THE NORTHERN CONFLICT

IN THE short time that Mr North have been on the circuit they have polarized punters and pundits alike, the latter to an almost ridiculous degree.
The more that one critics' camp bestows praise on the young Dublin band, it seems, the more the others feel compelled to shoot them down. And while the young foursome take both the good and bad with a grain of salt, they're glad that people are paying attention. (Insert overused Oscar Wilde quote here, at your own discretion).
As Emmet, the band's guitarist and one of the two O'Malley brothers in the band, puts it, "If you're going to inhale any criticism you have to take the bad as well as the good. If you just love the praise and are sore at the people who criticise you you're being a hypocrite. As much as I appreciate the praise, I won't let it go to my head." Then revealing his Bill Clinton tendencies, he adds: "It's better not to inhale at all."
"A lot of times," adds Colin Smith, the band's lead singer, "the negative stuff is just bad breath, good vocabulary. I think sometimes people get off on hearing themselves talk and it's easier to talk well in a negative way."
Still, the band have pulled some grains of truth out of some of the more well-meaning constructive criticism they've received. For example, they've been accused of appearing indifferent on stage as they show off their musical skill for all to amaze in. Adrian Mordaunt, the band's award winning drummer, reveals "I thought about (Gerry McGovern's review in the last issue of Hot Press) and said I know what he's talking about and I might try to pull back a bit instead of going 'Hey, look what I can do,' which I have been doing up until now. I realize that it's time to stop acting the eejit and start playing music instead of just playing drums."
Colin admits that the band did initially set out to make it clear that they were all highly skilled musicians and are only now settling into working as a group.
"When we first got together as Mr North," he says, "we were incredibly excited that we had four great musicians together who all really respect each other. So we started to write stuff that was sort of like a showcase. There was definitely that element. And it just takes a bit of maturing to get past that factor and that has been happening over the past couple of months.
*When we've been writing recently it has been basically about coming up with strong melodies, strong structures, strong music and letting our influences come through. We've been listening to ourselves, listening to what we want instead of catering to what could be perceived as good. It's time to let the Listz or whatever come through. Not like you'd see Listz playing slap bass, but you see what I'm saying."
Lest the Listz references throw you for a loop,
it's worth stressing that while the members of the band come from classical backgrounds, Mr North play a funk/rock/soul/jazz/rap mix that has been likened - with varying intentions - to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Living Colour. Some, myself included, find Mr North's take to be more melodic and far-reaching and believe that by the time they're the Chili Peppers' ages, if not before, they'll have left them in the dust. Others think they're derivative.
So how do the band feel about being written off as Chili Peppers wannabes?
"I think what it comes from," says Oisin, the other O'Malley and the band's bass player, "is that Ireland in general is very new to funk and jazz. This type of thing has been going on in London and New York, places like that, for years and years. But because all Ireland know about jazz/funk and so on are bands like the Chili Peppers or Living Colour they think that we're copying them or something when actually we've been into music like that long before those bands were on the market."
When I express doubts that the members of the band were playing anything remotely similar to what they play now when they were eleven, they insist that's it's true. "We weren't exactly playing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,'" says Oisin.
"If it sounds derivative to someone else," Emmet adds, "no crime, but we try to keep it as fresh as possible. We bring a lot more influences than would be confined to normal funk music into it. Everything from Rush to John Coletrane to Bach."
Still, Irish taste buds don't tend to appreciate funk/rap specials. Can Mr North change that?
"I don't see that conversion happening," says Colin. "There are too many staid attitudes. Not necessarily bad, but people are too comfortable, too cosy with their positions. They think that if they give in at all, they lose a grip on their power, and that their opinion becomes less and less valid."
"The Irish are very critical about their own people," adds Oisin. "They look over to America and say 'great funk band' but if you're doing the same thing they look at you and say 'Oh you're Irish. This only happens in America.' They don't say it that blatantly, of course, but its something in that vain."
"If we happened to come from Europe or America," continues Colin, "and all of a sudden landed here there ould be a better chance for us. And then we could say 'Ha-ha! We tricked you, we're actually Irish' and they'd all go 'No! No! Say it isn't so!'"
But the band aren't really too concerned with their Irish critics as they've already had significant UK record label interest, and have been drawing steadily increasing crowds as time goes by.
"That's the bottom line," Oisin says. "People come to the gigs and they enjoy the show. Even the people who have been negative towards us-I'm sure we'll see them popping up at a gig or two at some point in the future. They may get all critical afterwards but they're not going to go to the toilet while we're on. They'll watch."
As for all the hassle about doing their homework and working towards their leaving certs, the band's parents are incredibly supportive and will be there watching too.
"It's a gamble going into college these days," Oisin concludes, without a hint of irony, "and parents are starting to wake up to that. They start to ask 'is it such a crazy thing to go into the music business?' and answer 'if you're good at it why not.' I say why not anyway."