New single Dance with you available for free download at www.neosupervital.com
Meg: What’s the synth pop scene like in Dublin?
Well I suppose now, more than maybe a few years ago it’s I suppose a lot more accepted to go to a show and hear synth pop rather than just guitar, drums and that sort of thing. I just came naturally to me but maybe other countries might have more synth pop going on. It’s fine for me now.
In the new album I am using more guitar, live drums and that kind of thing but they’re still very much all engineered for dancing, which is kind of important for me and plus I love the 3 and a half minute pop tune, its kind of like my holy grail, the perfect 3 and a half minute tune.
Meg: You’re out on your own now. What’s the deal there?
Version 3.0 this time round. It started out with me, and then along came the 2 girls and Vin, he’s back with the day job, he’s hung up the glasses. The 2 girls are from The Chalets and Talulah Does The Hula and I think they have a single out at the moment. So it’s back to me and it feels like the most comfortable line-up I’ve ever had, I can only have arguments with myself! It’s just a progression and it worked out this way. When I moved out of Dublin, it just came naturally to me to be more self contained I suppose.
Meg: So how do the live performances go?
Just me, no suit, no glasses – clothes! but not the traditional ones that I might have been known for, playing electric guitar, synthesizer and various sequences going as well, oh and me singing as well.
So it keeps you busy – yeah, not overly so, I have it controlled. I have foot switches as most guitarist do. I’m really enjoying it, it’s not too complicated, nothing has gone wrong so far touch wood!
Meg: You have a gig coming up in Meath at Le Cheile.
Yeah, lots of little festivals are really coming into their own. This one, Castlepalooza, Clonmel, all that kind of stuff. It’s kind of nice. It’s a good size festival with lots of diversity with the bands. Fight Like Apes are playing the same day as me and I think Delorentos are on the day before me.
Meg: So you’ve a busy Summer this year, I see your playing Electric Picnic again.
That’s right yeah, the actual date and line up has yet to be finalised but it’s a brilliant tent and I never got to see any of the shows in their last year. THISISPOPBABY, they’re kind of a theatrical, obviously pop and a huge gay input as well and it’s really just about the show and about pushing the taste boundary and every kind of boundary and it really looks very interesting. There’ll be a load of drag queens and everything like that, so it’ll be a perfect audience for me, people just there to dance and have a good time. They always have great DJs on as well and I think they manage to run later than the rest of the festival. You get locked into those tents. I remember last year, I was wandering around in the rain at one point, because I had missed all the shows I was meant to get locked into.
Meg: It’s a huge change from Bell X1, how did it come about. You released your first album while you were still playing drums with them.
I suppose I was always doing my own thing and I hadn’t figured out exactly what. Along came the Bell X1 job and I can’t actually believe at the time I thought ‘oooh will I take it’ and I kind of hummed and hawed, I had a word with myself and said ‘what the hell are you thinking, go for it’. And it turned into 5 years and I had to reevaluate what I was doing, as most people might after 5 years in any job and it was a case of do I want to continue playing the drums for other people’s music or finally strike out on my own. I suppose it was a bit of a comfort zone, it was a steady job, well steady as any job in the music industry. But there’s a point where it’s put up or shut up, do your own thing. It wasn’t the easiest decision, but I have to say it certainly sits well with me now. It’s almost a year now but it was a fascinating 5 years. I got to see a lot of the world, people a lot of interesting people, saw a lot of interesting places and got to play some amazing shows. I’d never change any of it, but there came a point where I had to sing my own songs quite simply.
Meg: There are a lot of musicians out there, the likes of Josh Homme or Jack White,
“You’ve just mentioned two of my idols, well maybe not idols but I hugely admire both of them.”
Meg: Josh has QOTSA, Eagles of Death Metal etc and Jack White is the same.
“Josh has the new one as well” [We both laugh]
Meg: Yeah I was talking about that the other day but couldn’t remember the name.
I don’t think too many people will, perhaps you can have too many side projects, I duno! Josh Homme rocks, they both absolutely put their back into the music but they never forget the melody, Josh Homme can sing like a choir boy but he has this menacing presence, he just obviously has a huge drive to make music that he wants to make, like with The Desert Sessions and everything he does outside Queens of the Stone Age, I have huge admiration for him.
Meg: You had Neosupervital and Bell X1 going at the same time. So do you think you might have a few side projects in the future?
I was on the drums last night, relaxing actually, because where I live I can play at any hour and there’s nobody around except a few cows. They haven’t complained yet. I was thinking of where I would go next, be it Neosupervital or something else. I started out in a 3-piece band with a guy called Good Time Johnny, who’s still operating up in Dublin and another guy, it was guitar, bass, drums and it was so much fun. There was a lot of space to rock out because there was only 3 of us, so I could see something like that on the horizon. Or else the next Neosupervital album being a lot more dirty, it’s definitely going that way. [starts laughing] I’m sure somebody listening to the latest album they’ll say… eh that’s not dirty. But it’s relative to what I think. It’s more loose and relaxed. All the songs are slower there’s a lot more groove to them.
Meg: I spoke with song writer / lead singer last week who told me all of his songs were about relationships and love… What are yours about?
Yeah, none of mine are. Relationships and everything informs where you come from when you put pen to paper but I think on this one…. well I’ve scrapped a few songs because they were a bit me, me, me and there are some when I may not have scrapped the song but I’ve scrapped a lyric and tried to make it a bit more universal, not to the point of blandness, then you’re just pandering and you end up meaning nothing. I think there’s a middle ground, where you can be witty or funny but mean something as well.
Meg: So what is the message from your music?
Yeah, just have a good time all the time, just like the keyboard player from Spinal Tap. [laughs]. No, em… I would never print lyrics because people can take what they want from it or just listen to the beat. When I listen to a song, it’s beat, melody then lyric. If all three come together, that’s wonderful, but I could do without one if needs be. If the song is any good. I’m a huge fan of instrumental music, which a lot of dance music is so you can conjure up your own thought, you don’t have to have the lyrics there. Who knows. I have a load of instrumental tracks lying around which I’d love to put out as well. So yeah, this is only the beginning, I should just get more eh.. business like in my approach to getting shit done. There you go.
Meg: Where did you come up with the name Neosupervital?
Battery. It was the dying days of the walkman and it was a Japanese battery. I think I stuck the Neo in front of it.. coz I’m the new version.
Meg: The new single is out now. What’s it about?
Yeah, I think it’s about thinking you can dance with somebody and then possibly because they’re such a good dancer you might get other thoughts. [awkward silence] like going for a walk in the park?
