By Kieran Webber
To say Whenyoung have had a busy year would be an understatement, they have been touring up and down the country playing countless festivals, directing their own music videos as well as being invited to play at Shane McGowan’s (The Pogues) birthday party.
It’s no surprise the Limerick via London indie trio have had such success in a short time as their music is a delightfully infectious, layered in sickly sweet riffs and catchy choruses, not to mention the heartwarming vocals from Aoife Power.
It appears there is no rest for the wicked as the band will be heading out on a headline tour end of September and will be supporting Blossoms on a nationwide tour in December. This november will also see them release their ‘Given Up’ EP on November 9th via Virgin EMI.
We were eager to catch up with the delightful trio before they head out on the road so we can get an insight into life in Ireland and how it compares to their life in London, their influences and much much more!
CLUNK: Thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions! How are you and what have you been up to?
W: We’re very good thank you. We finished festival season and since then we’ve been in our studio writing. This week we’re off to record a couple of tracks.
CLUNK: How was your summer? Any highlights?
W: It was amazing! We played a lot of festivals in the UK and Ireland this summer. We loved Truck Festival in Oxford and All Together Now in Waterford in Ireland was beautiful.
CLUNK: You guys are heading out on a UK & Ireland your, what can we expect from your live shows?
W: Energy, boilersuits, a raffle, melody.
CLUNK: Do you have a particular venue or place you like playing more than others? (I imagine home shows go off!)
W: We’re looking forward to the London show at The Boston Arms. It’s big and almost sold out so we’re very excited! We’ve been lucky to support some acts on bigger stages in the last year. We definitely love the big stages!
CLUNK: What was life like growing up in Ireland and how does it differ to your lives in London now?
W: Limerick is a small city and I think we were all attracted to the appeal of living in a big city. It’s lovely to go back to Ireland when we can and we really miss our family but we do feel at home in London. We started the band in London and our lives are here at the moment.
“We wanted to see and live in something different and new, to be anonymous for a while”
CLUNK: Why is it you decided to make the move to the big city?
W: All of our inspirators moved to big cities to propel their careers and be surrounded by their peers. Richard Hell in New York, The Clash in London or Gertrude Stein in Paris. We wanted to see and live in something different and new, to be anonymous for a while.
CLUNK: Do you ever miss Ireland?
W: We do miss Ireland, most of our friends and all of our family are still there. But luckily we get to go back quite regularly for shows.
CLUNK: I know you guys share a love for The Velvet Underground but are their any artists/bands or people that have influenced your music?
W: I think we’re influenced by a combination of artists and our Irish upbringing. The films, music, books we love all have a common thread of realism and grit and this so something we relate to and try to explore. We love the music of The Clash, Patti Smith, Blondie, Sinead O’Connor, The Strokes, Richard Hell, The Pogues. We love the films of Jim Jarmusch, Jean Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Agnes Varda, Jim Sheridan. Writers like Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, James Joyce, Simone De Beauvoir, Roddy Doyle.
CLUNK: When writing your music where or what do you take inspiration from?
W: Books, films, nature and art are always an inspiration but mostly it’s personal and writing lyrics is a cathartic release.
CLUNK: When you first started did you ever think you’d be where you are now?
W: Our goal was always to be full time musicians but it’s a difficult industry and I don’t think you can ever really predict your fate but you can work really hard.
CLUNK: You guys self-directed the video for your single ‘Heaven On Earth’, how was that and do you like to have a hands on approach with all aspects of your music and artistic direction?
W: It’s really important for us to have input in our videos visually and conceptually. We want all our work to feel like a collection. We learnt a lot from that experience.
Listen/watch ‘Heaven On Earth’ here:
CLUNK: Apart from music and directing what other creative outlets do you have?
W: We all like to read a lot, customise vintage clothes, writing poetry, reading, going to exhibitions, photography.
CLUNK: If you could collab with any artist or person who would it be and why?
W: Iggy Pop. So we could dance around with him on stage.
CLUNK: When can we expect an album? (please say soon!)
W: We’re recording it at the moment and hope to release it next Spring.
CLUNK: Lastly, we like to end our interviews with a story, so can you tell us something, weird, funny or gnarly that has happened to you?
W: When we were on tour in February it was snowing heavily and it was too dangerous to continue driving so we ended up pulling in at Europe’s largest sex shop which is on the A1 near Lincolnshire. Unfortunately it was closed. Across the road there was this Victorian mansion hotel that was definitely haunted and we had to stay the night there. It was all a bit bizarre and apocalyptic.
Listen to new single ‘Given Up’ here:
Tour Dates:
Sep
26th September–The Key Club- Leeds
27th September –EBGBS- Liverpool
28th September –Think Tank? Underground – Newcastle
29th September – Tenement Trial Festival- Glasgow
Oct
3rd October- Boileroom- Guildford
4th October–Purple Turtle- Reading
5th October–The Cookie- Leicester
6th October–Neighbourhood Fest- Manchester
10th October–Komedia- Brighton
11th October–Boston Music Room- London
12th October–Kasbah- Coventry
13th October–Heartbreakers- Southampton
Nov
2nd November –The Workman’s Club- Dublin
3rd November –Dolans- Limerick
4th November–Cyprus Avenue- Cork
Dec
3rd December- O2 Academy Glasgow- Glasgow w/h Blossoms
4th December O2 Academy Sheffield- Sheffield w/h Blossoms
5th December- Rock City- Nottingham w/h Blossoms
7th December- O2 Academy Birmingham- Birmingham w/h Blossoms
8th December- Victoria Warehouse- Manchester w/h Blossoms
9th December- Victoria Warehouse- Manchester w/h Blossoms
11th December- O2 Guildhall Southampton- Southampton w/h Blossoms
12th December- O2 Academy Bristol- Bristol w/h Blossoms
13th December- O2 Academy Brixton- London w/h Blossoms