Interview with Delorentos

NUI Maynooth is one lucky university indeed. Not only do we have the only Students’ Union to have set aside a whole fortnight to celebrate the freshers’ arrival but we also get to dance like maniacs to one of Ireland’s hottest acts (in more ways than one), Delorentos. Headlining the first Bar Ex of the year and topping a bill of rising Irish bands, ‘Ham Sandwich’, ‘The Heritage Centre’ and many more, the line-up was bound to impress the hundreds of indie kids, and otherwise, present.

On meeting the guys you are instantly struck by the honed indie rock image, complete with drainpipe jeans and undersized t-shirts, however, Ro and Kier are far from the jumped up snobbery of many other indie acts and I instantly warm to these hardworking and down to earth musicians. This interviewer can heave a sigh of relief and get on with the job at hand - No big egos to get by here.

Meeting in Dublin while in their early twenties through playing in various other bands, the four combined one evening to play as a covers band. From then, having discovered that they had serious fun playing together, the lads continued to gig as a group and within a year what was once a ‘bit of craic’ had become, dare they say it, ‘a little more serious’. Cue ‘the plan for global domination’. In the last few years other bands on the Irish circuit have since given up on such agendas while Delorentos have trooped on and stuck together;

“When it comes to writing and making the music we unite.”

“We never ever really fight. Well, we never argue about important stuff, like the music. We all want the same thing and that brings us together.and when it comes to writing and making the music we unite. We make suggestions to eachother about our sound and arguments only ever happen over things like our t-shirt or website design, things like that, but in the studio or rehearsal we get on really well. “

Whether it’s their immense diplomacy or their obvious talent Delorentos managed to record and release their debut album, ‘In Love with Detail’ twelve months ago and since then, the album and the band have come a long way,
“We would like to think that we have developed as musicians since we recorded the album. If we recorded our debut now it would be a different product but we’re satisfied that we produced the best to our ability at that time.”

Even if they are better musicians now than then, no one can argue that they have achieved debut album success with sales reaching 5’000 in Ireland alone - A mean feat for a relatively new band. Set to re-release the CD this week, no doubt Delorentos are hoping that with the PR help of their crazy busy gigging schedule there will be a further surge in sales.
Furthermore, playing a line of impressive support slots to huge names such as Supergrass, Bell X1, Tapes n Tapes and Arctic Monkeys can only help expose the band. Aside from the media coverage and new audiences garnered from such gigs Delorentos have been learning from these bill-toppers. Ro spoke of his surprise to be blown away by The Arctic Monkeys and Kier agrees that the young band deserve the recognition and hype Arctic Monkeys received on their arrival to the music scene;

“Considering how much younger they are than us I was blown away by their ability as musicians and how tight they are onstage. They really give an intense performance.”
“They’ve added something to British culture. The amount of shoe-gazers we’ve seen on the London scene is incredible - Bands where fashion and what they are wearing appears more important than the music but The Arctic Monkeys guys just don’t seem to care about that sort of thing.”
Learning from a band young enough to be your nephews is one thing but to play support to one of your personal favourites since your own teens is another. Kier, an obvious ‘Supergrass’ fan, seemed somewhat relieved that his idols were ‘really nice and down- to-earth’, untainted by big annoying indie egos.
“They were so nice. Their bassist was particularly friendly and really made the effort to talk to us.” Kier’s beaming smile said it all.

To add to their fast-growing portfolio of the last year Delorentos set off for the US of A hitting the capital of the American-Irish, New York city to play three gigs at ‘The Craic Festival’, the highlight being their performance at ‘Sin Ế’, former venue of David Bowie. However both bandmates’ faces lit up at the mention of their participation in the ‘South West Festival’, Texas.
‘It was just stunning. The South West Festival is a city festival so you have to imagine all the bars and venues being part of it. Bands from all over the world play, such as Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, bands that haven’t quite cracked America yet. It is astounding because you are gigging alongside people that you look up to over here but it’s an industry affair where everyone is looking for labels. It was definitely one of the most amazing experiences we have ever had’, quipped Kier

If you didn’t make the gig at the SU this Freshers’ Fortnight maybe you managed to catch Delorentos at the two biggest festivals this summer. Away from sunny, exotic Texas Delorentos played both Oxegen and Electric Picnic and proudly stand as the only unsigned Irish act to have ever played both festivals in the same summer, two years in a row. Phew! There are no official awards for such an achievement but Ro is enthusiastic that they benefit enough in other ways,
“It’s great to play to audiences that grow and grow every summer. We are honoured to play at home to such great crowds.”

Indeed, two years ago I managed to catch Delorentos at The Olympia as part of The Hard working Class Heroes Festival. Despite signs of that ‘indie ego’ back in 2005, their fresh sound and even fresher faces stood out a mile amongst the other unsigned acts at the festival. It seems that the band have come along way since then, working on their ‘assests’.

“We are better musicians, we write better songs and most importantly we have tighter asses.”

“Since that gig we are better musicians, we write better songs and most importantly we have tighter asses. But seriously, we know ourselves better now. At the start alot of bands think that they have to be ‘somebody’. When we were young we were were like, ‘Yea, we’re so cool and we looked up to our heroes, wanting to be like them but we’ve changed since”,
“Yea, we’re more comfortable on-stage now. It’s not who we are now. It’s definitely a case that we know what we’re about and we’re not so conscious about our image.’’

Delorentos have grown up and one could say they are still learning, whether its from the greats or from the teenage rock prodigies. Their gig in the Students’ Union displayed enough energy both from the crowd and this headliner to convince that they will continue on the road to success. The crowd loved them and their tight performance proved that they have become a serious group that undoubtedly knows ‘who they are’.

“We plan to start writing our second album and tour Britain in the next year”.
Whether it’s writing, gigging or working on tightening those buns Delorentos are steadily making their way to becoming a household name.

Their album ‘In Love with Detail’ is out now
Visit www.delorentos.net