Alien duo create music that’s just out of this world

Date Published: 23-Jan-2013

Electro duo Nanu Nanu, who describe their music as ‘alien pop’ will play Monroe’s Live on Thursday, January 31. Their gig is part of The Certain Three nationwide tour, which also includes songwriter Si Schroeder and Cork band Trumpets of Jericho.

Nanu Nanu are Glitterface and Mirrorman, who by day are known as Laura Sheeran and Marc Aubele. On the day of this interview, the demise of HMV has just been announced; however, Laura sees a silver lining in this situation.

“I’m hoping it’s going to make more traffic for the independent shops,” she says. “Maybe those small businesses are going to get more of a boost, and they’ll start stocking more mainstream stuff. Which I think would be good, because it’ll open up the audience to all different types of music.”

Nanu Nanu began in the summer of 2011 when Laura – an acclaimed solo singer in her own right – got a new voice effects pedal. She tinkered away with this while Marc was in America with Bell X1, of which he’s a touring member.

“When Marc came back, he’d gotten a new Moog synthesiser,” Laura says. “The two of us went into the studio for a jam, ‘cos both of us wanted to show off our new gear. Up until that point, we’d played in each other’s bands but we’d never written any music together.

“We started writing songs immediately,” she adds. “We didn’t even make a decision, it just naturally started happening. In the studio, we roughly recorded all the sketches, and then it just went from there. We were able to use a lot of the material from the first few sessions [and] in three or four days, we had the bones of an album sketched out.”

The duo had a busy 2012, with Nanu Nanu clocking up over 80 live shows. In concert, synthesisers, laptops, keyboards and Laura’s multi-layered vocals combine to give an otherworldly sound. It must be demanding for just two people to stay on top of all that’s involved.

“You have to be really focused and on the ball the whole way through the gig,” says Laura. “It’s practice, really – the more you do anything the easier it is. Eventually, you get to a stage where you don’t have to consciously think about any of those things, you can just focus on delivery and performance, giving the song an extra boost.”

Nanu Nanu made their debut in Dubin just over a year ago, when the two given something of a baptism of fire.

“We were playing in Whelan’s at the One to Watch festival,” Laura recalls. “We were asked to play at the last minute, and obviously when we showed up we were nervous because it was our first ever gig – but then we found out we were headlining! We were on last, and the place was packed, there were so many great bands on before. It was great fun, a great way to start off gigging.”

Eight months later, Glitterface and Mirrorman were wowing punters at the Electric Picnic.

“It got a really good response,” says Laura of their Stradbally show. “We were playing in the Body and Soul area, on the Earthship Stage – even the name of the stage was perfect for us! Over the course of the gig loads of people saw us; there were constantly people walking up and staying for a few songs.

“The feedback from that gig was unbelievable. Over the course of the gig, there must have been hundreds of people that saw us. Weeks and weeks afterwards we had people coming up to us going ‘we saw you at Electric Picnic’.”

It’s hard to describe what Nanu Nanu do, but there’s no doubting their appeal. Their biography files them under the category ‘alien pop.’ Which of them coined this term?

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.