James is a writer for GoldenPlec.

Writer

  • Q What album would you bring to a desert island with you?
  • A Does any music fan truly have the same answer to this question two days in a row? Today, if I were to be stuck on said island for a monotonous eternity I'd take Radiohead's endlessly wonderful OK Computer as my soundtrack. If I were trying to motivate myself to build my escape craft, the sunny tribal rhythms of Debo Band might sit nicely.
  • Q The first concert you ever went to?
  • A I don't have the memory for this one. A local metal gig headlined by a band that played in nothing but cling film shorts came fairly early on. Multi-layered, thankfully. It's a pretty hard image to shake. Traveling to the big smoke (London, for me) for The Hives, Millencolin and The Offspring all came pretty early in my gig going career, too.
  • Q What's the most embarrassing album you ever bought?
  • A Every album buy is embarrassing to someone, right? At least that's what I tell myself. I used to own a Boyzone album, but in my defense I was about ten when I bought it. In hindsight, given the singer's despicable crimes against far more important things than music, I'm more embarrassed to have not only bought but enjoyed the first Lostprophets album. It's long since been removed from my CD collection.
  • Q If you could rob the vocal chords of any singer, who would it be?
  • A Scroobius Pip. I've never been able to see myself as a vocalist, as such, but I'd love to be able to spit social relevance. Too few do these days, and most far less eloquently than the bearded one. That said, if I were him I'd work with Le Sac, always.
  • Q What song is your specialty at karaoke?
  • A I lived in Korea for 18 months. If you think Japan is the best place to go for karaoke, you're wrong. Having said that, 18 months of it was more than enough. My choice would be not to do karaoke, especially in Ireland (sorry lads, but come on!). But if forced, I'll bumble through something without much tonal range. Like an Eagles classic. Or Oasis. Get me drunk first. Cringe.
  • Q If you could erase one band from existence, who would it be?
  • A If I never have to hear that feckin Elbow song everyone seems to love at festivals again I'd be delighted. So maybe them. Perhaps that's unkind, some of the albums aren't bad. Bieber? Or in Irish context, never having to hear another word about Garth Brooks would be nice?
  • Q Out of all the venues in Ireland, where's your favourite?
  • A Roisin Dubh in Galway is a kind of haven for me; I've never had a bad night in there. I've only been to Dolan's in Limerick once, but that place tops most of the Dublin venues for me, too. Though it's hard to beat the Olympia or Twisted Pepper on a good night.
  • Q Tell us something about you that people don't know.
  • A My future plan for world music-journalism domination involves asking my baby to review albums using only his facial expressions and pictures of how they make him feel. He's welcome to take the credit. I played intermediate level football in Korea once, and scored an own goal against a pro team that was caught on the weekly highlights show and broadcast to the whole country. We lost 6-1, which under the circumstances wasn't a bad result. I still cringe. If I die early, sneak me a cherry tree on the grounds of Glastonbury and chuck my ashes in as compost, good lads.
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