After 12 years, six albums and myriad side projects, one could forgive The Redneck Manifesto for catching a dose of music weariness, but they're fresher than ever, they tell JIM CARROLL
TIME TO ROUND ’em up again. Every couple of years, the five members of The Redneck Manifesto hear the call. They leave other musical projects and guises to one side, fly in from far-flung spots, gather in Matthew Bolger’s shed and jam out a new record.
The new one is called Friendshipand it reminds you never to underestimate the ability of a bunch of determined musicians to locate and fine-tune previously unmapped and untapped grooves.
Due to other demands on TRM's time, the period between releases may be increasing – it's four years since their last release, Seven Stabs– but the momentum and intensity hasn't changed since 1998, when five youthful cadets from the Dublin scene first came together.
In a Dublin bar, guitarist Niall Byrne considers what the passing of time has brought. “When we started, we were very active because we were younger. Everything was new so everything was exciting and sounded great to us. We were very prolific and active in terms of gigs and releases.
“That has faded over the years, because if we’d stayed operating at that level, we’d have burnt out. The biggest difference now is that we have more quality control. We’d do something and realise it sounds like something we’ve done already, so we either change it or scrap it. Our involvement in the band may be less but it hasn’t diminished our love for it.”
Many miles away in Sweden, where he’s been based for the past few years, fellow guitarist Matthew Bolger believes being in TRM has become second nature for the five of them. “We pride ourselves on being musicians who can express what’s in our heads though our instruments,” he says. “But our competence only exists now because we’ve spent so many years playing off each other and pushing each other.
“When we play, we lock into each other and how each one of us plays. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, and we slot in alongside one another really easily. I know that if Niall sends me a guitar riff that he has written, he will leave space in it for me to play with him.”
As the new album title suggests, a dozen years together brings other advantages. “The band have been together so long now that we’re very open with one another,” notes Byrne. “I’ve no problem laying into one of the others knowing full well that they won’t take offence.”
For drummer Mervyn Craig, the reduction in quantity has been matched by an increase in quality. “Because we don’t gig as much now, the shows and tours we do are more of an event for us. We’re not like some young band who’re playing in Dublin every month. We do just one or maybe two in the city a year.”
The reason for this is band members are now as much associated with solo runs as TRM. Richie Egan’s Jape releases, the San Francisco-based Neil O’Connor’s electronic adventures as Somadrone and Bolger’s work as a visual artist often receive as much attention and profile as TRM.
Byrne terms the relationship between band and solo projects a “happy co-existence”, though he wonders aloud what would happen if there was more band activity. “If we start to put more emphasis on the band, saying we have to do this and this, it might add more pressure that none of us want. At the moment, we take it very seriously and give it our all, but it’s still a very relaxed band. If you start applying deadlines and putting down goals, you might lose all that. I wouldn’t mess with it.”
“We allow each other the space to do these different things,” adds Bolger.
"When Richie released Ritual, we just chilled out on the Rednecks to allow him concentrate on that, and no one was bitter about it. We've never argued with each other about the solo stuff. It's a laidback situation. It's like a stoner rock band, but where none of us smoke."
Friendshipwas a long time in the works because of that lack of a deadline. "There was a long gap between this one and the last one because we were in no rush," says Craig. "We scrapped a lot of stuff because it didn't sound right or didn't grab our attention. I think there's much more of a coherence on this one compared to our other releases."
“We were much more opinionated about the sounds we wanted to get. Before, it was a case of ‘that will do, that’s grand’,” says Byrne. “My ambition, and I don’t know if I’d even call it that, was to make music and be in a band creating music that I would like and listen to, and that hasn’t changed.”
Byrne, Bolger and Craig see TRM continuing in this way. When the time comes to make a new record or tour (a Japanese tour is on the cards for September, for instance), all five will be ready.
“I think our goal now as a band is to compose music together as a bunch of friends,” says Bolger. “We’re not looking to get signed, and even touring is a bonus. There is no final destination.
“I feel that any one of us could move anywhere and not have any communication with the others for years and still be able to hook up with the others and play when the mood hits. I’d like to think I’ll move back to Ireland some day, and when I’m 60, I can still call Niall up and we’ll jam and record.”
Friendship is out now on Richter Collective. The Redneck Manifesto play Electric Picnic 2010, Stradbally, Co Laois, in September
