Artist Advent Day 9: Still Blue
Written by: Keyali Mikaela
Introducing Still Blue, an up-and-coming indie-pop band driven by a passion for genuine, dynamic music. In this exclusive interview with Next Wave, the band—comprising Greg, Nicole, Ruairi, and Frank—opens up about their inspirations, the music industry's challenges, and the defining moments that have shaped their journey.
Join us on this musical odyssey as we unravel the talent and tales of Still Blue on Day 9 of Next Wave's Artist Advent Calendar. Prepare to dive into their vibrant sounds and captivating narratives, exploring a band poised for an exceptional voyage in the realm of indie pop.
—
Next Wave: What inspired you to pursue music?
Greg: It started from a young age, watching local rock bands performing in local pubs playing classic rock songs from thin lizzy to acdc. From there I was hooked on music and always felt a strong connection to it. Nothing has grabbed my attention more since that and it's led me down this amazing path.
Nicole: I’ve always been drawn to performing. When I was like 4, I ran up on the stage at a talent competition to sing because I was too young to enter. Thankfully, I’m not as much of a diva now. When it was time to think about college, I didn’t really consider anything else apart from pursuing music. I studied vocals at BIMM Dublin and here I am.
Ruairi: Like Greg, seeing bands play was so cool. I have always loved being involved in music, whether it's being a guitar tech, moving amps or just being involved in music was what i wanted to do. Then getting to play in a band was just the best feeling.
Frank: Going to local all ages metal shows when I was younger peaked my interest in performing music. Seeing the energy on stage and how much fun it could be to play with other musicians led me to join a band and practice my instrument more.
Next Wave: Who are your musical influences or role models?
Greg: A big role model for me would be Rick Rubin. He has produced 90% of what I grew up listening to and has influenced not only my taste, but the way I make music.
Nicole: I’m a big Swiftie, to be honest. Her album ‘Red’ very much inspired me to learn guitar and to start writing songs back when I was 13. I still see her influence in my songwriting today. In more recent years, I think Phoebe Bridgers’ music has been very influential. It’s very fun to nerd out and dissect her lyrics.
Ruairi: I have always loved bands like Paramore, Foo Fighters, and Fleetwood Mac, but seeing my friends play in bands when I was a teenager was what made me want to play music
Frank: The creativity and musical output of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard has always inspired me to branch out and explore different genres. It’s amazing to me that one band can have so much variety in their discography.
Next Wave: What's the most challenging aspect of breaking into the music industry?
Greg: It's difficult to find your own sound when there is so much music out there, but learning to be more authentic with our tastes and expressions has helped us gain more exposure.
Nicole: For me, I’d say it’s the keeping up with it and being able to continually work your hardest. It is very rewarding, thankfully, and if one of us really isn’t feeling it one day, the rest will carry the load. I think it's very important to surround yourself with people who actively care ! We’re all in it together really.
Ruairi: I don’t think we know. I feel like we very much are still on the side of breaking into the music industry.
Next Wave: How do you go about promoting your music and building your fanbase?
Ruairi: We spent a lot of time in the early days playing shows every few weeks and slowly gained fans and improved our live performance. We all work on our social media posts whether it’s a funny moment caught on a camcorder or a TikTok of Nicole playing the banjo,
Next Wave: How has technology and the internet impacted your music career?
Ruairi: Being able to record our first two songs from our bedroom was such an advantage when we couldn’t afford a studio and it was during the pandemic so we couldn’t leave the house.
Greg: Being able to use DAW’s like ableton & Protools gave us the ability to record our own music and express ourselves more as we don't have to describe what we want to someone else. We can just create it & record it directly, whether it's a synth sound, guitar tone etc.
Next Wave: Do you have any advice for other up-and-coming musicians trying to make it in the industry?
Nicole: We’re still very much early on in our career, we’ve only been a band for over 2 years, so we still need some advice! But, I think the best thing to do is just go for it and start writing, start jamming with people, find out what you want to sound like and get gigging! All you can do it try.
Ruairi: I wish I did. I still feel we haven’t been doing this long enough to have much advice but maybe focus on production and getting someone amazing (like Greg) to mix your song.
Greg: I have to agree with Ruairi here, getting to know the ins and outs of recording/production has helped us in such a huge way. We wouldn't have been able to record or demo half of our songs financially if we didn't know how to produce music ourselves.
Frank: Hire Greg
Next Wave: What are your long-term goals and aspirations?
Nicole: Being able to live sustainably by just doing music would be the dream. I do have a few funny goals all the same. 1. To have a song appear on a Discovery Ireland advert (preferably for Donegal). 2. To have a song in a FIFA game. 3. To feature in a Now That’s What I Call Music CD. I don’t think I’m asking for much haha
Ruairi: I don’t know. We are having so much fun getting to create music we like and play so many cool shows. I think the dream for us would be to make the band a full-time job, to be able to write, produce, and tour the world with our music.
Greg: I would love to be touring the world finding more and more people who resonate with our sound. I also love the idea of growing your sound and not getting stuck in a repeating cycle of the same style.
Frank: I’d like to keep playing live shows, it’s the most exciting thing about music for me
Next Wave: Can you share a memorable moment from your musical journey so far?
Ruairi: Getting to open up for The Academic in the 3Olympia was just something we had dreamt about doing for years. Getting to open for one of our favorite bands and playing the Olympia was just so surreal.
Nicole: One of my favourite gigs we played was last Christmas in my hometown in Donegal. We sold out the local pub and had all of my friends and family there. It was really wholesome and fulfilling. We also took shots of baby guinness half way through the set which was good craic.
Greg: Playing the late late show was definitely a life goal we all didn't expect to achieve this year and it happened. Definitely felt very surreal to see yourself on the TV and made all the nanas & mammy's very happy!!
Frank: The past summer has been quite memorable, we had the opportunity to play a few festivals which is something I’d been looking forward to all year - nothing better than hanging out and playing songs in a mucky field with your mates.
Next Wave: Can you share a little about your creative process and how you come up with new ideas for songs?
Ruairi: Usually, Nicole will write a song and play it at rehearsal and we kind of Jam it out and have a rough idea of what we are playing. I like to rethink my guitar parts before the studio just in case there is a better idea.
Greg: What Ruairi said but just imagine I said it.
Nicole: I’ll usually start writing with a little melody line that’s stuck in my head or a lyric that I like. I have hundreds of random lyrics saved in the notes app on my phone. As Ruairi and Greg said, we like to arrange the songs together and decide what direction the song should go.
Frank: Most recently, workshopping the songs with the guys is where most of the writing for the bass happens. Being able to play with Greg and bounce different rhythmic ideas off each other is usually what works for me to settle on a bassline that I’m happy with.
Next Wave: What song of yours would you recommend to someone who is listening to your music for the first time?
Nicole: I think ‘Lace’ encapsulates who we are a band. It showcases the best of our abilities. It is one of the more personal songs we play. I felt very vulnerable when I first shared it with the boys, I didn’t think it would be one we would release. But now, it is one of my favourite songs to perform live.
Ruairi: I think ‘Whatcha Gonna Do’ is a really fun song of ours. When me and Nicole recorded it, it was a really fun time for us and I feel that song represents that and us as a band.
Greg: I always like to throw ‘ladybird’ at people as I feel it has multiple mixtures of our styles there. It has a folk indie sound with this heavy rock ending that I love & feel people would resonate with.
Frank: ‘Fuzzy’ - I’m partly biased as the line is buckets of fun to play.
