Interview with Paul Savage of O Emperor, who play Dolan's this Friday

ONE OF the most memorable highlights from the recent RTE Other Voices series was an appearance by a little known band hailing from Waterford, who have been quietly going about their business, assembling some cracking tunes and preparing to unleash them on an unsuspecting public.
Of course - we note smugly - we knew all about O Emperor long before they appeared on RTE, with word coming from Waterford and Cork music circles - where the five piece outfit went to college and are based - that this was a band to watch.
A very early gig in January of this year saw the Waterford outfit come to Dolan’s with fellow hotly tipped UK counterparts Sons of Noel and Adrian and Alessi’s Ark, and those that braved the cold were not disappointed by this trio of bands.
O Emperor carry a weight of obvious, if often very simplistic comparisons; vaguely Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear and Radiohead, channelled through the 70s slow burning, soft-core rock of The Band or Neil Young - but blew this reporter away with their performance that cold January night.
Intertwining three part - at times five-part - vocal harmonies on certain songs, most notably forthcoming single Don’t Mind Me, the band displayed off signature rhythms and brooding beats, and a deep multi-layered sound that was so apparent on the debut Persephone EP, and first single Po.
The band are set to release another EP this month, and are gearing up to a full album release in September. Paul Savage, singer with the band, joined City Life for a genial chat recently, with the band fresh from supporting Mumford and Sons in the UK and Ireland.
“They were really great gigs to do, and they were really nice bunch of lads - it was nice for us to play for that crowd,” says Paul, who fronts the band along with school chums Alan Comerford (guitar), Philip Christie (piano), Brendan Fennessy (drums) and Richie Walsh (bass).
“It is just crazy to see a band, of our own age, getting so phenomenally big; it was almost like Beatle-mania when they came on stage. It is crazy to see that, behind the scenes, to see how big someone can get just from one album. It is always nice to see as well - so it gives you some hope that it could be a viable thing to happen,” he laughs.
Paul met the other four members in secondary school, who had all been pals since primary school, and they all decamped to Cork to attend college. Four out of five men studied Music Management and Sound Production courses. Handy then for recording an album, it seems.
“O Emperor first properly began when we left college, about three years ago now,” explains Paul. “Before that we were called different things, but what we were playing before didn't really interest us. We completely scrapped the whole thing, went back to the drawing board, came up with ten songs and renamed the band and pursued that style. That was it.”
He adds: “It is a long story but really it is only happening in the last two years that it is taking off”.
The band recorded the album Hither Thither, but, as they began to send it out and get feedback from music industry people, decide to wait to release it. In the intervening period, new songs were written, which cried out for inclusion. With management sourced and a link-up with Universal secured, O Emperor decided to re-record their debut album, adding new material.
A recent trial trip to a Welsh record studio was scrapped, as the band failed “to gel” with one producer, but have found a happier set-up at a studio in Dublin, and are progressing nicely. However, it is an arduous process at times, Savage admits.
“Obviously re-recording a song is very tedious in itself, it is quite laborious, but it is working quite well this time around,” he says.
“We are working with a good engineer and are working in a nice space in Dublin, and it hasn't been a chore to re-record the old stuff, and it is quite refreshing when you have a bigger studio to work with. We are a lot tighter after a year of playing as well.
“It can work against you sometimes - you can end up imitating what you did originally and it can seem a little forced. It is a tricky thing to do, to get right - but in the end I think it will stand to us.”
O Emperor play Upstairs in Dolan’s this Friday night.

FACTFILE Band: O Emperor
From: Waterford
Members: Paul Savage, Alan Comerford, Philip Christie, Brendan Fennessy and Richie Walsh.
Famous For: Debut single ‘Po’, which was well received, and a recent appearance on RTE’s Other Voices
Releases so far: Persephone EP, Reverie EP (due on April 18)
Website

O Emperor, Sons of Noel and Adrian in Dolan's

There is something very refreshing and rewarding about going to a gig without doing much in the way of research, having your socks blown off by a couple of bands that you really don't know much about; like, for example, the fact that Alessi's Ark is signed to EMI and Sons of Noel and Adrian are part of a massive, artistic group called the Wilkommen Collective, and boast a member of the now defunct Hope of the States among their ranks.
But knowing a band's background is not linked to their performance abilities - and in this case, knowing less was more.
This was Waterford band O Emperor's first national tour, and had invited Sons of Noel and Adrian and Alessi's Ark to tour with them - with the UK bands returning the favour by having the Irish quintet tour with them in the UK next week. Considering Sons of.. are ranked among some of the biggest upcoming bands in the UK - they have toured with fellow folkies Mumford and Sons and last year played with Efterklang and Laura Marling - this is nothing to be sneezed at.
The three bands played Upstairs in Dolan's last (Sunday) night - and boy was it heartwarming to see a decent crowd turn up to see them.
Hammersmith's Alessi Laurent-Marke was up first, her winsome girl with a guitar act turning out to be rather impressive. But it was for her last couple of songs, for which she was joined by some of Sons of Noel and Adrian, that her folksy with an edge songs filled out to their maximum potential.
The "folk-experimental" seven-piece Sons of.. followed - their quirky moniker explained simply - "his dad's name is Noel, mine's is Adrian, and they are both nice blokes, so we decided to name the band after them".
In between song banter is not a speciality of this band, but when the songs are this good, who cares? Unassuming, dapper - some were wearing vintage clothing, adding to the effect of the show - and clearly very musically talented, Sons of.. proceed to play 45 minutes of superb folk-rock, complete with whistles, foot-stomping and epic peaks and troughs in their music.
The performance was reminiscent of Arcade Fire but the music nothing similar; we had instead elements of Iron and Wine, Noah and the Whale and even Lemonjelly - filled with instrumental pauses, crescendo finishes and dark theatrical elements. 'The Wreck is Not A Boat' was a particular highlight.
As one visibly impressed attendee remarked afterward - "they were all playing instruments and singing and stomping their feet at the same time". Indeed.
The main act of the evening were hotly tipped Waterford band O Emperor, who read from a song book that includes Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes and Radiohead - but has more in common with The Band or Neil Young - a gritty and raw electric energy permeating their varied songs.
Their set began ever-so-slightly ragged, not helped by the fact that lead singer Paul Savage seemed to be nursing a bit of a sore throat, but by the third song "Ghosts of My Heart", we were hooked. Intertwining three part - at times five-part - vocal harmonies, Savage revealed that the song was only written "last week, for the tour", but burned bright with a Wilco-type energy, Savage boasting a bit of a Tweedy growl as he relaxed into the song.
Don't Mind Me was an early highlight, the entire band joining together to sing the refrain - a subdued, slow-burner of a song. The more energetic To The Sea was followed by the excellent Don Quixote, more upbeat but more in the Radiohead variety - off signature rhythms and brooding beats.
The superb single Po is in a similar vein and was the best song the set, but the band abruptly changed tack with their last song - 'Fat Lady' - a gritty, electric guitar groove that was different to everything that went before it. Looks like O Emperor have a nicely varied sound to go with their bags of potential. You will be seeing these guys on much, much bigger stages in the very near future, trust us.