Sociability and swagger from Hardwicke Circus

Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie

A young band with swagger and ambition, Hardwicke Circus come to the City’s Róisín Dubh this Sunday, November 13.

Hailing from the English city of Carlisle, the seven-piece bring to mind the 1970s pomp of acts like Van Morrison and The Band.

When he takes the call for this interview, lead-singer Jonny Foster and bandmates are packing up the van for their imminent Irish tour. Is it tricky to get an independent outfit of that size on the road?

“I suppose it is, but ever since I started playing in bands I’ve always had an ambition to play in a band with lots of different instruments, lots of members,” Jonny says. “To really have a massive sound.  So, we never really thought of it as a problem or something holding us back. It’s very much a team effort now, packing the van!”

How did Jonny go about assembling this motley crew?

“The band got together a few years ago,” he says. “Myself and Thomas on the drums, we’re brothers. So we’ve been jamming for quite a while. We met the bass player at our school, and the keyboard player. Then other people came and went, then we met Zach on guitar after he’d seen us at a gig. We met our trombone player and saxophone player, through similar things like jam sessions.”

There’s a noticeable spark onstage between Jonny and lead guitarist Zach McDade.

“Yes, it’s good,” Jonny says. “It’s nice to have another presence at the front of the stage, not just myself. Everybody has their own part to play for the whole thing to work properly.”

The star of their video, Why You Looking for Love? is Carlisle, with shots of the town abounding throughout. Carlisle may not be the first name that jumps to mind when you think of English cities, but Hardwicke Circus are proud of this place.

“It’s where we’re based, where we’ve lived for most of our lives,” Jonny says. “Carlisle is our home and that’s influenced our music, the surroundings, where we go in the night time. Being the sheltered city it is, there’s something quite special about it.   We always write, rehearse and record in our studio in town. We’ve also got a club that we run. Then we go off and tour the country, and show people what we’ve done.”

This dedication to touring has helped the band to secure the services of Dave Robinson as their manager.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune