The Blizzards ‘Unplugged’ and at home

Mullingar Arts Centre this Sunday night October 30

The Blizzards are bringing their Unplugged Tour home to the Mullingar Arts Centre this Sunday night, October 30.

Described as an “intimate theatre show” featuring songs and stories from previous albums, as well as the latest ‘Sometimes We See More In The Dark’, released earlier year and debuting at No. 1 in the Irish Indie Charts, the show features live interviews with band members Niall Breslin (aka Bressie), bassist Louize Carroll, drummer Declan Murphy and lead guitarist Justin Ryan.

Fresh from playing a raft of dates across the country where ‘Unplugged’ received an “enthusiastic” reception, Bressie chats about why this is one of his favourite ever shows.

‘It’s almost like we’re playing in the audience’s sitting room. There’s a proper interactive chat, it’s not formal in any way, like there’s lads asking me questions in the middle of songs – it’s that type of vibe,” Bressie says.

“They’re definitely some of my favourite gigs that we’ve done. It’s just a totally different experience, it’s more of a theatre experience. There’s a lot of conversation, chats, it isn’t just music like when you’re playing a live show, full throttle from the minute you step on stage till you leave it. It’s not like that at all, it’s just a really lovely experience.”

It’s a rare opportunity to hear the band’s new songs, like Friction Burns, Closing Time, and their new single Great Party (You’re Not Invited), as well as some of their big hits.

“It just works so well, you get to talk a little bit about the songs and where they came from, and most people are quite interested in that because it gives the songs a totally different context,” said Bressie.

“Our first show was in Carlow and it was probably one of my favourite shows. It kind of reminds me of when we started, because it’s such a different format, and the songs really suit it. I never thought they would suit that kind of vibe but it also protects my ears because Dec’s (Murphy) the loudest drummer in Ireland, and in this show, he’s just on the box.

“In Carlow, our first show, just to see the demographic – there was every age, young kids there, 15-year-olds there, people in their 70s, it was a different thing.

“What we wanted was a conversation. You don’t plan on what you’re going to say, you just leave it to the audience so it becomes a two-way performance. There’s the audience that shows up and chats, has the craic and respects the fact that these songs are a little bit quieter and a little bit more chilled out.

So, ahead of The Blizzards Unplugged, what can the audience expect?

“It’s a great show, the audience will love it. It’s a warm experience for the band. I could imagine that’s what it’s like for the audience too.”

It rounds off a big year for the band, who released ‘Sometimes We See More In The Dark’ this summer, their fourth album, penned during lockdown.

“The fourth record – it’s an interesting place, a strange place to be but I still think that the job of any artist is to create a body of work, to make records and even though it’s really overwhelming to make records and tough work, it’s your job,” said Bressie.

“We were getting into a rut of releasing singles here and there and I didn’t really want to be doing that, I wanted to commit to a body of work and songs together that we thought made sense. And it is hard because it’s an expensive thing to do.”

The Blizzards had free reign on this one and the foursome took it back to the early days of the ‘garage band’ sound, and invited guest Michael Harding on for meditative effect on ‘Something Grips You, Something Holds You’.

“Every band has the right to make the music that they feel is the right music for them but I think what’s become difficult in the music industry is you’re expected to be more content creators than actual musicians or songwriters.

“The industry’s changed so much, you don’t know what to be doing – like do you create content and then have no songs or do you write?

“We were like, ‘Lad, let’s just make a record. Let’s not worry too much about TikTok or Instagram’. We all get sucked in to try to play the game but sometimes you realise it’s not what you want, and that’s what the band did, we went back to first principles which is – why are we doing it – to write and play music.

“And the audience get it. You know, you get lost in this industry, you start chasing your tails and it becomes difficult. There comes a moment where you go ‘This is what we’re good at, let’s stick to this, let’s not try to be anything we’re not and that’s what we’ve done. It almost took the theatre tour to remind us of that’.”

New single

The next release ‘Great Party (You’re Not Invited)’, written during the pandemic, when “Boris was partying away and we couldn’t go to our loved ones’ funerals”, was inspired by George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

“We’ve done a video for that with the amazing Cúige team in Mullingar, we’ve had a relationship with them for the whole project and they’re just world class.

“I love that single because it’s a bit of fun, but it was written around the time where all the politicians were having the craic while we weren’t allowed to go anywhere – and there was that moment where you realise that there are people that feel that they are above the law and above rules that they made.

“It’s not really serious and political, it’s just that realisation that there was a very much “us and them” in the pandemic and I think that’s what the song is about.”

Has the music industry returned to pre-Covid levels or is there more hardship to come for those involved?

“The industry isn’t where it was and there are reasons for that. A lot of the crew that we talked about having to leave and go into other jobs just to survive, it took a while to get them back and some of them didn’t come back.

“A lot of the venues are trying to play catch-up with the time they lost, so there’s a lot of gigs going on and a lot of shows around the country and sometimes there’s almost too many shows. I just wonder how many people are actually buying tickets because now you have the cost of living crisis.

“If you’re going to a show in Dublin, you have the hotel to pay for, the food, the drink, the city is one of the most expensive cities in Europe, so it becomes really difficult to actually go to shows now.

“But we’ve always adapted and we’ll adapt again. What most bands are doing is keeping their costs down and keeping the costs of tickets down. But it has been two and half years for most artists of no earnings, and a lot of artists didn’t survive.”

For more, check out today's edition of the Westmeath Examiner.