ONTHEBRINK OFACADEMIC SUCCESS
…after studying rock’s greats
There’s more to Mullingar in a musical sense than Niall Horan, Bressie and the late Joe Dolan. The Academic arranged their first jam sessions and gigs in the Westmeath town, although the members come from little villages outside of it. The power pop band are rightly rated as one of the most exciting new outfits in the country and Messrs Horan and Breslin have shown their support for them on Twitter.
They only reiterated what The Academic’s fans already knew. Their tune
Different, from their debut EP
Loose Friends, was nominated for the Choice Music Prize’s Song of the Year – but lost out to Gavin James’s
Bitter Pill.
After just that one release, the band will headline Vicar Street in Dublin on Friday and that is only one part of what lead singer Craig Fitzgerald says is a very busy schedule.
‘We’ve already played Eurosonic in Holland and we’ve quite a few other European festivals coming up. We’re hoping Eurosonic has given us a good grounding for the likes of South by Southwest [SXSW festival kicks off next week in Texas].
‘These types of festival showcases are quite relentless. There are so many bands there that are so good… but we have 100% faith in our own music. When we see great bands we just try to learn something.’
Promoters and record companies from all over the world
‘Gettingtoplay supporttothe PixiesandThe Strokeswas
amazing’
attend SXSW and Eurosonic, so these events are particularly important to unsigned bands such as The Academic.
‘We are an independent band. We know it is a bit of a privilege to headline an iconic venue like Vicar Street after only having one EP on release,’ Craig says.
‘But in Dublin we’ve played venues such as Whelan’s and The Grand Social, so we felt confident enough to take the next step.’
The attention they’ve earned is due to the fact that songs like Different and Northern Boy fizz with energy and show a tightness they’ve developed over several years playing together since they met in first year in secondary school.
Now, aged between 20 and 22, they’ve played support to their heroes. ‘Getting to play support to the Pixies and meeting Frank Black was amazing, as was being asked to play on the same bill as The Strokes at Hyde Park,’ says Craig.
‘When you do things like that you get to see the dream in front of you. The last thing Frank Black said to us was, “We’ll see you out there.” I think he meant just keep working and our paths will cross again.’
He’s surely correct.
The Academic play Vicar Street, Dublin on Friday. Loose Friends EP is out now