True North

Not since the heyday of Therapy? and Ash has such a glorious din emanated from the North. With the recent successes of Two Door Cinema Club and And So I Watch You From Afar putting Northern Ireland back in the spotlight, AOIFE BARRYdigs a little deeper and finds a buzzing Belfast scene with a healthy DIY ethos

‘YOU’RE not a hair’s breadth away from Northern Ireland becoming the next Portland, Oregon or the next Seattle, Washington.”

This might have sounded like a bold statement for Andrew Ferris of Northern Irish record label Smalltown America to make a decade ago but, with the recent success of And So I Watch You From Afar and Two Door Cinema Club, it’s clear that musicians in Northern Ireland have moved in to the spotlight.

"This is potentially the biggest year for Northern Irish music ever," says Rigsy, presenter of BBC Radio Ulster's Across the Line. "There are four or five crucial second records from bands that made a bit of an impact with their first album, like General Fiasco and ASIWYFA. Then there's this new wave of alarmingly young bands coming up behind them."

Adam Turkington, the arts and community co-ordinator for the Waterfront in Belfast, who programmes the Trans: Belfast festival, points to the success of Two Door Cinema Club. “This time last year you wouldn’t have seen that coming. I think you can trace a lot of that back to Snow Patrol and people getting a degree of confidence. I’m really excited with what the Richter Collective label is doing with the bands here – giving them a platform and allowing them to make exciting records.”

Chris Jones, editor of Belfast-based AUmusic magazine, says bands should focus on getting out of their home town. "They need to wake up, and I think bands from the South need to come up here and play more.

“The last five years seem to have been a big jump. I would say that it is a vibrant scene, although we’re going through a certain group of bands – ASIWYFA, General Fiasco, Two Door Cinema Club – who are off touring a lot. Now that they’ve been successful, we’re waiting for the bands that are going to come through and fill that void. ”

OH YEAH, IT'S BEEN TAKING THEM OVER

The Oh Yeah Music Centre on Gordon Street is at the vanguard of training the Belfast musicians of the future. Its genesis came during a late-night chat between its founder – journalist Stuart Bailie – and friends, including Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody. After fundraising, Oh Yeah opened in 2007. The non-profit enterprise houses rehearsal rooms, offices, the Smalltown America record label, a recording studio, a music venue, cafe, musical bus tour and music exhibition.

“We’re inspiring people to think of music as a career – you could be good at design, you could be a good manager or PR person,” says Charlotte Dryden, the centre’s creative development co-ordinator.

Oh Yeah holds all-ages gigs, and mentors young people in event management and music promotion. “It’s all about the collective energy,” says Dryden. “We’re proud in that we think we’ve played a small part in some of the journeys. Two Door played here in the old days and ASIWYFA recorded their first album upstairs. I think five years ago things started to happen, and I think the internet opened up huge possibilities as well for bands here.” She says the success of bands such as Snow Patrol has been inspirational: “People are so much more confident now; people are operating from offices now, not just their bedrooms.”

TOP 10 UP-AND-COMING NORTHERN ACTS

SPACE DIMENSION CONTROLLER

Sublime galactic funk. soundcloud.com/ spacedimensioncontroller

WONDER VILLAINS

Youthful power-pop band with attitude. myspace.com/thewondervillains

KOWALSKI

Pop riffs and solid synth lines – the heirs to TDCC's throne. breakingtunes.com/kowalski

A PLASTIC ROSE

Epic-sounding Belfast/Sligo alternative rock band signed to Di Di Mau. breakingtunes.com/aplasticrose

SEA PINKS

Endearing home-made songs crafted by the drummer from Girls Names. seapinks.bandcamp.com

MALIBU SHARK ATTACK

Rocky O'Reilly's transatlantic synth-pop. malibusharkattack.bandcamp.com

THIRD MAN THEME

Joy Division-inspired trio making atmospheric sounds. thirdmantheme.posterous.com

CHARLES HURTS

Melancholic lo-fi pop songs reminiscent of Stephen Merritt. soundcloud.com/charleshurts

BIRTHDAY SEX

Saucy English-Irish duo making candy-sweet electro sounds. soundcloud.com/birthday-sex

MORNING CLAWS

Inspired, magical tunes with a hint of vulnerability. morningclaws.com

NOT JUST A LABEL

Smalltown America is leading the way for independent record labels in Belfast. It was founded by Andrew Ferris in 2001 to release his band Jetplane Landing’s music, but today it is home to acts such as La Faro and Fighting with Wire.

“I think it’s very important to say that this country is not special in any way,” he says. “There’s just as much talent here as there is in Paris or London, but I think what is unique here is the DIY aesthetic.

“Everyone needs to step up the game so we can drive the economy. The kids have built the scene – now it’s up to local government and ourselves as businesses to build the business structure and to keep the talent in Northern Ireland.”

Northern Ireland’s only hip-hop music label, Melted Music, was founded by Matt Agnew and Ronan Cherry. “We’re trying to put our own stamp on Belfast,” says Agnew. “We’re trying to get an outlet for hip-hop music, not just for Belfast, but the whole of Ireland. The best thing that could happen is that we can be signing our own acts and keeping our own acts in Ireland. Ireland has a big hip-hop following – it’s just turning it in to supporting local artists.”

THE PRODUCER

In 2006, Rocky O’Reilly and Shaun Robinson, together known as indie band Oppenheimer, did what many Northern Irish bands dreamed of: they signed to a US label, Bar/None Records.

After they split, O’Reilly turned his attention to his Start Together recording studios. “Increasingly it feels like a band from the North can do everything they need done from here,” he says.

The studio isn’t just for indie kids – so far he has worked with rock acts (In Case of Fire, ASIWYFA), ska bands (The Pocket Billiards) and singer-songwriters (Tom McShane).

“We’re doing really adventurous stuff,” he says. “You can’t be just a facility any more – those are available on a laptop for free. That’s not what’s special – it’s the personal, having an interest and abilities to help the bands in certain areas.”

“Everyone is really friendly and willing to give their time to each other,” says O’Reilly of Belfast. “There’s not particularly a scene as such, but it’s a collection of really friendly and helpful musicians. I think in the past four years every year people are saying it’s getting better and better.”

ZEITGEIST SOUNDZ

Two bands who diligently straddle the Border are dark electronic trio Not Squares and rough-and-tumble shoegazers Girls Names. Cathal Cully of Girls Names says that though he’d be “hesitant” to use the word “scene”, “there are so many bands making different kinds of music” in Belfast.

With their fuzzy pop sound, Girls Names – whose debut album Dead to Meis due out on April 25th – make a gloriously unique racket. "It was never a conscious decision to do anything different. We just do what we wanted to do. I was writing music for myself and didn't care what anybody thought."

For Richard O’Rawe of Not Squares, the defining point came a couple of years ago, when “people started getting excited about the music that is happening in Belfast – there was a big shift in the zeitgeist”. He believes it’s important for bands to get out and play in as many different places as they can. “When we started we wanted to play in Dublin as much as possible – we played in Dublin more than Belfast. For years there have been so many good bands that haven’t got the listenership they really deserve. That would be the next step, building on it and having it recognised more internationally.”

THE VENUES

As entertainments co-ordinator for Queen’s University Belfast Students Union, Damien McAdams (below) looks after two venues: the 1,000-capacity Mandela Hall, and the Speakeasy, which holds 450.

The gigs are aimed at everyone – not just students – and the Speakeasy is used for album launches, and by electronic promoters such as Twitch and Pressure.

“For so long Northern Ireland was a pretty dark place,” says McAdams. “I guess the first 10 years of the new millennium also coincided with it sorting itself out and becoming a nice place to live. It all seemed to be in 2005 or 2006, everything was just ready to explode.”

AND SO THEY HOPE TO GO FAR

Since decamping from the sleepy seaside town of Portstewart in Co Derry to Belfast, And So I Watch You From Afar (ASIWYFA) have done more than make themselves at home. Their gung-ho attitude to promotion and gigging gave Belfast the kick it needed.

“We had grown up with the attitude that if you wanted to see decent music you had to be involved in getting the people there yourself,” says bassist Johnny Adger. “We kept the same small-town attitude when we moved to Belfast. The same blueprint, the same effort, only on a bigger scale.”

This culminated in their three-day A Little Solidarity event – named after one of the instrumental band’s songs – in November 2008. “It was a real test for us of how healthy the scene was,” says drummer Chris Wee.

They recently moved to the Richter Collective label, and they welcome interaction between other Irish cities and Belfast. “There seems to have been a real change within the last five years of people’s attitudes in general in the North and in the South – just the two interacting with each other,” says Adger. “I hope as a whole the country moves forward and that continues.”

ASIWYFA release their new album,

Gangs

, on May 2. It will have be launched at Belfast’s Mandela Hall on April 29 and at Dublin’s Button Factory on April 30