Interview with Brian Brannigan – A Lazarus Soul – Part 2

No More Workhorse sat down with Brian Brannigan of A Lazarus Soul to talk about their forthcoming Vicar Street show and a few other bits and pieces….

A Lazarus Soul plays Vicar Street on April 18th.

NMW: Have you done any shows since the Vicar St show in October?

BB: No. Julie is a teacher in France. We’re all working full-time, so it’s in our holidays that we do A Lazarus Soul. They fly over, we do a mixed rehearsal, and then we go in and do the gig. It’s kind of highwire stuff!

NMW: The D They Put… was reissued on vinyl. Are you interested in reissues yourself?

BB: Yeah. I buy a lot of records. Records go for silly prices now.  I bought the High Llamas reissues recently. I believe they may have lost the original artwork, so they reconstructed it. We did the black and amber vinyl, which I thought was really nice. The Spiritualized box set recently is lovely as well. I’m a sucker for these things!

NMW: Would you collaborate with other artists?

BB: No… but you never say never. I am collaborating with everybody that I play with.  We bring so much to the table. Joe, Julie and Anton are incredible musicians. There’s a huge collaboration there on everything. Not even music, but I think in a band, sometimes, decision-making. You can fuck up records by making the wrong decisions. Having three people that you trust and that make good decisions and… sometimes when I’m right they back down. Having that trust, I think, is hugely important. Even thinking around records you make wrong decisions. So I feel like I’m collaborating all the time. But outside of A Lazarus Soul, not so much. It’s enough in itself.

NMW: Do you think the Irish music scene is in a good place? 

BB: I’d always answer that question with “it’s amazing”.  It always is. I think what’s happening now is it’s doing the business on the international stage. When COVID hit, I said that that was their time. That was their Manchester just before COVID because it felt like it was going to explode. Everything was amazing. The hip-hop scene was amazing, electronic scene, everything. I think COVID took the wind out of the sails.  But it’s come back and it’s an incredible scene. I always think Irish music is amazing. It’s wonderful to see. It’s wonderful to see the Fontaines and CMAT…. and Kneecap wrecking the place!

NMW: Anything else grabbing you in music at the minute?

BB: I went to see Jesus Lizard in January. It was brilliant. I’m not a massive fan, but I always wanted to see them live. Even at 67 he (David Yow) is still doing it. He was screaming for a 90 minutes, and it was perfect. He said two lines, and he’s in the fucking audience!

Kim Deal’s new album (Nobody Loves You More) is mad, it covers every genre. I’ve listened to it a lot. Steve Albini produced it, he was a mad fucker.

NMW: I loved his production on PJ Harvey’s Rid Of Me.

BB: White Chalk is her best. A really haunting record. It’s incredible. White Chalk is probably my favourite, and then Rid of Me. Rid of Me is mind-blowing when I’m in the mood for it. Overall, I think White Chalk is an absolute masterpiece of hers. I keep coming back to the last one (Inside The Old Year Dying), it’s amazing. But I have the White Chalk album, and I have the demos, and they’re both really haunting. It’s probably the most haunting record she’s ever made.

NMW: Do you think the album as an art form is still important?

BB: Yeah, absolutely. It’s everything to us. I think we could easily not go on stage. I think we’re a band that doesn’t love ourselves. We don’t want to be on covers. I don’t like doing interviews! But the album is something that I think we have to do. It’s about the album.

The Dealers was the big song on that record. We could have made that three and a half minutes for a single. It’s five and a half minutes, and that’s not going to get radio play, because it’s five and a half minutes. That’s how important it is that we make it the way it’s meant to be rather than make it commercial. The album is everything to us. Making good albums is always what we’ve been about.

NMW: What about outside music, what’s going on?

BB: I live a very simple life outside music. I have a wife, daughter, they’re me world… and walking the dogs. I love quietness, I love nature. But a big part of my life is going to gigs and buying records. So I do that a lot. I was at Joe Chester’s gig in Ballymun, and Smock Alley. It was a beautiful night.

Me and the missus went to High Llamas. I would have liked to see it in a quieter place, but the audience were really respectful. I would like to have seen it where we were sitting down. And maybe a longer set. They’re a fascinating band. Cold and Bouncy is a great place to start. Or Snowbug, which would be my favourite. They might work for you if you like Stereolab. The two bands are very inspiring.

NMW: Gigs used to be few and far between years ago.

BB: Yeah, it’d be a big event when someone came. The Event Guide (Dublin) was always my bible. I’d come in, probably on Saturday, get the event guide and go through it, see what was coming up.  I couldn’t afford to go to the gigs back then.

NMW: You were saying you’re not mad about doing interviews, are you?

BB: No, I don’t feel very comfortable doing them. If Joe was here, he would definitely do interviews with me. I suppose when you’re doing the interview, I’m conscious that I represent the band. I always say the wrong thing! They’d be raging at me!

NMW: Is it getting easier or harder to make records and play gigs?

BB: Gigging is tougher cost-wise since COVID. The cost of the vans and rehearsals.  So much so, we decided that it’s actually better for us to have Vicar St than a few small gigs.  We were invited to the UK, but we turned that down; it’s not something that I particularly want to do.

Records? Not so much. I suppose me and Joe, we make records in bedrooms and kitchens. We made our first record in a house in Glasnevin.  Trevor Hutchinson from the Waterboys, we rented his house when he went on tour. That was the only time we had a proper studio in there. But Joe has a mobile set up. All the other records were made in my house… his house… his Ma’s. Obviously, the latest one, we were in Miracle Studios for a while, but the rest of it was in my front room.

NMW: Christy Moore recording your songs, you must have been chuffed!

BB: Yeah, it’s a weird one. I haven’t really processed it.  I met him a few times. Christy Moore is obsessed with music. He wanted to change the words… I have to be careful about it because I sometimes go into his thing now. I almost work off muscle memory on the singing. We did Tommy Tiernan recently, and they asked us to do the song. Sometimes when I’m singing Lemon 7s, I would sing his version!

A Lazarus Soul plays Vicar Street on April 18th.