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RTÉ News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
The Murder Capital: life on the road with Ireland's most ferocious band
The Murder Capital are back in Ireland to play the Iveagh Gardens this July. We caught up with front man James McGovern as the band take their blistering live show around Europe If it's Tuesday, it must be Zurich. James McGovern, the brooding front man of The Murder Capital, is somewhere in the Swiss city, psyching himself up to unleash his band's primal post-punk onto another audience on another night of their seemingly never-ending tour. Following shows in Australia in April, the road hardened Irish five-piece are deep into their latest foray around Europe. After their Dublin gig at Iveagh Gardens in Dublin on 19 July, they embark on UK and US dates, which will take them up to October on their campaign of world domination by stealth. 27-year-old McGovern has the demeanour of a man constantly on the move with barely time to take it all in. Originally from Cork via Dublin, the deep thinking and articulate singer now lives in London but these days, he spends most his life on the road. He is talking today to plug that Iveagh Gardens gig and it's a place very close to his heart. In fact, he used to live around the corner from the Dublin city centre park, which has hosted some memorable gigs over the past decade, including The The, Burt Bacharach, Pixies and Richard Hawley. "Yes, and my dad still does," he says. "I feel a big connection with the Iveagh Gardens. Having started my life off in Dublin, I went to school in Cork but both are my home. "Iveagh Gardens was always one that was in our sights to play. It has such an unbelievably atmosphere for shows and for an outdoor show in particular, it always captures big energy. It really feels electric there and I couldn't be more buzzing for this show." Like their mates Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital really are gigging relentlessly. But what is life like on the road for Ireland's most riveting live act? Is it a tale of late night excess or bed at 10pm with a battered copy of The Outsider by Camus? McGovern smiles wryly and says, "I play a lot of pool, I play a lot of pool . . . " The Murder Capital have earned their reputation as one of the most ferocious live acts in the world. They're a band who hammer mere rock `n' roll angst into something far more elemental and meaningful and all eyes are on McGovern, an electrifying and menacing stage presence who looks like he's having an out of body experience when he performs. "No matter how you're feeling you have to find a way to connect with the audience," he says. "It is about the show for us. Because of the nature of our band, I always feel very connected to the songs, very connected to what the music is about and what it is we're trying to express." McGovern and his band mates - Damien Tuit (guitars/sampler), Cathal Roper (guitars/keys), Gabriel Paschal Blake (bass) and Diarmuid Brennan (drums) - first shot out of the traps in 2019 with their critically acclaimed debut album When I Have Fears, followed by 2023's enigmatically titled Gigi's Recovery (a No.1 album in Ireland). Last February, they released Blindness, their starkly atonal, urgent and expressive third album. Recorded in just three weeks in LA, it is a raw departure from the almost poppy Gigi's Recovery and finds The Murder Capital in ambitious form with a lot to say. "On every album we've made, we've always wanted to evolve and not repeat ourselves," McGovern says. "That's a natural state for us. For this album we wanted to understand what first lit the fire under us. We also wanted to make an album that excited us and made room for unpredictability on stage. "We didn't want to overthink anything. We recorded it quicker and we were a bit less harsh on ourselves. It is easy to be cruel to the songs as you're recording. We had to let them be what they are." Two songs from Blindness have become talking points in the past few months - Born Into the Fight, a bloodletting maelstrom about Catholic education, and Love of Country, a blunt rejection of the warped nationalism that reared its ugly head over the past few years in Ireland. Last December, The Murder Capital announced a special 7" vinyl edition of the song, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid For Palestinians as the war in Gaza rages on amid an increasingly loud chorus of international condemnation. In fact, just a few days after I speak to McGovern, The Murder Capital are in the news after their show in Berlin's Gretchen club was cancelled after the venue refused to allow a Palestinian flag on stage, just weeks after Irish rap trio Kneecap had several concerts in Germany and the UK axed. In a statement at the time, McGovern said, "It's not just about national flags, it's about political statements, and to us, this isn't just a political statement, it's a humanitarian statement. It's about people who are dying and are being slaughtered every day and that's happening right now." In a post on social media, the Gretchen club said it was "very sorry" that the show did take place and that it has had a "no national flag" policy for many years. "That means that we do not tolerate any kind of national flags in our venue," the venue said, adding, "We try to be a safe place for many different communities and really believe that music is able to build bridges, beyond borders and nationalities. Therefore, we deeply believe that national flags are not helpful at all." Naturally, it leads onto a question about the ongoing controversy around Kneecap, who have been condemned after historical video footage emerged of them appearing to support Hamas and Hezbollah and urging their fans to attack Tory politicians. It has led to a very live debate about freedom of expression and the limits of artistic licence. Last Wednesday, Kneecap's Mo Chara was charged with a terrorism offence by British police over the alleged display of a flag in support of Hezbollah at one of the band's gigs in London last November. The Murder Capital were among hundreds of signatories of the recent letter defending Kneecap's right to free speech and artistic expression. "Look . . . we did sign the letter because I do believe it was the right thing to do," McGovern says, haltingly. "It's not easy to separate things into completely right, total moral uprightness, I believe, in its essence, it was the right thing to do to sign it and I think there is more nuanced conversation that needs to come from the situation itself. "Obviously, what Kneecap said are stupid things to say. I think they could have very much have been said in jest. Blindboy did a good thing of pointing out that `kill your local' is a memetic turn of phrase, which it is, and is used as a way of protesting against the way landlords treat people in this country, often times you see that spray painted around. "I don't think it means anyone is wanting blood, I don't think anyone is saying it in that way. What was said, `up, Hamas, up, Hezbollah,' are not the best f***ing thing to be saying. I think Kneecap have come out and said that." He adds, "Of the three lads in Kneecap, nobody could say they're trying to cause harm in any way. I think they're standing up for people who don't have a voice and they're doing it again and again and again and they're doing it in a way that is causing conversation to occur." He pauses and says: "It's also weeding out people like Sharon Osborne and her schtick. It's a powerful thing. They're affecting the culture. They will be fine I believe, they'll be fine. I think they'll probably be a little bit more careful with their words. "People get full of adrenaline on stage and say stupid s***. As Massive Attack so eloquently put it, `Kneecap is not the story. The story is the genocide in Palestine'. It is hard to reckon with the fact that this is the world we're living in." It might be said that it is good that music is finding its voice again and having an impact on the culture and politics. "Totally," McGovern says. "There are plenty of bands around the world who are too cowardly to say anything and it's clear as day that there are plenty of them at home as well." Would he care to elaborate on that? "There's no need to. It's obvious." Right now, the stage is calling and it's nearly time for The Murder Capital to once again deliver maximum ferocity. "I'm enjoying being on the road more than ever but I also love being at home," says McGovern. "I'm subconsciously hugging my suitcase as we speak. That's where I'm at." The Murder Capital with special guests Soft Play and Mary In The Junkyard play The Iveagh Gardens, Dublin on 19 July. Tickets priced €39.90 are on sale now through
The Independent
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Rock quintet The Murder Capital: ‘Other artists around the world are more protective of their loot than the Irish'
Are we intense?' asks Damien 'Irv' Tuit, before he and his bandmate, James McGovern, explode into laughter. The men – two-fifths of the Irish rock outfit The Murder Capital – are sitting with me in an east London pub, and have just talked me through their origin story. 'I played with 'Pump' [guitarist Cathal Roper] first,' McGovern, the singer of the group, recalls. 'Irv came to see us at a show and was, you know, enticed by the f***ing audacity of me.' Reflecting on the creation of their breakthrough album, 2019's raw and acclaimed debut When I Have Fears, he notes that it was recorded in a 'six-week odyssey of chaos and beauty'. That is to say, yes – these guys are somewhat on the intense side. Then again, this will hardly be news to anyone who's au fait with The Murder Capital's back catalogue. The Dublin-formed band – also comprising Gabriel 'G' Paschal Blake on bass and Diarmuid Brennan on drums – have never really concerned themselves with frivolity. When I Have Fears was described by The Guardian as 'lavishly poetic [and] intensely dour' and drew (somewhat reductive) comparisons to contemporaries such as Idles and fellow Dubliners Fontaines DC. The album was recorded in the aftermath of a friend's suicide, as well as the death of Blake's mother. 'We were partying heavily at the time, in a new environment, and then we were stricken by a ton of personal grief,' says McGovern. 'We left that studio to go carry Gabe's mum's coffin… and then a couple of days later Gabe came back to start recording. It was a really, really mad time.' McGovern, 30, and Tuit, 27, are, nonetheless, in good spirits today, grabbing a breather between studio rehearsals. They're speaking to me ahead of the release of Blindness, the band's third album, following the enthusiastically received Gigi's Recovery in 2023. McGovern, chic and assured in a tight turtleneck sweater, describes the ethos of the new record as being 'a needle drop into a feeling'. 'That really was a phrase we clung to,' adds Tuit, one of the band's two guitarists. Like the band's previous work, Blindness is musically dextrous – melodic at times (on the brilliantly moody 'Words Lost Meaning'), heavy and abrasive at others. It also feels affectingly present. 'Death of a Giant', one of the album's most evocative tracks, was written in the aftermath of Shane MacGowan's memorial service; 'Love of Country' is a potent song about the illusory lure of nationalism. It is, they explain, a record about 'obsession, deceit, and rejection of faith, about patriotism and its distortions… what binds all these human experiences is that there's a blindness to so much of it. That's where the title was spawned from.' The album was recorded in Los Angeles, under the auspices of Grammy award-winning producer John Congleton (St Vincent, The War On Drugs). The endeavour was nearly derailed by an intra-band fracas shortly after arriving. There was, says McGovern, an 'imbalance' within the band, which had built up during the writing process. 'We just lost focus on the outright respect we need to have for each other,' he says. 'Because there's the five of you and then there's the individual relationships that go on between it… it's huge.' When you're five twentysomething lads in a hot new rock group, relationships are, perhaps inevitably, a work in process. After matters boiled over, though, the bandmates resolved their grievances, and things have been harmonious. 'That's maybe the hardest part of the job,' says Tuit. 'I started this band with James and Pump, and they were two of my best friends at the time. You kind of don't realise what sort of deal you're making… it puts a lot of the weight on the relationship.' 'You don't really know what you're getting into with each other,' adds McGovern. 'Then all of a sudden there's this realisation that, s***, it can feel like your life depends on these people. You're always only moments away from the ego taking over – that's how a lot of the fights we've had throughout the years have come about… from a place of fear, a place of ego, a place of all the things that make human beings difficult to be with at times. It really is like a marriage.' Both musicians are chatty, forthcoming and erudite, whether they're rhapsodising about the state of the music industry ('I don't think it's as bad as the pieces you read online would make you think') or recalling their scrappy beginnings. After gaining some traction on the live circuit in the late 2010s with their blistering live performances, McGovern and co went to London to find representation. 'We went to something like 25 meetings in five days,' he says. 'It wasn't strategised or anything like that. I just set them all up so we were f***ing pelting it around on the tube in 30-degree heat, going into Universal, meeting a bunch of managers, all that s***. They were asking us where the drummer and bass player were, and we were like, 'They're just at home.' But we didn't have any.' The two spots had been filled previously by Morgan Wilson and Matt Wilson, both of whom departed the band before The Murder Capital's first album. After finding representation, the remaining members turned to Blake and Brennan to step in. 'We met G around Dublin, just like going to karaoke, doing drugs, having some craic basically,' they say. 'And met D through Tom and Fontaines.' Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members) Conversation turns, for a spell, to politics. Like many Irish bands – from Fontaines to trad outfits such as Lankum and The Mary Wallopers – The Murder Capital have been vocal in their support for Palestinians: all the proceeds from 'Love Of Country' were donated to Medical Aid for Palestine. There is, says McGovern, good reason why Irish musicians in particular have thrown themselves behind the cause. 'First of all, there's plenty of historical links,' he says. 'The Black and Tans who were sent to rule over the Irish people by the British, and committed some great atrocities. Also, I suppose, we [the Irish] maybe just give less of a f*** than other artists around the world, who are more protective of their loot. Although in some ways it is a political issue, it's not political at all to us. It's a humanitarian issue. 'I felt awful on October 7, for those people who were murdered, but it would be difficult for anyone to look at what's happened since that day and say there's in any way a balanced response. And I don't think we're politicising ourselves by being involved in that. It's just the right thing to do on a human level. There's lots of journalists that are like, 'Are you afraid to become a political band?' We're just f***ing human beings.' There's an endearing sincerity to the pair of them – that intensity, yes, but one that stops shy of pretension. 'Be nice to us in the article,' says Tuit, as I see off the end of my drink. I laugh, attempting to reassure them. They're not having it. 'That could have been an evil laugh,' he says. No, no, I insist: it was a benevolent one. McGovern shoots me a sardonic grin. 'Benevolence is the f***ing worst weapon of all.'
