Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

Having drip-fed the singles from his new EP since early February, Derek Ellard’s first project in two years is set to come to full fruition this weekend. It is a lush and dynamic record, with its five songs offering a perfect representation of Derek’s style and approach to songwriting.

There is a counterbalance that runs throughout – a testament to his background as both an acoustic singer-songwriter and a member of metal bands, his music drifts between hymnal, ambient sequences and loud, textured walls of punk and post-rock.

These features have never been more evident than on the third single from The Future Business Model EP, A Pot to Piss In – a soaring, prog rock anthem that mixes a slightly pessimistic outlook which a soaring, hopeful instrumental.

It announces Derek and his band’s sound as a versatile and movable thing, opening with choral, haunting vocals and morphing into something very different.

“The intro wasn’t there on the original version,” Derek recalls.

“That was a new thing we added. The idea was to do a punky kind of an emo thing and see how that felt. As soft and as ballad-y as some of the songs are, when we take them to a full band, they really expand into rock tunes – a post-rock or a prog rock thing.

“That hymnal intro… I thought it would be nice to have two versions with an alternate chorus and an alternate verse. It’s almost a conversational start because it is quite self-deprecating. There’s nothing really to get too excited about and as it moves through the song, it expands emotionally I suppose.

“That song has pretty much all of my influences stuffed in there into something that makes it digestible. Joe Padfield was really integral in helping with the production. He’s the rocky guy and I’m the emotional complainer.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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