Fiona Dunkin
Staff Writer
The 1922s (comprising Trinity student Ronan Murphy, Paul Carolan, Nicolas Puyane, Paul Mallon and Paul Campbell) are a Dublin/Dundalk based band known for their delicious jazz/alternative rock-tinged concoctions. You may well remember them as Evil Harrissons, (who were featured in The Ticket’s Top 50 Irish Rock Acts of Right Now in 2009) but with a new name and line up they have just released “The Very Lotust”. Hot Press has described the album as “unique on the current scene” and “un-selfconsciously compelling”. The University Times spoke with lead singer Ronan Murphy to give us the goss on the band.
1. When and how did the band form?
The present line-up has been playing together for about 2 years, but the band has been around in one form or another for more than 10. We used to be a four-piece called Evil Harrisons, and our then-guitarist (Barry) had a style that very much defined the music. I met Nick (piano) and Paul (drums) through Barry, but we all went to the same school. When Barry left about 4 years ago we developed a new sound. Nick moved to piano and we got two new players on bass and guitar, both of whom are also called Paul. That’s the current line up- myself, Nick and the three Pauls.
2. What are your (all of you) biggest musical influences?
The biggest overall influence would have to be the Beatles. That goes for all of us I think, but there’s so many others. Early Tin-Pan Alley songwriters like Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Harold Arlen; American punk bands like the New York Dolls, Television, Talking Heads, Blondie; old Spirituals; early Jazz; Prince; the Smiths; Steely Dan; Laura Nyro; the Beach Boys; so-called “classical” music, especially Shubert and Debussy; Rufus Wainwright; Beck…too many to list. I think any music that really moves you influences you to some degree.
3. Describe the band’s song-writing process.
The music comes first most of the time. It could be anything from a chord sequence to a fully-formed melody. I’ll come up with a lyric, and a melody if we need it, and then we’ll hit the rehearsal room and kick it into shape. We spend a lot of time honing the structure amongst ourselves, then we’ll embellish the arrangement. When we come to record a song, we try to give it a defining spot of colour…it could be anything from a string-arrangement to a flugelhorn solo…something that marks it off, like the sitar in Norwegian Wood.
4. What are the next steps for you guys as a band?
We want to give ‘The Very Lotust’ a big push…ideally, we’d go on tour as support for an established band, but we gig as much as we can. We’ve got an EP’s worth of new material waiting in the wings, and we want to get that out, maybe early next year.
5. Ronan, you study English Literature here in Trinity. Would you say that literature has had an influence in any way on your song-writing?
Absolutely. I’ve always loved poetry. I was writing poetry long before we formed the group. Lyrically, my biggest influences have been poets rather than ‘lyricists’ (if the distinction even exists). The most enabling influence on my writing, poetry and lyrics, has been T. S. Eliot, closely followed by Joyce, Yeats, Stein and Pound. Among lyricists, Larry Hart is my all-time fave: the intricacies and inventiveness of his rhyming and his subversive sting-in-the-tail have had a big influence on me. Johnny Mercer, E. Y. Harburg and Cole Porter aswell. Also, in a big way, John Lennon, Laura Nyro and Tom Verlaine…three visionaries who showed how much colour you could pack into the tiny canvas of a song. Morrisey, Paddy McAloon, even Beck…again, too many to list.
6. Also Ronan, most songs within mainstream music are based upon love and relationships. As a gay man, do you feel that homosexuality should be more explicitly expressed (as is heterosexuality) within music?
Without doubt. Rufus Wainwright, John Grant and Patrick Wolf have broken a lot of ground in this regard. It’s a healthy reflection of how society has developed. I know that LGBT people still have a lot of shit to deal with, but I think we’re past the protest song stage. I don’t see the need to be anyway cagey or wink-winky about it anymore. Saying that, it shouldn’t be a strait-jacket either. ‘Gay Culture’ has its own forms of narrowness and subjugation…I’m all for just being yourself.
7. What kind of overall reaction has “The Very Lotust” received?
The reaction has been very positive overall, though I think music journalists have a hard time pigeonholing the music. We’ve had comparisons with Ben Folds Five, Steven Sondheim and even Captain Beefheart (none of whom we were influenced by). One reviewer even claimed that we were ripping off Microdisney, which still escapes me, though I’m happy overall that we havn’t been put in a box.
8. Describe the band’s style in three words
Cole Porter tripping
“The Very Lotust” is available in Tower Records, Amazon and iTunes.
