Irish alt-rock band Wifeswap have released their new single, Bosman Ruling. We asked frontman Joe Brody the BIG questions . . .
WIFESWAP is the Dublin-based project of Offaly native Joe and he is joined by Jasper Ryan (guitar), Cian Bates (bass) and Lorcan Connolly (drums).
We need your consent to load this Spotify contentWe use Spotify to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
They debuted in October 2022 at a Workman's Cellar gig in Dublin and have since played Whelan’s Ones to Watch festival and multiple times at The Workman’s Club bank holiday events curated by Fontaines D.C. manager Trevor Dietz.
Speaking about Bosman Ruling, Joe says, "It’s really just a song about the detachment and numbness that I feel at the beginning of grieving. In an EP that is really all about grief in its many forms and facets, it serves as a starting point for exploring those ideas around falling out of touch with your own identity and developing quite unhealthy coping mechanisms".
Photo credit: Aidan Dowling
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I once found Pete Doherty asleep on my guitar. I was in Nowlan Park in 2019 to witness Bob Dylan and Neil Young sing together for the first time in 25 years. My greatest artistic achievement is winning a tenner in a Credit Union art competition
How would you describe your music?
I think Joe Strummer’s description of Rimbaud in Ghetto Defendant as a gutter poet is something that comes to mind. Mix that with Lou Reed’s three chords is jazz philosophy but make the chords sound as lonely as possible and I think that’s the best way I can describe it.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, everything Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast has done, Elliott Smith, The Stone Roses, The Clash, The Kinks, Randy Newman, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Pete Doherty, Joan Baez…. Anyone poetic really and the radio presenter Ann Marie Kelly, I have vivid memories of hearing Bowie and The Beatles for the first time because of her as a child.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds in the 3Arena. Baxter Dury was on support duties that night and was being constantly heckled, I thought he was amazing. The image of him, bottle of wine in hand doing his thing for a smattering of applause will stay with me forever. Incredible.
What was the first record you ever bought?
I bought The Queen is Dead by The Smiths and Bringing it all Back Home by Bob Dylan together in Freebird Records, Dublin when I was about 16.
What’s your favourite song right now?
St.Ides Heaven by Elliott Smith and Blow My Lid by Pollyfromthedirt have been on heavy rotation for me lately.
Favourite lyric of all time?
"Morning in America, And I don't know what this started, But it's coming up slowly and hauled in a bag, You ask me the question of, 'Who made the rats?', And I can't explain it, and you're never convinced, I just don't have the words, they don't make words for this" - Scream from New York, NY by Been Stellar. It hit me like a brick from the first time I heard it and it still gives me that feeling in my stomach like you’re being dropped on a rollercoaster.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This is the One by The Stone Roses. It makes me want to cry tears of joy every time I hear it.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Instagram, Spotify.
Alan Corr
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please see RTÉ’s list of helplines.
