Bleech 9:3 today announce their self-titled debut EP which is set for release on 15 May via Polydor Records. The Irish four-piece also today share new single Underrated which was premiered last night by Jack Saunders at BBC Radio 1. The band will hit the road for a mammoth run of live dates, which include a sold-out show at London’s Scala on 16 May; European slots alongside Keo, Wunderhorse and Nick Cave; and appearances at festivals including The Great Escape, Latitude, and Reading & Leeds.
Headed up by Baz Quinlan (vocals/guitar) and Sam Duffy (guitar), the pair met at AA, where Baz became Sam’s sponsor. They moved from Dublin to London together in 2024. “I think the vulnerability of those meetings helped us be a lot more comfortable with each other from the get go” they say about these first recordings. On the new single, Underrated, Baz shares:
“I wrote it at the end of 2024, it was one of the first Bleech songs that we jammed back then. Bad worship is a theme that runs through the EP. I felt driven to write about how it twists love into something else. How the twisting becomes the thing that you end up wanting.”
When Bleech 9:3 songwriters/guitarists Barry Quinlan and Sam Duffy first crossed paths in their early twenties, it almost seemed inconceivable that they hadn’t met before. Throughout their tumultuous teenage years spent gigging in various projects around Dublin, they’d lived near-parallel lives mired by the chaos-purgatory spiral of addiction; like two shadows cast by the same light but never touching. In the throes of the early stages of recovery, when a better life still felt elusive and intangible, something to be hoped for, though not necessarily to be believed in, Barry and Sam were introduced to each other at a 12-step rehab programme. Barry soon signed up to be his new friend’s sponsor and take him through the process, and felt energised by the similarities in their ambitions and worldview.
“I think to find someone your own age, with the same dreams as you, from the same city and is also suffering from the same thing… we knew immediately that we could help each other,” recalls Sam. “You can lose your mind thinking about how rare that is.”
However unsteady their respective circumstances may have been at the time, a brighter, more creative future suddenly came into focus. In between “secret” writing sessions the foundations of Bleech 9:3 were born, giving Barry and Sam purpose to move forward.
“From the point of view of recovery and sobriety, we shared an intrinsic understanding of each other. It felt like we were building something very, very special” says Barry.
Bleech 9:3 Live Dates
April
21 – EKKO, Utrecht, NL (supporting Keo)
22 – Supersonic, Paris, FR (supporting Keo)
23 – Trix, Antwerp, BE (supporting Keo)
29 – Voodoo, Belfast, UK
May
1 – Whelan’s, Dublin, IE
2 – Liverpool Sound City, Liverpool, UK
3 – Gold Sounds Festival, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK
4 – SWG3 Poetry Club, Glasgow, UK
6 – Waterfront Studio, Norwich, UK
7 – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, UK
9 – Projekts Skate Park, Manchester, UK (supporting Deadletter)
11 – Camden Assembly, London, UK
12 – Camden Assembly, London, UK
14 – The Great Escape, Brighton, UK
15 – The Great Escape, Brighton, UK
16 – Scala, London, UK
18 – Yellow Arch Studios, Sheffield, UK
19 – YES, Manchester, UK
21 – Heartbreakers, Southampton, UK
23 – Dot To Dot Festival, Bristol, UK
24 – Dot To Dot Festival, Nottingham, UK
28 – Big Next, Trefpunt, Ghent, BE
29 – Dauwpop Festival, NL
30 – Vestrock Festival, NL
June
6 – This Is Not A Love Song Festival, FR
10 – Malahide Castle, Dublin, IE (supporting Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
July
10 – Les Nuits Secretes, Aulnoye Aimeries, FR
24 – Latitude Festival, UK
25 – Truck Festival, UK
26 – Tramlines Festival, UK
30 – Wilderness Festival, UK
August
2 – Kendal Calling, UK
6 – Haldern Pop Festival, DE
7 – AFF Festival, NL
13 – Winterthurer Musikfestwochen, Steinberggasse, CH
14 – Syd For Solen, DK
25 – Custom House Square, Belfast, UK (supporting Wunderhorse)
26 – City Hall, Cork, IE (supporting Wunderhorse)
28, 29 – Reading + Leeds, UK
29 – Rock N Roll Circus, Sheffield, UK
September
4 – Brighton Psych Fest, Brighton, UK
5 – Manchester Psych Fest, Manchester, UK
6 – Edinburgh Psych Fest, Edinburgh, UK
5 – 7 – Iceland Airwaves, Reyjkavik, IS
12 – Misty Fields, NL
For more information on Bleech 9:3 please check their instagram.