Having been a member of The Immediate, one of the most acclaimed Irish indie bands of recent years, Conor O’Brien has again been attracting plenty of attention with his latest project, Villagers, whose debut EP, Hollow Kind, showcased his songwriting talents to excellent effect. The group recently hit the road to support Bell X1 in the UK, although as Conor explains, the tour didn’t get off to the most promising of starts.

“I got a throat infection right before it began,” he winces. “I was completely out of it, and then two days before we were meant to go, I got the flu on top of the throat infection. I couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone talk or sing. It was looking like we weren’t going to be able to do it, and we ended up having to cancel the Brighton Great Escape shows, and a Birmingham gig with Bell X1. We came over for Bell X1’s London concert, and luckily enough that was the first day I was actually feeling normal again, so we just about made it. The whole tour has been one big amazing release!”
What has the crowd response been like at the gigs?
“It’s been really good,” enthuses Conor. “All of the shows have been pretty much sold-out. Everyone has been turning up for our performance as well. When you’re a support band, you never really know how many people are going to be there to see you, but it’s been brilliant. People have been quiet at the right bits, and loud at the right bits, so the interaction with the crowds has been good.”
What have the backstage shenanigans been like? Has everyone been drugged off their faces?
“I’ve been drugged off my face – on antibiotics,” he quips. “I’ve actually been pretty good – I’m usually pretty good anyway – but I haven’t been drinking too much, except for last night, cos that was our end-of-tour night in Glasgow. We stayed out for a bit and have sore heads now.”
Any Spinal Tap moments to report?
“I had to write a reply to this question in the Hot Press Yearbook, and I was almost going to say, ‘That bit where the guy has a cucumber in his pants.’ The one I ended up giving happened at a gig a few years back; I gave everyone different set-lists and it was a complete nightmare. We all kept starting different songs and it was hilarious.”
However, Conor does admit that there was something of a face-off with Bell X1 the previous evening.
“The Bell X1 guys made a little mark on the ground of about four square feet and said that was our changing-room,” he explains. “They threw all of our food on the floor and things like that. So we kept having to move their fridge and hide stuff on them.”
Indeed, Conor feels that the all-male nature of the tour has led to plenty of unruly behaviour.
“I remember thinking when I was getting Villagers together, ‘I want to get some girls in the band’, cos things can get pretty depraved when there’s six guys in a small box going around a country. But it can also be absolutely hilarious – I’ve laughed more than I’ve ever laughed in my life on this tour. It’s been really weird, funny and exciting. I’ve kind of realised that all of the guys in my band are completely insane. I don’t really want to get into it – I’ll just leave it at that!”
Conor is shortly to head out on tour once again as a member of Cathy Davey’s band, and after that begins working on the debut Villagers album.
“I’m going to record it in August, but I’m not quite sure how yet,” he says. “I think I’m going to do it in Donegal with Tommy, who plays guitar in the band. He’s got a home studio and he’s an engineer. It worked really well on the EP, cos we know each other’s tastes – I want to keep it pretty in-house. I wanted to get one out before the end of the year, but I think December is a really bad time for albums, so it’s probably going to be January before we release it.”
How did Conor find the experience of recording the EP in Donegal?
“It was cool. It was close enough to a town, but we didn’t really go in there too much. I kind of like that. That’s my favourite part of recording – you know that there’s three weeks ahead of you, and you’re only focused on one thing. It’s my favourite thing to do in the world, I think.”
Overall, Conor views Villagers as being a very different creative venture to The Immediate.
“The Immediate was much more collaborative, and this is more about me writing and recording songs myself. It’s only at the final point that I bring it to the band. But once I do that, the exciting part for me is that they take the material into their own hands, and the songs are evolving each night. There might be two tracks from the EP on the album, but I think they’re going to be completely different arrangements. The whole plan is to keep it really, really loose.”

Villagers play Cork Live At The Marquee with Bell X1 (June 26) and Indie-Pendence, Mitchelstown
(August 2)