…so I ended up having a really silly dream. I obviously read too many papers, spend too much time reading worrying stories online and then spend hours processing this information (poorly) inside my head. So, the dream. Basically, they (by which I mean, “boffins”) invented a new, giant telescope to investigate the so-called ‘Space Blob’ . And, after peering at it for hours and eventually clarifying the image, there was a collective gasp when they discovered it was a gigantic meteor made of swine flu, and that it was hurtling towards earth.
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For any Irish band, dipping their toe into the murky, uncharted waters of music criticism beyond these shores can be quite telling. No matter how an act styles itself, unless they have crafted their sound and image entirely within the confines of their own imaginations, they’re almost certainly going to sound derivative. Most Irish bands seem to look to America or the UK for their influences and then, very often, state that they want to go over to the US or UK to pursue their dreams of success. My question to them is, and always has been, “why?” Unless you already have an unbeatable, proven track record in sales (by which I mean, you’ve perhaps run a successful business which deals in sand, and have made a fortune in exports to the UAE), why on earth do you ever imagine that the US or the UK would want their own music sold back to them by Irish musicians? By constantly using these scenes as influences, Irish acts are already well behind when it comes to competing in a scene outside of our own.
