At Left of the Dial festival in Rotterdam I grabbed the opportunity to learn a little more about some of the bands I saw play.
Irish band Adore comprise Lara Minchin (lead vocals, guitar), Lachlann Ó Fionnáin (bass, vocals) and Naoise Jordan Cavanagh (drums). Formed in 2022 their blend of garage punk has quickly seen them generate interest on their doorstep. Sitting down with the trio outside the venue Worm before the first of two sets they were playing that day, it was the perfect opportunity to find out more about their background, their music and their plans.
I wonder if I can begin by asking you how was the experience of supporting Sprints on their Irish tour?
Lara: It was great. We’ve never gotten on with another band so well in our lives. And that was the main thing. We were just such similar people, and we all like to joke. And they were just very nurturing, very kind and sweet.
Naoise: They’re like our fun cousins that we’re only allowed to see at Christmas.
Lachlann: Even though they were obviously further ahead in their careers and stuff, in terms of the gigs that they were doing, they still made it feel like it was all a cooperative effort to put the show together.
Lara: There was no guardedness about the green room, it’s for everyone.
And what about new music? You’ve had a couple of singles out to date. Are there plans for more music in the pipeline?
Lachlann: There’s another one coming out before the end of the year, recorded with Dan Fox in Sonic studios. He’s always been a big inspiration for all of us, in terms of how important Gilla Band have been for, I guess being a symbol for the lack of restrictions you can have on musical direction. They really are one of the main Irish bands that really put themselves out there doing something absolutely, completely, utterly different. And I think it gave a lot of people a lot of confidence, and it gave me a lot of confidence to go forward with something that you really, really want to do. And so to work with Dan now on these singles is really cool.
Naoise: Yeah, definitely. It’s cool to work with someone that you know has been playing music for a while, and it’s really nice to record with someone who’s not just a producer, or an engineer, but somebody’s also in a band, and they know what it’s like to be in a band. Yeah, he’s great. Love him. Love Gilla Band.
And your creative process. How does that work for Adore?
Lara: I generally prefer to write a song and, cook it, so it’s not too unfinished by the time it comes to the band. It’s generally how it’s gone most of the time. It’s usually the lyrics and the tune come at the same time, and then write the song, and then bring it to the lads, and then it sounds like a song. It doesn’t sound like a song until the drum and bass on it, and it doesn’t in my head, it doesn’t register as a song. And I’m like “this is horrible”. It never sounds like a finished song until the lads are on it.
Lachlann: We always get very excited as well. Me and Naoise we rehearse a lot on our own, we lock ourselves away, you know, for a few hours in the evening just practising stuff getting really tight. And then anytime Lara comes along, usually on the weekend and has a new song, it’s very exciting.
Lara: We live two and a half hours apart, because I live in Dublin, and two lads live in Galway. So it’s a long distance band. When we get together, there’s usually a stockpile of songs that are almost done. We’re like okay, let’s make these happen. And that’s incredibly draining, and we all feel really tired afterwards but we come out with a few songs and that’s great!
Naoise: We suffer for our art!
Lachlann: People do ask if it’s really difficult. But I think in the last, maybe six months, we’ve realised that regardless of where we live, it would still be really difficult. It’s so tough but regardless, you get on with it. You wouldn’t get on with it if it wasn’t something that you actually wanted to do. We’re here now in Rotterdam, and it’s the first time we’ve played outside of Ireland and the UK. And it’s really cool just to see what these things have to offer, and what life has to offer, even, and all these new people and new spaces that you get to see, because you just kind of kept going. The longer you keep going, you know, it’s worth it for that. It’s worth it just to have cool experiences and memories to look back on.
Lara: It’s like a perk. I don’t know, it’s really fun to write music, it’s really fun to play music. And then you keep on doing it over and over and over and over again. And then sometimes you get a little bit like “oh God I don’t want to wake up at seven in the morning and travel to Galway again” , but then it’s actually really fun. It’s the same thing, you can get a little bit tired, but then having to be able to go to a lovely place like Rotterdam is like a real reward. You get a little refreshing bit every now and then that makes it all exciting again.
It’s also a snippet of the possibility of what can be next. This is Rotterdam but there’s a whole continent with cool festivals, and doing it makes it feel that its possible.
Lara: Exactly and it takes away that anxiety. If you’re going to anywhere new there’s going to be all this organising and hoping it all runs smoothly, but now we’re here it’s fine.
Lachlann: Just have to get your day sheets together. Have all the postcodes, all the phone numbers. Naoise gets these really good day sheets together of everywhere we need to be, with every timing!
How did Adore form, how did you get together in the first place?
Lara: I played in a band called Gif when I was a teenager. And then I met Lachlann because I played a festival in Derry with Gif, met Lachlann and stayed in touch. Then Naoise joined Gif through Dublin BIMM, one of the band members was at BIMM.
Naoise: I was a big fan of Gif before I joined, and I was praying that the drummer would break his arm or something, so that I could jump in some day!
Lara: And the drummer got tired of playing drums and decidedly to play guitar instead!
Naoise: Exactly, so it was a win-win, he didn’t break his arm and I also got to be in the band.
Lara: Gif broke up and Naoise and I were like “we need to start a new band, we need to start a new band“. And Lachlann was a great bass, and was moving to Galway from Donegal so went to the pub, introduced the two of them, they fell in love, and here we are!
Lachlann: The first few months we had big boy jobs and we’d practice every weekend for over a year, for 15 or 16 hours in a weekend. From that we wrote most of the set. It was in those first couple of months that we wrote most of the songs. From there we’ve been looking at those songs and figuring out which fit. It’s like anything, you’re trying to develop new skills and build new things in, and look at the space you’re using in those songs. Some of the newer songs we’re working with on at the minute are maybe more unconventional, with Naoise and I working as one unit rather than two separate things. It all just kind of stems from there, and if someone wants to give us money so we can do more that’d be great!
How important is Blowtorch Records, the label based in Galway run by Richard Burke, for emerging and independent artists?
Lara: He came to a few gigs, he first saw us at Electric Picnic, and saw us again. He asked us if we were broke, because it was the only reason he could think of that we hadn’t released any music. So if you need some help.
Lachlann: He fronted the money for recording and for that first vinyl pressing. Without I struggle to see what would have happened.
Lara: You have to have that one thing out, there’s no way you can do anything without something out, and he pushed us to record.
Naoise: He was very helpful in putting the song out as well, putting together a press kit, giving us a really good start. He did a bit of everything, from funding it to pressing it on vinyl and promoting it. It really helped us. He really has an amazing platform for any band.
Lachlann: It’s a full time thing, and to maintain that level of passion and genuine love for it is why its thrived and its why Blowtorch has succeeded. Richard has stayed so true to everything he started on at the beginning, and his heart is still so deeply set on really helping bands.
Lara: He checks in on everyone, he’s a bit of a father figure for all of us I think. He is very kind and always so intrigued to see what we are doing, and so proud.
To finish, Adore play Whelans in Dublin on 8 December, and also Borderlines Festival, again in Dublin in February 2025.
Lara: We’ve always done lots and lots of supports but we’re starting to do headline shows now which is very exciting.
For more information on Adore please check their facebook and instagram.