Steve Vai returns for Part Two of this special conversation marking the 40th anniversary of Public Image Ltd’s Album.

Because we don’t have a licence to play the record in the episode itself, listeners are encouraged to line up their own copy of Album and press play at the countdowns as Steve and Fender listen through the tracks in real time.

Vai reflects on what he played, how the sessions unfolded from inside the control room, and why Album remains one of the most enjoyable and creatively free guest projects he ever jumped into - minimal direction, total space, and a sound that still feels unique forty years on.

Along the way, he recalls dinner with John Lydon, being asked about joining PiL, and the gear he used at the time:

Guitar: Charvel Custom (“The Green Meanie”)

Amp: Carvin X100B (“ice pick” sharp tone)

Delay: Roland SDE-3000 rack delay

Setup: two SDE-3000s - one for mono delay, one used as chorus via chaining

Overdrive: amp set with drive + a kick-in pedal for solos

Sitar: Choral sitar (electric)

Play-along track cues and full notes are included below.

00:40 - Track 1: FFF (countdown and play)

06:15 - Track 2: Rise

12:20 - Track 3: Fishing

17:39 - Track 4: Round

28:40 - Side Two begins - Bags (countdown and play)

34:11 - Track 6: Home

40:03 - Track 7: Ease

Thanks / credit:

Shout-out and thanks to Ned Evett for connecting the conversation and for the Galway link-up. Honourable mention to drummer, Colin McMahon.

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This episode forms part of a short series marking the 40th anniversary of Album by Public Image Ltd. Steve Vai’s contribution spans two episodes - this is Part 1.

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Steve Vai talks about the musical influences and ideas that shaped him long before his career took form.

The discussion centres on Frank Zappa - how Vai first encountered his music, the discipline of transcribing it in detail, and what working with Zappa taught him about composition, attention, and intent. From there, he reflects more broadly on improvisation and artistic evolution, drawing parallels with musicians such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Jeff Beck.

Vai also discusses the pressures of virtuosity and self-criticism, and how his relationship with the guitar has changed over time, touching on his early career years and the gradual shift from pure intensity towards melody, phrasing, and expression.

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The concluding part of an interview with Jane O’Leary, her first since being honoured with the prestigious National Concert Hall Lifetime Achievement Award.

For more than 50 years, Jane O’Leary has been breaking new musical ground in Ireland. We catch up with her to learn more about her life and musical style.

Conversation includes: setting up the Concorde Contemporary Music Group; punk music; the evolution of contemporary music since the the late 70s; composer Ed Bennett; Rick Beato; the simplification and lack of bridges of popular music today; Nick Cave; AI; composing with a pencil vs. composing with a mouse; receiving her Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Concert Hall; Triptych for string quartet and orchestra performed by the ConTempo Quartet and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (NSOI), conducted by Kensho Watanabe; working with Kensho; Hans Zimmer and Interstellar; Jane’s upcoming orchestral fanfare for RTÉ Concert Orchestra to celebrate the centenary of the RTÉ; Gladiator Soundtrack featuring Lisa Gerrard; Paul Muldoon; breadcrumbs and other topics.

Photo by Dara Mac Dónaill

Links

https://janesoleary.com/

Additional Links

https://musicforgalway.ie/

http://www.concorde.cmc.ie/

http://theirelandpodcast.com/latest-podcast/episode/6b2f8545/203-jane-oleary-musician-part-1

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0xwtb9A1rIER90qCAS6VHs?si=7b42b99a1e1943eb

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For more than 50 years, Jane O’Leary has been breaking new musical ground in Ireland. We catch up with her to learn more about her life and musical style.

Conversation includes: Jane the musician (listening, performing and composing); Milton Babbitt; early life in Connecticut; getting into music; studying in Vassar College, New York State; the importance of good teachers; being the second woman to get a Phd in composition from Princeton and being one of Ireland’s first female composers; meeting Patrick O’Leary in Princeton (where he was studying on a Fulbright grant); moving to Galway, Ireland; starting out as a music teacher including the art of listening; Titanic soundtrack; Music For Galway; Erica Casey; Angela O’Keefe; funding; teaching in Dublin College of Music (TU Dublin Conservatoire); National Symphony Orchestra Ireland; contemporary music; 12 tone method; classical music in the late 1970’s; Phil Coulter and ‘Scorn Not His Simplicity’; free flowing; patterns; nature; music as a journey on water; Niagara Falls, and other topics.

Photo by Dara Mac Dónaill.

Links

https://janesoleary.com/

Additional Links

https://musicforgalway.ie/

http://www.concorde.cmc.ie/

https://www.theirelandpodcast.com/latest-podcast/episode/57d8333d/204-jane-oleary-musician-part-2

Spotify Playlist for this Episode

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Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart chat with Fender Jackson after their gig in Róisín Dubh, Galway on Wed 3rd December 2025.

Conversation includes: interviews with the band; Keith Levene’s guitar and guitar playing; the Soundman; the complications of performing this album; Dave Kane; Ruby Wood; the evolution of the tracks; Siouxsie & The Banshees; making ‘Metal Box - Rebuilt In Dub'; Yamaha 2100 guitar; John McGeoch; Steve Jones & Johnny Thunders; New York Dolls; punk guitars and amps; this show vs. legacy tours; Paul Schütze; Fangoria; Ken Boothe; Horace Andy; Neville Murray; Nathan Maverick; ‘Trout Mask Replica’ by Captain Beefheart; Keith Levene’s metal Veleno guitar; Steve Howe; Liverpool FC; Henry Kelly; Going For Gold; Hans Zimmer; The Bill and other topics.

Special thanks to Martin Chung, Jon Klein, Marc Layton-Bennett & George King.

Links

https://www.instagram.com/real_jah_wobble/?hl=en

https://open.spotify.com/album/5n0fOludLc0ifBaeFG8ACp?si=yvlLKHEzTe6v0Ijr0EXbMg

https://www.facebook.com/Jah.Wobble.Music

Additional Links

https://www.instagram.com/chungulation/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/iamjonklein/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/marclaytonbennett/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/_georgekingmusic/?hl=en

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conversation includes: the (non-existent) comedy scene in Ireland in the 1970s and 80s; leprosy and space-travel; Ardal O’Hanlon; The Bogey Boys; Billy Roche; Young Ones; Tommy Tiernan; pioneering the comedy scene; Myles na Gopaleen; Hal Roche; setting up the Comedy Cellar above The International Bar on Wicklow Street, Dublin in the late 1980s with Mr Trellis, Barry Murphy, Kevin Gildea, Dermot Carmody; Dylan Moran; Jason Byrne and Dara Ó Briain; teabags and fireplaces; ‘The Young Ones’ on BBC 2; WC Fields and Laurel & Hardy; Peter Sellers and Woody Allen; Monty Python; Paul Whitehouse & The Fast Show; The Goons; Brendan Balfe; Shelley Berman; Frank Hall & Hall’s Pictorial Weekly; Scrap Saturday; the hard cultural border in Ireland; Tim McGarry & The Hole In The Wall Gang; the guts of the young Patrick Kielty; Jackie Hamilton; Alex Hormozi; Tommy, Be-Bop & Eddie Izzard; Edinburgh Comedy Festival; writing for BBC including The Mahaffys with Pauline McGlynn and Mario Rosenstock; Morgan Jones and Here’s Johnny; screenplays and development hell; The Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Co. Monaghan; Rick Ruben, Paul McCartney and McCartney 3,2,1; Culture Night; Fail Again, Fail Even Better; Frank McNally at Irish Times; Minnie Riperton, Rhea Perlman and Maya Rudolph; Gershwin & Cole Porter; James Joyce, Nora Barnacle & The Nora Barnacle Museum; AE Russell; Instagram; being in it to win it; McDermott vs. MacDermott; chiselling gravestones; AI, Climate Change and deluded optimism and other topics.

Links

https://www.karlmacdermott.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@failevenbetter/shorts

Additional Links

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6X10SbhtXCFouvclB0Ndin?si=41ad25ec08bf4f36

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special milestone episode of The Ireland Podcast, Fender sits down with his own children for a heartfelt discussion about interviewing his parents. Together, they explore why capturing family stories matters, how to approach these conversations with sensitivity, and what it means to preserve memories for the next generation.

Fender also offers thoughtful advice for anyone considering interviewing their own loved ones - parents, grandparents, or elders in their community. And for listeners whose family members have already passed, he gently suggests seeking out those who knew them, ensuring their voices and stories are not lost to time.

Below you’ll find links to helpful documents designed to guide you through interviewing your own loved ones, as well as a link to Salthill Media’s Record Your Life Story - a resource for anyone who wants to preserve personal or family histories in a meaningful way.

A touching, reflective episode that celebrates connection, heritage, and the power of conversation.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the last 200 episodes - we truly appreciate each and every one of you. Please continue to help us grow by sharing the podcast with your family and friends, leaving a positive review, and subscribing on your preferred platform. Your support means the world to us.

Relevant Links

Interview Questions

Family Tree Doc

https://www.salthillmedia.com/liferecordings

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Born in Ennis, County Clare, Fr. Bernárd’s journey began in the traditional Ireland of the 1940s, shaped by school, family, and faith. But his path soon led him far from the familiar - from the seminary in Dromantine, Newry, to ordination in Newry Cathedral, and then on to the missionaries in Africa and the turbulent streets of New York in the 1970s, where he found both his calling and his true self.

In a conversation with Fender Jackson, they talk about forgiveness, angels, and the arrogance of certainty. Fr. Bernárd explores his belief that Catholicism is the last pagan religion in the West, and his sharp critique of Bible bingo interpretations of Leviticus.

Fr. Bernárd speaks candidly about discovering he was gay, ministering to the AIDS community at the height of the crisis, and facing the crushing pressures of faith, sexuality, and truth - including false allegations, expulsion from New York, and eventually becoming the first Catholic priest in the world to have a same-sex marriage.

It’s a story of defiance, compassion, and perhaps, time travel - an extraordinary conversation with one of Ireland’s most fearless and fascinating priests.

Links

https://www.frbernardlynch.com/

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Bass legend Gerry McAvoy takes us through a track-by-track journey of Photo-Finish, Rory Gallagher’s powerhouse 1978 album. In this wide-ranging conversation, Gerry shares insights into the sessions, the scrapped album, and the raw energy that defined Rory’s late-’70s sound.

Along the way, we talk Sex Pistols, click tracks and metronomes, Ted McKenna’s drumming, Status Quo, and the aftermath of the accident. Gerry also reflects on Carol Kaye’s influence, cropdusting adventures, and how tracks like “Only the Lonely”, “Memphis Hip Shake” (The Cult), and “Donegal Express” (Shane MacGowan) connect through spirit and groove.

Plus: tales from playing with Joe Bonamassa and plenty more behind-the-scenes stories from a life in rock ’n’ roll.

Relevant Links

http://www.bandoffriends.eu/

https://songwhip.com/bandoffriends

https://www.rorygallagher.com/

Additional Links

Fuel To The Fire (Instrumental) - Band Of Friends

Carol Kaye grooving the metronome

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While recording Episode 122 with Swinford’s own Breege Rowley, the editor-turned-documentary maker suggested to Fender that he speak with Nora McBurney - the voice behind her film ‘All Our Yesterdays’. So that’s exactly what he did.

Conversation includes: introductions; update on the movie ‘All Our Yesterdays’ by Breege Rowley; Swinford and Foxford, County Mayo; tracing Nora’s grandparents move from Swinford and Derryherbert, County Mayo to Pittsburgh, PA; competing in Irish dancing; soft shoe vs. hard shoe; Dan Rooney & The Pittsburgh Steelers; Croke Park; Michael Bublé; studying in Ireland; Trim Castle; Cnoc Suain, County Galway; having an Irish American identity; yinzers, yousens and Scots language; John Williams and Solace; Reverie Road; the Irish American connection; the nosiness of the Irish; the real estate industry in USA today; working from home; buying vs. renting property; Rory Sutherland’s view on the increase of property over the last few decades; recording the Voiceover for ‘All Our Yesterdays’ and other topics.

Links

https://www.instagram.com/theirishyinzer

https://www.facebook.com/theirishyinzer/

Additional Links

https://breegerowleyeditor.com/

https://linktr.ee/theirelandpodcast

Episode 122. Breege Rowley: Cinema & Television Editor

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