The Mayo News

Director’s lens focuses on Castlebar


Going out
Ciara Moynihan

Irish pop-rock quartet Director might be off touring on foreign shores at the moment, but they return to the Auld Sod with a bang when they play the Royal Theatre Castlebar on Friday, October 30.
Top of agenda for the band is the promotion of their much-anticipated second album, ‘I’ll Wait For Sound’, which was released in May and charted at No 11 in the Irish charts. Two singles have been released from the album so far – ‘Sing It Without A Tune’ and ‘Moment to Moment’.
Since their debut on the Irish scene in 2005, Director’s crafted, intelligent guitar music has stood them apart from the usual suspects. Their first album, the Choice Music Prize-nominated ‘We Thrive on Big Cities’ (Atlantic Records), peaked at No 2 in the Irish charts and went on to go multi-platinum.
The story of the band’s formation may be familiar – three college friends jam together, have fun, realise they could do more, find a drummer, a band is born. However, that’s where the conventional pattern ends: In everything they have done, the band have demonstrated an atypical and business-like directness.
The de rigueur posturing of the typical indie-group is absent.  The goal was always to write accessible, immediate, enjoyable pieces of music. Director constructed their songs with a strictly pop sensibility, refusing to compromise on either artistry or mass-appeal.  Their first volley of live shows couldn’t fail to win converts.  The sheer speed with which they commanded major-label attention was no fluke. They meant business from the very beginning.
Soon Director was playing to packed-out venues across Ireland and commanding large crowds at Oxegen. Accolades were forthcoming too, and they won Best New Act at the Meteor Awards 2007. Their following across the Irish Sea grew thanks to a series of support slots for successful British acts like Hard-Fi, Razorlight and The Fratellis, along with numerous festival appearances.
The band’s second album is described as ‘a powerful, integral set of interrogatory reflections on romantic love, with a new, leaner sound’. It was recorded in Los Angeles over seven weeks in the home studio of producer Brad Wood (Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, Placebo), who was eager to work on the album.
Commenting on the experience, guitar-player Eoin Aherne explained: “Brad had so much experience. Nothing fazed him and he really allowed us to go about the recording exactly as we wanted. He just imposed some discipline on moving fast, not getting bogged down in the little things, things that had really slowed us down and taken the spontaneity out before.” Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian), who had worked with the band before, was again happily drafted to mix the album.
So does this second album take the band in a new direction? “You can expect a much harder sound than the first album, but mixed with some of the softest, most delicate tracks we’ve ever recorded. I think we’ve captured more of the live essence of Director this time round,” says front man Michael Moloney.
For tickets to the Castlebar show (€20 each), contact The Royal Box Office on 0818 300000. To find out more about the band and sample their music, check out www.directormusic.co.uk .

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