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The Beat Poets (Belfast)

Wednesday, May 11, 8pm at Sweeney's Mongrel Thursday, May 12, 11.15pm at Auntie Annie's Described by NME as Blistering, Frenzied, blood-stirring, rock that weaves its way through U2, the Foos and The Vines, The Beat Poets are one of the most exciting new acts to emerge from Northern Ireland in recent years. BBC ATL described them as Northern Irelands hardest working unsigned band with the Irish Star claiming they could be the biggest band to come from the North of Ireland since Snow Patrol. Touring relentlessly the Beat Poets have supporting World renowned acts such as Sonic Youth, The Chemical Brothers, The Duke Spirit, Nine Black Alps, The Parlotones and much more from venues such as Marlay Park (Dublin) to Canadian Music Week and 6 storming shows at the 2009 South by Southwest Music (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas. With recent TV performances on The BBC and UTV the band’s latest tracks are now licensed with the BBC, Channel 4 as well as MTV and are currently on the latest series of MTV One shows The Hard Times of RJ Berger (2010) and previous series including ‘The Hills’ & ‘Girls of Hedsor Hall’ (2009) in the US adding to the band growing reputation. Receiving airplay worldwide including the UK (Xfm, BBC, Virgin), Ireland (Today Fm, 2fm), USA (K-Rock) and Australia (Triple J) the band has been crowned Xfm unsigned winners, Virgin Radio Xtreme unsigned winners, Today Fm’s Rising Artist and were spotlighted by the New York CMJ Festival in October 2008. The Band’s debut single ‘Turn It On/Shadowlands’ released by ‘ the singles club’ via small indie label Pronoia Records UK (2007) was a stepping stone for the band to self-release in ‘Staring Stars Down’ 2008 via Absolute Marketing (Dave Matthews, Imogen Heap) and Universal Records Distribution. Working with world acclaimed producers ‘Greg Haver’ (Manic Street Preachers, Lost Prophets), Dave Way (Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder) and Neal Calderwood (Fighting With Wire, The Answer). ‘The Making’ E.P released in November 2009 introduced a new sound from The Beat Poets and has been tearing up the radio in Ireland being play-listed on major national stations and receiving national press coverage due to the high critical of the bands new tracks including SXSW 2010. The Poets recent single ‘One By One’ (Out May 2010) became the No.1 most requested track on N.Ireland’s biggest radio station ‘Cool Fm’ remaining on their Top 20 most requested list for 12 weeks and the 10 weeks on the second biggest station City Beat. The radio onslaught has continued with the new single seeing play on 2fm, RTE Radio 1, Today FM, BBC Radio 1 N.I and many more. With live sessions on RTE Radio 1, Cool Fm, BBC and City Beat the band continues to appear regularly in major national publications including Hotpress, The Sunday World, AU and The People while the new set and shows receive rave reviews! The band’s new single Gravity was released on November 15th 2010 and already is play listed on all major stations in N.Ireland , with their single video receiving video of the week on Irish Music site Golden Plec. The band has also received an endorsement by US music recording giants TASCAM following this single. December sees the band release their own iphone App via a Mobile Roadie Endorsement. Their debut album is due 2011. http://thebeatpoets.com/  

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Chris Keys (Belfast)

Thursday, May 12, 8.15pm, Auntie Annie's (Belfast) Northern Irish Singer/songwriter Chris Keys had a passion for music from a young age. He grew up in Portstewart, a small seaside town where the beach, night sky and surfing brought out his creativity and had a big influence on his songwriting. As a teenager Chris played in many bands gigging around the north coast area and began writing original material. In 2005 he won North Down 'Pubstar' wowing the Judges with his increasing catalogue of songs. Chris has been performing for many years as a solo artist in a wide range of venues. In 2010 he has made appearances on BalconyTV, Blast Fm, feile Fm and Bandwagon Tv. Also in August 2010 Chris went to No.1 on the Northern Irish Chart with 'City Lights,' followed by a second No.1 in December with 'There for You.' He is continously writing new material and looking for opportunities to showcase his music to a wider audience.

http://www.chriskeys.com

 

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Cutaways - INDIE WEEK IRELAND 2009 Winners

Fri. Apr. 16 - The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) - 1:30am Sat. Apr. 17 - Baker's Place (Limerick) - 11:15pm Paul DJs on Tues. Apr. 13 - Auntie Annie's (Belfast) Paul McIver sings and plays guitar Grace McMacken sings and plays synths Ryan Simpson hits drums Check out the blogs they wrote for the BBC about their experiences in Toronto: Cutaways, Canadian Diary #1 - BBC Cutaways, Canadian Diary #2 - BBC Cutaways use two boys, one girl, two synths, one guitar, a drum kit and bags full of hooks and melodies to make their jagged and boisterous pop music. Encouraged by the response from the Start Stop! Start Stop! EP, Cutaways released their debut album Earth and Earthly Things in July 2009, preceded by the single, Milo of Kroton in May. Cutaways have taken their vibrant live show all across Ireland and the UK as well as playing recent shows in Toronto, Canada as part of Indie Week Canada. This summer Cutaways played some of their most exciting shows to date, taking to the stage at a number of festivals including headlining Belfast Pride and also taking in Indie Week Ireland, Glasgowbury and Feile Festivals. The gigs themselves featured anything from impromptu puppet shows to 'rap' cameos. The band’s puppet counterparts also starred in the video for Lovers Are Lunatics; and Blue Bird, Yellow Bird and Red Bird from the EP's artwork sprung to life terrorizing the streets of Belfast in the video for I Don't Understand What You Don't Say. In September, Cutaways were also selected to represent New British Music as part of a feature for Rolling Stone magazine in Japan. The coming months promise to be just as colourful, with the NME hailing Cutaways as "your new favourite band" and Ireland's Hot Press and AU magazines both naming Cutaways as one of the bands to watch in the coming year. Their 11-track debut album Earth and Earthly Things is a superb introduction to the delirious and dizzying world of Cutaways; merging infectious indie pop-rock with pounding synth soundscapes and boy/girl harmonies. http://www.wearecutaways.co.uk/

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The Varionis

The Varionis (Belfast) Tues. Apr. 13 - Auntie Annie's (Belfast) - 9:00pm

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thevarionis
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBEOxmKuP3Y Born in late 2007 The Varionis have been through the obvious changes that most bands starting out inevitably encounter but have smashed their way onto the scene as a stronger collective unit. The Varionis are five lads who all have the same love, a passion for playing music they believe in and want to listen to. 2008 saw the band record and release an EP described by Bruised Fruit Promotions as 'a record that will have you dancing one minute and leave you holding up your lighter the next'. The Varionis live for taking their hard work to the public and playing live to an audience makes all the long hours locked up in dark rehearsal rooms worthwhile. BBC ATL's William Johnson, after seeing them live, described them as 'very much the contemporary British guitar sound that's come along in the wake of the Libertines, bands like The View and The Fratellis - quick bouncy poppy guitar and rhythms, done well, and with enough catchiness to keep us hooked,' while Gigging NI’s Mark Dunn labels them ‘your next favourite band… whether you like it or not.’ Last year they took their show across the country with a festival appearance in Enniskillen at Vibefest 08, and also further a field in Scotland where they played a sold out Doghouse (Scottish music venue of the year 2007) in Dundee as part of a short tour. The Varionis have also landed major shows in their native Belfast and have recently supported The Hotrats aka Supergrass, That Petrol Emotion and legends the Buzzocks in their home town of Belfast. The Varionis have no intentions of slowing down. After entering a competition 'DV8 Rocks' the lads were selected for the final to become the face of DV8 and 2009 saw the band begin work on their new E.P which was released in Autumn 09 to critical acclaim, with the Belfast Telegraph proclaiming that “this is one band that may just give the North another success story”. Their first track from the new E.P has had huge amounts of airplay on Irish radio already, including BBC Radio Ulster and national broadcaster RTE 2FM. The writing and recording has not however slowed the band down from playing live shows. They have already played some packed out shows all over the North of Ireland, were they have supported General Fiasco and through the summer they played Belfast Pride fundraiser, Belfast Mela festival 2009 and completed a short tour abroad, playing 5 nights at Saxo's in Lanzarote.  The band have also made it through to the final of the Europe wide “King of the Mountain” competition.

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Phantom 105.2 - Dublin's Indie Rock

Phantom 105.2, - Dublin's Indie Rock - Phantom 105.2, - Dublin's Indie Rock.

Phantom 105.2 accepts new music submissions on CD addressed to: John Caddell Music Director Phantom 105.2 73 North Wall Quay Dublin 1 Due to their limited sound quality, we can not accept MP3 audio files. Local Bands: If you are an up and coming local band your first port of call should be our new Irish music show - ICON (Wednesday , 10PM - 12 Midnight ), presented by Cathal Funge and produced by Lynn Cummins.  We recommend that if you are on the way up that you send your CD here first! ICON Show Phantom 105.2 73 North Wall Quay Dublin 1 Please include your biog and contact details with the CD.