The Point of Everything

Promoter Leagues O'Toole joins for the 200th episode of the TPOE podcast, talking about the MusicTown programme they've put together, which includes collaborations between David Kitt and Kevin Barry, and Bob Gallagher and Junior Brother, and special events from the likes of Fears, who'll be showcasing her debut album. We talk about how the past year has been for Leagues, from being let go from Aik...

A year without gigs... March 2020 marked a year since our last 'proper' shows. My last one was Girl Band at Cyprus Avenue, Cork, on March 7, 2020. Eoin Aher, who has been booking shows at the venue since 2003 joins to talk about how Covid hit his livelihood, how they've been dealing with it since and whether we can expect gigs later in 2021 (spoiler: hopefully). We then talk about the archive proj...

Melbourne-based singer, songwriter and producer Liza Flume goes back a long way with Ireland. When she lived here around 2012-2015, she became involved with small indie label Toast Office Records which put out her first EP Full Steam Ahead in 2013. We talk about those times and the journey around the world, releasing the Spain EP in 2017 before now gearing up for The Right Time EP, coming out next...

It's the annual Choice Prize preview show as Eoghan and John Barker (98fm's Totally Irish) go through all 10 nominees for the Irish album of the year and predict who is going to take home the award. Albums discussed in this order Bitch Falcon – Staring At Clocks Denise Chaila – Go Bravely Fontaines DC – A Hero’s Death JyellowL – 2020 DIvision Róisín Murphy – Róisín Machine Nealo – All The Leaves A...

One of the best live bands in the country, Bitch Falcon released their long-awaited debut album Staring at Clocks in November, and have since seen it nominated for the Choice Prize. Lizzie Fitzpatrick, singer and guitarist in the band, joins to talk about how they're a different band now than when they started, both sound wise and following lineup changes, how Staring at Clocks was recorded in jus...

It's Choice Prize season - my favourite time of the year! With the Irish album of the year set to be announced on 2fm on March 4, JYellowL, who is nominated for 2020 Division, his debut album which came out in November, joins the podcast to talk about his journey, how the album is just the first step for him, how a Choice Prize ceremony a couple years ago helped inspire him, how he's helping to li...

Irish singer-songwriter Nina Hynes has been based in Berlin for over a decade now. Speaking to the TPOE podcast from her German apartment, she discusses her fifth album Zap! which is due for release on February 26 and the difficult story that inspired it. We also talk about how Germany is dealing with Covid-19, being creative in lockdown, how making and releasing music in 2021 compares and contras...

Elaine Howley (Altered Hours) and Eoin French (Talos) are working together, along with Katie Ellis (Crash Ensemble) on music for Eriu's Threshold, a new multidisciplinary project from the team behind Body & Soul. Featuring an outstanding cast of renowned Irish female talent from the worlds of theatre, dance, film, literature, fashion design, and music, the project interprets the past in response t...

Kean Kavanagh released my favourite album of 2020 with Dog Person, a superb melding of genres resulting in something fun, touching and effective. We talk about his journey to the release of his debut album, from co-founding Soft Boy Records to the rise of Kojaque to Kavanagh finding his own voice, as well as how the lockdown has affected his creative process and what's next for both him and the ar...

PX Music rapper Citrus Fresh released his debut album Operating System just before Christmas 2020. We talk about its creation over the past year, the formation and development of the PX Music collective in Limerick, the East Coast and South-West All Stars' performance on the Tommy Tiernan Show, and lots more besides. Outro music: Citrus Fresh - 'Sodacake' Buy the album: https://witnessthecitrus.ba...

Sligo artist Myles Manley released his second (maybe, depending) album, Cometh the Softies, in November 2020. He says the album aims to "navigate the likes of nationalism, capitalism and sexuality via the language of playground bullying". With esoteric titles like 'I Heard Your Mum Call, Michael', 'Shiteshow' and 'Billy Drag vs Ed Sheercunt', it's a more direct hit, over just 26 minutes, than Myle...

It's the annual TPOE Christmas party with Caoilian Sherlock and Aisling O'Riordan. We talk about out year in music, from how it helped us in lockdown to doing and enjoying livestreams throughout 2020. Then we go through our top five albums of the year and then some of our favourite songs and other bits and pieces. Music featured: Denise Chaila - Chaila Rising Damp - Recognise Fascism Niamh Regan -...

Ian Lynch discusses Lankum's year, from playing sold-out shows at Vicar Street to winning the Choice Prize to touring the US... and then having to use a big chunk of the €10,000 Choice winnings to get back to Ireland when Covid-19 hit. The lockdown helped him delve deeper into his Fire Draw Near podcast, which explored the world of folk and trad music. He's in the midst of a three-part podcast on...

Ten Past Seven are gearing up to release their third album Long Live the Bogwalrus on November 27 - Rory O'Brien discusses their history, from the US to Kerry to Cork and beyond, finding their sound, the Redneck Manifestor and being part of the instrumental rock scene in Ireland during the latter part of the noughties and everything they've been up to since, leading to recording the new album with...

Irish singer songwriter Seamus Fogarty released his third album A Bag Of Eyes on Domino Records on November 6. We talked just before its release about how it was created, having been borne of the London-based artist "growing weary" of the guitar. We discuss his journey over the past ten-plus years, with detours along the way courtesy of the late Willie Meighan of Rollercoaster Records and King Cre...

Donegal pop singer Eve Belle released her debut album In Between Moments at the end of October on Rubyworks. We talked about how she was feeling facing into lockdown 2, not feeling guilty about pop music anymore, the influence of Lorde and Taylor Swift on the album, how Rubyworks helped Eve on her journey, supporting Hozier, and lots more. Outro music: Eve Belle - 'Bluff' In Between Moments on Spo...

Dundalk singer songwriter Jinx Lennon played (the virtual) Clonakilty International Guitar Festival this year and I was delighted to chat with him for the festival too. We discuss his work in Louth hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, his latest album Border Schizo FFFolk Songs For The Fuc​*​*​d, which was released at the start of the first song, how he's developed over the years, the surge of n...

Dublin artist Ailbhe Reddy has just released her brilliant, long-awaited debut album Personal History and talks us through its creation. From touring the UK with Will Varley to her wonderfully brilliant tea ratings, learning the songwriting craft and befriending Pillow Queens and Bitch Falcon along the way, she discusses how she's developed as an artist and why she feels part of a particularly exc...

Dublin artist Caimin Gilmore's chamber folk group Sun Collective released their latest EP on his 32nd birthday over the summer. He talks about how the collective works and we try to delve into the rest of his prolific music career, from playing with various orchestras including Crash Ensemble, to touring with Lisa Hannigan and making music with Damon Albarn at his gaff in Iceland. We also discuss...

Pillow Queens release their long-awaited debut album on September 25. Guitarist/vocalist Sarah Corcoran talks about how the album was created, the burgeoning music scene in Dublin, how Covid affected the band's plans for 2020, touring with Soak, and lots more. Ireland / UK tour 2021 19.02 Listowel Mike the Pies 26.02 Dublin Button Factory 27.02 Dublin Button Factory 04.03 Kilkenny Set Theatre 05.0...

Clonakilty International Guitar Festival is going ahead virtually in 2020 - co-organisers Ray Blackwell of De Barra's and Kev McNally talk about how it came about, how it was all recorded, what they're looking forward to and how great it was to see musicians doing what they do best again.

Galway singer-songwriter Niamh Regan has just released her debut album Hemet on new Galway label Black Gate Records. She talks about how it came to be, how she tried to write a radio-friendly song for the first time, the influence of her first band Juhn Echo, writing with her husband, the grief that informs Hemet, and lots more. Outro music: Niamh Regan - Save The Day. But Hemet at https://niamhre...

Northern Irish singer songwriter Joshua Burnside releases his second album Into the Depths of Hell on Friday, September 4. Ahead of its release he talks about the expectations for the album, how his granny is his harshest critic, the tragic loss of Lyndon Stephens, who was a big influence on Burnside as well as the Belfast music scene, his fear of flying, and lots more Buy/preorder the album: http...

Emperor of Ice Cream are one of those Cork bands who always get mentioned after the likes of Frank & Walters and Sultans of Ping - but whatever happened to them? A feature in the Irish Examiner earlier this year rekindled the relationship between the members and, after releasing two singles in the past couple of months, they're gearing up to finally put that debut album out into the world, almost...

Dublin-based five piece Silverbacks release their debut album Fad on Friday, July 17. Frontman Daniel O'Kelly discusses the creation of the album, made with Girl Band's Daniel Fox on production duty; finding confidence as a singer/lyricist and as a band as a whole; Simpsons and John Hughes films; the Dublin guitar rock scene; and the story behind 'Just in the Band', one of the best Irish singles o...