Pinch Me Moments & Spooning in the Studio: Esmeralda Road Get Real
By Eva Rowan and Bella Bryson
It’s been a whirlwind year for the lads of Esmeralda Road, from opening for Liam Gallagher, to supporting Primal Scream on tour; the band has been riding a wave of momentum. We caught up with lead vocalist and guitarist, Charlie, to discuss the real Belfast music scene (chaos). Comparing notes band to band, it was cool to see differences and similarities in our creative processes and performing experiences.
It’s pretty amazing you supported Liam Gallagher at Belsonic. How was the experience and have you done any celebrating?
“We’ve done nothing but celebrate since that, it was mad to do, very validating, getting to represent everyone from here on a stage like that. It took a lot of pinching myself to believe I was really there.” Charlie said.
In that moment right before you go onstage, is there any pre-gig ritual you like to perform?
“Me and Aodhan have started jumping around now—your body eventually catches up with your brain. But mainly, it’s just taking the piss out of each other and having the craic. If we’re not doing that, something’s wrong.”
Since that gig, your song “I think” has surpassed over 200,000 streams on Spotify- did you notice a massive increase in followers after your big gigs?
“Definitely. That was the biggest amount of people we could’ve reached at once.”
Charlie reflected on a particular growth in younger listeners, contrary to both his and our understandings of a Liam Gallagher audience. “It’s cool, they’re like, crazy, in the DMs every day sending us really nice messages.”
“I get why younger audiences connect with Esmeralda Road because you collectively have a ‘cartoonish’ appearance.” I chuckled.
“Thank you(?) that means a lot”. Charlie laughed.
You recorded your EP with Darragh Tibbs in ACAT studios — what was that like?
“He’s a genius.”
(We agree).
“We were recording for three or four days. Me and Aodhan tried to sleep in another room, but it was kind of dusty, so we slept in the control room and Darragh walked in the next morning to us spooning.”
Charlie explained how Darragh handled the vocal sessions with rare care: “He told me, ‘Get out of the booth for two seconds,’ poured me a glass of wine and said, ‘Go be a human.’ It made me feel safe enough to sing with the emotion I felt when I wrote the song. I felt manipulated in the nicest way.”
I would say it’s quite incredible that Darragh is so technically proficient in such a mind–consuming vocation, yet still so in touch with the complex human part, getting the best out of someone.
“Not all producers have that side. We’re all nerds—but Darragh has the best of both minds.”
Something I’ve noticed about your sound; the style is very diversified and fills a lot of demographics. Are there any areas creatively you feel you want to explore further in your sound?
“Josh has a new synth and we’ve been messing about with that thing; it’s been making our music really pretty; the rest of us are then throwing shit on top of that. I don’t know if its ‘spacey’ or ‘dancey’ but its a new canvas. We’re all still big ‘jazzers’ but getting more into our noises, and the more toys on stage the better.
With so many of you in the band are there ever any creative tensions?
“We disagree with each-other but that is where the cool shit happens. Especially since we got Ben (guitar) in. Ben is another level of playing, him Aodhan (Drums) and Calvin (Bass) are all wizards at writing the craziest stuff.
The disagreements are where the good songs come from, I think; the ones that are most distinctively us.
If it’s an idea you believed in and you had to fight someone to get it in the tune, then its probably worth something.”
Charlie’s philosophy rings true as you dive into the catalogue of the band. The stages and minds amalgamate towards a multidimensional sound.
As an all-male band, do you notice how music venues can be unsafe spaces for women?
“Isn’t Belfast one of the most unsafe places for women right now? It’s a real issue, and of course it seeps into music and gigs—things people are just trying to enjoy. There has to be a change, and it has to be active. Everyone in the space needs to make it better.”
If you weren’t musicians, what would you be?
“Fucked. I’d be fucked,” Charlie laughed.
“Probably just be best mates with Liam Gallagher?” I suggested.
“We actually didn’t meet him”, Charlie admits, “I don’t even know what I would say. I just have his haircut.”
As they ascend the sonic ladder, it’s clear Esmeralda Road are only just getting started. With new music and merch in the works; their palpable sense of creative drive carries the chaos of the Belfast music scene wherever they go – loud and powerful, with mod cuts jumping stage to stage.
Cover photograph by Bryony Coles.
