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 LIR who just released their latest single ‘Reverie’.
What was the inspiration behind your artist name?
Like most bands these days, we struggled for quite a long time to come up with anything decent and cycled through some truly terrible names before landing on LIR. It took us about a year to settle on it, and at that point we knew we wanted to write more material with elements of trad fusion, so we thought something mythological could fit. Not before long, we latched onto the myth of the Children of Lir, a story of four children who were cursed to turn into swans and forced to roam the Irish wilderness for hundreds of years, waiting to be returned to their human forms. The imagery was the main thing that stood out to us, as well as the ties to the North Coast, where the sea of Moyle plays a vital part in the swans’ story, and where several of us in the band have family ties.
You’ve just released a new single. How did it come about and what does it mean to you?
Our new single Reverie was written during a time of grief and personal struggle for us in the band. The writing process was extremely cathartic and a great way for us to process and channel a lot of those emotions into something more positive and hopeful. We are a few years removed from that now, but even still, performing it live and listening to the finished track can still bring up some of those heavy emotions.
The song also features the recorded debut of our friend Laoise Corrigan on flute, which we’re extremely proud of, as well as our first time working with producer-extrordinare Darragh Tibbs and mastering engineer Joel Harkin, all of whom elevated the material to an incredible degree.
Have you any more releases or studio time lined up for later in the year?
We’ve currently got the guts of a track finished that we’ve been holding onto for the better part of a year, and is by far the proggiest thing we’ve written to date, which we are hoping to release before the end of the year. We’ve also been spending some time this year writing brand new material, which we’re hoping to use for a longer form project, though that release date is likely much further away!
Tell us about your song writing process.
Typically, Pedro (guitar) and myself (Ruadhán, drums) will come up with the initial ideas for each song. Once we have an idea of the general structure, everyone will start fleshing out ideas for their own parts, typically in a practice room together. Because we’re an instrumental band, the bulk of our melodic content comes from Sean on the fiddle, and because a lot of our parts are often busy, we have to make sure to leave space for the melodies once they become clear. We’re also planning to start writing more remotely by sending demos back and forth. As much as we love writing in the same room together, it has become much harder to co-ordinate and make that happen with as much regularity as when we started the band at university.
Who were your favourite artists/bands growing up? Have your influences changed over time?
This naturally is very different for each of us, with myself growing up on lots of pop punk and alt rock bands like Green Day and Jimmy Eat World, before moving on to heavier and proggier bands like Opeth which have a more discernable impact on our music. Pedro would have been into bands like Iron Maiden or Pink Floyd from an earlier age, before gravitating towards more groove oriented music like Liniker. The same largely goes for James (bass), who has discovered a more recent love for R&B classics such as D’Angelo, whom we all love. And Sean has been immersed in Irish traditional music from a young age, whilst also studying classical violin alongside that, both of which are evident in his playing in LIR.
What’s been your favourite local release from the last twelve months?
Not only is it our pick for standout local release, but It’s Not Going to be Okay by Joshua Burnside is also my personal album of the year. There’s not much comparison in terms of our sound, but the album contains such raw emotion and haunting melodies that it’s hard not to be enthralled from start to finish. There’s also an incredibly nostalgic feeling woven throughout the album, that has an air of mournfulness which is really what stood out to me from first listen. I’d recommend everyone at least listen to the title track, ‘It’s not Going to be Okay’ if they aren’t familiar with Burnside’s work.
If you weren’t musicians, what line of work would we find you in?
Whilst both Pedro and James would say that you’d find them in a more maths or physics oriented field, I can’t say I could see myself working in anything that isn’t creative. So my pick would have to be something to do with film (such as cinematography) which has been one of my biggest interests for as long as I can remember. Sean, on the other hand already has experience working on and off as a train driver over the last few years! You could typically find him working the line between the Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills, so really he has us all beat.
If you could collaborate with one artist or band from NI, who would it be and why?
Our biggest local influence has to be And So I Watch You From Afar, so it would have to be them. As another instrumental rock band, we’d love to know more about their writing process and how they’ve kept things fresh after so many album cycles. Another honourable mention has to go to the olllam, who were one of the first bands we ever spoke about when we met at university, so getting to work with any one of them would be a dream.
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?
After the success of ROI’s Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme in recent years, and their decision to make it permanent moving forward, we believe there is no reason why the North can’t follow in these footsteps and implement something similar for it’s artists and musicians. On top of that, we should have more funding schemes to make the creative arts more accessible to everyone, as the reality of creating and releasing music these days is incredibly expensive, which creates a huge barrier to entry.
What does success look like for you?
For us, as long as we are able to achieve small goals at a steady pace in a way that either contributes to our growth or satisfies us creatively, that’s all we can ask for. Either that or playing a sold-out arena to tens of thousands of raving fans.
You’re going out on tour and can have anything you want on your rider, what would we find on yours?
As tempting as it is to say a bowl of brown M&Ms, Pedro would like it if there could be a video game console set up in each green room that comes with one less controller than the amount of people requires. There would have to be a level of tension in the room, as everyone would be playing their best to avoid being knocked out and having to pass on the controller, that would naturally create the adrenaline required to play a show. Alternatively, James is campaigning for a selection of herbal teas, which would be much more sensible.
Where and when can we next catch you live?
We will be announcing some shows soon so keep an eye on our socials.
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.
