Jogging are a post-hardcore trio signed with the Richter Collective label who, you’ve guessed it, will be playing Le Chéile on Saturday on the Richter stage. Jogging bassist Ronan gave us the lowdown on the band.
So the album, Minutes, came out in April, what’s the reaction been like? Has it been just a case of touring it as much as possible since then?
It got a very strong reaction, one way or the other. It is kind of intense music, so people either really take to it or completely disregard it. It’s not very flavour-of-the-month type thing, it is post-hardcore music so it kinda depends whether you’re in to harsh tones and people shouting at you. I think being on Richter Collective gave it a wider audience, so it’s nice to think people gave it a chance. People who like it really seem to love it, and vocally so. As far as touring goes, we’ve just been playing one or two gigs a week since it came out, Ireland is a small place so we’ve become conscious of overplaying it.
Looking forward to Le Chéile this weekend? What can people expect from the Richter Collective stage on Saturday?
Definitely looking forward to it! It feels like a homecoming of sorts, a coming home to roost! Just touching base with all the other bands who we know and love, but the kicker is that it’s taking place in a brand new location for us. We’ve never played Meath before so we’re pretty excited. There’s a good range of stuff to be expected from the Richter stage. Not Squares and BATS should bring the dancing, then you’ve got us and Hands Up Who Wants To Die shouting at you and somewhere in between you have the instrumental stylings of Enemies and The Continuous Battle of Order. I’m excited anyway.
I’ve been following you guys on Twitter, that seems to be a big part of promoting a band these days. Do you get involved much in the promotional side of things yourselves?
Yeah, it’s a nice informal way of updating people, it keeps it simple, no point in trying to stuff a rehashed 2,000 word biography down everybody’s throats every day, it’s limited to a few words so it keeps it more personable and open. Richter Collective are great for it too, they really keep people informed about what the bands are doing, along with Mick’s (Richter head and Adebisi Shank drummer) musings on tennis, wine and anything else that has crossed his radar!
What are the plans for the rest of the year? Any UK/Europe/further afield tours planned?
Yeah, we have a few more gigs around the country and then we’re going to take a month’s break from each other! After that we’re going to the UK. We’ve just recently started working with a UK booking agent so a late Autumn tour is being confirmed at the moment. We won’t get further afield than that until 2011 unfortunately, but in the interim we’ll be working on the 2nd album.
What have you been listening to lately? Any recommendations for meg.ie readers?
I just bought the new So Cow album ‘Meaningless Friendly’ at his Dublin gig this week so i’ve been enjoying that these past few days. He’s from Tuam and he’s a great songwriter. Apart from that i’ve been pretty obsessed with ‘Made Flesh’ by Extra Life from Brooklyn, who we played with last month. It’s just an incredible album, it really is something new. I’ve also been loving ‘Sculpted Beef’ by the band White Shit, it’s just no nonsense and takes no prisoners. Other than that, today i’ve had on albums by Icy Demons, Brainiac, Antipop Consortium, Parenthetical Girls, Aphrodite’s Child, Pissed Jeans and Bracken and i’d happily vouch for any of those bands
