Heart of Glasnost

Gorbachov would like to dispel a rumour: Waterford City Council are NOT pushing brown envelopes into the hands of Battle of the Bands judges up and down the country. As the latest victors of Murphy’s Live 2008, they follow in the footsteps of last year’s winners Ilya K, and this year’s NSMA champions Floyd Soul and the Wolf.

“Waterford is dominating the unsigned bands competitions, definitely,” laughs Gorbachov drummer Alan Hennessy. “It’s a good sign, I think. It just goes to show how good the music scene is down here at the moment.”
The quintet beat off stiff competition from Dublin youngsters Bravado to claim the prestigious title at Cork’s Savoy on May 15. Their victory was especially sweet, considering that their entry into the competition had been turned down for three successive years before their inclusion this time ‘round.
“This year we entered with new recordings, and they basically took us on straight away,” Hennessy reveals. “Once we knew we were in the final, we thought we’d have a good chance of winning it. Bravado are a great band, but they’re a bit younger than us, and they haven’t had as much experience as we’ve had. We thought our experience would count for us on the night, and in the end, it did.”
Judge Dan Hegarty of 2fm agrees.
“It was a really tough decision – the panel was split. I found that Gorbachov were a little more experienced, both in performance and songwriting, so that’s what decided it for me. In saying that, I think that Bravado are going to become a seriously good band over the next year or two.”
Although Raheny five-piece Bravado were pipped to the post at the last hurdle, guitarist Graham Mitchell is adamant that it won’t dampen their spirits. Gracious in defeat, he claims that it was “a fair competition” and acknowledges that Gorbachov’s sound was “tight enough”.
“We were chuffed to have even gotten to the quarter-finals, to have been picked out of 450 bands,” he states optimistically. “When we found out we got into the semis, we were even more chuffed, so getting into the final was unreal.”
He’s right – for a band who have only been together just over a year, it’s an impressive achievement. What’s more, it wouldn’t put them off entering a similar event in the future.
“The experience we got out of Murphy’s Live was worth it – I think if a competition like that did come up again, we’d definitely enter. But for the next year or so, we’ll probably put our heads down and just write more songs, get tighter and play as many gigs as possible.”
As difficult as the judges’ decision may have been, it was generally agreed that Bravado have far to go. Hot Press’s Stuart Clark described the indie band as “rough ‘round the edges in all the right ways.”
“The first time we saw Bravado, we thought ‘There’s something there’, and at the second gig, we wondered could they step up another notch – which they really did,” he declares. “You feel with Bravado that they have so much potential – which I think they’ll fulfil – but Gorbachov just got everything right on the night. The look, the songs, the interaction with the crowd... they had it all. It wasn’t so much that Bravado were lacking, just that Gorbachov have gigged around, and are fully-formed. But you do feel that both bands have a genuine future ahead of them.”
Gorbachov’s future includes the imminent release of Liverpool-recorded debut album Can’t Start The Machine, which they hope to spend some of their €10,000 prize fund on promoting and touring. I ask Alan Hennessy whether their title predecessors Ilya K have offered any helpful hints on how to build on their success in the coming year.
“Yeah, we’re actually really good friends with Ilya K,” he explains. “When I originally sent off the demo to Murphy’s Live, I asked them what they did with their prize money and whether it helped getting them gigs, stuff like that. They have been really helpful.”
The future’s already looking brighter than their namesake’s shiny dome; with festival appearances planned as far afield as Latvia this summer, Gorbachov are determined to make as much of an impact on the record-buying public as they did on the Murphy’s Live judging panel.
“It’s been a hard slog to get into the limelight,” he acknowledges. “We took a while to break onto the live scene because we wanted to perfect our set first. Other bands like Ilya K and Saviours Of Space got there a bit before us, but it’s starting to come together for us now, finally. Better late than never, I suppose!”.