Niall returns to ‘heart of city’s music scene’

Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie

Three superb Galway-based songwriters will perform at the weekly music gathering, Citóg, in Róisín Dubh next Wednesday, March 9. Donal McConnon, Brain Kelly and Niall Murphy will perform at the weekly free indie night, playing songs with wit and hooks to spare.

Originally hailing from Tuam, Niall Murphy is a member of Oh Boland and Mollusk. Given that he normally has a band with him, has he given any thought to the setlist for this gig?

“I haven’t done anything like this in a very long time,” he says. “I’m not a solo musician, per se. It’ll just be a cross-section of what I’m doing with Mollusk and Oh Boland, in more subdued circumstances, I guess. It’ll be very relaxed. I haven’t even picked the setlist yet. I’ll probably just lay a few new Oh Boland tracks on, and a few new Mollusk ones, see how they go and also play a few people know.

“My first gigs in Galway were at Citóg,” Niall recalls.  “They were folk gigs, because I more or less used to play pure folk music. So it’ll be nice to get back to that.”

Speaking of his current projects, Niall explains that there are “two different Mollusks” – one that records (which is essentially just him) and one that plays live. People can expect to hear more from both versions this year.

“I’m anxious to do more Mollusk shows,” he says. “It’ll be me on keys, guitar and vocals. Josh Noonan, who plays in a band called Me and My Dog in Dublin, will be playing lead guitar. Finn McCarthy from the Galway group Field Trip will be playing bass, and then Ciaran Moylan will be on drums. Also, Brian Kelly from So Cow comes and goes, playing weird piano.”

Niall’s other band project is the superb Oh Boland, where he shares the stage with Simon McDonagh (bass/vocals) and Éanna MacDonnacha (bass/vocals). Playing music that is, at times, delightfully demented while writing songs that stick in your head, Oh Boland are a band that you need to hear. What’s on the cards for the trio this year?

“Oh Boland’s all over the place!” Niall says. “We’ve been sitting on a record for some time now, because friends of our advised us to. They’d have experience in the whole garage music scene – like Brian from So Cow. They encouraged us to send the record to American labels. Just for the craic, nothing serious, it’s not our quest for fortune and fame.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.