We had a chat with immersive rising Irish band Maicín about their thoughtful new single ‘Fear the War’ and future plans
A band that in a short amount of time have established themselves as nuanced and thoughtful while exploring themes and ideas that feel both deeply personal but with a universal and relatable edge, Maicín have quickly established themselves as a five-piece that have an authenticity and honesty to them that listeners can get behind and believe in.
Their new single ‘Fear the War’ is a track that we covered on the site recently and really hammers home this point, an examination of privilege and life as a western person seeing the chaos that is unfurling in other parts of the world while living our relatively cushty lives. We love the new release and how poignant and powerful it feels throughout, and had a chat with Maicín to find out a bit more about them, their journey, and what else they have planned for the near future.
Who TF are Maicín?
We’re an indie pop band, I think? Or like maybe a folk rock act, I don’t know? Truthfully we’re still trying to put our finger on it. We know when something we’re working on doesn’t sound like us so that’s really all that matters. We’re proud Corknians, occasional raconteurs and avid supporters of all things whimsical.
How long have you been making music?
We’ve been a fully fledged 5 piece for just a bit over a year and a half but the band has existed in some shape or another for maybe two years. I (Matt, hello) have been writing songs since I was in my late teens but only started showing them to people right after I left college. Aidan in the band was one of the first people I brought songs I’d written to and we pretty much started working together ever since. We all have different musical backgrounds, I was very much the loner playing guitar in his bedroom while Darragh, Aidan and Ryan were in a cover band together playing odd gigs while they were in college; Méabh then is an actual world class musician who knows every chord under the sun and actively made us stop sucking when we started up.
Why do you make music?
I don’t know sometimes, it’s a deep rooted habit that feels quite instinctual. There’s not an evening that I don’t find myself playing the guitar or trying to whittle away at a song until it feels exciting. I think we just love creating something that wasn’t there before. It’s been a huge help in battling boredom and loneliness. We have insanely long rehearsals all the time but they never feel laboured, they’re just as much about hanging out as they are about the music. We get along so well and we can’t really think of anything else we’d rather be doing. There’s definitely a degree of it feeling like a bit of a calling or there being something kind of “woo woo” or spiritual about it. I wouldn’t be one to say that this feels like my “purpose”, that’s a bit too Steven Bartlett for me, but it certainly does help fill a certain existential hole.
What are your biggest influences?
We all bring different flavours to the band, as all bands should. It really bugs me when things feel overly prescribed or singular, bands should be collaborative. To that effect, a big influence that Aidan and I originally bonded over in college was The Beatles (shocker I know). Overrated? Certainly. But, there’s no denying that they’ve earned their place in musical history. Their ability to shift between serious and dark ballads to effusively cheerful sing-songs is nothing short of amazing and is definitely something that we aspire for. Life has extreme ups and downs and we want our music to reflect that. Different member’s interests will cater to these shifts in mood. For example, Ryan typically leans more into the moody darker side of things (he has to name drop The Stone Roses in ever conversation for fear of his head exploding) while Méabh brings a slightly sunnier disposition shall we say (Billy Joel all day, every day, presumably from now until the sun gives in).
On the writing side of things, I often get told there’s a real bang of Pavement off us which is totally fair, I listened to Slanted and Enchanted pretty much every day for the bones of two years. Lyrically, I’m a huge fan of writing how you talk. I don’t have too much time for overly flowery lyrics and generally try to get to the point. I think someone like Jarvis Cocker or maybe Dr. John Cooper Clarke would be the main people that come to mind.
What would you say has been your best moment so far?
In November of last year, we got the insane opportunity of touring the UK with Amble. It was truly bonkers. Two weeks of playing to 1000-2000 people a night in venues that we could only dream of. I think we had played a gig in October to maybe 50 people and then two weeks later played in Shepard’s Bush Empire. It was fucking nuts. We will be eternally grateful to those guys. They took a real risk taking us on, like we were not ready in so many different ways but we learned on the job very quickly and came out the far side as a really tight band. I’m really proud of us for that.
How would you describe your sound to somebody unfamiliar with it?
We’ve been bandying about the phrase “Channel Surf Rock” for press things like this. We want to convey that feeling of flipping through the channels at two in the morning when you’re bored out of your mind and rocking that low-level of depression that we all just kind of just get on with. Suddenly, you come across something that absolutely floors you, could be the last twenty minutes of a movie, could be an ad for an insurance broker. Before you know it, you’re bawling your eyes out and you suddenly feel a sort of release. Things may feel generally a bit better. I imagine if I tried to describe it this way to someone in person, they’d probably just walk away…
What’s your dream “I’ve made it” moment?
We’re at a point where I think just getting to do this full time would be the dream. We all work jobs and then the band pretty much occupies the rest of our lives. It’s very fulfilling but can be very exhausting sometimes. It’s ridiculous how difficult it is to make a living from the arts and it hinders the arts entirely. It leaves it in a state where the only people who can “make it” are either burnout and working a million jobs or just dull and generationally wealthy. I don’t mean to vilify people for being privileged, Lord know’s we’re plenty privileged ourselves, I just think something needs to change for the sake of art as a whole so we have viewpoints from every walk of life…. We’d also like to sell out the 3 Arena, that’d be class.
We love your new single ‘Fear The War’. What more can you tell us about it?
Funnily enough, I think it’s a song about privilege and guilt. We’re so lucky in Ireland and in lots of Western countries to have war be a largely theoretical thing. It happens over there to “them” not “us”. We’re able to distance ourselves from it and genuinely pretend it’s not happening. The song isn’t pointing the finger at anyone but is just more a reflection of my own feelings on it. It functions as a bit of a reminder to myself to not take what I have for granted and to do whatever I can for people who war is a reality for. I hope it does the same for others. There’s some really awful things being done in the world and there are things we can do to help.
What else do you have planned for the near future?
Our Summer is mostly festival slots around Ireland along with us opening for the Amble guys again. This time, we’ll be opening for them in Virgin Media Park in Cork. Feels very surreal and we’re unbelievably excited. There’s also a few gigs at the very end of the year that we can’t say much about but they will certainly be the biggest “pinch me” moments to date.
And finally, who is your biggest fan right now?
Our biggest fan? Not to name drop them again for the millionth time but it’s probably Robbie from Amble. He’s the whole reason we got that gig and he’s been such a big supporter of us. Every now and then he’ll shoot me text checking in on how we’re getting on and what we’re up to. A real gent.
