The Band Wagon TV

You are browsing the archives of 2009 July.

It’s fair to say that Springsteen, Ryan Adams and Robert Zimmerman are Remy’s Father, Son and Holy Ghost. This core trinity have collectively, unbeknownst to themselves, formed a roadmap which Remy will follow. Taking their direction, but always finding his own way.

Originally formed in 2005, the band have seen many changes in their lineup. “Some of our ex-band mates started families and found it difficult tojuggle it all. We are all still on great terms and we’re even thinking ofstarting a Doris fans club for tots!”, said lead singer Phil Redmond.

There’s a fine tradition of Vans in music: Van Halen, Van Morrison, Vanilla Ice… On the screen too: Van Damme, Van Dyke and of course the greatest cinematic badass of them all, Mr. Lee Van Cleef. As a band, Van Cleef are built on too much TV and not enough sleep, on rock guitars and pop hooks that could take your eye out. Formed in the ‘V’ section of a second-hand record shop in central Dublin in 2006, their common affection for the upbeat pop of early Blur, the acoustic-punk of the Violent Femmes, and the hard rock of Guns N Roses began to produce a flood of 3-chord 3-and-a-half-minute songs celebrating their pop culture obsessions, with titles such as ‘Meet Me in Vietnam’, ‘Scarlett Johansson’ and ‘One of the Cosbys’.

For songwriter and guitarist Guion Pratt, understanding the story of a place is the first step to discovering the stories of the people there, so it’s only fitting that the genesis of his current project took place late one night in the not-so-distant past on the grounds of the rock-historic Slane Castle