The Whatmans, Ireland’s latest rock sensation, were crowned winners of INDIE WEEK IRELAND 2010 at the Twister Pepper in Dublin on April 16.

The prestigious award, which carries with it the honour of representing Ireland at INDIE WEEK CANADA 2010 (October 13 – 17), came after the festival roamed the country for a week, making stops in Dublin, Belfast, Galway and Limerick.

The Whatmans were announced as the winners after performing their forthcoming single Kiss the Mind and current single Devil Shoes. The Whatmans took the title ahead of the other finalists, Amoric.

“We always knew that there was no other band out there in Ireland like us. Getting to play at INDIE WEEK IRELAND was such an amazing chance to show off our talent to the music industry in Ireland, but to win the competition was a dream come true. Hopefully the radio will take notice and play Devil Shoes; it’s heartbreaking to play in front of 2-3 hundred people and they say they never heard of you” said lead singer John Brennan following the announcement.

The Whatmans are singer John Brennan, guitarist Padar Mulvey, bass player Francis McGinn, keyboard player Lizzy Oakes and drummer Aidan Carolan. The band formed in 2007, have bee called Ireland’s best unsigned band, and they have been described as What the Kings of Leon would sound like on cocaine.

The band have a busy schedule ahead of them, including an appearance on the Hector and Tommy Show on RTE 2 on Saturday, May 1.

Over the summer, The Whatmans are appearing at festivals in Cavan, Sligo and Northern Ireland. They are also travelling to Britain for the UK’s biggest indie festival, where there will be supporting the legendary New Model Army.

If you want to catch the Whatmans’ live experience before they become international superstars, they are playing as part of the Backroom Sessions in The Lantern Bar in Navan at the end of May.

The Whatmans go into the studio in June to finish off their next single before returning to the the studio to complete their forthcoming album (provisionally called Our Driver Has No Criminal Record), which is due for release in November. The Band will also spend the Summer shooting two videos for the album, which will include a 14-minute video for the Song “Solider.” The band are also finalizing a 20-minute short Documentary called “who the Fxxk are the Whatmans” which is planned for release throughout indie film festivals during the year.

Tues. Apr. 13 – Auntie Annie’s (Belfast) – midnight
Thurs. Apr. 15 – Cellar Bar (Galway) – 10:30pm
Fri. Apr. 16 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 11:50pm
Sat. Apr. 17 – Baker’s Place (Limerick) – 10:30pm

Like an alliance of organized crime families, the union known as Darlings of Chelsea is the amalgamation and commingling of Canada’s seediest, most guttural rock/punk masterminds. Culled from legendary mainstays including The Black Halos, Kill Cheerleader, Parkas, Robin Black and the IRS, Scratching Post, CJ Sleez, and more, Darlings of Chelsea may only be six months old but the well – or rather, cesspool – of talent and experience runs extraordinarily deep.

With their sights keenly set on obliterating the current onslaught of saccharine pop/rock, their skills honed to razor-sharp perfection and enthusiasm stoked to hyperactivity on their new EP “The Mimico Sessions”, Darlings of Chelsea are primed for action. The question is… are you?

INDIE WEEK CANADA 2009 winners Darlings of Chelsea made Ireland work for them. They turned what we gave them – a tour of Ireland – into a European tour and brought their show to Spain. Although the volcanic ash cloud that covered Europe threatened the tour, the rock gods waved it away long enough for them to fly to the mainland. It was a sight to see them sitting on their instrument cases outside the hotel (which we milked for a deal – thanks Fleet Street Hotel!) – trying to figure out alternate ways to get to Spain, other than by air. We were considering a Normandy invasion – sail from England to France, then drive across to Spain. Fortunately that didn’t go down.

Darlings of Chelsea worked their magic in Ireland, pulling in rock fans, girls, and more girls to the shows. They also got to open for local fans of the other stellar INDIE WEEK IRELAND bands. Plus they hooked themselves up with two killer concerts – Airbourne & New York Dolls. They actually chilled with the Dolls, who put them on the show’s VIP guest list. The Darlings might have been hurting the next day but that’s rock n roll.

Darlings of Chelsea really are working it these days. They’re on the road a lot – right before Ireland they were kicking it at SXSW, and now are off on a mini tour of Ontario & Quebec. Check them out on Saturday June 19th at the El Mocambo during NXNE.

http://www.darlingsofchelsea.net

Fri. Apr. 16 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 1:30am
Sat. Apr. 17 – Baker’s Place (Limerick) – 11:15pm
Paul DJs on Tues. Apr. 13 – Auntie Annie’s (Belfast)

Paul McIver sings and plays guitar
Grace McMacken sings and plays synths
Ryan Simpson hits drums

Check out the blogs they wrote for the BBC about their experiences in Toronto:
Cutaways, Canadian Diary #1 – BBC
Cutaways, Canadian Diary #2 – BBC

Cutaways use two boys, one girl, two synths, one guitar, a drum kit and bags full of hooks and melodies to make their jagged and boisterous pop music.

Encouraged by the response from the Start Stop! Start Stop! EP, Cutaways released their debut album Earth and Earthly Things in July 2009, preceded by the single, Milo of Kroton in May.

Cutaways have taken their vibrant live show all across Ireland and the UK as well as playing recent shows in Toronto, Canada as part of Indie Week Canada. This summer Cutaways played some of their most exciting shows to date, taking to the stage at a number of festivals including headlining Belfast Pride and also taking in Indie Week Ireland, Glasgowbury and Feile Festivals. The gigs themselves featured anything from impromptu puppet shows to ‘rap’ cameos. The band’s puppet counterparts also starred in the video for Lovers Are Lunatics; and Blue Bird, Yellow Bird and Red Bird from the EP’s artwork sprung to life terrorizing the streets of Belfast in the video for I Don’t Understand What You Don’t Say. In September, Cutaways were also selected to represent New British Music as part of a feature for Rolling Stone magazine in Japan.

The coming months promise to be just as colourful, with the NME hailing Cutaways as “your new favourite band” and Ireland’s Hot Press and AU magazines both naming Cutaways as one of the bands to watch in the coming year.

Their 11-track debut album Earth and Earthly Things is a superb introduction to the delirious and dizzying world of Cutaways; merging infectious indie pop-rock with pounding synth soundscapes and boy/girl harmonies.

http://www.wearecutaways.co.uk/

Here Comes the Landed Gentry put on an impressive set of a collection of raunchy rock n roll with influences from country to punk. The band looked very comfortable which showed confidence and the band impressed the judges enough for them to be selected as the top act of the night. The band now goes on to perform at the Twisted Pepper in Dublin on Friday for a chance to win a trip / showcase at INDIE WEEK CANADA 2010. Watch for new material as the band will be recording a live-dvd-cd on Apr 26.

The Varionis started the night with a set that consisted of tight hook-laden songs. They showed promise and could be a band to watch in the next few years as they are young and show a great deal of potential.

Another band to watch for is Froud. The band took awhile to settle into their set but by halfway through they had found their stride and proved they had some cool songs. martin, the vocalist/bassist had some shining moments.

Tues. Apr. 13 – Auntie Annie’s (Belfast) – 11:15pm
Thurs. Apr. 15 – Cellar Bar (Galway) – 9:00pm
Fri. Apr. 16 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 9:45pm
Sat. Apr. 17 – Baker’s Place (Limerick) – 9:45pm

MAK – guitar & lead vocals
JAck D – bass, percussion & vocals
Stealth – drums, percussion & back-up vocals

Instinct. It drives humans to the edges of sanity and pushes boundaries as we fight our animalistic urges; our habitual nature in an effort to evolve. After all, it is predisposition that urges us to drink, revel, fight and fornicate. Without instinct, we would be nothing.

Still, it takes a bold will to temper impulse with intuition, fortifying need with the will to progress. Such is the case with brassy power trio Brazen Angelz. Compelled by the primal essence of rock ‘n’ roll yet discerningly discreet, the band amalgamates guttural feel with intellectual and sentimental subject matter, yielding one of the most intrinsically-rockin’ yet socially aware collection of songs on debut independent full-length Fear Is Not Respect (Brazen Angelz Productions).

“In this band, there are no macho chest beating lyrics,” laughs guitarist/lead vocalist MAK. “We’re a modern rock band.”

Hammering away at rock ‘n’ roll for well over a decade first with Capitol Records recording artists Deserters and later as a solo musician and in revered quartet Watson—now re-branded Brazen Angelz—MAK would know the essentials of true rock ‘n’ roll.

Such is the reason he, bassist/percussionist/vocalist JAck D and drummer/percussionist/back-up vocalist Stealth have redefined the parameters of current outfit Brazen Angelz to ensure that the dichotomy of being brazen but necessarily an angel is pushed to its limits.

Relocating to Toronto after 12 years of pillaging Ireland and the U.K., Brazen Angelz have set their sights on North America as the target for their uncompromising rock relayed via Fear Is Not Respect. Influenced by the primal drive and gritty substance of essential classic rock heroes such as Thin Lizzy, The Police, Deep Purple and Queen, this trinity updates the genre and kicks it into the 21st Century.

“This band is about living, observing and writing about life,” MAK continues. “That was the influence: the organic nature of rock. There never was any discussion on direction. With us it was instinctive. As an independent band, we do whatever we feel like, so every song on Fear Is Not Respect is unique. Still, there is an identifiable sound that gels it all together. Back in the ‘70s that’s how bands were, before the big labels made everything generic.”

At that, Brazen Angelz attribute their determined outlook and raucous-yet-original style to hard lives and harder playing. Notes Jack D about the band’s inner-workings,

“Fear Is Not Respect is a return to great musicianship and quality songs. It comes from various parts of us such as Stealth’s upbringing in Belfast, Ireland where you have to be tough to survive while MAK’s cautious but friendly personality is offset by his old school lead guitar playing. His roots are deeply planted in classic rock. On this album, he sounds like he’s thrown Jeff Beck, Paul Kossoff and Ritchie Blackmore in a blender and come up with something all his own.”

“JAck D is the charismatic fast talker who gets along with everyone fully utilizing his Irish charm,” counters Stealth.

“I guess he must have kissed the Blarney Stone. His bass playing is basic and strong like his hero Philip Lynott. It’s an incredible balance of chemistry in this band.”

Nowhere is that alchemy more obvious than on Fear Is Not Respect. Self-produced and mastered by Phil Demetro at Toronto’s infamous Lacquer Channel, the album is both brazen and angelic as well as refreshingly concise and cerebral. From the personal epiphany of parenthood on “Erin” and “3:01” to revealing lecherous, selfish people on “Learn,” realizing ambition via “Two Worlds” and the pro-peace statement of “Where We Started From,” Fear Is Not Respect is direct, ambitious and universal.

Still, despite the well-rounded commentary on all aspects of existence, MAK pares Brazen Angelz down to its core.

“We’re a rock band,” he declares. “The sound is aggressive but melodic and there are strong hooks to the songs. The lyrics are both personal and social political. That’s what gives us more of a modern edge. Everything with us is high energy. We put out 100%.

http://www.myspace.com/brazenangelzuk

Tues. Apr. 13 – Auntie Annie’s (Belfast) – 12:45am
Thurs. Apr. 15 – Cellar Bar (Galway) – 9:45pm
Fri. Apr. 16 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 12:35am

Since their inception in 2006, Sixteen Layers have been witness to some serious highs and lows of the industry.

Two years ago, after winning the Bodog Battle of the Bands, Sixteen Layers were approached by, and ultimately ended up signing with, an independent record label based out of Ireland. The band wasted no time and immediately began recording their self-penned debut album with Jim Lowe (Foo Fighters, Charlatans, Stereophonics) at The Sawmills Studio in Cornwall.

The dream, however, did not last long. Due to a loss in financial backing their label folded. Sixteen Layers found themselves at a crossroad; repair the damage that had come from the dissolution of the label and continue or give up the fight. Not ones to admit defeat, they returned home to Dublin armed with the tracks they had from the Jim Lowe sessions and set to work, picking up where they left off. Due in large part to their wealth of studio knowledge from their pasts as session musicians and work in music for film/TV, the band was able to come together and finish recording the remaining tracks for the album – mixing and mastering it themselves.

Their debut album I AM NO ONE, “a beautifully produced eleven-track stomp along the line between straight-up old school rock and modern-day anthemic indie” (State.ie), was released in March 2009 on their own No One Records. Securing distribution through Tower Records in Dublin and various mainstream online retailers, the album garnered immediate attention, selling out of stock at Tower Records within a few weeks of release, as well as receiving stunning reviews in the Irish press. The first single “Torch” did well as part of the Independents Day (UK) compilation album released a few months prior to I AM NO ONE. “Torch” and the second single “Eight Miles Down” have been added to rotation at a number of radio stations, including RTE/2FM/2XM, 98FM, I105, KCLR, KFM, Live 95FM, East Coast, Phantom, WLR, Spin FM, Beat FM and others.

In January 2009 Sixteen Layers were approached by Ten Ways Media, a production company based in Ireland who were interested in documenting the process of an independent band releasing and promoting an album on their own. Tom O’Neill and his crew stuck by the band for three months filming everything from rehearsals, shows and in-store appearances, up to and including the album launch at a sold out Crawdaddy’s in Dublin where Sixteen Layers played an incendiary set to the frenzied crowd of friends and fans in attendance.

The finished product is the short documentary “Into the Hurricane” which gives a sharp look into to the world of Sixteen Layers and the amount of work and dedication it took to bring their album to life. The documentary premiered in June 2009 prior to another sold out show by Sixteen Layers, this time The Sugar Club in Dublin.

Since the release of I AM NO ONE Sixteen Layers have been on the road wowing audiences with their unforgettable live shows. In July 2009 they won the Dublin leg of Indie Week Ireland, run by Toronto-based Promoter Darryl Hurs, allowing Sixteen Layers the opportunity to come to Toronto and showcase during the Canadian Indie Week competition in the early part of October 2009. Sixteen Layers were largely voted as the band to see over Indie Week. According to one reviewer “Sixteen Layers was brilliant, really one to remember. Sixteen Layers kicked ass and had everyone smiling. For the first time in a long time I saw a band play an encore and this encore was fully merited. I never wanted this show to end. Sixteen Layers at The Hideout, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen in Toronto” (Music Vice).

Back home in Dublin, the band are now filming two music videos to promote the release of their double ‘A’ side Exile/Into the Sun to be released in early November 2009. Due to the overwhelmingly positive response from their showcases over Indie Week, Sixteen Layers are currently in talks to return to Canada in the early part of the New Year.

Sixteen Layers are gaining momentum at break-neck speed. Their reputation as a brilliant live band will carry Sixteen Layers well into 2010 winning over fans worldwide. In the rare time they have off the road, Sixteen Layers are starting to write in preparation for their follow up album due sometime in late 2010/early 2011.

http://www.sixteenlayers.com

Fri. Apr. 16 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 9:45pm

Philip Murphy
Shane O’Leary
Cian O’Leary
Eoin Ryan

Fingersmith are an alternative rock band from Cork. Formerly known as Silo, the band changed their name in late 2009 to coincide with the launch of their debut album “The Annexe”. Under the name Silo, the band received a lot of national radio play in Ireland, most notably recording live sessions for Ireland’s leading national radio station 2fm, where top DJ Cormac Battle (ex-Kerbdog) described them as “the best unsigned band in the world”.

“The Annexe” was recorded in July 2009 with Neal Calderwood (Fighting With Wire, The Answer) at Manor Park Studio in Northern Ireland. It includes a re-recorded version of the hugely successful single “Unlucky for Some”, which garnered the band so much attention in late 2008 and 2009. It also contains new and improved versions of the songs recorded for 2fm’s live session, and many more brand new songs. The album was officially launched on the 4th December 2009, and is available on iTunes.

Fingersmith are already planning ahead for what will inevitably be a very busy new year. 2010 will see the band capitalising on the release of the album, gigging all over the country and going further afield to the UK and US in the later half of the year. A new EP is also in the works, to be released by the end of the year.

The Fingersmith live show is a tumultuous affair, blending raw power and melodic sensibility with a rare energy and passion. Every gig is unique, so make sure to check them out when they are playing near you.

www.myspace.com/fingersmithband

Fri. Apr. 16 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 7:00pm

HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE, HIGHLY EXPERIMENTAL, HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS: Stone Throwing Youths are THE  LARGEST SOUNDING 2 PIECE ROCK BAND KNOWN TO MAN!  Maximising song, string, stick and skin since 2009.

Beginning as a self produced band centring around 20 year old multi instrumentalist Brian Casey, who has produced, written and performed all of the band’s studio material to date, STY has now grown to absorb the rhythmic fury of drummer Andrew O’Sullivan.

After playing as a varying and loose collective of musicians for a number of months, STY settled the lineup as a 2 piece outfit in December 2009. The band has since generated much word of mouth endorsement for their unique live shows; an edgy and spontaneous dynamic, an ever-changing live performance – pounding rhythms, a deeply inventive guitar arsenal and a hell of a noise created by just two musicians in realtime without any prerecorded or automated gadgetry.

Having already been chosen to play in the heats of the JD set competition, having played well received shows in every corner of the country including a set at the “Live at the Marquee” series of gigs in the summer of 2009 and having recorded an extensive collection of tracks, 2010 will be the starting point for things to come from STY.

With a well oiled live show and a unique and powerful sound in the bag, the band will be spending much of 2010 experimenting in the studio, capturing the originality of what they do to release in recorded form.

http://www.myspace.com/stonethrowingyouths