Hit The North

“I found a Fender Strat in Smithfield once for 85 quid – a Japanese one – but I’d no cash on me and my bus was just about to go. I drove back to Dublin with tears in my eyes that day. A few years ago I found an original copy of Faust IV on vinyl. Every time I’m home, I stumble onto something great.”

Sean Quinn has had some productive times in Belfast in the past. Today, though, he’s the one bearing gifts. The ever-enthusiastic one time Vivid member has nipped back home to dish out some copies of his fine debut solo record Skylines – an insidiously likeable album full of graceful ambience and classy electronica.
That Quinn’s first record is a subtle, mainly instrumental release may come as a surprise to those familiar with the brooding, crunching, guitar-heavy sound of his alma mater; for the man himself, though, it’s been a healthily organic (and non-contrived) process.
“A few years ago the label E.G heard a song I wrote for The Vivid’s Stripper album, got in touch and asked me if I’d ever thought about releasing an electronic record. I said no, but that for them I was prepared to give it a go. I tried a few things that didn’t really come off, and the label itself went down the tubes, so the whole thing came to a gradual halt. But I was happy enough to be honest; I’d been signed to the same label as Eno, Fripp and Harold Budd. So, it was the kind of motivation you need to continue making records. If you think somebody is really cool and they turn out to respect you as well, it’s a great feeling.”
With The Vivid resting in pieces, Quinn took encouragement from the original E.G commission and found himself embracing a new methodology – with analogue equipment privileged over all others (“I might sound sad, but there are people out there who will know what I mean when I say that there’s nothing like hitting a note on a Moog with one hand and sustaining it with the other. It’s sublime.”) and recording taking place in his living room when his young family had gone off to bed. The results, while differing greatly from previous material he had written, soon began to chime with his long-term listening habits.
“For years and years electronic music was the place to go if you wanted to hear really inventive, creative stuff,” he explains. “No band in the last 10 years, with the honourable exception of Radiohead, has done anything remotely as brave as the Richard D James album; nothing in rock music had that kind of excitement. You get this punk thing – we’re angry, we’re reacting against something – but once you turn your back, you find these guys orchestrating string sections and harmonising. Electronic music has, for much of the last 20 years, been the place to look for real punk spirit. I just realised that it was the type of music I had always found most provocative and inspiring.”
Skylines benefits from the obvious passion of its creator. It’s a record of intelligence and grace. It’s also a record that, despite the lack of vocals, has little trouble establishing its own voice.
“I’m not sure if the wider musical community in Ireland has ever really taken electronic music seriously. You still hear that old cliché about cold, electronic music. Cold? Some of the most moving, emotional music I’ve ever heard has been electronic. Stuff like Eno, it’s heavenly music, that’s someone’s soul on view there. Or Tangerine Dream’s Rubicon album – that’s eye watering stuff.
“I’ve heard a lot of singer songwriters and there’s nothing going on there. They play guitar, emote, but you can tell there isn’t an ounce of sincerity involved. What I find most irksome about singer-songwriters is how sanctimonious they are in regard to their lyrics. Crap sixth form nonsense most of the time, yet they’ll still try to argue that the words are more important than the music. I’ve heard instrumental songs that are far more eloquent and expressive than anything these guys can come up with.”
Skylines has, indeed, got plenty to say for itself. And its writer is eager for it to be heard.
“I left it in a can for six months which let me get over the whole ‘isn’t this great’ period, and when I came back to it, I really loved it. I’m still listening to it and still enjoying it. There’s a lot of emotion in this record and I’m incredibly proud of it.”

Skylines is available on Psychonavigation.