Dublin based garage pop band Squarehead have bounced back onto the music scene in a major way over the last few weeks following a couple of quieter years.
Formed back in 2010, they grew from a solo project by singer and guitarist Roy Duffy to a fully-fledged band, with Ian MacFarlane on bass and Ruan Van Vliet on drums.
They stormed the music scene for a few years, both here and overseas, before taking a much needed break to lay low.
Recently they have released a new single, contributed to a compilation in aid of The Abortion Support Network and announced their first Dublin headline gig this year.
Hot Press had a chat with Roy about all things Squarehead ahead of tonight’s gig.

You have a bit of a garage rock pop sound, which over the years has become a bit heavier and punkier. How would you see the evolution of your sound over the last couple of years?

You’d be right in saying it’s a garage punk poppy kinda sound. When we started out it was me just doing acoustic shows and then I started playing with Ian who I’ve known since I was 15. We were in heavier punk bands when we were younger so I think just playing with him, and a couple of different drummers, that we got in at the start, we started playing the songs that I had been playing acoustic in a heavier way, and then when Ruan joined it just naturally took on a heavier tone than just being the pop songs that I’d been writing by myself.

You’ve been together for over 7 years now. In the earlier years you were going really heavily with 2 albums as well touring - not just here in Ireland, but also in the US and Europe. The last couple of years have been a bit quieter, was that something you had planned?

Yeah, that was kinda a conscious thing because between the time we’d recorded our first 7 inch maybe right up until the last album, Respect, there was a bunch of singles and we did a split album with a band called So Cow for an American label. We did a bunch of tours over there, came back and did the last album really fast - just recorded everything and released it ourselves - and I think we just felt kinda burnt out and in need of just getting some pace back into it.

So does that mean you might not hit it with so much momentum this time around, maybe take it a bit easier so you don't hit that wall again?

I think each band has their own kind of cycle of how many tours or albums you can do before you need some sort of break, and we’d done almost 3 albums and countless tours and it just kinda reached a point where it was either time to either break up or else take a little break and rejig a few things. We’re not taking it easier now we’re just gonna take it as it comes, I guess.

The last couple of weeks has been quite busy for you guys - you were included on the Paper Trail records Choice Compilation in aid of the Abortion Support Network with your song ‘Ignorance’, and then you released your new single ‘Waves’ last week which was your first release in 4 years. How has the reception and feedback been?

The song that we put on the Paper Trails compilation was something that we weren't expecting to come out before the single, but we were happy it did - it’s a good introduction to what we’re doing now, but all the feedback for ‘Waves’ has been very positive, and there’s a video that our good friend, Luke Byrne, directed. He did a great job on that and I think it’s adding to peoples positive feedback.

The video is awesome! It has you guys playing in an unfilled swimming pool and then there’s a bit of roller skating going on - tell us a bit more about that.

It’s not high concept *laughs*. We always wanted to do a performance based video and when the director came to us with that location we thought it would look really cool. We all grew up watching loads of performance based rock videos on MTV and i don't think you get a lot of those these days, due to budget constraints or whatever, but we were able to pull it off. The swimming pool was at a private residence - it was a friend of a friend of a friend’s aunties husbands or something like that! - and they said they had an empty swimming pool so we got to use it for a day which was very nice.

It looks deadly so it paid off! So as well as the Paper Trails records being in aid of the Abortion Support Network, it also means you're included on this list of really amazing Irish and International acts such as Mac DeMarco, LVL UP, Slow Skies and heaps more. How does that feel, and how did you get involved in it?

That was a surprise to us as well, we didn't know what other bands were contributing when we agreed to. We’re a fan of the band Priests as well, so it was very flattering to be included with them. It also humbling, I suppose, as well to be included in something that’s at the forefront of politics at the moment in this country. We got an email about it and straight away it was a yes. We didn't even need to talk about it. We all know where each of us stands on the issue. Anything we can do to help is kinda our motto towards the whole Abortion Rights campaign.

A lovely bunch of lads with a social conscience, that’s what we all want! You’re playing the Grand Social on Friday - your first Dublin headliner of the year since last November, what can we expect from that?

Yeah, we did a few dates around Ireland since then but not in Dublin. I think when you’ve been a band long enough, people don't want to be seeing you every weekend or they get sick of you!! It’s also a thing where you can have some new material or a new joke to kind of, just give something different every time you play. I think the space between this and the last one is long enough, we have a whole new album ready to play live so we’ll be picking and choosing from that.

So, we’ll be expecting 8 months’ worth of jokes and some new material then! Are there any plans in place for the album release?

It’s pretty much done and dusted, but it’s not concrete as to a release date or anything yet so I can’t speak to that really, but there may be a few more bits after ‘Waves’ before we announce how it’s gonna come out.

It’s the end of June now and festival season is kicking off, can you tell us if you're going to be gracing the stages in any of Irelands lovely fields this summer?

Unless we’re a last minute addition to any festival, I don't think so. We’re just taking things as they come and without an album out to promote, we think maybe we should wait until the album’s out so people know the songs and that kinda thing. That can be a big deal for people if they go and see a band they like and they don't know any of the material. For some people, they really like that, but for others they don’t.

Catch Squarehead at The Grand Social this evening, June 23rd. €8, doors at 8pm. Find out more on Facebook and Twitter.