Folk rock’s Heroes in Hiding for Monroe’s

“We’re in Iceland,” is not the typical opening reply from an Irish band when they’re kicking off an interview. But that’s where Heroes in Hiding are when drummer Cian Donohue answers the phone. The folk-rock quartet, who bring The Frames to mind, play Monroe’s Live next Thursday, July 10.

Heroes in Hiding, who have been praised by critics for their musical creativity and discipline, travelled to Iceland for the Secret Solstice Festival, which Cian heard about when he Googled the Top Ten Festivals in the World

“I emailed all of the festivals saying ‘here’s the new EP and we’d love to be involved with your festival’,” he says. “About three weeks later The Secret Solstice got back to us and said ‘we don’t have any Irish acts on the bill so we’d love to have ye over’. “It’s during the summer solstice, which is 72 hours of non-stop sunlight, which is just crazy. I can’t explain it; I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

Heroes in Hiding are just about to release their latest single Can’t Dance, a song that took a long time to get right. “That song has been about five years in the making at this stage,” Cian says. “We went and recorded it in Grouse Lodge [in Westmeath] about three years ago, and we pretty much scrapped the recording. After spending about fifteen hundred quid recording one song . . . “It was nothing to do with Grouse Lodge, it’s one of the best studios going; we just didn’t like the performance . . .”