Music
Press
"Pinky gives us jack the lad which is a funky little indie rock sound with a hint of tim buckley seventies electric folk" June 2006 - www.roadrecs.com
"Pinky; Potentially fantastic Dublin band, big hummable tunes and a friendly monkeys vibe." - www.analoguemagazine.com
On Friday night, some of Ireland's brightest new lights kicked off the festivities. Giveamanakick, Pinky and Jape provided three great reasons to be cheerful about the future of Irish music.
* Eamon Sweeney ( In an article titled "Electric Picnic: Sex Pistols misfire but our friends electric dish up a feast"
- www.independent.ie
"Pinky aren't the most confident band in the world, shuffling onstage with mumbled introductions, but then they belt out half an hour of vice-tight songs that take an overdone genre (acoustic rock) and add such a twist they almost wring it dry. Hugely enjoyable, and a fitting opener for tonight's main event- which isn't the Champions league Final, judging by the throngs that have turned up." * Shilpa Ganatra - Hot Press
Last year may not have been the most inspired for Irish music, but that’s set to change in 2008. Eamon Sweeney picks his ones to watch..
The even more heartening aspect is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Aside from the aforementioned acts, Jape, The Jimmy Cake, Chequerboard, Pinky, James McMorrow and Laura Izibor could all deliver interesting music this year.
* Eamon Sweeney
- Day & Night supplement (Irish Independent)
REBELS
Pinky
We know not his real name, and we know not his gameplan. All we do know is that this classically trained Irish guy has a great voice and some very fine songs. Oh - and he's into karaoke. See you at the Cabaret Corner, mate! www.myspace.com/pinkymusic
* Tony Clayton-Lea ( In the article acts were divided into sections under the following catagories : Crowd Pullers, Stalwarts, Old Hats, New Kids, Rebels and If You Have To..) Other acts in the REBELS section were The Gutter Twins and Late Of The Pier.
- The Ticket supplement (Irish Times)
"If you're going to the show, get along on time for the first support act, an intriguing new Dublin act called Pinky, an ex-choir boy who has sold his soul to rock'n'roll." * Brian Boyd in his REVOLVER column in The Ticket (Irish Times) in an article entitled 'A prod from Pitchfork can give a band a bounce' - The Irish Times
"Pinky
Caught this guy unintentionally waiting for the next act. Very impressed. I love a bitta folk I do. Beautiful, upbeat, melodic, sensitive, astute folk observations on love, life and more love. Poets musings in a very Nick Drakey way. Really fun and really beautiful. Put a smile on my face.
To sum up: Folkin' Great!" * Tia Clarke ( Connected )
"If Sunday was the day of the frontperson, it also saw Pinky prove what all the fuss is about: these boys have got their finger out, that's for sure." * Shilpa Ganatra ( Hot Press ) - Connected Magazine/ Hot Press
"It’s a short trip over to Meeting House Square to see the bluesy folk stylings of Pinky next. He’s a happy chap and his music reflects his mood. Upbeat, head nodding, toe tapping stuff, with plenty of wit thrown into the lyrics, Pinky plays the crowd well too, with cracks about everything from three-time repetition being good enough for him if its good enough for Bush and Hitler, and random quotes that have little relevance to anything, a fact he freely admits. A fine cover of the Bobby Hebb classic, “Sunny,” closes his set with some style. " * Liam Tyrell - Drop-D.ie
"Pinky
Jack The Lad [Sweet Deal]
Seems we forgot to flip the record over. Pinky's 'Jack The Lad' features on a vinyl-only double A-side single with Porn Trauma's 'Casanova Blues', which we've already reviewed. Well now it's Pinky's turn, and it was worth the wait. 'Jack the Lad' is an uptempo track with funky verses and an irresistable chorus. Pinky's distinctive voice makes this track memorable, varying between deep and soulful and bright and soaring. Definitely one to watch in coming months. HC." - Hot Press
Discography
Jack The Lad was released in July 2006, on independent label Sweet Deal Records as a striclly limited edition (500 copies) single on gorgeous white vinyl to extremely complimentary reviews and received frequent airplay on John Kelly's 'Mystery Train' on RTE Radio 1 and Tom Dunne's 'Pet Sounds' on Today FM. Completely SOLD OUT!
Photos
Bio
Over the past year or so a young man who answers to the name Pinky has been popping up here, there and everywhere, wooing the Body & Soul massive at last year’s Electric Picnic, opening for The Walkmen, Of Montreal, Herman Dune, Joan as Policewoman, M. Ward, Peter Bjorn & John and plethora of international names. You’ll know by the choir-boy croon, the dunk highs and the odd looking car with the Transformers logo. Accompanied by Ray Murphy on drums and Liam Marley on bass, his songs have a nagging pop quality, often breaking loose in psychedelic space-outs or White Album style time-travel, but always returning to the same timeless tempo. By his own admission he writes with “the rawness of early rock and roll, the swing of gypsy jazz, but with chord progressions lifted from hymn sheets or classical compositions, and doo-wop backing vocals.”
For years Pinky was a prolific bedroom producer of house music. “Nearly all of my songs have the layout of a house track. It’s impossible to tell because it’s hidden so deep down, but it’s there. House makes you dance. Lyrics make you think. Go figure.” Press him on the subject and he’ll confess to a wide range of influences, from Ray Davies to Pixies, the Brazilian Tropicalia of Os Mutantes to the piano J-pop of Shiina Ringo and a not unhealthy obsession with the Beatles. “My friend and I sang the whole way through Abbey Road, Rubber Soul and Revolver on the bus from Brussels to Amsterdam, a capella, every lyric remembered, every memorable nuance in every song acted out, the melodies, the harmonies, the riffs, the bass-lines, the drumming. I’ve never cared about any band as much as I have about the Beatles.”
“I can hear a song in the background of an old movie, maybe just a few bars, a chord progression, and think ‘I can do that better,’” ponders Pinky of his writing process. "I’ll sit with my guitar and try and rewrite a song the way I think it should have been written. Or I’ll sit at the piano, or with a guitar, and doodle around until I came across something that sounds good. I’ll leave it alone but I’ll keep thinking about it, sometimes for months, until I’ve worked it out, theoretically, in my head. Then I’ll sit back down and work on it some more. I’ll work out how the chords will go, then the melody, then the backing vocals, then the bass, until I can hear it all in my head when I play through the song on guitar. Then I’ll try and work out what sort of lyrical theme the melody is hinting at and avoid it. I always try and write songs that have music belying lyrics. If it sounds happy I want slightly darker lyrics, if it sounds dark then I want funny lyrics. But I always try and portray a truth, no matter how small or insignificant, through the lyrics.”
His themes vary from the burdens, but also comforts of love, to the realisation of mortality, to general gossip, to thoughts about the best way to deal with someone who has outstayed their welcome – the usual trials and tribulations of an early twenty-something. In between all the support slots, trips to CMJ, and intense rehearsal periods in deepest, darkest Limerick, he has written an album. And don’t be surprised if that album is the dark horse contender of 2009.
All he has to do now is think of an album title...
http://www.myspace.com/pinkymusic
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