GANGSGoldenPlec recently sat down with four piece Dublin group Gangs to have a chat about how they formed the band, about what they have been up to over the last few months and their goals for the future.

Where did you meet?

James: “We’ve been involved with other bands but it just felt right when it was the four of us and we’ve been doing it for almost year and a half. It’s just working better than anything we’ve done before.”

Jonathan: “We taught each other basically, we sat down and drew out a plan and we knew the goals and we’ve reached every goal that we’ve set. It’s still going the way we want it to.”

James: “We went through a load of different phases. We just said this time we’re going to take it seriously and had everything ready to go, even just regarding a Facebook page, getting photoshoots done, getting our image together and having songs ready. We were almost - not a finished product obviously - but we didn’t want to grow in public as such. We didn’t want to seem like a band that were just taking the first steps. ”

Apart from appearing professional and taking everything seriously what other goals were on your list?

Jonathan: "Just to play headline shows and release good singles that get critical acclaim."

James: "We make goals every once in a while and start fresh. We set up our own show in the Academy 2 only three months after we started playing. We wanted to play Other Voices, so we did that."

How did that come about?

James: "They just invited us down. Then you put in a bit of work and it pays off."

Jordan: "When we started off the goals were smaller, when we achieved all the goals we set and made new ones."

Jonathan: "Now it’s London and taking over the UK, it gets bigger every time."

Did you find it difficult to get people into your gigs?

James: "We did a lot of work actually, just handing out CDs for free, we did hand out fliers and stuff like setting up smaller gigs in the run up."

Jonathan: "Yeah, that was over a year ago at the start. We were really a DIY band. In the past few months we’ve surrounded ourselves with a really good team with a professional outlook."

What kind of team?

Jonathan: "Well, like, we’ve just got good people around us. Manager, booking agent; the normal. It’s just good to have people around us that have the exact same goals as us."

James: "It was just the four of us trying to set up our show but now we can be a bit more independent and focus on the music."

Jonathan: "Yeah, what we’re really about now is writing and we’re writing the best things we’ve ever written because we don’t have to worry about that stuff. We’re a proper band now."

James: "Yeah, we’ve only put out two songs in the year. We had a video for one."

Jonathan: "They weren’t released though, 2 15 is going to be on iTunes."

Have you pitched these songs to a label for the release?

Jonathan: "There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. It’s really exciting"

James: "It’s important to us we don’t get bogged down with it."

Jonathan: "We expect that to happen. That’s all going to fall into place."

Jordan: "It’s not really our job to worry about that."

Jonathan: "We don’t do it for that reason: to get signed. You get bogged down and you start to worry about it."

How was Other Voices? Was it all it is cracked up to be?

James: "Great. Kerry was our first show outside Dublin. Getting to play Other Voices felt great."

Jordan: "Yeah, the Hot Press one in Waterford was good too."

James: "There’s a cool atmosphere in Dingle."

Jonathan: "We didn’t get anywhere near the church and we had an amazing weekend."

Jordan: "I didn’t hear anyone that was arsed about the church."

Have you noticed a change since Hot Press got involved and you played the Other Voices Music Trail?

Jonathan: "We’ve started to be taken a lot more seriously. We take ourselves seriously. We see ourselves as being the next big thing."

What’s next?

James: "Our single launch and then we’ll headline some gigs in Sweeney’s and in Whelan’s."

Jordan: "Then branch over to the UK."

James: "We’re trying to build an audience. Travelling back and forth to London will be big for us in the next few months."

Jordan: "Before, as we said, we only had two songs out. This year will be about putting out a lot of material. If you have nothing to listen to how are you going to get into a band, ya know?"

What music to you listen to?

James: “We’re all mad for the Beatles, The Jam, The Specials and The Las”

Jordan: “Just the best bands.”

What other Irish acts do you listen to?

James: "Le Galaxie."

Jonathan: “Yeah, we are doing our thing, it’s never a competition and that’s totally different from what anyone else in Ireland is doing at the moment. I’d be lying if I said I could relate to another band in Ireland right now at the moment and say I really dig them. There are bands that are really nice like we played down in Waterford with the Hot Sprockets, they’re really nice guys. There are some other bands like that but in terms of liking them... “

James: “There is a good scene at the moment in terms of Kodaline and The Strypes.”

Jonathan: “If this was gonna go in the thing [the interview], it would be hard not to come across as a dick but it would be like you saying “What band do you like from Liverpool?” I couldn’t say I like any bands from Liverpool. Just because we’re from Dublin doesn’t mean we’re able to say we like a band from Dublin.”

James: “You just said you liked the Beatles?”

[All laugh]

2 15 Gangs is available on iTunes now.