Earlier today JOE was invited down to the official reopening of HMV on Henry Street to have a look around and a chat with the chilled out Irish rockers The Strypes.
For those of us who enjoy the felling that comes with buying a physical CD or DVD the past couple of months have been strange, what with HMV closing down. Thankfully, the HMV flagship store on Henry Street is back open for business and it looks like nothing has changed.
JOE was down at the store earlier today and after having a gander around the shop, which felt strangely nostalgic, we we caught up with the four-piece rhythm and blues band hailing from Cavan better known as The Strypes.
We managed to get down to the basement where the band was warming up for their HMV reopening set and we got to hear their rendition of ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover’ originally recorded by Bo Diddley. Check it out below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plBtjQekyN4
The band consists of Ross Farrelly (lead vocals/harmonica), Josh McClorey (lead guitar/vocals), Pete O’Hanlon (bass guitar/harmonica) & Evan Walsh (drums) and if the lads were any more laid back they’d be lying down.
Talking about their recent packed out set at Electric Picnic the lads said they really didn’t expect to be playing the second largest stage at the festival, but they were glad to get the opportunity.
As for the future the lads have their sights firmly set being rock stars and they were adamant that going back to school was not an option. Speaking about school Evan said, “Well, we left school roughly about a year ago, so it’s a full time thing. It’s the kind of thing when an opportunity like this comes along you have to take it and see where it takes you.”
As for going on tour the lads said that even though they’ve sold out several shows in Japan they’re not letting it go to their heads. “We don’t really think about that sort of thing. It’s great to sell out shows, but you have to keep yourself grounded otherwise it can go to your head very quickly.”
The Strypes debut album Snapshot is set for release on September 9 and you can check out more about it over here. You’ll also be able to pick up a hard version of the copy in HMV on Henry Street… for old times’ sake.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
