We Interview | NEW PAGENS | The Hottest New Indie Band From Ireland
The New Pagans
Channeling elements of rock, pop and punches of punk attitude, New Pagans sonic expressions sit them amongst the likes of Wolf Alice and Black Honey with Pixie Esque influences that has earned them tonnes of radio support from the likes of Daniel P Carter and Phil Taggart at Radio 1, John Kennedy at Radio X, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio and more. They’ve also recently been included in the ‘Hot For 2020’ articles in Hot Press and were mentioned in Kerrang as part of their ’17 Emerging Irish Artists You Need To Hear Right Now’ article.
They’ve just recently dropped the new single ‘Admire’ on Valentine’s Day last February joining their previous singles ‘Charlie Has The Face Of A Saint’ and ‘It’s Darker’. The latter led to the band being shortlisted for Best Single at the 2019 Northern Ireland Music Prize, with their electric live performances also finding them nominated for Best Live Act. The new single will be shortly followed by the release of their debut EP Glacial Erratic on March 6th during their newly announced UK tour, performing the new material all over the country to celebrate its release.
2020 is shaping up to be quite the year for New Pagans and we caught up with the band to interview them to get to know a bit more about the band, what they are about and where they are headed.
What drew you all to the music industry?
I don't think there's much to draw anyone to the "music industry" these days - let's face it, it's a shambles and heavily weighted against the musician. We must be the most masochistic people around but I guess the drive to be creative and make music is stronger than the uphill battle. The industry has to change. People are making a living from this and unless you are at the top rung of the ladder, it's not the musicians. We need to be more vocal about this. Bigger bands need to be more vocal in support. I mean even today I've seen a favourite musician of mine posting that she's had to cut her European tour short due to the Corona virus chaos. She's asking for help to fly her and her band home as the cost of flights will leave them with nothing from the shows they've already played. Thousands of plays on Spotify wouldn't put dinner in front of you. Like I said, someone is making money from this. Pay musicians. Pay artists. Pay everyone their due.
Why are you called New Pagans?
There's a line in our song ‘Ode to None’ - "we're the new pagans, dedicated to nurture." The band name remembers that the Latin term "paganus" originally meant villager or outsider. This fits with our mission to stay removed from the city rules and the orthodox, relishing the position of an outsider and embracing otherness. Particularly relevant in Belfast I think.
How did the band form?
Cahir and Lyndsey are married and had been thinking of writing some music together for a while. I don’t think they necessarily had an idea of what the incarnation of that would be, but Belfast is full of musicians and it’s not hard to find collaborators! I was playing in a band called Girls Names but was always in multiple projects and always willing to join another if it interested me. This is bang up my street. Conor was good friends with Cahir and Lyndsey and is an amazing drummer so that was just a natural connection. We started as a 4 piece and that’s how it went for a while until we started to have bigger aspirations for the songs and Allan was a long time friend of Cahirs too and was brought in. Instantly the songs felt bigger and fuller and better realised.
How does the band work as a group, who does what?
New Pagans is a wholly collaborative entity. A collective. We like to harness every drop of creativity and skill we have between us and put it to good use. Writing, recording, artwork, making our own videos - we are 5 people absolutely full of ideas and that's a beautiful thing. It's a great feeling to have that trust in each other.
How do you connect and interact with your audience?
It's all social media these days, isn't it? It can be a fun platform and a really great way to put across a personal side as well as just a platform for information. But really there's nothing like the connection of playing live to an audience and feeding back off each other. Come see us live.
What is your current music about?
Love, struggle, nature, parenthood, forgotten female voices, with a particular spin that our geography has given us.
What’s an average day like for you?
We all have jobs to hold down. Lyndsey and Conor are also studying, Cahir, Lyndsey, and Allan are parents. We'd all love New Pagans to be the day job, time is precious at the minute but when we can get together in the room to create it's pretty special.
What’s The Craziest Thing That’s Happened On Tour?
Are you asking to break the sacred and binding pact of "what goes on tour stays on tour?"
Never!
You have had some great support getting radio play from Radio X, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, Kerrang, Louder and nominated as Best Live Act 2019 in the Northern Ireland Music Prize, as well as a track being shortlisted for Best Single. Has this opened up any opportunities for the band?
Yeah, the support of radio, DJs, magazines, and blogs is vital to getting your music out there to new audiences. Ireland is relatively small and there's a limit here. We want to play new cities and meet new people. We are taking every opportunity that comes our way.
What are you doing now and what are your goals for the future?
We hit the studio to continue writing and demoing songs for our debut album. That’s our main focus for the upcoming months with a few shows dotted in between. We have our first trip to Portugal in September, we play Post Punk Strikes Back festival in Porto. Taking our music to new cities and new audiences are what it’s all about.