// Who now?
“Beached Whales = funky reggae soul jams delivered by Daire Stanley, David Noonan, Ben Lawlor, Feargal Donaghy, David Joycey and Sean O’Brien.”
// Listen how?
// Have you been to Vantastival before?
“Yeah, we go every year, some of us since its inception in 2010. We have so many favourite memories. Playing last year is definitely one of them. Seeing The Barley Mob and Mutefish in a row last year was beyond fun too. We also think that local festivals such as Vantastival have an invaluable impact on the development of young and upcoming musicians across the country. So keep her lit!”
// Van Morrison or a VW Van?
“We’d have to go with VW vans because you can’t lounge around, drive around or cook a fry in Van Morrison.”
// What can we expect from a Beached Whales live show?
“At a Beached Whales gig you can generally expect reggae/funk/soul/ska-infused fun times music, high energy dance moves to beat the band, Sexy-Sax riffs, a poorly told story or two, but mostly a great time.”
// As Beached Whales, what are your favourite swimming strokes?
“Our favourite swimming stroke is probably the inflatable lilo and a cocktail combo, because we’re all fairly unfit except Sean ‘It’s Always Summertime’ O’Brien. He loves lifting things whereas the rest of us just take the lift.”
// What are your festival essentials?
“A couch, a tin of rice pudding, baby wipes … If we’re feeling exotic an extra pair of socks sometimes comes in handy!”
// You describe yourselves as having ‘smelly energy’. Define this for us.
“Smelly energy is Beached Whales playing on the Sunday night of Vantastival without changing our socks all weekend … Pretty stanky!”
// What plans do ye have coming up for 2015?
“We have loads of plans which is great! We’re currently working on a new EP to record over the summer. We’re aiming to play as many gigs in as many counties as possible for the rest of 2015, and we’re playing Electric Picnic which is gonna be pretty sweet!”