Former frontman with Oxford, UK band Supergrass, Gaz Coombes and his new band will give Limerick a live airing of the critically acclaimed new solo album ‘Matador’ this weekend.
by Eric FitzGerald
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Supergrass made six albums, had worldwide hits with ‘Alright’, ‘Sun Hits The Sky’, ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’ and ‘Moving’, before disbanding in 2010.
2015’s ‘Matador’ is Gaz Coombes’ second solo album, he has not lost the art of writing great pop songs,
“A Bastion of British songwriting” said The Guardian, though the subject matter and sounds he uses today are of a deeper darker hue.
Matador deals with Coombes self-doubt, personal loss and drug-induced tour burnout on an album with an aural backdrop that is far removed from the big guitar sound of his former outfit.
“It is really exciting to pursue different ways of recording. It was in my mind not to repeat myself in any way,” Gaz told Limerick Post Newspaper.
“I was starting with loops or a set of piano chords, so the backdrop is different. It gave me the freedom to explore ideas that were exciting me.”
In his strongest hint yet as to why Supergrass called it a day, Gaz admits that making his solo albums is a very different setup to working alongside three other people.
“It is really enjoyable, there is time to experiment without someone else in the room getting bored going, ‘Nah, I don’t really like that’.”
A classic case of musical differences that led to Supergrass splitting up.
It was 20 years ago that Supergrass released their debut album, ‘I Should CoCo’. It was a indie pop punk classic. Their single ‘Alright’ became a huge international hit putting Supergrass at the forefront of the Britpop music explosion in the mid nineties joining hitmakers Suede, Blur and Oasis. It was an era when Gaz Coombes and the band would challenge for the top of the charts alongside other newcomers Elastica, Sleeper and Ocean Colour Scene. In 1995 NME voted Supergrass Best New Band; Q Magazine made them Best New Act of the Year
While ‘Alright’ was a massive hit for Supergrass, ‘I Should CoCo’ was filled with short, sharp witted punk anthems ‘Caught by The Fuzz’ and ‘Lenny’.
Gaz remembers, “I’m really proud of that record. A great album and a lot of good times, you know!”
2015 for Gaz has been, “an amazing, great few months” since the release of ‘Matador’, proclaimed his “masterpiece” by Q Magazine.
“The success of the record happened organically, not with thousands of pounds being spent on promoting it. I’ts great to have that raw, ground up progression.”
It is always a nerve wracking moment when an artist has to take a great record onto the live stage. For this, Gaz has assembled a five piece band.
“They are just great players. They have picked up quickly on how to translate the record live. People are enjoying listening to the record and that seems to be converting to the live show.
“It is almost quite old-school, like how it felt when I first started out in Supergrass.”
Gaz Coombes also opens for Paolo Nutini at Marlay Park, Dublin on July 4. Gaz Coombes and his band play Dolan’s this Friday May 8.
