INDIE 47
2016 / ISSUE 88
INTERVIEW:
LAND LOVERS
Just in time for their latest album – The Rooks Have Returned – we had a quick chat with Ireland’s Land Lovers about Dublin,
botched piercings and great music. We even briefly discussed the album.
Christina T. | Guestlist
Hello, how are you?
I’m grand, a bit hungry and
dissatisfied with the prospect of a
salad for dinner.
What have you been up to lately?
Ah here, what haven’t I been up
to? Going to the gym, going to
work, getting annoyed, preparing
for my wedding (not related to
previous list item) and trying to
flog an album.
Tell us a bit about the Dublin
guitar pop scene
Apologies to anyone else in
Dublin who plays what they’d
term guitar pop, but I would
say that Popical Island, the
collective of which we are a
part, is associated with most of
the good stuff in this field over
the last 5 or 6 years. There are
peaks and troughs of excitement
around the whole thing. You
won’t be disappointed if you
investigate records by Lie Ins,
the Yeh Deadlies, Squarehead,
Ginnels, Grand Pocket Orchestra,
No Monster Club or possibly even
Skelocrats.
What’s a song that changed your
life?
No song could have that kind
of impact on me, being as I am
unflappable. I got into music
when I was 14 in 1995, and
that coincided with Britpop,
so I could possibly list some
very embarrassing songs but I
won’t. That’s honestly the only
time in my life where I could
point to songs as changing
how I lived, because some of
them encouraged me to start
reading books seriously. If you
are somehow fascinated, you can
work out a mystery song or two
based on my previous statement
and your knowledge of hit records
from the mid nineties.
or not.
What was it like making your
new album, The Rooks Have
Returned?
Efficient! We spent 3 days in
Orphan Studios in Dublin putting
down live tracks and whatever
overdubs we could fit in, then in a
couple more days at our rehearsal
space, The Pop Inn, it was done.
Orphan is a fabulous wonderland
of vintage gear, we did very well
to focus our attention on getting
as much proper work done as we
could before messing with the old
“I’m one of the most thorough
rock and rollers of my
generation”
How do you describe your sound
in conversation?
I call it melodic and lyrical pop
music without knowing how
helpful that is. I don’t think we
ever write with a clear intention
to imitate anything, and there’s
rarely any conscious influences,
but in retrospect there’s elements
of Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe,
Orange Juice, Television, Lionel
Bart, Carole King, David Bowie
and Richard Rodgers in there.
That’s today’s list. Elvis Costello is
always on the list, whether I like it
organs and tape delays and what
not.
What instruments were involved
in the making of the new album?
Guitar, bass, drums and keyboards
- we are a simple band of
simpletons.
There seem to be many
narratives woven into the new
album…would you agree and if
so, can you explain any?
I write the odd narrative song,
the odd character study, the odd
polemic, the odd flight of fancy
and the occasional personal
song that directly tries to express
feelings. I think this album has
some of them all on there. I think,
whichever it is, you have to fully
commit to it. If after a while I find
that I’m writing as some character,
or that a verse has suggested
a story, it’s my inclination to
see it through to the end rather
than worry if it represents me
personally, or if it’s what I want
to say. As a result, I decided to
write very few of my songs...
they are worryingly in control of
me. Luckily, they’re completely
harmless. I’ll explain Springtime
for the Mystics, the first song: it’s
about a veteran Irish-born British
politician in perhaps the 1970s
who was involved in the 1916
Rising as a child, which he kept a
secret after being packed off to
England and news of which the
papers and elements in his own
party have gotten a hold of.
What are you listening to right
now?
Podcasts of Melvyn Bragg’s In Our
Time. I’m haunted by the prospect
of running out of episodes:
I’m already down to some of
the dregs, like Merlin and the
Continental/Analytic Split.
What’s next for Land Lovers?
As many gigs as we can possibly
get our hands on in 2016, with a
view to selling all copies of our
new album. Listen to us, people of
England! We want to play for you.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever
had?
When I was 18, I worked in a
trinkets shop on a beachfront in
New Hampshire, and part of the
job was to pierce kids’ ears with a
gun, after half an hour’s ‘training’
on a piece of cardboard. I made
some hungover shaky-handed
mistakes, and one led to a girl
fainting. Luckily, there was a nurse
coincidentally browsing in the
shop, and doubly luckily I was
faster than the girl’s dad.
Are you more rock and roll or
more stay at home?
I’m one of the most thorough rock
and rollers of my generation.
What are you most looking
forward to right now?
Previously-mentioned wedding.
If you could have a swimming
pool full of anything, what would
it be?
Noodles (Super or Koka) with a
layer of crisps halfway down and a
layer of money at the bottom.
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