The Spikes and Red Kid, as well as Vann and Tara Lee, will take to the stage on Thursday evening for the latest free eLive gig. The gig is completely free but tickets must be reserved in advance from entertainment.ie/eLive. Be swift, there are only a handful remaining!
We talked to The Spikes' David Lawless and Red Kid's Ronan Turner for a quick chat in advance of the gig and this is what they had to say:
For the uninitiated, tell us a little bit about the band. Ronan, let's start with you and Red Kid.
Well we've been working away in music for a couple of years now; playing festivals, supporting artists and travelling around Europe. Our very first gig was supporting the Hothouse Flowers - which was an amazing experience for a young band. Since then we have played with a great selection of artist from Christy Moore, Aslan, to Adem Flec of Babyshambles, The Hot Sprockets and Delorentos to name a few. The band was set up by myself and my brother Dan - I had been writing music for years and had a stock pile of tunes; so we did a sort of commitments search for talent and formed the first stage of Red Kid - though we've had more bass players than Spinal tap had drummers!
Now David, the same question for The Spikes? How did your band come about?
When we went through the inevitable and difficult process of choosing a name, the answer, when it came, seemed obvious. In these days of digital music, a spike – a sudden, unexpected surge that towers over the surrounding sound – is a truly fitting definition for the sound of our band.
Ronan - how would you describe Red Kid's sound?
Our music is essentially pop - we get a lot of comparisons to Beatles, the Stones and The Who. We are all very different and like different sorts of music and we throw in all our influences into the music melting pot; which includes Ska, Hip hop and Rock - which gives us the blended result of Red Kid - We get a buzz out of it and it gives us energy which see reflected in the audience. Music is the common denominator of life.
And David - if you had to tell people about your sound in advance of the gig what would you say?
Well we've been told we have an ear for a "killer melody", and an "instant indie anthem" so perhaps something along those lines?
If you had to pick out one, what would you say is your favourite, or best, gig that you've played so far?
David: eLive, Dublin 2013.
Ronan: I really enjoy the smaller festival gigs; a bit more intimate and you get to have a laugh with all the other bands and festival goers; kinda like a party for 3 days. Castlepalooza was great fun cause it's all within 2 minutes walk of each stage and there is always a great atmosphere.
David - the newest Spikes album is incoming very shortly. What can he tell us about that before it drops?
It's called Joylist was was written and recorded in Studio2 in Malahide under the close scrutiny of Keith Lawless, who is the latest addition to the live line-up. Each song has a different feel but carries the thin thread that makes the whole album a very enjoyable and interesting journey.
Ronan - what will Red Kid be up to for the rest of 2013?
We're just finished our single from our forthcoming CD - we hope to have it all complete by end of 2013 - we will be releasing teasers like The Royal throughout the year with the next track 009 due for release by July. It's all about following our hearts and the music reflects the energy shifts over the past 3 years so there is lots of material to come.
We're really looking forward to playing eLive - please feel free to have a listen to our new track and give us your thoughts https://redkidtheband.bandcamp.com/ - we have some free downloads too if you would like one; just email [email protected] with Free MP3 in subject.
Finally, David - what do you want The Spikes to achieve before 2013 is up?
Our goal for the remainder of the year is to release the singles from the album, launch the album as a whole, and grab as many slots on the scene as possible using our current ever growing momentum.
More info - redkidtheband.bandcamp.com / thespikes.net
