DARK ROOM NOTES

DARK ROOM NOTES
WE LOVE YOU DARK MATTER



The debut album releasing April 10th 2009

on Gonzo Records

Dublin-based electronic pop act Dark Room Notes release their debut album, We Love You Dark Matter, on April 10th, 2009 on Gonzo Records. The lead single Let’s Light Fires, is at radio now.

We Love You Dark Matter was recorded in London in July 2008. Determined to recreate the energy of their live performance during the recording process, the band borrowed a collection of vintage analogue synths, mics and sound processors from producers Flood and Rob Kirwan. The foursome then spent a fortnight in studio, focusing on one track each day and performing multiple live takes until they were happy with the final outcome. In all, ten tracks make up the debut album release.

Dark Room Notes chose to work on the album with young Dublin producer Ciaran Bradshaw, who helmed their earlier releases in 2007 - the single Love Like Nicotine and the EP Dead Start Program. Having cut his teeth assisting numerous Irish and international producers in Grouse Lodge recording studio, Bradshaw is currently producing some of Ireland’s most exciting new music. He has also become an integral part of the Dark Room Notes team, acting as live sound engineer.

Combining the binary rhythms of electro-rock with pop culture lyrics, Dark Room Notes are a dark, skittish persona, a tight four piece with a stylish hypnotic presence. Bucking many trends, they have evolved since their debut outings to present a collection of intelligent and interesting electro tracks on We Love You Dark Matter.

In celebration of their debut album release, Dark Room Notes play The Academy 2, Dublin on April 9th followed by live dates in Belfast (Auntie Annie’s, 22nd May), Galway (Roisin Dubh, 23rd May) and Cork (Cyprus Avenue, 24th May).

We Love You Dark Matter will be released in Ireland on 10th April, 2009 through Gonzo Records, and will be distributed nationwide through RMG/Cavallero.

For more information and to hear the lead single ‘Let’s Light Fires’, see www.myspace.com/darkroomnotesireland

DARK ROOM NOTES LIVE 2009

• 9 April The Academy 2, Dublin 1 Doors 8pm - €12 www.ticketmaster.ie
  
• 14 May Spirit Store, Dundalk (Supporting Delorentos)
  
• 15 May Dolan's, Limerick (Supporting Delorentos)
  
• 22 May Auntie Annie’s, Belfast Doors 7.30pm - £8 www.ticketmaster.ie
  
• 23 May Roisin Dubh, Galway Doors 7.30pm – Free
  
• 24 May Cyprus Avenue, Cork Doors 7.30pm - €10 www.tickets.ie
  

For more media information contact Orla and Mary-Kate @
Entertainment Architects or call on 01 2194661

BIOGRAPHY

Originating from the east and west of Ireland - Dublin and Galway - with professions as diverse as archaeology, photography and costume design, Dark Room Notes found each other - and their true calling - and became one of the freshest sounding, most exciting electro-rock outfits to spring from a burgeoning Irish music scene.

On the west coast, it began in Galway. Many, many years ago Ronan Gaughan (Ronnie) and Rurai Ferrie (Ferrie), met, aged four, on their first day of school. Throughout the years, while Ronnie got lost in the music of Adam and the Ants, Ferrie was doing his parents proud with his tin whistle, playing in the local hall with his brothers’ ceili band.

The advent of grunge, however, changed their young lives and plunged them into a world of rock guitars and angst; courtesy of Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins. From there, the path was simple and they formed their first rock band - the moodily named Obskure – and went on to become an intrinsic part of the Galway music scene at the time. The band gigged regularly and played a variety of music competitions; most notable was their third place position in the 2007 BOI/Sony Music competition, following closely behind the band Freelance, who took the silver and went on to become The Thrills. After Obskure reached its demise the boys took up the moniker of Menlo and set off for Dublin to take over the musical world.

At the same time, on the east coast, a music and photography enthusiast named Darragh Shanahan and a creative spirit called Arran Murphy were leading separate lives in Inchicore and Dalkey respectively. Darragh first picked up a pair of drum sticks while listening to his friend’s band rehearse and fell in love with the drum kit - prompting an all night vigil outside Music Maker on the eve of their half price sale. Emerging from the store just after 9.30am, virgin snare in hand and twenty quid change in his pocket, drumming soon became like breathing and he quickly built up an impressive repertoire, playing in bands here and there, turning down the chance to tour Europe with a Dublin metal act and playing and recording with the usual suspects. Arran Murphy had a very different musical upbringing - a healthy diet of violin from her grandfather, a traditional fiddle player, and her grandmother, an orchestral violinist. These influences led Arran to learn violin and piano and, after hearing a copy of Peter and the Wolf on cassette, her passion for music was sealed.

Both Darragh and Arran left Ireland for a spell of country hopping. After a summer spent with a circus in Berlin, Arran returned home and joined trip hop indie band Coosh on keyboards, while Darragh, after an extended stint of travelling around Europe, took up a year-long residency at The George in Dublin, playing with queen of the queens Veda Beaux Reves’ begat indie band Daddy’s Little Princess. The band went on to support Scissor Sisters before they parted company.

Meanwhile, Ferrie had moved to Limerick to study arts and having finished two years of Heritage Studies in GMIT, Ronnie also departed Galway and moved to Dublin, training as a sound engineer and working as an archaeologist on various digs. Still attempting to keep the Menlo dream alive, a small demo mailout resulted in a call from 2FM’s Ian Wilson and the band recorded a session for the national station. The opportunity was a catalyst and within a week, Ferrie had set up residence on his bandmate’s sofa in Dublin and soon found himself digging a trench alongside Ronnie, both of them with a new found determination to immerse themselves in Menlo.

In between a carnival of jobs including a film AD, an extras co-ordinator, an English teacher in Mexico and a fashion and jewellery designer, along with a rainforest’s worth of masters and degrees in photography and multimedia, Arran heard that Menlo were looking for a keyboard player and went to see them at Eamon Doran’s. Liking their songs and their attitude, Arran hooked up with the boys and a more distinctive sound began to emerge. When their drummer left, Menlo were forced to put drums through a laptop, keyboards replaced basslines and the electro hook came to life. Arriving at rehearsals one evening, Arran dropped her photography notebook on top of an amp. The cover read ‘Dark Room Notes’. Ferrie thought ‘cool name for a band’ and DRN were born.

Darragh was now working in the Gallery of Photography in Meeting House Square in Temple Bar, while doing a BA in photography at DIT. Always looking for new creative outlets, he decided to set up an independent record label with friend Martin Bradley. After a chance meeting in the Gallery, Arran invited Darragh and Martin to see DRN. The pair went along and decided there and then that DRN would be Gonzo Records’ firstborn. The band needed a drummer, Darragh stepped up, Dark Room Notes were complete.

Since their inception Dark Room Notes have developed a sound that is uniquely their own. With lyricist Ronnie on vocals, Ferrie on guitars and synths, Arran on keyboards and vocals and Darragh on drums, they recorded their debut single Love Like Nicotine, an edgy electro rock thumper with a dark pop sensibility that quickly won them fans and interest from music media. The single, released on Gonzo Records in June 2007, was bolstered by two remixes by Flood and Trixton. In October of 2007 the band released their debut EP Dead Start Program to another wave of critical acclaim and well-received live shows.

Taking time in early 2008 to write, rehearse and evolve as a group, DRN recorded their debut album, We Love You Dark Matter, in July 2008 in London. The album will release on Gonzo Records on April 10th, 2009 with the lead single, ‘Let’s Light Fires’ at radio now.

We Love You Dark Matter releases April 10th, 2009 on Gonzo Records through RMG/Cavallero.

For all info and tour dates please see www.myspace.com/darkroomnotesireland

For all media information please contact Orla
@ Entertainment Architects 01 2194661