Docking on heaven's door

For any new band that first year together can offer a cocktail of mixed emotions – from the excitement of something new to the frustration of trying to get noticed.

Angel Pier have just completed that first 12 month stretch and vocalist/guitarist Darragh Nolan is feeling quietly satisfied with the way things are going.
“We’re very happy with the progress so far to be honest,” he says. “The reaction that people have had to the music has been great. We played New York last October and to get to do that in our first year together feels like a real achievement.”
Yet there can be pressure to achieve a great deal in a short period of time, especially when acts such as Kaiser Chiefs seem to rocket from obscurity to infamy in only a few months.
“There are many levels to the industry,” reckons Nolan, “and many levels that a band can be at. We still see ourselves at the very beginning. When the Kaiser Chiefs became successful they were already a good few levels above where we would be now. What seems like an overnight success very rarely is. Obviously there was industry muscle behind them but word spread on the strength of their music above anything else.”
As with virtually every band, Angel Pier have had to summarise their sound in a few handy bite sized quotes – so far, the best they’ve come up with is “gothic groove”.
“That was based on Paul (Slevin, bass) and Mark (Colbert, drum) and their influences and the style they wanted to play, which is Cure and Stone Roses-based. It has a dark edged groove to it, it’s not just there purely to satisfy the song but to get the audience dancing.”
Every so often the notion of making guitar music with a beat seems to come back into vogue and the past couple of years have been no exception.
“There are bands who have been bringing it back. Franz Ferdinand’s motto was 'music to make girls dance' and while it’s not quite as simple as that with us, our aim was to make upbeat music that grabbed people’s attention – if you’re at a gig there’s no chance that you’re going to get bored half way through. We wanted to make melancholic songs with an upbeat tempo.”
Is that necessarily an easy thing to do?
“It is, because of the people who are in the band. When I present a song the rest of the guys know what to do with it. We never sat down and decided to make music a certain way, it’s just how it comes out when we’re together.”
As the band has grown (guitarist Luke Paluch being the last to join) has that original aim altered?
“It hasn’t really, we’ve stayed on track. Obviously over the course of the year you’ll hear differences in the first song and the last one that we’ve written but it’s more a case of development rather than a change of style.”
Nor has Darragh’s writing approach changed.
“Songwriters can usually write songs in a certain way and if I tried to write mine any differently it would be contrived. I’ve spent four or five years trying to find my own style and I’m comfortable in it now. I suppose it will change over time as I develop. Also it all depends on the time and the place.”
In many ways 2006 was a watershed year for Irish music. Director, The Blizzards, The Immediate and Delorentos all proved that it was possible to reach a mainstream audience at home. That must give bands like Angel Pier a lot of confidence.
“I do think that is the case. There have been a lot of success stories of late and it does clear the way for other bands like ourselves who are hoping to follow them. It all really depends on the music. People are only going to buy into a band if they can connect with the audience on a certain level, which is what those bands have done.
“The Irish audience has more of an appetite for music now than ever before, maybe because of the Internet or whatever, but they’re actively searching out new acts which is great for all of us. You don’t have to promote yourselves so much anymore. The audience will come and find you.”