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Hard work is reaping rewards for critically acclaimed Slow Riot

Gruelling day jobs are finally paying off for Irish post-punk band Slow Riot as they head for Notting Hill Arts Club on April 1 during their current UK tour.

With numerous festival appearances, most notably at Electric Picnic and Other Voices, a debut EP ‘Cathedral’ recorded with Kevin Vanbergen (The Pixies, The Maccabees), a debut album nearing completion, and their UK tour commencing in April, Slow Riot are a rising force in the music world.

You’re probably picturing four dudes with messy hair sporting the tight trouser/baggy shirt combo and plucking at their guitar strings all day, but the reality for Limerick-born Slow Riot is quite different.

With Niall Clancy the frontman working in events, the guitarists Liam O’Connor and Aaron Duff working as a teacher and trainee lawyer respectively, and Paul Cosgrave the drummer a successful businessman, it’s no wonder Niall calls the band “a weird combination of people.”

He said: “I don’t think it’s an option in today’s music industry unless you’re signed to a big label, so we’re all fitting the band in around work.

“The whole thing is pretty intense.

“Trying to fit in a full-time job and your band and make that your priority, it’s tough, but you have to do it if you love it.”

Having recently moved to Dublin to work in central events at Trinity College, Niall’s commitment to the band also means a lengthy commute to Slow Riot’s practice space in Limerick.

“It’s a commute to practice with the band. It’s not as straight forwards as it used to be, but it’s still possible to do,” he said.

With everyone finding themselves increasingly out of pocket these days, finding the time (at least 12 hours of weekend practice to be precise) and energy to pursue your dreams as a band whilst maintaining a steady bank balance isn’t easy, but Slow Riot shows us dreamers how it’s done.

Their new release, Voyeur/Burn in the City has been successful, which Niall puts down in part to the recent addition of a fourth member, Liam.

He said: “People are reacting well because we have recently become a four-piece band.

“It kind of clicked with me that if we brought this guy in he could really add to our sound, and make the songs more complete.

“More people are into the new stuff because it appeals to a bigger audience.”

The release has also garnered impressive critical claim, with one of the world’s most trusted new music blogs, The Line of Best Fit, fighting their corner; “With this latest release, Slow Riot joins the ranks of Eagulls and Savages at the forefront of a new breed of bands fusing danceable beats and dark-pop sentiments,” while Drowned in Sound have described Slow Riot’s recent release as “a heady mix of layered atmospherics and fuzzy pop that bodes well for the future.”

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