The Point of Everything

Cork producer Ruairi Lynch aka Bantum and Listowel-based rapper as Gaeilge Séamus Ó Súilleabháin aka Súil Amháin are the guests on this episode of the TPOE podcast. Bantum has just released his third solo album, which is self-titled, and he also produced, mixed, and mastered the debut album by Súil Amháin, which is called athPhORT. They talk about how they got together, collaborating, and the idea...

Gemma Hayes, from Tipperary and now living in West Cork, released her sixth studio album Blind Faith on September 27. It's her first album in 10 years - Gemma says she has reasons for the break: she simply lost the urge to write and was busy raising two children. We talk about all that - how she literally locked away her guitars and subsequently lost confidence in her ability to make music - in th...

Susan O'Neill released her second album Now in a Minute on September 20. Recorded with brothers Cillian and Lorcan Byrne, it was produced by Christian Best at Monique Studios in Midleton, Co Cork, and follows the 2021 collaborative album In the Game with Mick Flannery. On this episode of the TPOE podcast, Susan talks about the past couple of years and touring with Mick, how she came back to focus...

Landless are Lily Power, Méabh Meir, Ruth Clinton and Sinéad Lynch, a vocal quartet coming out of the same Dublin scene as Lankum, Lisa O'Neill and ØXN. They sing centuries old ballads as well as more recently penned folk songs. Lúireach (out now on Glitterbeat) is their second album and as with their acclaimed debut Bleaching Bones (2018), it was produced by John ‘Spud’ Murphy, known for his insp...

Bill Shanley is a guitarist from Clonakilty, West Cork, who has played and made music with, among others, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Ray Davies, Mary Black, Eleanor McEvoy, and Paul Brady. He got lessons with Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience as a youngster and ever since has had a fascinating career. We talk though as much of that career as we can - spoiler alert: it features the London 2012 O...

Eoin French aka Talos passed away on Sunday, August 11. This is a repost of TPOE 56, our interview from 2017, around the release of his debut album Wild Alee. Team Talos announced Eoin's death on social media with the following message: It is with great sadness that we let you know that our friend Eoin French, known to many the world over as Talos, has passed away after a short illness. Eoin passe...

Waterford accordion player Seamas Hyland released his debut solo album Maidin Domhnaigh on May 20. A set dancer and traditional singer, Hyland also plays with Acid Granny and John Francis Flynn and has in the past been part of the Mary Wallopers live band. He talks about all these and more on today's episode, as well as where the ideas for the debut album came from, the influence of Waterford and...

A Lazarus Soul released their latest album No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens on July 5 via Bohemia Records. Frontman and lyricist Brian Brannigan talks though all of the 10 tracks that make up the record on this episode of the TPOE podcast. --- A Lazarus Soul tour dates August 23: Coughlan's, Cork August 24: Cleere's, Kilkenny August 25: National Museum, Collins Barracks, Dublin (supporting The Th...

July 20, 2024, marks 10 years since Cork venue the Pavilion, run by Pat Conway, Stevie G and Joe Kelly, closed its doors. It left an indelible mark on me and so many music lovers. Friendships were formed there, ideas were hatched, bands were watched, and DJs filled the floors. On this episode of the TPOE podcast, a whole host of the people who loved the Pav recall the six years when the recession...

Niall Murphy is Oh Boland, from Tuam, Co Galway, and currently based in Dublin. They've released three albums since the band started over 10 years ago - third LP Western Leisure came out May 31. On this episode of the TPOE podcast, Niall talks through all the songs on the album, touring the US, and their journey as a band. Plus going country! Oh Boland launch Western Leisure at Bello Bar, supporte...

John Meagher returns to the show to talk about the latest list he's compiled for the Irish Independent: The best Irish songs of all time — ranked: the definitive top 50. He talks about the work involved in putting it together, why there are three songs by Sinéad O'Connor in the top five, but no U2 in the top 10, why the Republic of Ireland team are in there with 'Put 'Em Under Pressure' but not Ho...

Dublin singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow released his seventh studio album Wide Open, Horses on June 14 and talks through its 13 songs on this track-by-track interview on the TPOE podcast. -- From the press release: In 2023, he brought Wide Open, Horses to life—on stage. He booked two nights at The National Concert Hall in Dublin, recorded a handful of lo-fi demos, practiced the material fo...

Galway artist Niamh Regan released her second album Come As You Are on May 31. On this episode we talk through all 10 of its tracks, as well as a not-very-secret hidden track, plus some of the fun things that she's experienced since releasing debut album Hemet in 2020. -- From the press release: Since its release, Niamh has embarked on headline tours from Ireland, to UK, Australia, Spain + more. P...

San Francisco-based Irish musician Shane Culloty aka Winter Aid released his second album under the moniker, titled Pull the Sky Inside, on May 17. He talks through all 15 songs on the record on this episode of the TPOE podcast. -- The 15-song collection, produced with Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, The Decemberists) and Chuck Johnson (Daniel Bachman, Claire Rousay), finds Culloty stretching the extr...

Conor O'Brien aka Villagers released their sixth studio album That Golden Time on May 10 via Domino Records and talks through its 10 tracks on this episode of the TPOE podcast. ---- From the press release: After the band-centred sessions of its predecessor Fever Dreams, That Golden Time’s solo-centric core was not forced on O’Brien by lockdown. “For me, That Golden Time has an internalised voice,...

Dublin dance duo Robbie G and Bissett aka Belters Only are one of the hottest acts in the country. With tunes like 'Make Me Feel Good' to their name and having co-produced the Ivor Novello-nominated 'Giving Me' with Jazzy, they sold out the 3Arena in Dublin in less than 30 minutes in 2023. Over the June bank holiday weekend, they're putting on their own festival at Punchestown, featuring MK, Dom D...

Pillow Queens (singer Pamela Connolly, bassist Sarah Corcoran, guitarist Cathy McGuinness, and drummer Rachel Lyons) released their third album Name Your Sorrow on April 19 and talk through all 12 songs on it in this interview. --- From the press release: It finds the group at their most vulnerable and self-assured as they explore themes of queerness, insecurity, desire and heartbreak as well as t...

Dublin-born, London-based Constance Keane aka Fears released her second album affinity on Tulle Records in March 2024. She talks through the 10 tracks on the album on this episode of the TPOE podcast. One part of the post-punk band M(h)aol, she also discusses their past year and latest single 'Pursuit', the first on which Keane takes lead vocals. --- Affinity follows her critically acclaimed 2021...

Kieran McFeely aka Simple Kid released two acclaimed albums in the noughties before seeming to disappear around 2008. He sold his guitar and packed away his gear. A decade would pass before he went looking for the boxes in his attic. Simple Kid released third album Simple Kid 3: Health & Safety in 2022, and played a show at Whelan's in April 2023. Now, Simple Kid plays the Grand Social in Dublin o...

Anamoe Drive is the solo project of Thumper frontman and guitarist Oisín Leahy Furlong. He released his debut album Breakfast in Bed via Faction Records on March 8 and talks through it track by track on this episode of the TPOE podcast. Oisin says Breakfast in Bed is a breakup album told in three parts. The non-linear narrative flits between the throes of heartbreak to the bliss of new love, from...

Singer/bassist Julie Hough and guitarist Matthew Harris from Dublin-based pop-punk trio Havvk talk through all the tracks on their third album To Fall Asleep, released on Veta Records. Julie's battles with insomnia are one of the influences on the album. She says: “I was waking up with an unshakable feeling of urgency, like I was forgetting something and then letting my thoughts spiral for hours....

Dublin singer-songwrriter Danny Carroll released his debut solo album I am the Cheese on March 1. He talks through the nine tracks on this TPOE 304. --- Press release: Part of the Dublin music scene for years, Danny Carroll is co-curator of A Litany Of Failures compilation series showcasing independent artists from across Ireland.  Having gigged in various projects, he’s opened for kindred spirits...

Singer-songwriter Niamh Bury released her debut solo album Yellow Roses on March 29 via Claddagh Records. Produced by Brían Mac Gloinn (Ye Vagabonds), it features Caimin Gilmore and Kate Ellis (Crash Ensemble) and Ryan Hargodan (Rachael Lavelle), but it is Bury's amazing voice that stands out as she weaves tales about travel, mysticism, and domesticity, with a theme of female empowerment coming th...

Willie Stewart runs Nyahh Records from his home in Co Leitrim. After releasing the brilliant I Am Kurdish by Mohammad Syfkhan in February, Willie talks about how that album came together and talks about Mohammad's story and musical output. Then he talks through other releases on the label, like Natalia Beylis' collaboration with Eimear Reidy, Ian Lynch's solo debut, and the two compilations from 2...

Driven Snow aka husband and wife Kieran and Emily released their debut album A Kind of Dreaming on February 9. An intimate collection of nine songs, it's a glance into a relationship, friendship, and all that that entails, with loss and doubt and worries along the way. But there's also hope - like they sing on closing track 'Nothing as Hard as Love': "Life calls me to breathe, calls me to breathe...