A Year in Music – 2019 – Pat Barrett (Hedge School)
by Killian Laher

Let’s begin with 2019.  What music/albums have you enjoyed most this year?

Without doubt for me the record of the Year was The A Lazarus Soul record, it’s such a powerful stamp and statement of our time and also it’s been a great joy to watch 25 year long friends finally having a richly deserved day in the sun.  I loved the Whitney record, the Weyes Blood record, the Aldous Harding record, and a record by a band from Belgium called Geppetto and the Whales absolutely dominated my listening for the guts of 2 months, loved it .

Do you think this decade has been good for music?  What are your highlights?

I think it’s been a wonderful decade for Irish music: Lankum, Tandem Felix, Fontaines DC, Murder Capital, Girl Band, an inspiring amount of creatives who despite the quite lack of financial return are still making art.

Is streaming taking over from owning music completely? 

I really don’t think so.  To real music people, I think the tactile product will always matter, but whether that’s enough to sustain an individual within an industry, I really don’t know.  I think it’s an expensive hobby for any of us making work at the moment.

Anything really big for you musically that ten years ago, you had no interest in?

Nothing really springs to mind, to be honest.

Is music as important for you as it was ten years ago?

Absolutely, I’d lose my mind without it in my everyday life, there’s always something new to be found if you have a decent avarice for digging through crates in record shops, or on blogs or podcasts etc.

How are things yourself, have you any interesting projects going on?

I am working on a 4 Track EP for release late March 2020 under the name Arrivalists, all will be revealed as soon as the bolts are all tightened and it’s ready for take off.