When Chordblossom came into existence, it was always our aim to shine a spotlight on the artists and bands that make up the music scene in Northern Ireland. We’ve been doing it for over ten years now and one of our favourite methods is our Introducing feature.
Put the kettle on, curl up on your sofa and and join us for a quickfire Q&A with some of our favourite new musicians. Who knows, maybe you’ll even discover your new favourite artists.
This iteration of Introducing features the musical talents of Stout Talk who just released their new single ‘I Feel No Shame’.
What was the inspiration behind your artist name?
The 5 of us in Stout Talk all grew up around Omagh. A lovely small town that sadly had a lack of live music, it was our love for music that made it inevitable that we would all eventually meet. When Fontaines DC played the Ulster Hall in 2019 Cormac, Ciaran and Pody all bonded over their exciting post punk sound, forming a band of our own seemed like the obvious next step. At the same time as we began practicing in Cormacs’ shed, the folk band the Mary Wallopers were holding a series of lockdown livestreams. In a small pub they created in a shed of their own the three lads from Dundalk brought a bit of lighthearted entertainment for them delirious days.
It was on one of these livestreams where we heard them use the phrase “Stout Talking”, for when you’ve had one too many pints of the black stuff and you can’t seem to control the spill of words coming from you. Whether we were talking to friends, family, or trying to chat someone up down in Bogans Bar, we all did a bit of Stout Talking that summer. Just as the 5 of us meeting felt like an inevitable, so did the band name. We believe it says a thing or two about how we do things as a band, nothing is too by the book or too professional. A sting of poorly thought through decisions that always seem to work out in the end.
You’ve just released a new single. How did it come about and what does it mean to you?
We released our latest single ‘I Feel No Shame’ on 25th March. Oddly enough the tune began with our lead guitarist Cormac trying to write a country song, then trying to make it into a midwest emo tune. After a bit of a telling off from lead singer Cahir it transformed into an acoustic rock 4 minute multi section set finisher. Cahir wrote the lyrics on the fly at a band practice, starting with the lyrical hook of the chorus that lands down on a simultaneous crash of Lee’s drums, Pody’s Bass and Ciaran’s rhythm guitar.
A story of chelsea boots, rock and roll, and unrequited lust, Cahir’s screaming snarls lead into an atmospheric mellow followed by screaming electric guitars and halftime breakdown with a taste of heavy metal drumming. As soon as we wrote it we knew it was going to be the last song on our set list. A false end catches the audience off guard before pulling them straight back into the earworm chorus. Johnny Woods in 1980something studio did a fantastic job of putting our favourite live song to tape. Jon Moorhead mastered it and gave it its final polish. A lot of ours songs have quite heavy meaning behind them, it’s nice to have one that is just a whole lot of fun
Have you any more releases or studio time lined up for later in the year?
‘I Feel No Shame’ was our second single and the first off of our upcoming EP ‘Songs About Water’. The follow up ‘Waders’ released on 26th of April. Waders is a big sonic switch from I Feel No Shame. Its musical influence takes more from Basements Covet than from the acoustic rock of Neutral Milk Hotel. Initially written by Cormac, its lyrics have a strong connection to his own family’s experiences.
Growing up in a large family, death wasn’t something unusual, but it was the loss of two beautiful lives taken too early that stuck with him. Mental health is a crisis that affects us all, it affects those who from the outside we would never expect it too, it affects those who are perfect and those who are imperfect, it goes unsaid and unheard , it affects us young and old alike.
The altering of one line from Cahir after his own personal experience transformed the song into something bigger than one person. Waders to us is a song of mourning yet also a celebration of life, of art, of love, of wonder, of everything that makes the terrifying beautiful. Of everything that makes us human
Tell us about your song writing process.
The 5 of us are best friends, however we can be as stubborn as mud. Most of our songs start with one of us either writing a full song or the core of one, we will then bring it to the rest of the band for everyone to write or build upon their own parts. Our EP has lyrics written by Cahir, Cormac and Pody. Every song however has the unique flair of each of our own instrumentation.
A few of our favourite songs have come about between games of Fifa and a few too many cheap beers. Our Ep touches on topics as varied as suicide, unrequited love, commitment, and going mad lost at sea. Pody sings the song written by him. Cormac’s songs are performed by Cahir. The diversity in songwriting leads to a setlist of songs that vary greatly from one another. A Chair song doesn’t sound like a Pody song, which doesn’t sound like a Cormac song.
Who were your favourite artists/bands growing up? Have your influences changed over time?
Despite all bonding over our love of music, none of our tastes align. You can find Pody listening to anything from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard to Charlie XCX. Cahir is a musical encyclopaedia, he could name every instrument used on 69 Love Songs by the Magnetic Fields, what order they are used on and in which city they were bought.
Ciaran loves his Oasis and his Christie Moore, you can find him fitting in at any singalong of 50 year old dads. Lee loves a guitar solo more than Cormac so he is always drumming along to the classic rock legends of Led Zeppelin or the blazing shredding of Van Halen. Cormac goes through phases of listening exclusively to the Midwest Emo of American Football and Hot mulligan, to playing Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt on repeat.
What’s been your favourite local release from the last twelve months?
Our good friends at Foreign Mornings released a stellar album at the end of last year. Building upon their already fantastic catalogue, 4AM brings 90’s alternative rock to Belfast with a fresh and in your face sound. We have had the pleasure of playing alongside them a few times and they never disappoint to replicate the zeal of their recordings live. They are also just a lovely group of guys.
We likewise had the pleasure of playing alongside Franklin at a battle of the bands in the Goats Toe in Bangor. Another lovely group of musicians who make some amazing emo and alternative rock songs that are guaranteed to be stuck in your head for weeks after hearing them. Their debut single Bebby is no different with a brilliant chorus that we can’t stop singing.
If you weren’t a musician, what line of work would we find you in?
Finishing uni in the next couple of weeks I think we are all asking ourselves that very same question. We would love to say see would be in something creative. Stout talk the poets, painters, filmmakers and dancers. But we will probably pushing paper in a 9-5 desperately counting down the days until our next gig. We could all buy a boat and live our deadliest catch dream, out on the high seas for months at a time, sailing around the world and trying not to fall overboard…
If you could collaborate with one artist or band from NI, who would it be and why?
I think it would have to be Stratford Rise. Their latest single ‘World’s Fair’ and the rest of their music is so different from ourselves. The outcome would either be the most beautiful or tragic thing imaginable. Mix a bit of harsh noise with acoustic guitars, maybe throw a harmonica or two into the mix, now that would be great fun.
It is intensely difficult to be successful in the music industry. What does NI need to do to invest in/develop to boost your chances?
I think the hardest challenge we have came up against is the limited amount of venues available to host gigs. With everything increasing in price we have found ourselves out priced on a few occasions. When you include the cost of the immensely talented sound engineers, photographers and other essential people it can get a bit expensive. I think we would love to see an increased investment into local venues. To help support up coming artists and to allow the staff that work so hard to get the compensation that they deserve.
What does success look like for you?
Success to us is the feeling we get when we have hosted a gig, brought along some of our favourite local musicians, got to share the music we have written and expressed ourselves so freely on stage, all to a crowd of our best friends. The people we have met through music have been some of the most wonderful folk imaginable.
The Belfast music scene feels like a very tight knit community of friends. With us all working and studying as well, being on stage can feel like the only time we can truly be ourselves. All cares in the world disappear and are replaced with nothing short of euphoria
You’re going out on tour and can have anything you want on your rider, what would we find on yours?
There is nothing better on the morning of a gig day than a sunny day and a game of one touch one bounce with a football, however on tour we couldn’t garuntee any nice weather, especially here. So I think it would have to be an Xbox 360 and a game of skate three, throw in a handful of cheap beers and you have the recipe for a great time
Where and when can we next catch you live?
We are very excited to announce that our debut EP ‘Songs About Water’ will be released on Friday 19th July. To celebrate the release of the EP we will be holding two gigs. On the 22nd of July we are playing the Union Bar in Belfast alongside our friends Franklin & Nell. On 3rd August we head to Ophelias loft at Dalys in Omagh with the Placehold.
If you enjoyed this feature and fancy discovering some more new artists, we suggest you jump on over to our archive of Introducing pieces.
If you are a band or musician based in Northern Ireland interested in taking part in our Introducing feature, we recommend submitting new music to us via our Contact page and if we enjoy it, you’ll no doubt hear from us.
