” class=”wp-image-137267335″/>Photo Credit: Corey Sipkin
In 2019, taking time off as a musical act can mean starting over. Bands drift in and out of the zeitgeist at an ever-increasing rate, and being out of sight truly means being out of mind.
After Girl Band released its first album in September 2015, the group took its time. Occasionally having to cancel tour dates due to health struggles, and with no new recording sessions on the horizon, it seemed like the band might never be heard from again.
In its stead, though, rose a Dublin rock scene that’s already given the world acts like Fontaines D.C. (which lists Girl Band as a major influence) and others. And now, Girl Band has returned to what it helped create, with a new album, “The Talkies,” and a new American tour.
amNewYork caught up with guitarist Alan Duggan to talk about the band’s return, its odd status as elder statesmen of Dublin’s new rock, and the “Friends” theme song.
The timing of your return couldn’t be better, it seems, with the Dublin rock scene drawing a lot of attention. What brought the band back to record “The Talkies”?
We mainly just wanted to do it for ourselves. There was no real sense of timing. We were just like, “Maybe we’ll try to record it by the end of the year. When we do that, then we’ll get in touch with the labels and will figure out everything from there, but let’s just like focus on recording.” So, it actually ended up being, like, a really nice thing, because it meant that there were no expectations. Nobody really knew we were doing it. Rough Trade [the band’s label] was great — they would just send an email every now and again being like, “Hello, are you still a band?” And we were like, “yes.” And then they’re like, “OK, fine.” They really just kind of left us to our own devices.
Is it weird to hear your band’s name listed as an influence by some of these newer Dublin groups?
I mean, it’s one of the best compliments you can get, someone saying, “Oh, we were influenced by your music.” You know what I mean? We’re always kind of surprised, but always really humbled by it. But it is a strange one, to be honest. And particularly when it’s a band that you really respect, [citing] you as an influence. So, somebody like the Fontaines saying, “You’re a big influence on us”? And seeing them and being like, “Oh, cool. They’re really great.”
Dublin has been hit by the same gentrification problems that places like New York have seen. How hard is it to be an artist there today, from a money perspective?
It’s really, really hard. It’s a really great place to be, because you’re around a lot of creative people. People go to shows and stuff like that. But yeah, it’s extremely difficult just to live. The rent is really, really high, you know. [Dublin] functions as a tax haven, so you’ve got all the big tech companies in Dublin like Facebook, Google, Apple [and] Amazon. And then when you have an influx of people that want this better standard of living, because they are making more money, [it culminates in] paying 50 euro just to view apartments. It’s a nightmare. I remember five years ago, going to London and being like, “Jesus Christ, London is so expensive. Why would anyone want to live here?” And now Dublin’s as expensive.
The band’s first trip to New York came in 2015. What were your first impressions?
You know, there’s something incredibly familiar about New York even if you’ve never been just because of TV and TV shows. So, every time I was walking around, I had the “Friends” theme song stuck in my head. Even “Grand Theft Auto” was knocked off of New York. It was really really exciting. We played at Baby’s All Right, and there were people at the show. And that was mad. It was a hard thing to comprehend, like, “Why are people coming to see us outside of home?”
Girl Band performs 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Elsewhere, 599 Johnson Ave., Bushwick, elsewherebrooklyn.com
