2018's Stability was an absolute gem of a record, winning a bunch of highly deserved plaudits, most notably Album of the Year at the NI Music Prize in the year of its release.
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I'm not sure I mention enough how much I bloody love Snow Patrol. Also pretty sure I don't mention enough how much I bloody love Biffy Clyro. I do tell anybody listening how much I bloody love Rocky O'Reilly, but that's by the by.
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LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. The Florentinas, four young upstarts from Northern Ireland making all the right kinds of tune led, gritty noises. They've been supporting tons of great bands back home and are generally being all kinds of exciting. Their new single, Weatherman is out right now, lovingly produced and mix by our boy Rocky O'Reilly.
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I’ll be honesty, we missed posting about this earlier in the month because of summer holidays, but Roe’s fantastic single Cruel, co-written, produced and mixed by Belfast’s finest, Rocky O’Reilly, was made Track of the Week on BBC Introducing on Radio 1, and was playlisted on the station.
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Produced, engineered and mixed from his Belfast home, Start Together, HAVVK premiered their newest single Home on Hot Press last week. It’s more highly politicised, hook laden magic from the Dublin based band and sounds absolutely enormous played very, very loud.
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Change of scene for Mr Rocky O’Reilly on this one. Recently Rocky was invited to mix the soundtrack to Lost Lives, a major cinematic film inspired by the book of the same name, a record of the circumstances of every individual who lost their lives in the Northern Irish ’Troubles.’
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This one’s loads of fun. The Clockworks are an amazing new band from Loughrea in County Galway, recently signed to Creation23, the new label venture from Alan McGee. Can I Speak To A Manager is a snarling piece of punk, expertly mixed by Belfast’s own Rocky O’Reilly, and has already been picking up love at DSPs and on national radio.
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Despite not being able to get into his main central Belfast hangout, Start Together, Rocky’s been spending the lockdown hammering away at mixes. One of the fruits of his labour is this awesome new single from Rhode Island Nintendocore pioneers and frequent collaborators Math The Band.
The track’s called Duel of the Deer and I’m not even going to bother trying to explain what it sounds like. Go take a listen to this gloriously upbeat, wonky, refreshing slice of pop rock.
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Rocky O’Reilly and Northern Irish post-rock firebrands …And So I Watch You From Afar go way back. He produced and mixed their first three records, all of which are regarded as seminal albums in the genre. Indeed, Rocky pretty much built his studio Start Together in its first incarnation to record their first, self titled album.
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Been a big month for Rocky O’Reilly’s own musical projects. His nerd-rap collaboration with Atlanta’s Tribe One has been picking up radio play on the UK’s 6Music and today he previews the fruits of his collaboration with Belfast musician Ryan McGroarty
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The nicest man in rock/pop/weirdo production is being a super nice guy again, and has released a new single from his long-dormant Malibu Shark Attack project in aid of Bandcamp’s Juneteenth campaign. Bandcamp are abolishing all sales fees and donating profits to the NAACP’s Legal Defence Fund.
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So Rocky O’Reilly is best known for making loud, ambitious, sonically mind-melting records. He’s really, really good at it. What he’s less known for is his killer work on pop and hip-hop, his knack for melody and amazing programming skills (as well as his wild collection of synthesisers). It always excites me when he gets to show off this side of his personality. Today is one such opportunity, as his first track with Dublin’s Tebi Rex is released.
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Belfast’s foremost provider of record production services and good vibes, Mr Rocky O’Reilly has been offering out ample advice for local musicians during these unprecedented (I know, I know, I’m fucking sick of that word too) times. A lot of advice has been really confusing as to how creatives can take advantage of grants and support schemes. Rocky’s taken the time to create a guide to what he’s learned over the last couple of weeks. You can take a look on the Start Together website here.
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Northern Ireland’s finest Rocky O’Reilly indulged in a Transatlantic love in earlier this year, mixing the new single Wet Cement from Providence, Rhode Island’s Math The Band. A surprise release this 420, it’s the first track from their forthcoming album, Flange Factory Five, coming later this year.
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