Tuning into Warsaw Radio

Today I'm talking to another talented Limerick musician Brían McNamara.

Brían formed his five-piece band Warsaw Radio following a relocation to Brighton, UK in 2014. After recently receiving rave reviews from the likes of RTE 2fm, BBC music and Hot Press magazine, these guys are now gearing up for what looks to be a very promising 2018 in music.

Q1. Brían - great to have you , thank you for taking part in our interview, and congratulations on a great year of music in 2017! Tell me a little about how Warsaw Radio was formed. 

Hi, thanks for having me along. I started the band back in 2014 after I moved to Brighton from Limerick. I met Nikki Bates (W.R violin/piano/vocals) and we started out jamming as a duo and playing venues in Brighton and London. It was initially a folky acoustic sound and then we were like "let's make this a bigger thing", so we added extra members, including Laurence Bridge on Bass, Paul Lennox on Drums and Chris Webber on lead guitar. Things started to kick off last year when our debut single was featured on RTE Radio, BBC Introducing and BBC Radio 6 in the UK. We've just finished our debut album and we were very lucky to work with producer A.J Jago who has worked with the likes of The Maccabees and Florence Welch.

Warsaw Radio

Q2. I won't lie, I googled what Warsaw radio is and didn't expect the results I found! Can you tell me what inspired the band's name?

It was back in 2014 and I was reading a history book [in which] there were a couple of paragraphs about the siege of Warsaw in 1939. During the siege they had a live orchestra performing on air to help with people's morale. The musicians on Warsaw Radio kept going until their transmitter was hit by a shell. It was a pretty incredible story and kind of reminded me of the famous quartet on the Titanic who kept on playing even as the ship sank. I liked the message of defiance and we were looking for a band name so, that's where it began.

Q3. Who would you describe as your biggest musical influences? 

As individuals we all come from different backgrounds with classical, folk and rock influences. This mix has really influenced our sound as a band. Nikki (strings & vocals) has played with artists as diverse as Sting and Cinematic Sinfonia. Laurence Bridge (Bass guitar) has played with the likes of Lucie Barat and Tom Odell. I think we would all agree that bands like Fleetwood Mac, The Waterboys and  Arcade Fire have had a big influence on our sound. We were lucky to share the main stage at Beautiful Days Festival recently with The Waterboys.

Warsaw Radio

Q4. You have a number of gigs coming up around Ireland and the UK - do you have a personal favourite place to perform in? 

We’ve played a few times at Ronnie Scotts in London. Growing up in Limerick for me that was always a dream place to play.

Q5. Finally, tell me what is in store for Warsaw Radio in the new year.

We release our debut album in March and we’ve got UK and Ireland shows coming up. We're also planning shows in France and Germany later in the year.

Upcoming Irish tour dates:

March 27 -- Whelans, Dublin

March 28 -- Roisin Dubh, Galway

March 29 -- Cyprus Avenue, Cork

March 30 -- Kasbah Social Club, Dolan's, Limerick 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ssx4l9MOw0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Jdd3pRB4g

Check out http://www.warsaw-radio.com/

Follow them on twitter and facebook for updates on upcoming gigs & events!

The Heart of the Arts

Today I chat with artist and interior designer Nina Blodau from Limerick. Nina comes from a family of eminent artists and is daughter to Dietrich Blodau, the man behind the spectacular exhibition A Life of Observations unveiled at the Hunt Museum last month. Nina has had a passion for art and design since she can remember, a passion that recently awarded her the winning interior design via public vote on RTÉs ShowHouse series. Owing to her original creativity and craftsmanship, Nina is a highly sought after interior designer, blending modern flair with her own signature artistry.

Q1. So Nina, can you tell me about how & where your interest in art & design began?

Art for me has always been there, not in a posh, untouchable kind of way …but it has always been a part of me. I can remember our living room as a child, and being in my parents art studio; my mum had a big loom for weaving material at one side and my dad had a printing press on the other …and as a designer today, I can’t imagine having a living room without some kind of table or desk for drawing at or just laying out ideas!

On family holidays too growing up, taking your paint box and sketch book was as normal as taking your tooth brush … so I guess the way you are nurtured has a lot to do with the way you grow up, as all those habits like sketching and drawing, especially when you are travelling or developing ideas, have stayed with me since.

Q2. Growing up, who would you describe as your role models? 

Growing up I was surrounded by artists really; Mum, Dad, my brother Peter and my uncles, and of course their friends and people also within the arts school …including my brother’s art student friends. I did not realise it at the time but you I suppose you learn an understanding for the need for art, expression and things that are non-materialistic. As all those people followed their passions not guided by money or a "job title" - many of course went on to be teachers or designers but the start was always the same. The arts, whether it is fine art, singing, or dancing, is something we are all born with …most children love to dance, draw, and hear music …it’s so very important to nurture and facilitate this and also not to focus too much on the result but the enjoyment of the process.

Blodau Artists

Q3. Your father recently unveiled an exhibition of his work at the Hunt Museum in Limerick - A Life of Observations. How has his work influenced yours?

Dad has I suppose influenced me in my dedication to art, mainly that it doesn’t come easy - you must keep working, keep experimenting and not worry too much about the result, as that can only come after a lot of practice, and also I suppose to be as free as you can, in other words mistakes are ok, just try again!

Q4. What would your advice be for younger readers who have an interest in art & design and who may aspire to create a living out of it?

Two things - travel whenever possible, and work with others - that is so important.

Blodau Artists

Q5. 2018 is now upon us! What are your plans for the new year ahead?

Well I now work part time as I have three young children and I try to give them the time and space to be messy and experiment. We also travel to Cuba where their dad is from to meet his family, but also for the art and music culture which is practically at your doorstep there! That, for all of us including myself, is very inspiring. In fact, I always take my paint box and get some time to paint and draw.

Apart from that I’m working on a lovely family home in Clare, transforming it from dark and pokey to hopefully friendly and full of colour and light!

Thank you Nina for the chat!

Check out Nina & her family's website www.blodauartists.com

or check out her interior design facebook page here !

From pub music to the Pantomime! Find out why Richard loves Limerick

Q1. Hi Richard, congratulations on your sixth consecutive year starring in the Pantomime at the University of Limerick! How has the experience been so far?

Well I've learned a lot in the last six years! I went to acting school in New York for over 2 years, but I'd never seen a Panto and I'd never been to a Panto, so when I started doing it, it was very stylised, it's a very specialised craft. I love it, it plays to sell-out crowds and I love performing alongside my good friends Leanne Moore and Myles Breen (pictured below), who taught me everything I know about Panto. Overall, I'd say we developed together and became a family. You do miss Christmas, and it is a gruelling six weeks of work, and you are wrecked afterwards, but the pay off is huge as I said. 

Q2. Your family were the very first publicans in Limerick to provide music. How much of an influence has music played throughout your life?

Well when I was younger I didn't appreciate it as much as I do now; we were eight brothers and sisters living above the pub where my parents worked all the time, 365 days a year. My father kept the pub open on Good Friday and Christmas day, and they were often the two busiest days of the year! So as a child I didn't fully understand or value it, but as I got older I realised how incredible it was to be raised with music.

My mother played the piano from the age of thirteen, and that's how she supported her family. My father was a singer and people used to come from miles around to come to sing in the pub and it was a really beautiful thing looking back at it now.

My parents owned the pub for 42 years, but they sold it 20 years ago; unfortunately my mother was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. After they sold the pub they moved into a house two doors down from the pub, which is where I live now! In fact, all the brothers and sisters live right beside each-other on the same street, like a big cult!

Q3. You lived in New York for almost 15 years until you returned permanently in 2008. You then went on to organise Limerick's very first week-long Pride celebration that same year- did you notice a difference in attitude to LGBT culture?

I was home from New York at the time because my mother had had a heart attack that summer [of 2007]. I ended up staying for many months after my mother fell ill, during which time I attended Limerick's first Pride parade the same year. By 2008, I decided to move back permanently to mind my parents full-time as their carer. When my father passed he had dementia, and my mother had had Parkinson's disease for over twenty years. 

Attending the first Pride parade during that time really had an effect on me, because I had grown up in Limerick when no-one was out of the closet, besides Paddy Doyle. He was the only gay person I knew of at the time. So when I came back I wanted to throw my energy into everything, so I decided in 2008 to turn it into a week-long festival, which I called "ILoveLimerick.com" which was the birth of "I Love Limerick". I wanted it to be integrated and involve all Limerick communities, not just the LGBT community. I wanted to ensure other people had the chance to experience LGBT culture. 

I think Ireland as a whole has become more accepting of LGBT people. I think being gay is really overrated; I mean if I was to say to you for instance, one word to describe me is "gay", [instead of writer, musician etc] , it sounds sort of exhausting! We don't need to define ourselves with our sexuality. I went to New York when I was 21, everyone had already defined me as "gay", everywhere I went I was "gay", people spoke about me and people pointed at me; I was used to people paying attention to me for this. Then when I got to New York, no-one paid any attention to me, because everyone was gay! So I had to look inside myself and say to myself "ok, what else defines me?" 

So of course I am supportive of LGBT culture, but we can't let our sexuality be our only characteristic, just like a transgender person shouldn't need their gender be their sole defining point. I think you should be defined by what you are offering to society and the world. 

Q4. Living in New York, versus living in Limerick - how do they compare to each-other? 

New York is an incredible city; I went through so much there, I watched the World Trade Centre fall down from my kitchen window. I was a club kid in the 1990's; I went through the whole club culture and drug culture and all of the above! I spent the entire 1990's dancing, which I think for me was something I had to do, because [up until then] I didn't love or accept myself, and I found acceptance in clubs. A lot of gay kids found acceptance in clubs and that is often where they actually came out, and created their new families. I was very blessed with the friends I had.

I started on my career path in my late 20's; I went to acting school, and had incredible experiences. Limerick is a very different place, it's obviously a lot smaller, but in fact the map of New York arose from the map of Limerick; Limerick was the first city to pioneer the use of the grid-block layout in the world. While they were building New York, which was called New Amsterdam at the time, they found the blueprint for the streets wasn't working, so they began using the Limerick blueprint. So the current map of New York above 1st street is taken from the map of Limerick. 

For me, there's always been a connection between both cities, what I define as that connection is the people. What I love about Limerick the most is the people, which is the same for New York. It's the energy, the spirit, and the banter! But I wouldn't live in New York again - you'd need to be rich or young to live there, and I'm neither!

Q5. Lastly, what is on the cards for you in 2018? 

Well I have written a lot of songs, and I would love to write more. I have also written three horror movie stories, I would love to make a horror film, whether it happens this year I don't know, because I Love Limerick's tenth anniversary is this September. Once I get I Love Limerick to ten years I may make a big change. 

But really what I want from 2018 is health and happiness for my family and loved ones. Without those, you don't have any foundation to build from.

That was Richard Lynch on life in Limerick, his roots and plans for the future.

Keep up to date with Limerick's news & events on Richard's website www.ilovelimerick.ie