Anna Murray posted on February 23, 2009 18:00
With Sea Saw, Lisa Hannigan has finally broken her last ties with Damien Rice and established herself as an artist worth watching. Her nomination for the Choice Music Prize is unneeded proof of her acceptance by critics as well as the listening public. She took a few minutes off from her US tour to answer some questions for Cluas...
Tell us about the album. How long you worked on it? What snags you hit along the way, and how you overcame them? Looking back now, is there anything you'd change?
I was working on it for about a year before recording, writing and arranging the songs and then rehearsing them with the band. We recorded it in two weeks in march in the cauldron. There were no snags really, it just took a bit of time to find the right people to work with.
Award nominations aside, were you happy with the response the album received?
Absolutely, although I tried not to read too many reviews the response at the gigs was brilliant. Hearing a song on the radio was great too.
How do you feel about the idea of music awards in general?
I don't know, it's a funny one. I'm just very happy to be in a list with Richie Egan!
Do you think the idea of the album is a little antiquated in these days of single track downloading and plummeting CD sales?
Not at all.. not for me anyway. I'm a big fan of album artwork too and you miss out on that if you download stuff.
Do you feel the Irish music scene is in a healthy state at the moment?
I think Ireland always has a healthy music scene as it's so ingrained on our culture. There's so many great venues to play around the country at the moment too.
Any artists who weren't nominated for the Choice Award, who you feel should have been?
Loads. In particular I liked One Day International's Blackbird and Fred's Go God Go.
Your favourite album from those also nominated for the Prize?
Jape's Ritual is an amazing record and Mick Flannery's White Lies is beautiful too. I like all the one's I've heard actually.
Best gig you went to in 2008?
It'd have to be Bon Iver's gig in Tripod which was incredible.
Plans for 2009?
Play more gigs, write more songs, finding my missing cat.
Any recommendations for the coming year (music or otherwise) you have to offer Cluas readers?
Keep an eye out for my cat!
Anna Murray
More ...
[Read More...]