Your New Favourite Band: The Cast Of Cheers interview

Coming bounding out of the blocks as the new year gathers speed, Dubliners The Cast Of Cheers unleash a ballsy post-punk racket that's every bit as impressive as their moniker. Describing themselves as sounding "like the end of the world and dancing", the band have decided to offer superb debut album 'Chariot' for free download here: http://bit.ly/blnd7m. A raucous assault of angular riffs and insistent vocals, it's what Death From Above 1979 might sound like if they were trapped in a lift with Battles and Foals. Get there early and jump around to these guys, they might just be your favourite new band...

You guys are currently the talk of the town - or at least our little Irish internet town (On The Record, Nialler9 etc) - have you been encouraged by the reception you've received thus far? 

Big time! Completely overwhelmed by the response, it's been amazing. We couldn't have asked for a better reception. It's made us really excited for the live shows.

Do you think introducing yourselves by offering your album for free has helped that? That people are essentially being presented with a fully formed band rather than being offered snippets of a new band before an album has even been thought about.

The band was always about pace. We formed in October and had the album almost finished by christmas. Giving the album out free online seemed like the fastest way to get people to listen to it. 

What made you decide to give the album away for free? Is it an increasingly more realistic way of starting out?

We wanted as many people as possible to hear it, so giving it away for free was the solution. Download culture is so big these days that we figured it was the quickest way to get out and be heard. Bands have to change with the times, after all a rolling stone gathers no moss. 

Were you able to record it relatively cheaply then? (It sounds anything but by the way)

No, in fact to fund the album we've been turning tricks as lab guinea pigs. It was cheap with regards to professional recording standards but it took it's toll on our wallet on account of the times we live in. We recorded at Trackmix in Blanchardstown with the extremely patient Mick Richards who managed to capture the exact sound we wanted. We can't recommend him highly enough.

You've pretty much appeared to come out of nowhere but you've been in bands before, right? Tell us a bit about your background.

John played oboe solos in new york for 3 years before taking up the bass. Its a long story but basically, a bass stole his oboe. Conor, neil and Kev played in a little known band called The Sex Biscuits who then became ABAM who then became Rich Tea who then became ABAM which was a strange rock band with lots of mental riffs and weird timing. The main thing is, we're here now as The Cast of Cheers... 

Who came up with the name? It's brilliant.

We shortlisted about 50 names on a scrap of paper and The Cast of Cheers was a joke on the end of the list. Turns out it was the best one by far. 

And on the name, who are each of the band's favourite Cheers cast members?

The guy from Fraiser, the guy from Becker, the guy from King Pin and Carla.

There are a number of Irish bands currently turning their amps up pretty high and shouting pretty loud - yourselves, ASIWYFA, Adebisi Shank, Bats and Jogging to name a few - is there something in the water? Does a broken economy make you play louder?

We've been playing in bands for years and we're all half deaf at this stage. 

What's the plan then for the next few months?

Gig, gig, gig, record, gig, gig, gig, record! hopefully tour places like UK, japan and europe.

And finally, who are your favourite new bands?

Can't wait to hear Jogging's new album, they're in the studio at the moment. Super Extra Bonus Party have a new album coming out in May, really looking forward to that one. Not Squares sound amazing too and they have a new album coming out. I believe Adebisi Shank are writing their second album too and that's also going to be awesome! Basically the Irish scene right now is exploding with creativity!

The Cast of Cheers play a Ragged Words show at Dublin's Twisted Pepper on Saturday with Hunter-Gatherer and Jogging. Early 8 euro tickets are available here.