The Blizzards announce hometown Christmas gig on Stephen’s Evening

The Blizzards have introduced they are going to be taking part in their hometown of Mullingar this Christmas, bringing their Blizzards Unplugged present to the Mullingar Arts Centre on Stephen’s Evening.

The foursome even have a brand new single on the best way, ‘Nice Celebration (You’re Not Invited)’!

“I’ve nice reminiscences of the Arts Centre. One of many Blizzards very first gigs was down there at Christmas time, and it was an awesome evening! Plus once I was rising up, my mom was concerned in Lakeland Productions, so was down there the entire time,” says Bressie, who feels the Blizzards Unplugged tour will work completely in that house.

“It’s only a completely totally different expertise, it’s extra of a theatre expertise. There’s a number of dialog, chats, it isn’t simply music like once you’re taking part in a stay present, full throttle from the minute you step on stage until you permit it. It’s not like that in any respect, it’s only a actually pretty expertise,” Bressie continues.

It’s a uncommon alternative to listen to the band’s new songs, like Friction Burns, Closing Time, and their new single Nice Celebration (You’re Not Invited), in addition to a few of their massive hits.

“It simply works so effectively, you get to speak a little bit bit in regards to the songs and the place they got here from, and most of the people are fairly concerned about that as a result of it provides the songs a very totally different context,” mentioned Bressie.

“It type of jogs my memory of after we began, as a result of it’s such a unique format, and the songs actually swimsuit it. I by no means thought they might swimsuit that type of vibe however it additionally protects my ears as a result of Dec’s (Murphy) the loudest drummer in Eire, and on this present, he’s simply on the field,” he jokes.

“In Carlow, our first present, simply to see the demographic – there was all ages, younger children there, 15-year-olds there, individuals of their 70s, it was a unique factor.

“What we needed was a dialog. You don’t plan on what you’re going to say, you simply depart it to the viewers so it turns into a two-way efficiency. There’s the viewers that exhibits up and chats, has the craic and respects the truth that these songs are a little bit bit quieter and a little bit bit extra chilled out.

So, forward of The Blizzards Unplugged, what can the viewers anticipate?

“It’s an awesome present, the viewers will like it. It’s a heat expertise for the band. I may think about that’s what it’s like for the viewers too.”

It rounds off a giant yr for the band, who launched ‘Typically We See Extra In The Darkish’ this summer time, their fourth album, penned throughout lockdown.

“The fourth report – it’s an fascinating place, an odd place to be however I nonetheless assume that the job of any artist is to create a physique of labor, to make data and regardless that it’s actually overwhelming to make data and difficult work, it’s your job,” mentioned Bressie.

“We had been getting right into a rut of releasing singles right here and there and I didn’t actually wish to be doing that, I needed to decide to a physique of labor and songs collectively that we thought made sense. And it’s arduous as a result of it’s an costly factor to do.”

The foursome took it again to the early days of the ‘storage band’ sound, and invited visitor Michael Harding on for meditative impact on ‘One thing Grips You, One thing Holds You’.

“Each band has the appropriate to make the music that they really feel is the appropriate music for them however I feel what’s grow to be troublesome within the music trade is you’re anticipated to be extra content material creators than precise musicians or songwriters.

“The trade’s modified a lot, you don’t know what to be doing – like do you create content material after which don’t have any songs or do you write?

“We had been like, ‘Lad, let’s simply make a report. Let’s not fear an excessive amount of about TikTok or Instagram’. All of us get sucked in to attempt to play the sport however generally you realise it’s not what you need, and that’s what the band did, we went again to first rules which is – why are we doing it – to jot down and play music.

“And the viewers get it. You recognize, you get misplaced on this trade, you begin chasing your tails and it turns into troublesome. There comes a second the place you go ‘That is what we’re good at, let’s follow this, let’s not attempt to be something we’re not and that’s what we’ve completed. It virtually took the theatre tour to remind us of that’.”

The subsequent launch ‘Nice Celebration (You’re Not Invited)’, written throughout the pandemic when “Boris was partying away and we couldn’t go to our family members’ funerals”, was impressed by George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

“We’ve completed a video for that with the wonderful Cúige workforce in Mullingar, we’ve had a relationship with them for the entire venture they usually’re simply world class.

“It’s probably not critical and political, it’s simply that realisation that there was a really a lot “us and them” within the pandemic and I feel that’s what the music is about.”

Tickets to see The Blizzards stay in Mullingar Arts Centre on Monday December 26 can be found from mullingarartscentre.ie on on 044 93 47777.