(Credits: Far Out / New Dad)
“You a Thin Lizzy fan?” I ask Julie Dawson, NewDad frontwoman. “Massive,” she replies.
This wasn’t a lazy question that I ask all Irish rock bands; it came up after Dawson revealed that one of the first songs NewDad (or some iteration of that band) played together was ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ by the legendary Phil Lynott and Co. The band came together as they were in the same music class and didn’t want to perform alone.
“We were all in the same music class, and I hate performing by myself,” explained Dawson, “I knew Fiachra [Parslow] played drums and Áindle [O’Brien] played bass, so I was like ‘Let’s put something together’. We did one rehearsal for the practical, and obviously, I didn’t do very well, but that was kind of the start of it.”
Despite their first performance not resulting in high marks, the band loved playing together so much that they continued to do so. “That was when we were like 16, when we started the band,” she said, “And then for the next few years, when we were in school, we’d do the odd practice and maybe we’d have like two gigs a year. We were always just kind of lowkey, you know? Mum and Dad in the front kind of thing. We’re not spoiled for venue choices in Galway, except for The Róisín, obviously.”
From school projects to stages around the world, NewDad took the music scene by storm with their debut album Madra, as people fell in love with the dreamlike rock music that stood at the heart of every single track. Now, as the band gears up to release their second LP, Altar, Dawson admitted they struggle to truly appreciate how far they’ve come in what is (as far as the music industry is concerned) a relatively short period of time.
“I think we really struggled with taking it all in. I think because of the nature of this industry […] you always have to be pressing forward, you always have to be doing something, you have to be active,” explained Dawson, “It can very often be hard to stop and appreciate the things you have achieved because, you know, when someone talks about or brings up that we formed in school, it really is mad now that we’re over here doing this as our job.”
He continued, “I try to sit and reflect as much as I can, but you know, once something’s out there into the world, I just want to get on to the next thing, I want to have more music out, I want to show people that we’ve progressed even more.”
The progression that Julie is talking about comes in the form of the band’s second album, Altar, which has a similar overall tone to their debut but quite clearly highlights a real turning point in their creative endeavours. This is more than just an example of songwriting; it’s music as a form of sculpture, a form of art that is perfected by removing elements rather than adding them.
Michelangelo’s David began life as a big rock: no edges, no form, just one big rock that the Renaissance artist spied a masterpiece in. With hammer and chisel, he took to the stone and crafted a piece of art which continues to render even the most seasoned of gallery-goers breathless. NewDad do something similar on their album, as they built up a soundscape which was laden with atmosphere, and then removed elements to sculpt the sound lying underneath.
“The key thing for us is that nothing overshadows the song itself. We want to serve the song; we don’t want things that are unnecessary in there”.
Julie Dawson
“Our producer Sam [Breathwick], he’s brilliant at that,” Dawson continued, before discussing the band’s writing process, “Sometimes we’d have this big wall of sound, we’d have all these tracks in the project and then we’d start going ‘Okay, mute everything’, and then ‘Put that back in, put that back in’. That’s a really helpful part of the process that I think is really necessary for us.”
She continued, “I just loved the production so much. We knew that Sam was a brilliant producer, so it just felt really natural to then go in and finish these songs with him”.
Altar might just be the best rock album this year. There is ambience there, no doubt, but it helps elevate a song rather than overpower it. You can still hear the guitar lines, the vocal melody, and the emotion in every single track, whether it’s about self-identity, frustration, or homesickness. It’s a deeply versatile record, but also one that feels like a true unified effort, as those classroom antics find their feet in the studio. Julie explained there is no secret behind such a unified sound other than selflessness. When you’re removing elements of sound in a bid to unveil a song, the song needs to be put before any personal pride.
“There’s no place for ego when you’re creating music,” she added, “You can’t have something in there because you want to be the one playing it, it’s not about that. It’s about what makes the song the best possible version of the song, so there’s definitely no room for ego when it comes to creating music.”
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