THE debut album from Brighton based band Warsaw Radio comes out this week. Fronted by Limerick man Brian McNamara Warsaw Radio have picked up radio plays and praise for their output since forming in 2013.
BBC 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins is a fan as is 2fm’s Dan Hegarty who called them “ones to watch”
In the run up to the album launch, Limerick Post had a chat with Brian McNamara (his dad is radio legend Michael McNamara)
This album for Brian is a labour of love which has been in the works since late 2016.
“We put our heart and soul into this project – its great it has got to the stage when we are about to release the album. It has been a long road.”
Brian moved to Brighton eight years ago. A vibrant live and arts scene in the UK town on the southern coast and easy proximity to London attracted Brian to make the move – to kick start his music career.
“When I was living in Limerick eight years ago, about every two weeks there would be an open mic gig in the city. As a metric of the music scene here – when you look at Brighton you have got 40 open mic sessions a week.”
In the autumn of 2016 McNamara approached Mercury nominated producer Jag Jago (The Maccabees, Florence Welch) at Brighton Electric Studios with demo tracks and this led to the release in Feb 2017 of their debut single ‘After Eve’ which drew positive attention from radio in the UK and Ireland.
Producer JJ Jago originally from Singapore produced the album for Warsaw Radio and brought a broad church of influences to the recording.
“ He is a guitarist from a hard-core metal band. He is very adaptable. His first love is hard core metal stuff but as a producer he has worked with pop acts, folk acts as well as rock acts. – He has an eclectic taste and he brings a lot of ideas to the table.”
First track on the album ‘Midnight Broadcast’ and current single from Warsaw Radio is ‘Ms Monroe’.
This is a wonderful rockin’ blues track that perfectly showcases a tight band and Brian’s husky expressive voice. Expect to hear lots of this song on radio. BBC Radio 6 are already supporting the song.
The song and its video takes inspiration from the relationship between filmmaker Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe. The narrative imagines Monroe giving advice on relationships after the break down of her relationship with Miller when they were filming what would be Monroe’s last film (‘The Misfits’) in Reno, Nevada.
“I was at Brighton Fringe Festival and saw a play about Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe and came home and wrote that song. The song imagines what advice Marilyn would give to a friend about men.”
Brian’s lyrics have a have a storyteller quality and he says he aims to avoid the usual singer/songwriter cliches.
“Some advice I got from a songwriter years ago was that it is good to look at external sources and take other influences and try a divorce yourself from the stuff.
“There have been so many songs written about love. You are trying to come from different angles. A bit like a fiction writer – it gives you a lot more room for innovation!”
While opportunities were few and far between in Limerick for Brian when he left the city for Brighton eight years ago. He and his band return to play a new, revitalised Limerick, a city now with a music scene – you will find an open mic sessions every night mid-week in Limerick – just check out the Listings Page in this paper.
Brian works with The British & Irish Modern Music Institute which has bases in Dublin, London and beyond – a college which numbers George Ezra and James May among its past pupils.
It is a job that fits perfectly with Brian’s musical ambitions for Warsaw Radio. Brighton inspires the songwriter. It has the Galway arts scene vibe, about 200,000 people so it feels like a home from home for Brian.
“Yeah, it fits with the music – I genuinely feel blessed and lucky!”
Warsaw Radio play Dolan’s on Friday March 30.
