Interviews

John, Shelly and The Creatures

• 24th Jun 2010

With a slew of summer dates lined up and performances in both the RDS and on the Late Late show, John, Shelly and The Creatures are well on their way to cementing their place in the Irish music scene of today.

Their debut album Dinosaurs is in shops now and we took a minute to talk to Walter, Ger, Kev and Phil about talent shows, gigging, the Irish music scene of today and reveal some interesting little-known facts about the guys.

What has been the defining moment of the band's career so far?

Playing on the late late show, that was pretty big. Our parents were delighted with that one. It has bought us some time before they start nagging at us again to get real jobs.

If you could choose one Irish venue to play/play again, what would it be?

Walter has a bet with a friend to see who'll headline the Olympia first. It's a very special venue. He's seen an awful lot of fantastic gigs there. There really isn't a venue in Dublin that matches the Olympia for intimacy.

If you could play a headline gig with any other four acts (living or dead) who would they be?

Elliott Smith (who played a song for Walter once), Radiohead (they have to be there really don't they?), The Band (we're all huge fans) and Neil Young.

What festivals have you lined up this summer?

3rd July 10 – Willowstone Music Festival, Co. Down
4th July 10 – Donegal Town Festival (w/ The Saw Doctors)
13th July 10 – Mullingar rocks Festival, Mullingar
24th July 10 – Glasgowbury, Draperstown, co Antrim
30th July 10 – Le Cheile Festival, Meath
31st July 10 – Indiependence Festival, Cork
6th August 10 – Indie go Festival, Carlow

And there may be a few more to be added yet..

What is the most exciting thing about Irish music right now in your opinions?

Everyone is very friendly and willing to help you move along the right track, the amount of talent that comes from this country is outstanding and its always growing which is great. I think because the music business is in such a turbulent state at the moment, everybody's really coming together.

Describe what it was like playing the RDS arena?

Surreal. The crowd were fantastic.

What are the band's expectations/hopes for the next five years?

World domination. That's just one of those stock answers that we've being keeping for a special occasion. Nah, to be honest, hopes and expectations differ greatly. We'd like to start making our way around the continent a bit more and maybe hit up the states if the opportunity arises. That's probably the hopes. Expectations include having a new album ready to go sometime in the next year and playing more and more shows. We love getting out to play to new crowds and established fans. That's what the whole thing is about.

What are your thoughts on the whole talent show phenomenon? Do you think it's a waste of time or even a bit of a sell-out? Would you prefer to independently achieve your own fame rather than say the suffocating arise that acts like Jedward have gotten from miniscule talent?

Its highly entertaining, thats for sure. Those auditions can really bring a tear to the eye! well there is alot of talent out there and it's one way of exposing it to the people that matter like the Simon Cowell's and the Louis Walsh's of the world. The hype definately helps you get the ball rolling. Cant say we would complain if there were lots of screaming girls shouting about us!! As far as the music side of things the idea of selling out is a bad thing in the hard working musicians ideology, that a band should slug away at the music scene and eventually will get their rewards etc but we feel that there should be a bit of give and take like selling songs for syncing is the way forward! Making great music is always fantastic but getting paid is always a bonus and a rare bonus at that.

What's the most irritating thing about being in a band?

Being in the van on the road, waiting to get to a show. I mean you'd easily spend 7 – 8 hours in the van getting to a venue and back and then when you get there, there's all this waiting around to soundcheck, and then there's waiting to play. The time spent waiting is the most irritating thing about it, but when your playing to a crowd of folks who have taken the time to come and support you it makes it all worth while.

What are three things that most people don't know about the band or band members?

Nobody is called John or Shelly in the band.

Kev, our drummer, used to be a hand model.

Ger is currently working on bringing out his own line of male lingerie…