An archive interview with Nigel Grainge on setting up Ensign Records, signing Thin Lizzy, The Boomtown Rats, The Waterboys, Sinéad O’Connor, Into Paradise and Stump, and other stories. Episode notes are ⁠here⁠.

On this episode I’m joined by Bob Geldof to talk about The Boomtown Rats' second album, A Tonic For the Troops. Our chat goes in many different directions: Ireland of the 1970s, signing to Ensign Records, working with producer Mutt Lange, the Catholic Church in Ireland, The Boomtown Rats at 50, ‘Rat Trap’ hitting No. 1 in the UK and more. Episode notes are ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Stuart Bailie is a former assistant editor of the NME. From Belfast, he played in Punk bands in the late 70s and early 80s. In 1985 he sold his guitar and bought a typewriter. He headed to London and started writing for Record Mirror. He has just published "The Song is Nearly Over: Music Stories 1985-2025". We chat about growing up in Belfast during the Troubles, 40 years of music journalism, some of his favourite Irish albums and a whole lot more. Episode notes are here.

On this episode I’m joined by Matthew Devereux for a deep dive into Here’s One We Made Earlier the debut album by The Pale. We discuss the band’s early days, signing to A&M Records, recording their debut album in 1992, the album’s three singles (‘Dogs With No Tails’, ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Shut Up Venus’), becoming a self-sufficient band post major label deals, absurdity in music, creating a character on stage, the band’s unique sound, fusing Irish and Eastern music, and a whole lot more. We also talk about Keep Sketch, the second album under Matthew’s own name, that he released earlier this year. Episode notes are ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠.

A short preview of Episode 56 – Here's One We Made Earlier by The Pale

Eileen Gogan joins me to chat about her debut album The Spirit of Oberlin, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Eileen was in The Would Be’s, The Revenants, The Drays and joined Microdisney for their reformation gigs. We talk about all of that and more including her second album, Under Moving Skies and her collaborations with Cathal Coughlan, Sean O’Hagan, Damian O’Neill, and the Bring Your Own Hammer history project. Not for nothing did Eileen once joke that she was: “Queen of the obscure Indie Irish bands”. Episode notes are ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Mark Cullen joins me to chat about his bands Bawl, Fixed Stars and Ponyclub. We discuss Bawl's Year Zero album and the three albums he recorded as Pony Club (Home Truths, Family Business and Post-Romantic). We also talk about writing songs with The Lightning Seeds' Ian Broudie, being championed by Morrissey in the early 00s, the mid-90s UK Indie scene, Britpop, writing songs for others and a whole lot more. Episode notes are ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

In this episode I’m joined by Julie McDonnell, Aidine O’Reilly and Paul Finnegan of The Would Be's. We discuss the early years of the band: forming in Kingscourt, Co. Cavan in the late 80s; being championed by John Peel; supporting Morrissey; being lauded in the UK music press and their first three singles on Decoy Records including debut single 'I'm Hardly Ever Wrong'. We also chat about their brilliant new album HindZeitgeist. Episode notes are ⁠here⁠.

In this episode I’m joined by Cypress, Mine! members Ciarán Ó Tuama, Ian Olney and Mark Healy to tell the story of the band and a whole lot more. Cypress, Mine! formed in 1984, they released three singles and the album Exit Trashtown (Solid Records, 1988), before disbanding in 1989. Morty McCarthy from The Sultans of Ping and Craig Walker from Power of Dreams also contribute their memories of Cypress, Mine! to this episode. Episode notes are here.

A short preview of Episode 52 – Exit Trashtown by Cypress, Mine!