Roughly nine months ago, Her.ie sat down with Lucan band The Riptide Movement for a chat about their upcoming release Getting Through.
While they were definitely confident that the album they had under their belts would cause a stir, we’re not sure even the four lads themselves could have predicted what came next.
2014 brought a record deal with Universal, a number one spot on the album charts for Getting Through, a gold disc for the same record, a second gig at Glastonbury, a string of shows in the US, a viral video starring Amy Huberman, a 25-date sold out tour across the country… and, as announced earlier today, a nomination for both Meteor Choice Song And Album Of The Year.
We sat down with frontman Mal Tuohy and drummer Gar Byrne for a bit of a catch-up this week and while many bands could be forgiven for taking a break after a hectic year, it seems as if it’s full steam ahead for the Riptide.
“You can’t be at that craic, no! You might get an afternoon off somewhere if you’re lucky, the schedule is pretty mental,” admits Gar.
“The plan is to release the album throughout Europe and Australia later this year and keep tipping away at America, doing a few festivals and a few gigs. You could travel all over America and never play the same venue twice, it’s so big, but we definitely have plans to go over there. We love it and we always get a good response so we do plan on doing more.”
Despite a punishing touring schedule, Mal revealed that the band have been in touch with Getting Through producer Ted Hutt and have already put starting work on a new album. With plans to demo the material throughout the coming year, he predicts that their new baby could be coming to fruition as soon as 2016.
“We’re writing already. We’re obviously doing the international release now with the single and the album so most of this year is going to be touring and promo but in between, we’ve written a few songs already and will be demo-ing a lot throughout the year so we could probably write an album by the end of the year and bang it out in 2016. That’s the plan anyway,” he said.
“I’m actually more confident about the next one because I think we’ve only scratched the surface, particularly with the producer that we’re working with. We stayed in contact with Ted since the last album and have been trading ideas so we’ve a good idea of what the next album is going to be like. There’s going to be a lot of new instruments on it, it’s exciting. We’re really excited already!”
The Meteor Choice nominations for Getting Through and single All Works Out are the icing on the cake after a brilliant year and the band, which also includes Ger McGarry and JP Dalton, insist they’re not counting their chickens ahead of the big night.
“It kinda validates what we thought anyway. We think it’s a very well-produced album and it’s nice for everyone in the Irish media to tip the hat at that and say ‘it is a good album’. We’re delighted to be part of it and to be nominated, we’re going to have a good night on March 5th regardless,” said Mal.
Gar added: “We put a lot of work into it, from the writing to the pre-production. It was hard going and we all felt coming out that we had something.”
Looking back on the changes they’ve experienced over the last twelve months, the band pinpoint the introduction of their new management and agent as a turning point as it “feels like we’re in a band now, rather than a business” and admit that they’re regularly recognised now as they go about their business in Dublin.
“Especially if we go out to a gig, we’d get recognised a lot. You do get some crazies! One of my favourite things about it though is being able to help people. There’s this family and they said that their kids are mad into the band. The young lad was trying to learn the drums, he’s only about five or six, so we invited them down to one of the soundchecks and let him sit up on the kit and have a go. It made his day, we was absolutely delighted! The little girl got up and sang All Works Out with Mal and it’s great to be able to give half an hour to someone when it means so much to them,” Gar explained.
“You can always make a big of time for people. That makes it worthwhile.”
The shortlist for this year’s Meteor Song Of The Year was announced earlier today. To see the ten acts shortlists and vote for your favourite, click here.
