Gurriers are huddled right into a nook of Dublin pub The Lord Edward, reflecting on their first ever present. It’s been 4 years since their inception and riotous debut gig at Dublin venue Workman’s, however the band have steadily constructed a loyal following – even prompting an electronic mail from Michael D. Higgins, President of Eire.
“I assumed the e-mail was pretend,” bassist Charlie McCarthy laughs, although the 83-year-old politician is understood for supporting the humanities. “He stated the set was unbelievable and advised us to maintain going,” drummer Pierce O’Callaghan tells NME, while frontman Dan Hoff grins: “I used to be about to pack it in till he stated that.”
When NME speaks to Gurriers in June, they’re now every week away from their gig on the President’s residence, Áras an Uachtaráin – a world away from Workman’s. Now, the bold “noise-gaze” quintet are unleashing their simmering, cathartic debut album ‘Come and See’ this September, with their new single ‘No Extra Images’ out immediately (August 22).
When Hoff, O’Callaghan, McCarthy and guitarists Mark MacCormack and Ben O’Neill weren’t leaping round a marquee stuffed with statespeople, Gurriers had been busy increase a loyal dwell following. It’s ironic, on condition that the band had round 20 months of existence earlier than that they had the possibility to carry out in any respect.
“We’d been working for years on the fabric,” O’Callaghan remembers. “We misplaced our jobs throughout Covid and had extra time to spend fascinated with the band. It turned outstanding in our lives.”
“There’s self perception right here. We’ve been hungry for this since day one” – Pierce O’Callaghan
“The whole lot was completely different at the moment,” Hoff says. “We wrote for the 4 partitions you had been caught in. That present was the primary likelihood to develop past that, so we gave it every thing.”
That first dwell present was essential to the longevity of the band in a rustic the place “there’s no infrastructure to assist the music scene,” as Hoff later muses. “You need to stand out a lot to get observed,” says O’Neill. “It’s about writing nice authentic tunes, however your dwell set additionally needs to be rock stable otherwise you’ll be ignored”.
Since then, Gurriers have supported Fats Canine, Goat Lady and shoegaze heroes Slowdive. “Christian [Savill] got here to see us at Studying just a few years in the past and saved in touch with us,” says MacCormack. “We met the band correctly later in Poland, and so they noticed us and requested if we’d assist them in Eire.
“We stated we’d verify our calendars,” he laughs. “You need to be cheeky generally and again yourselves. It helps to be a bit mad, too.”
“How will you anticipate different folks to purchase into your band if you happen to don’t?” O’Callaghan provides. “There’s self perception right here. We’ve been hungry for this since day one.”
Even in a cost-of-living disaster in a rustic the place artists can’t afford to hire, Gurriers are decided to maintain going: “We don’t make some huge cash,” MacCormack says matter-of-factly, and later telling NME over the telephone that “most of us reside with our dad and mom and a few of us are on the dole.” However regardless of these harsh circumstances, it was nabbing a televised slot at Different Voices competition which “made us imagine we had been onto one thing particular”.
For his or her debut album, Gurriers labored with producer Alex Greaves (Bdrmm, YOWL) in his Leeds studio to harness their magnetic power with techno, disco, hip-hop and different soundscapes. Kylie Minogue (“Mark loves her music”), Tom Waits, LCD Soundsystem and Demise Grips are all referenced inspirations.
“Alex was the right individual for us, as a result of he wasn’t afraid to say after we weren’t being adequate,” Hoff tells NME. “He knew after we may do higher. We took on his criticism as a result of he needs to make an ideal album on the finish of the day.”
The title observe, based on Hoff, is about “my accomplice’s desires and the way actuality is distorted. The remainder of the album is concerning the zeitgeist, and disillusionment on the state of the occasions.
“Throughout Covid, everybody was glued to their screens,” he provides. “The George Floyd homicide and protests occurred, the far-right motion in Eire was rising. It felt like every thing was beginning to collapse. I couldn’t do something besides scream right into a microphone for some time.”
In the meantime, tongue-in-cheek single ‘Approachable’ was impressed by Justin Barrett of Eire’s fascist Nationwide Social gathering, and the sowing of division on-line: “My face will probably be throughout your tv / Orwellian rise up / I need to be Machiavellian / Let’s unite to create division”.
“I all the time need the album to talk universally,” Hoff continues. “‘Approachable’ is concerning the far-right in Eire however the UK has an enormous downside with that as properly.”
“With Kneecap for instance, there’s a variety of disillusionment with younger folks within the UK post-Brexit,” O’Callaghan says, noting the Belfast trio’s latest debut report ‘High-quality Artwork’. “The message behind the album wasn’t simply ‘Fuck the Brits, nevertheless it resonated right here.”
Gurriers had been resulting from carry out at SXSW 2024 in Texas, however the information that US army and defence contractor RTX Company – who provide weapons to Israel – had been “tremendous sponsors” led to over 80 acts boycotting. Each the army and RTX have since been dropped as sponsors for 2025.
“We hoped it might ship a message,” Hoff explains. “What the motion wanted at SXSW was for greater names like The Black Keys to say they weren’t enjoying, however as an alternative it was Irish acts and smaller bands pulling out.”
“It was vital that the Irish bands all did it collectively,” O’Callaghan nods proudly. “What we needed to do is incomparable to the atrocities dealing with the Palestinian folks. It was extremely disappointing in fact, however at the very least we knew we had been doing the best factor.”
However bumps within the highway aren’t holding Gurriers again from lastly unveiling their debut album. “We’ve waited lengthy sufficient to launch it and we didn’t need to do it tentatively,” O’Callaghan nods.
“The album is a press release of intent: that is what we need to do,” O’Neill provides. “We’re not fucking round.”
Gurriers’ debut LP ‘Come and See’ is out September thirteenth through No Filter.