Junkfood For Thought

JUNKSTER ARE in a curious limbo. Their eponymous debut album was released to considerable fanfare, which was not matched by commercial returns. Partly as a backlash against the promotional push which attended the band, partly because of journalistic cynicism, they became a favourite target for the Dublin music media to take a pot-shot at.
The truth lay somewhere between the hype and the backbites. The first album did sometimes sound a tad overblown, the concentration on samples, backbeats et al obscuring the band s strengths the songs themselves, and Deirdre O Neill s outstanding voice.
Currently reacquainting themselves with live performance, the five-piece have learnt plenty of hard lessons. A new album is expected in Spring next year. Deirdre is also six months pregnant she jokes that, the baby will be released in January; the album s released in March.
So, offspring aside, how will the new album differ from their initial outing?
This is enormously different from the first one, so much so that people wanted us to change our name because . . . I dunno, they thought people would be mortally confused if we didn t make the same record twice or something, Deirdre says.
We wrote a song called Still Your Girl , she continues. It was one of those songs that you couldn t take the smile off your face when you heard it it was like Costello or Blondie. It just seemed really teenagery and fun. It wasn t clever . It was all about us just going 1-2-3-Bosh! . That then became the template for what we were going to do.
With that it was off to LA, for five months of writing and recording, the former in collaboration with the likes of Charlotte Caffey of Go-Gos fame, the latter benefiting from the production techniques of young rising star Greg Wells. The lifestyle of the LA months also set a stark contrast to that which surrounded the recording of the debut.
We recorded the first album in Woodstock, Deirdre says. And we all left with drinking problems, serious drinking problems. We came back really fat and unhealthy. Then, this time around, we were teasing the two boys in the rhythm section about their tofu and wheatgrass. But as the weeks went by there were a few members of the band who were sneaking off to top up their supplies of healthy stuff. It was very un-rock n roll!
We recorded in three studios, she adds. The first was Jackson Browne s studio, and he gave us all his guitars, which was cool! In one of the other ones we were sharing with Axl Rose, which was a scream!
Anything to declare?
Only that he s really fat, he s got no hair, and he s terrified of his own shadow. We used to tease him all the time, Deirdre laughs.
On a more serious note, what does the frontwoman make of the reaction to her band in Ireland. Some, particularly in the print media, have hardly been kind . . .
You know what Ireland s like, she replies defiantly. A band gets slagged just for being around for five years, because they shouldn t be . Ireland can be twisted. There keep being new generations of journalists who think they re being clever. Most of the stuff we ve received has been very positive, but when criticism gets personal I think all it does is make the journalist look a little bit silly.
Is she at all awed by the fact that almost as soon as her child is born, she will have to hit the promotional trail for the new album?
Not really. I mean, millions of women do it [working and bringing up children simultaneously]. Plus, we ve got a roadie called Mark Ryan who has been working with Siniad Lohan for the past year. He did the whole pregnancy tour with her as well. When he saw the size of me the other night, he was like Oh, Sweet Jesus . He ll end up being passed around all these various pregnant singer-songwriters , she giggles.
Becoming more serious, she continues, It s not the most popular move in industry terms. RCA have been really great, and supportive, but in the industry you re not supposed to have babies which is all a load of bollox, really. But as long as men run record companies, that ll be the case.
And has that male dominated ethos manifested itself in other ways?
Oh yeah, absolutely. A masterclass in tits n ass that s what I ve had for the past three years. It s an added pressure. At the start it was deeply confusing, because they wanted you to appear credible and tough, but they want you to look like Bambi at the same time. The boys used to get really annoyed about it. Now, though, we ve learnt to say no, but nicely, and only when it matters.
This new self-confidence also resonates through the band s music.
Last time I cared so much , Deirdre says. I was just distraught if people didn t like it. Whereas, now, I can t even say I love that first record. But this one, I really do love. I felt satisfied at the end of it. I don t need too much other validation.

Forthcoming Junkster Irish Dates : HQ, Dublin (15th & 29th Oct); UCD, Dublin (21st Oct); Savoy, Limerick (23rd Oct, 30th Oct, 6th Nov); Roisin Dubh, Galway (13th Nov)