Kristen Sinclair

 “Wait, are they covering the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song?” Ciara abruptly detracts from what she was saying to point out the gimmicky chug coming from the next room. The rest of Problem Patterns burst into laughter. The band are sitting in a circle on the floor of their rehearsal space off the Springfield Road, a cosy studio littered with battered sofas and cables. Ciara and Alanah sip on iced coffees; Beth and Bev unpack their kit as we chat. Their neighbours have unknowingly joined in on a private joke. “Thomas the Tank Engine was pivotal in album recording,” Alanah laughs. “We’d just stick it on whenever we needed cheering up.” The band are still recovering from their first live set of the year at the Atlantic Bar in Portrush the previous weekend. When I ask how it was, they answer in a chorus of superlatives – amazing, electrifying, sweaty. The sold-out goodbye gig for the iconic north coast venue saw Problem Patterns take to the stage alongside ASIWYFA, Brand New Friend...

Marcus Keeley has reinvented himself on TikTok. Comedian and veteran of the Belfast creative scene, you may know him from his detailed reviews of unremarkable places, from Homebase to Applegreen to the dump, narrated in his signature witty monotone. His most popular, a visit to Tesco in Newtownbreda, has been viewed over 584,000 times. “Occasionally [TikTok] would offer me these ‘aspirational’ review style videos of people going out for a fairly standard meal or spending a night glamping in Fermanagh as if it was a life-changing experience. I’m not denying folk having a nice time, but the express reason of these videos seemed to me to be to make it more than what it is. A lot of the time they come off as quite insincere too, which just led me to questioning why these videos were being made at all. From boredom these sorts of videos inspired in me, I rattled off a few clips of very mundane, everyday experiences but presented in the same style of an influencer. It turns out that going to...

Fiona McDonnell’s work is all over Belfast. From the Ulster Sports Club to the Sunflower bar to the clothing of passers-by, you’ve probably seen it without even realising. Fiona designs posters, prints, stickers, T-shirts and album sleeves – her work reaches all corners of the city’s creative scene and beyond. Think bright colours, eye-catching text and often political subject matter with her signature injection of colour, humour and flair. The illustrator’s digital brush has brought dancing horses to life for local clubbing institution Ponyhawke and made Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams a little friendlier than we remember them. Her work provides a welcome splash of brightness to the often dreary place we call home. “I love an obnoxiously bright colour palette! I use very limited colour palettes and tend to pick between two to five set complementary colours. It’s funny because in real life I’m known for wearing all black, I feel like all my love for colour is expressed through my illustrat...

Off the back of my Verge article 'The Twitch Streamers Fighting to Keep Minority Languages Alive' , I was invited to chat with California-based film maker Fox Nakai about my research for the piece to be featured in his newsletter and upcoming documentary project Mixed Feelings . You can watch a preview of the interview below and on his site : Check out the Mixed Feelings trailer and Fox Nakai's portfolio here .

“I’m going get my piano tuned now, I’m very excited!” chirps Amy Montgomery as we wrap up our call. The 20-year-old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is just over a week away from the release of her debut EP following two new music videos, a string of singles and touring as far away as Australia. The culmination of four years’ work, Intangible is twenty-one minutes of powerful alt rock with squalls of guitar feedback lifted by bright, fluttering synths and vocal prowess akin to Janis Joplin, Alanis Morissette and even Miley Cyrus. Raised on classic rock, Amy’s sound gives a subtle nod to the music that nourished her, but she manages to rise above her influences. “I’ve been surrounded by music since I was born and in my house growing up. My dad is a big muso, he loves all sorts of rock music and I would hear AC/DC from no age. I picked up the guitar after my dad inspired me to; he plays the guitar as well and taught me my first few chords. I have this memory from when I was...

Peter J. McCauley, image courtesy of Chordblossom Peter J. McCauley has spent much of lockdown watching RuPaul’s Drag Race with his wife. Aside from working on his latest LP Amnesty , the singer and multi-instrumentalist has already caught up to season 11. “I like to live in an alternate reality where my opinion on drag artistry matters,” he laughs. It’s a rare period of rest for the Belfast native who is more often found on the road, once touring these islands in a Transit van behind the drum kit for Mojo Fury, and more recently at festivals across the world as Rams’ Pocket Radio. Under his former alias, McCauley released a string of EPs and singles and a concept album, B é ton , in 2013. Four years ago, he decided to record under his own name and delivered Liminals , his first EP as Peter J. McCauley. Following a long stint on the road and recording documental album Voices of Belfast , two years of work has lead up to in the release of his first full length unrestrained by his form...

Source: Las Vegas Weekly Bruce Fielder, better known as Sigala , answers the phone from his studio in London. Having racked up two billion audio streams, six Top 10 singles and the highest-charting dance debut of 2018, the superstar DJ and producer is preparing for a mammoth tour that will take him across the globe: “I’m really looking forward to travelling to different places where I haven’t played as much. Some places on the tour I haven’t played before but there’s a fan base there, so it’s going to be amazing to perform for and meet these people.” Sigala’s mind-boggling success is almost at odds with the down-to-earth, exuberant Englishman on the other end of the line. He talks touring, the power of music and his exceptional knack for writing a hook. As a lifelong pianist with a penchant for soulful voices, EDM mightn’t have seemed like an obvious avenue for Sigala: “For me, everything starts with the song. When I write a piece of music, it will generally be with a singer at ...

Source: @snowpatrol on Instagram Getting a thirteen-piece band together to rearrange twenty-five years’ worth of songs for a two-and-a-half-hour set is no mean feat. Incorporating strings, brass, slide guitar and an intermission, this is no ordinary gig rehearsal. For founding Snow Patrol member and drummer Jonny Quinn , it’s just part of his day job. “We have about over a hundred songs to learn, but it’s good fun,” the Bangor native tells the Gown from his home in London. “It’s great to reimagine the songs for ourselves, as well as the people who really enjoy hearing them in different ways.” Following a seven-year hiatus, last year’s gold-certified Wildness was their last LP since 2011’s Fallen Empires . Now, the NI legends are back and jumping in at the deep end with a new album and tour. To mark their 25 th anniversary, the five-piece are releasing Reworked , a re-imagining of thirteen of their classic tracks, as well as three new songs. Fans were teased with two Rewo...

Source: Die Morgen This interview was conducted on behalf of the now-defunct GiggingNI in 2018. When GiggingNI calls Ed Lay , he’s got the small issue of a broken shower on his hands. At home in Somerset, housekeeping and rehearsals are keeping him busy before heading out on tour for three months. When not dealing with such mundanities, he is most likely to be found behind the drum kit for Editors , arguably Britain’s most successful post-punk outfit. Hot on the heels of summer festival season, the Birmingham five piece are preparing for a string of dates across the UK and Europe to promote their latest LP, Violence . Belfast’s Ulster Hall will play host to Editors on 15 th October, the band’s first gig in the city in three years. It’s a pleasant coincidence then that a Northern Irish band played such a seminal role in Ed Lay’s musical education.  “My first gig was a band called Therapy? at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire; it’s just that feeling, the power of the bass in...