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Aaron McMullan has spent much of the past three years building a modest but committed band of blessed supporters and well-wishers via both irregular appearances at local venues and the release of five internet-only free-to-download “net-records”. The success of these lo-fi, hissy, reverb-soused recordings led, in part, to the development of a close relationship between McMullan and ExLibris Records, a relationship which culminated in the craggy-toothed bugger’s signing to the label in late 2006. The debut album, Yonder! Calliope? is due for release this summer, with a tour of the UK and Ireland set autumn.. McMullan is joined on the record by a cast of incredibly talented musicians and performers, including Ex Libris alumni Ryan H Fleming, Andy Warmington, Brian Magee, Rebecca Jones and Andrew Gardiner, who also took care of mixing, producing and arranging duties.
Online music critic Mark Saleski has bantered as follows with regards McMullan’s music; |
"Artists both famous and obscure have spoken at length about The Muse. Just where does that inspiration come from? Let's face it, we'll never know. To try and narrow in on a supposed "idea diamond" is to waste time that none of us can afford."
"Still, there's one resonant line of thought and that's the concept of a universal song, broadcast continuously to a select few. Those lucky ones who can tune in have no say in the matter. The ideas just flow, relentlessly, and are often the cause of great difficulty. Those raw thoughts have power - they know what they want to become. The artist may have other ideas, and that collision of the mind against the infinite can be a brutal one. When there's success, you can hear it."
"That's exactly what I hear when listening to Aaron McMullan: that he has no choice about making this music and, lucky for us and our ears, those raw thoughts have been harnessed."
Speaking about himself (his second favourite topic after The Cinema Of Kirsten Dunst), McMullan says;
"I write songs about what interests me. Me, mostly, but also religion and lassies and laddies and sleeping pills and daydreams and curious combinations of the aforementioned. I’ve been accused of being excessively emo, and maybe I am, but also, there’s a fair dose of country and folk and punk and what not in there, all genres in which a man can get away with not being fit to sing a note nor strum a damn chord, if’n the songs are maybe worth hearing. And I hope maybe they are. Mean, I did get 17 – that’s seventeen - votes on the NME unsigned page a few months back. This might not seem like much, but I’ll remind you that it’s 17 more than Led Zeppelin got, and also, it means I’m more than eligible to appear on next year’s Celebrity Big Brother."
You can visit Aaron McMullan on MySpace or at his own site here.
Albums
Yonder! Caliope?)
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Download high-res photos of Aaron and Yonder! Calliope?
Article's and Interviews
Interview at Blogcritics - Part One
Interview at Blogcritics - Part Two
Interview at agentbedhead.com
Confessions of a Fanboy - 'Yonder! Calliope?' Article
Article in the Dublin Post
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