Artist description a little from column a, a little from column b....

Music Style alternative, melodic

Musical Influences bob dylan, the frames, the beach boys, radiohead, jeff buckley

Similar Artists the frames, ash

Artist History Bernard Hunt bought a second-hand drum kit from the pages of "Buy & Sell" in June of 2000. He had never played the instrument before and had no knowledge of rhythms or timing yet, two weeks later, the Dead Flags came together for the first time. Formed when Hunt had decided to leave a garage band called "Index" due to one too many arguments with their guitarist and drummer, the band consisted of that group's reliable bass player, Richard McMahon, Hunt himself, who had been their lead singer and played no instrument, and Billy Fitzgerald, a guitarist and singer who had once jammed with the band to teach them a few songs but found them "too annoying". He wanted to form a four piece with Hunt on vocals, himself on guitar and McMahon on bass or drums (depending on who else they could find). After a long search for a fourth member, Hunt suggested that he should buy a drum kit and learn how to play, thus solving their difficulties and allowing them to fulfil the promise he believed they had. This changed Fitzgerald to the front but left them as a three-piece, something Fitzgerald didn't want, but would tolerate for now.Rehearsing a few times a week in Hunt's less-than-soundproof conservatory, the band played towards a pub gig at the end of the summer. Covering songs by Radiohead, the Frames and Ash, (all b-sides due to Fitzgerald's pompous wish not to play to the gallery and have the 'audience' actually listen rather than sing along) as well as one or two of their own, the band gained confidence and were ready to play. Fitzgerald, fearfully awaiting the results of his leaving cert. exams, quit smoking at the beginning of August to get his voice in better shape. This had quite the opposite effect and he began to lose his ability to reach as high as they had been practicing during the summer. After a particularly heavy night of drinking, singing and cigar smoking the night before his results, Fitzgerald lost his ability to sing entirely. It didn't return fully until two months later meaning their gig was cancelled and their hopes of demo-ing their original songs before Billy left for college were gone. This combined with the fact that Hunt and McMahon were now entering their own leaving certificate year, the band nearly split.The group had no physical contact with each other at all over the following three months, with Fitzgerald remaining in Dublin to study architecture and joining another band as rhythm guitarist/songwriter, until it was finally decided to produce an e.p. of their songs and record them in studio at Dublin City University. The cost of shipping all equipment and members to and from the studio for only four available days of recording proved too much as half of that time would have been spent in setting up, rehearsing and learning how to use the equipment anyway. The group elected to record using less advanced equipment but with far more time in St. John's Hall (below), a seldom used church hall in the centre of Sligo town. Unfortunately, bad weather and 7 inches of snowfall that week meant that there were only two rehearsals before the recording sessions. Being that the band had not played together for three months and had only played "Your Best Friend's Girlfriend" and truncated, primitive versions of "Break", "To Fall" and "Ever Lovin' Jesus" before the sessions, the group were worried and most of the songs were recorded as simply as possible in the hall and then all the recording equipment was shipped to Fitzgerald's house where he spent two and a half days finishing vocal, guitar and keyboard tracks before he transferred the final takes to computer where they were edited and outputted onto cd. Mondo Films took nine days from moving into the studio to its first printing onto cd. For the future, the band plan to record an e.p. of new songs in the summer of 2001 which may include a full band version of "Sligo" and an old song entitled "Betty", both of which were planned but abandoned during production of Mondo Films. After that, anything is possible. Byebye.

Group Members Bernard Hunt....drums & vocalsBilly Fitzgerald....guitar, keys & lead vocalsRicahrd McMahon....bass & vocals

Instruments Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano, Keyboard, Harmonica, Xylophone

Albums "Mondo Films" 2001 faceless recordings

Location Dublin, n/a - Ireland

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