with them. We recorded the EP in August 2023 and that was just before we went to Left of the Dial. The campaign started then with ‘Roseland’ the month after.
Can you tell me a little about your experience at Left of the Dial, because it’s such an important festival. They managed to capture bands just at the right time.
Aaron: It was great for us, it was the first time going and playing in Europe, so not the UK or Ireland. We had so much fun at it, we got to stay in a hostel together, and we were having great fun. First show was at Perron Small and then every show we played, I suppose a bit of word would get around and we would get more people. We did three shows and the last show was pretty busy, people knew the words from being at the show the day before. Such a cool experience.
Euan: They are so good there. They just take care of everyone so well. We had a nice place to stay and you got good food, and they were just super friendly in. You always get that in Holland, I always love playing in Holland.
So getting onboard with So Young was quite early for you.
Euan: We weren’t necessarily shopping around for labels, it just happened.
Finn: We were kind of gigging for fun, just doing the scene in the city, and I had only joined the band a couple of months before. Did not expect it! Euan sent me a text one day when I was at work to say we’ve got news to tell you when you get home about labels and managers. We decided to get serious, very exciting. And they’re great, So Young.
With the release of the EP, and this is a compliment, you don’t have necessarily a distinct sound because the songs are quite varied. Is that fair and is that something that you wanted to embrace and showcase with your debut EP?
Aaron: I think with that EP we were trying to showcase range and the broader aspects of Cardinals, but I do think that we have a sound now that is quite a distinctive sound, and something that we’re pursuing is a specific set of themes and things like that, musically. But I do think that the EP was a broad range.
Euan: I think the EP came about as we were playing mostly in Cork, and we’ve written songs mostly in Cork, and it was just like, these are the songs we have. And that’s a reflection of band in the moment. This is us right now. As we move forward, we’re looking at making more of a statement, maybe something that’s a bit more together thematically and sonically. But at the time that was just us and we were quite happy to put ourselves out there as a group that had come together as friends.
—
—
And it’s very natural that you would evolve. Look at the year that you’ve had, that’s going to have an influence I suspect on your music and your view going forward. I know you’ve talked in previous interviews about Cork and how important it is to you, but now you’ve experienced so much more in the last 12 months. I’m guessing that’s going to seep into your songwriting.
Finn: We’re writing a lot of new stuff at the moment, and Cork is still clearly very important to what we’re doing. And you can see that pop up in lyrics and how we play. So maybe not moving away from that but taking on the experiences we’ve had because we’ve had a very busy year this year.
You had your first headline UK and Ireland tour in 2024. How was that? Nerve wracking or exciting?
Aaron: A bit of both. The first show was kind of nerve wracking. We played our first show in Birmingham, and that was like, “Okay, this is a headline tour” but we found a groove pretty quickly. I remember playing in Glasgow and feeling totally at home on tour and thinking “This is great, I’m enjoying this a lot.” It went well, and I think the nerves went away pretty quickly.
Euan: And London really finished it off (at the Windmill Brixton). There were a few familiar faces and a big crowd in a full room.
Have you any standout moments from this year?
Euan: Kings of Leon show was quite surreal, the biggest stage we’ve ever played, Marlay Park in Dublin.
Aaron: I think the last time I was in Marlay Park before that I was at a music festival and passed out in the medical tent from drinking too much vodka which I was about 17, so it was a bit of a step up to actually be onstage! We did a great festival circuit in Ireland, just with all of our friends there, and we could really enjoy ourselves at the festival but we were playing these stages that we’ve been interested in for a long time, and for me that was really cool.
Finn: I like the more off beaten track shows we played as well. We played Vlieland, which is an island off the north coast of the Netherlands. It was so beautiful. It was awesome. Again, the Dutch just being so good.
Aaron: It was the biggest show I think we’ve ever played and we didn’t expect it to be. We were all booked for a festival in Holland, and we got to take the ferry there, and that was the novelty! We sound checked and it was a quiet looking festival, and then we came back on stage, and it was one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever played to. It was really surreal. That was stand out for sure.
Euan: I feel this tour will be a standout looking back at it, because it’s fun we’re enjoying it a lot and it’s nice to play with these guys (Been Stellar).
You were announced for Dot to Dot festival and you’re playing Euro Sonic in January. What else is on the horizon in 2025?
Euan: We’ve a busy start to the year. We’re going to hit the road again in January, we’ve a few headline shows actually in places we haven’t played before.
Aaron: And we’re doing a lot of writing at the moment, so we’re in studios a lot, working on the next project.
—
—
I wonder if I can ask you about South by Southwest, because it was incredibly emotional to see the Irish bands take the united stand and boycott playing due to the sponsors. To be in the middle of that maelstrom of everything that was going on at the time, obviously, you’re a young band and that was an opportunity for you as well. That must have been quite a difficult situation you found yourself in, and yet there was solidarity amongst the Irish artists.
Finn: Not a difficult decision to make at all. I think for all of us, we’re connected to the issue of Palestine as Irish people seeing a lot of like mirroring history there. But definitely a difficult position to be in, and we were worried a lot about bankrupting ourselves. If we didn’t have the support that we had, it could have ruined us financially. Maybe not ruined us but it would have been difficult for quite a while. We would have been in a lot of debt.
Aaron: We went out there and we were lucky to meet the Music From Ireland people, and then all the other bands who were there as well, Irish bands. There was such a nice community of support, where if you were feeling a bit unsure of yourself, a bit upset about everything, then there was always someone there that you could talk to.
Finn: And we didn’t want to go and hang out in the festival, because we disagreed with it. So we just ended up going to the other Irish bands houses, like being in Ireland hanging out with a load of Irish people! I wasn’t even old enough to drink!
Obviously, a lot of other bands also boycotted South by Southwest, but Ireland as you say, had the support of the organisations not just the individual bands.
Finn: I was incredibly proud to know that Ireland was the only country where all of its acts acted in solidarity.
Euan: And the governing bodies being behind you as well. They’ve actually removed those sponsors now so it worked.
Aaron: We’ve got our visas now and going to New York in a couple weeks. We’ve two gigs in New York and a couple of radio shows.
Finn: It’s going to be great. We were talking about Cork earlier and places that are important. We’ve hugely into Velvet Underground and Lou Reed so New York City is important to us. It’ll be great to go over as a tourist as well as a musician.
—
—
Catch Cardinals at Eurosonic in Groningen, the Netherlands, this month.
Words: Julia Mason
—
