Pebbledash are a Cork-based dream pop/shoegaze five-piece who have just released their latest single ‘Slowly Slowly’. The band – made up of Fionnbharr Hickey (singer/guitar), Asha Egan McCutcheon (singer), Cormac Donovan O’Neill (keys/synth), Eoin Schuch (drums), and Jack Cashman (bass) – have gone through a few iterations to make it to the line up they are today. Now settled, they are ready for a busy year which will see them release their latest project, a four-track EP ‘Four Portraits of The Same Ugly House’ on January 31st.
“We met over a long-ish period of time” Fionnbharr details of the band’s current set-up, as we chat alongside Asha, Cormac and Schuch in a Cork pub; “The original Pebbledash was a four-piece with myself, our old guitarist Mícheál and two other people; then around November of 2023 some things happened, and the band reduced to two and I wanted to add more people to rejuvenate it and keep it going”.
“We were all kinda aware of each other from being around the music scene in Cork; Asha was doing her own singer-songwriter stuff, I listened to Cormac’s SoundCloud demo’s and Shuch was friends with Mícheál as well, and I knew he was a drummer so we just brought everything together November through to January and that’s how this version of Pebbledash came to be”.
Sonically, the direct of the band seemed clear from the moment the five-piece came to be, with the energy from the previous versions of the band finding a way to shine through once again. “There was the beginning of the sound we have now even in the way the old Pebbledash was going” Schuch notes; “that shoegazy sound was something Fionnbharr was aiming for even before the rest of us came aboard”.
“I definitely had an idea of where I wanted the band to go so I once the guys came on board that was really the starting point. I remember having a conversation with Asha where we were discussing combining sean-nós and dream pop; then Asha sang ‘Carraig Aonair’ which was one of the first singles we released together before the EP, and I immediately knew that I wanted that sort of energy from anything we did”.
Throughout our conversations, it’s clear Fionnbharr is somewhat of the band’s spokesperson. His own journey to music is intriguing, as besides rumours in his family of a concertina-playing great grandfather, there was very little else at home to point him in music’s direction. “I mainly found inspiration from movie soundtracks initially”, Fionnbharr explains. “From there I began learning traditional Irish music and I played in a few bands whilst writing poetry in the background”. Over time, Fionnbharr began to become more invested and influenced by bands such as Horsegirl, Yo La Tengo and Mogwai, inevitably wanted to develop that sense of energy and rhythm in his own. The Irish traditional elements still remain, however, with Fionnbharr citing the sense of emotion he feels has translated from it into Pebbledash’s upcoming EP.
‘Four Portraits of The Same Ugly House’ is Pebbledash’s first project as a five-piece, and marks an important step for the band both sonically and on a developmental level. Ever since the band finally took shape in February of last year, they’ve been deadset on making their first EP a statement of intent, and have spent the past ten months, writing, recording, and producing to make sure it’s perfect. “They’ve been songs for the bones of a year and a half, but they’ve gone through a few iterations so they version you’ll hear on the project really only began to take shape in November,” Fionnbharr adds, before Cormac notes; “Even in the process of recording there were some elements of the arrangements we re-jigged as well. We just really took our time with it and we really tried to get everything we could into it. In a lot of ways I feel they are kinda different compared to when we went in but they are very much retaining the spirit of how we play them live as well”.
The project is laced with longing and desire, both for people (the portraits) and places (the ugly house) that are crucial to both band’s and members upbringing. “These were my observations of what was, what is and what will never be,” Fionnbharr explains of the project’s depth. “Living and loving on the marsh that is Cork, with its concongruity and intrigue has been a pleasure and I want to show people how this inspired our music and get them excited for what’s to come”.
The final single to be released before the project drops is ‘Slowly Slowly’, a track which has gone through the biggest transformation of the lot since the band’s new members were introduced. “With ‘Slowly Slowly’ we added a whole new bridge and outro,” Asha notes. “With the songs, whether we’re playing them live or rehearsing, it isn’t until we get to recording that that they are really set in stone. ‘Slowly Slowly’ used to be a lot tamer but when it came to recording I kept thinking ‘this is so pristine, I need to make it prettier’ but listening back I realise I wanted to make the softer parts prettier while making the louder parts much grittier’.
This sense of constant re-writing and re-arranging of their work is part of what the band have described as world building, writing and developing work in a way that allows the listener to step in at whatever moment they wish and almost instantly feel whisked away to another realm, thus following the band through their next creative cycle. “With this next bunch of tracks we’ve got for after the EP I feel like there’s so much to say,” Asha expands. “We’ve been doing the world building sort of, and I’m really interested to get in and figure out what we do with the world we’re creating, be it spiritually, aesthetically, or historically”.
“I’m a real deep feeler in many ways so so much of this project has been a real meeting of minds not only musically but in many other ways,” she adds. “As a band we’ve spent hours at a time talking and not always about music and we’re all connected on so many levels and it’s not all about the music. The songs sort of write themselves, it’s the friendship that’s more important and that sense of connection in the band”.
Whatever is next on Pebbledash’s journey, there’s no doubt that Cork will continue to feature. “It’s in the water” the band laugh, when asked what’s happening within the city’s music scene that has developed bands such as themselves, Cardinals, Cliffords, God Alone, The Love Buzz and Smithereens to name but a few. “It’s certainly the venues and there’s so many places that allow you to really express yourself and try new things. Jim in Pluggd Records is brilliant in facilitating all these types of gigs you wouldn’t see anywhere else not only in Cork but in the country. They just put on incredible showcases with such amazing energy it’s almost impossible not to get carried away in the euphoria of it,” Fionnbharr replies.
“I also think it’s got something to do with the river,” he adds with a knowing smile. “It starts in Gougane Barra, a really mystical and spiritual place, then it moves really fast all the way across Cork, picking up little bits and pieces and then it slows down as it gets close to the sea in the city and it deposits everything it’s picked up on its journey”.
“It’s a flood plain!” Asha leaps in to add, running with the river motif, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually too.
As a New Year begins, Pebbledash look set for a big one, with the first of a run of London gigs coming up ahead of their project on January 29th in The Social in Soho before they play the Windmill, Brixton as part of Independent Venue Week and follow it up with a headliner the Elephants Head in Camden February 10th. “I want to be quite big, to do well, write more music, and be touring consistently,” Fionnbharr wishes of the band’s future. Meanwhile, Cormac has somewhat different expectations; “I want to see our enemies driven to war,” he laughs. ‘Four Portraits of The Same Ugly House’ is only the beginning.
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‘Slowly Slow’ is out now. ‘Four Portraits of The Same Ugly House’ is released on January 31st.
Words: Cailean Coffey
Photo Credit: Emily Cardona
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