Emerging Irish post shoegaze band Sun Mahshene have released their new single, Pale Azure, with their new album, A Place We've Never Been, to follow in August. We asked the band's guitarist Robert Crosbie the BIG questions . . .
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Comprising six diverse members from Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Poland, the band are influenced by bands such as Ride and The War On Drugs.
Speaking abut the new album, singer Nathan says: "A lot of the lyrics are about escaping, but at the same time a lot of them are about being rooted, finding 'home’, whatever that may be.
"A track like World, with the lyric "the world will grind you down" might sound defeatist, but it’s really about focusing on those who you love and want to keep close in times of trouble."
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
A good place to start is that I play guitar and sing backing vocals in Sun Mahshene. Being a musician is the best thing in the world, but it can be frustrating at times. You always want to be moving forward, but things never move as fast as you want them to. I firmly believe there’s no such thing as "too many guitars".
How would you describe your music?
We describe it as "post-shoegaze". We’re a guitar band very much influenced by the "shoegaze" genre, in terms of how we approach layering the instruments and how the music ultimately sounds, and how it hits you live. But the songs stand up on their own - they would still be good played on acoustic guitar; they don’t rely on the effects.
Who are your musical inspirations?
From early on it was any kind of guitar music - I thought playing guitar was the coolest thing ever (I still do). Everything from Jimi Hendrix to King Crimson to the Stone Roses, and then seeking out extreme versions of guitar music, like My Bloody Valentine, or people doing unusual things with guitars, like Seefeel. I got big into electronic music too, including ambient. There’s a lot of ambient music techniques in Sun Mahshene underneath all the noise. On top of it all are the Beatles of course. Without them none of us would be here.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
I went to a couple of festivals when I was younger so I can’t remember who I would’ve seen first. I just remember the crowds and the noise and the smell of the grass underfoot. Even now when I go to outdoor gigs, that smell brings me right back.
What was the first record you ever bought?
The first CD I got was Dark Side of the Moon. I used to buy CDs voraciously, hundreds of them. I loved CD singles as you’d get the main song plus two or three B-sides - often these songs were more interesting than what the act would usually put out, sometimes better. Oasis had B-sides that were more popular than some of their A-sides. It’s a shame bands don’t do B-sides anymore. When vinyl came back again and I got a new record player, one of the first records I re-bought was Red House Painters’ Rollercoaster album.
What’s your favourite song right now?
Recently I listened to the album Hejira by Joni Mitchell all the way through, and it was something else. It’s hard to pick a single song from the album, so I’ll go with the title track as being representative of the whole thing. It really takes you on a journey and paints a picture in almost cinematic terms, and the music twists and turns in ways you don’t expect, but somehow it all makes perfect sense.
Favourite lyric of all time?
If I had to pick something with a sentiment that hasn’t changed since the day it came out, it would be "And in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love you make" - The End by The Beatles. It’s true. We all want love, but we have to give it too. You can’t just expect it to come. The world is so polarised now and people are full of anger. It should be love. Paul McCartney knew what he was on about.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Any song, no matter how good it is, will get old very quickly if you have to listen to it all the time. But if I’m going to pick one, I’ll go with the 40-minute version of Blue Room by The Orb - that should keep me going for a while.
Where can people find your music/more information?
On the usual online platforms. You can support us by getting our music on Bandcamp. But the best way to find out more about us is to come and see us live. That’s what we’re all about. Say hello!
Alan Corr
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