Straglers

"A lot of our finest work has come from drinking sessions yeah. There’salways a new song created when the cans of Tuborg are about."

Hailing from their self-proclaimed ‘cultural home of Europe’, that’s Coolock to you and me, Straglers have returned from a brief hiatus as a foursome with a new single and an album release in the pipe works. Connected caught up with founders Colin and James to chat about pushing live boundaries and creepy convents in Cavan.

Where have you guys been all my life? Or the last few years even.
Colin: The album has taken quite a while to record, mix and master. We produced it completely ourselves, and after recording we needed a little break, a chance to step away from the album and attack the mixing stage with fresh ears.
James: The hiatus was just that we needed to re evaluate where we wanted to be as a band, and how we where going to do that. We never stopped writing, or fell out, just took a step back had a look at things. But it feels like a new band now, so everything is sweet.

How have Straglers changed since we saw you last?
Colin: We’re now a four piece, with an extra member on board. The live set up has changed quite a bit. New gear, new techniques.
James: We’re working closely with a visual artist he's gonna incorporate a live visual set into our gigs. Also, we will be recording a closed room live DVD with this visual show included; we think it’s very important to keep pushing the boundaries in the live environments.

The video for the new single Bitches in the Basement is a bit disturbing.
Colin: Yeah, the Director Russell Cooley had a lot of ideas. He was on the same wavelength as us. We wanted something a bit different, not the usual performance type video. That didn’t appeal to us. It’s more like a little mini film, a moody, dark piece of work.
James: We'd been chatting with Russell about the song for weeks and we just threw ideas around about what the song was about and we were clear that we didn't want a "band performance" video. So he just came back with a complete idea from start to finish of what the concept would be. The idea of "what comes around goes around" is the underlying message, so be careful and you have been warned!

The derelict gaff looks pretty ace.
James: It’s a convent in Cavan that been derelict since 1985. It’s a massive big gaff that’s in rack and ruin. Pretty eerie place.
Colin: There’s four storeys and literally hundreds of rooms, a church, boiler room. The place looks so amazing; it would be a shame if it was ever refurbished.

How’s the album progressing?
Colin: All wrapped up now. We’ve just the artwork to sort out now. It’s quite ambitious as a debut we’d like to think. Our influences are quite varied, and that comes across on the recordings. We like the idea of each song being different to the next.
James: We recorded fifteen songs for it but painstakingly whittled it down to ten. It’s quite schizophrenic in a way, because it chops and changes, yet the album flows really well. We approached it from a song to song basis, rather than trying to get a "sound for the album". That can get very boring. Too many albums after track four start to sound the same. Having said that, it definitely sounds like Straglers.

16 cans, 4am – is that the usual song writing process?
Colin: Sometimes! A lot of our finest work has come from drinking sessions yeah. There’s always a new song created when the cans of Tuborg are about. Songs can come from anywhere though.

‘Bitches in the Basement’ is available on iTunes, alongside a remix by Hugh People. ‘The Kids are Deranged’ album set for summer 09 release.

www.myspace.com/straglers