New music
Irish noise-makers Gurriers have been blazing a trail, particularly in the last couple of years, expanding their loyal fan base wherever they play.
The five-piece release their debut album ‘Come And See’ on September 13th, recorded in Leeds at the Nave with Alex Greaves. Single ‘Des Goblin’ was A-listed on BBC Radio 6Music, while packed out live shows are taking place across the country.
CLASH linked up with vocalist Dan Hoff and bassist Charlie McCarthy over Zoom to discuss their debut offering.
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Congratulations on your debut album ‘Come And See’. I wonder if I can begin by asking where the title came from and what are some of the themes?
I wanted to write a song with the name ‘Come And See’ because of the movie. It’s a very, very visceral, dark, horror kind of war movie. It had a massive impact on me and I wanted to write something about it. I guess the themes of album are far right fear, climate disaster, your friends emigrating and the zeitgeist of the world. A little bit of love thrown in there as well.
‘Come And See’ is the last song. It’s like a breakaway from all of it, you know. It goes to a kind of dreamscape which is what people want to do in this world of turmoil. It’s easier to switch off and escape into TV and movies and music because you get away to some degree from what is going on around you. I think that’s the thread the album follows. It starts in the current times and by the end disappears off somewhere else.
Dan, your vocal is quite different on that track…
I think I went for a more singing style, which is also quite ethereal. Everything else was very shouty and then when it comes to that dreamscape, it’s something different. The theme changes, and I think the vocals change. I think it shows what Gurriers can do going forward. We’re not just a one trick pony. We can do something else. We could go beyond.
I have to ask about ‘Prayer’. It’s very expansive, very different from the punk-fueled tracks. Can you just talk a little bit about how that came about?
The inspiration came way before the music. I was actually working during COVID and there were no customers so I was just reading the newspaper. And it said, not verbatim, but “the Pope says the prayers to empty rows of chairs.” And I think that’s what I like to do, to find a line that writes the narrative, even if the narrative is still subconsciously in me. I’ve always wanted to write a song about Catholic guilt in Ireland, which a lot of Irish bands do, but make it a lot more universal. And a lot more science fiction-esque.
The song is basically: the Pope wakes up and realises he’s an atheist. It’s just a story. It’s not how I actually feel about things anymore. I definitely was more of an atheist years ago, but now I just don’t have any time to care.
And what is the origins of ‘No More Photos’, which could also have a number of meanings…
Three or four years before the band started I was at a Berlin photography event and saw the line “no more photos on the dancefloor please”. And I was like “That’s a song”. I have distaste for two things: I’m not a big fan of nightclubs and I’m not a big fan of security checks. And so there is this narrative of a bunch of people out on a night out and it ends up in a fight. There is a weird lyric with “ten lads in a chipper lined up to get shot”, which is just an image you have when you see loads of men standing up in a fish and chip shop, and they’re in a line waiting to get their fish and chips. That’s a weird lyric that I always liked as well. It’s just an angry song by five angry lads talking about their distaste for nightclubs.
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I have to ask about ‘Approachable’. Was that re-recorded for the album because the guitar sounds much scuzzier compared to the original…?
The song sounds different because when we recorded the album we did it with Emmet (White) who used to be in the band (Emmet left Gurriers amicably at the beginning of 2024). Emmet changed the bassline and there’s almost a level of funkiness to it which is different to the original recording. We wanted to give the song another go, it deserves to be on the album we think. Some bands only get to do it once so why not put your favourite songs onto your first album.
You’ve got a phenomenal touring schedule lined up. Multiple festivals in the UK and Europe throughout the summer and then an extensive headline tour in October and November. How are Gurriers received in Europe?
We’re well-liked in Holland, which is cool. At Best Kept Secret a couple of weeks ago we finished the soundcheck and left the stage for five or 10 minutes. We came back on and the whole place was full! It went from 30 people to about 600 in 10 minutes! It was pretty crazy.
We get a pretty good reception all over Europe. I think we come to be a lot of people’s surprise act at festivals. “We came to check you guys out and you guys were amazing”. Which is good and what you want to be doing as a new band starting out, especially with our first album coming out.
I did want to ask about South by Southwest and the artist boycott in support of Palestine. South by Southwest has announced recently they have discontinued their partnership with the US Army and Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of weapons manufacturer RTX Corporation, formerly known as Raytheon, for its 2025 festival. The Irish bands took a united stand and Gurriers drummer Pierce Callaghan made a statement on behalf of the Irish artists at the festival. Why was it so important to take a stand?
Like everyone else I’ve been completely disgusted and horrified by what’s happening in Palestine… and even for the festival to have US Army sponsorship is a bit insane. It just felt wrong, it left a bad taste in your mouth. I know we were over there as well so it became a lot more impactful. At the end of the day, it was a difficult decision. Seeing the actual outcome now, I couldn’t believe it. I think we were all quite disappointed in as much as we felt we did the best form of protest that we could in the situation but had believed that nothing had come of it. But seeing that the sponsors have been dropped has been quite reassuring in some ways. There is a light at the end of the tunnel in these things. Sometimes it just feels like things are really bad and everyone wants to just like go under the covers and just let it wash over them but we made a stand.
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‘Come And See’ will be released on September 13th.
Words: Julia Mason
Photography: Joshua Mulholland
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