With their recent success in the JD Set 2010 we thought we should really strike while the iron was hot so to speak and get a few words out of Cork’s latest claim to fame.

With a busy looking 2010 coming up, it’s probably good we got them now. They might be hard to pin down in coming months. If you want to follow their stuff or check out some of their music, try the Myspace and Facebook links below. We will have a review of their debut album “The Knife Thrower and his Wife” up soon.

Myspace / Facebook

So LadyDoll are JD Set 2010 Champions, How does that feel?
It feels good, we’ve been singing Queen’s “We Are The Champions” everyday since we’ve won.

Did you think going into the competition that you could walk out with the title?
We thought we had a good a chance as any of the other bands. I suppose when it gets down to the last 5 bands out of a few hundred applicants you know the talent is going to be really strong, which it was. So we just prepared a tight set and hoped people would like it.

You guys are going since 2006 but your debut album is 2010 why are we only getting the pleasure of your material now?
It’s more like 2007 when we started. Our first show was January 31st ’07. I think for any new band starting out the first year or so is very important in finding your feet as a band. And that was especially the way with us. We spent a long time gigging and rehearsing to find our sound, we also did a couple of ep’s so we could get used to the studio and how we would sound recorded. I think those are the main reasons the first album took a bit of time. We don’t ever want to put out a recording that we’re not 100% prepared for and proud of.

Where did the album name “The knife thrower and his wife” come from? It’s an unusual name
“The Knife Thrower And His Wife” was actually the working title for another piece of music we were working on at the time. But the closer we got to finishing the album the more suitable it became as the album title. I suppose with most of the Ladydoll material, it’s all based and written around certain imagery and i think that title just seemed to sit well with the mood of the album.

How has the band’s sound evolved from 2006 starting off to 2010 JD Set champions?
Our sound is changing all the time really, when we first started out we were straight up guitars, bass and drums. Lately we use pianos and harmonies a lot more which has really shaped our sound. On the album there is everything from a wurlitzer piano, a double bass to a moog. I think we’re a band that will always be changing album to album and i think that’s important to keep us interested in what we’re doing. We’re not really interested in finding a sound that suits us and then repeating it through five albums..i don’t think that does anyone any good.

You won studio time in grouse lodge, PR support and advice from Tim Burgess, How do you plan to utilize these tools for the band?
We’ll just try and get the most out of them and use them in a way that’s most beneficial for the band in the long run. These days any help at all is welcomed as things seem to be getting harder and harder in the music world. It’s good timing that we’ve only just released our debut album so the pr and recording etc will all help in giving us a bit more of a push.

Will the studio time mean the beginning of works on a follow up album or EP?
No we might just use the recording to re-record album tracks, maybe slightly different versions of songs. I think its a good opportunity for us to have people listen to our album tracks that they might not have heard if they weren’t free. Its a bit early days yet for us to start recording new material and i think we’ll be concentrating on pushing our first album this year. Thats the priority.

You are set to support Cathy Davey on her Irish tour. How did that come about and are you looking forward to it?
We’ve been longtime fans of Cathy’s work back as far as the Something Ilk era so she’s always been someone we hoped to share a stage with. I think she’s released three of the best albums to ever come out of Ireland so to be playing before her is amazing.

Does Cathy Davey’s independent success (#1 album independently released this week) inspire you to think differently about how you approach the bands promotion and distribution.
Definately, the music industry is slowly crumbling i think and its only a matter of time before bands will have to rely on their own self promotion/distribution anyway. Things are already operating on a much smaller scale and labels are running much tighter ships. I think the future will be more focused on the live shows and bands that are willing to work hard and write genuinely great music will have a better chance of being heard. There will always be an audience for good honest music.

The next step is to build on this recent success. What might the rest of the year hold?
The rest of  ’10 will see us touring Ireland again, playing a lot of festivals including Indie-Pendence in our hometown and just pushing our album as much as we can. We’ve also begun working in the UK a lot more and will be heading back over again in 2 weeks so hopefully a tour of the UK venues is on the horizon too. You can keep an eye on our myspace or facebook pages to see where we’re at and what we have planned.