The Dark Prince Emerges Into The Light

By Joe Kavanagh

Famed Irish writer, fighter and up-all-nighter, Brendan Behan once claimed: "Other people have a nationality. The Irish and the Jews have a psychosis."

Whether you agree with Behan's analysis or not, most people would admit that there is some provision deeply set in the character of both races that lends itself to a separation from the day to day minutia of ordinary existence, the essence that creates dreamers and embraces eccentricity.

Niall James Holohan is a proud purveyor of this tradition; a man whose entire existence seems to be bound within music and a search for something otherworldly.

In fact, his identity is so caught up in music and his life so driven by it, that were music to ever vanish from the face of the planet, then it's a good bet that his very existence would be extinguished.

A true student of philosophy, literature and comedy, Holohan's tree has been falling without many people hearing it for quite some time, but the emergence of his new band, Reader's Wives, should ensure that his name and sound will be known throughout the forest in the coming months.

Born and raised in Dublin, Niall James Holohan, was almost predestined to become a musician, given the number of influences he absorbed as a youth.

With his father a trad musician, his mother a jazz fanatic and two older brothers whose tastes ran the gambit from old-school hip hop to hard rock, he was open to myriad influences and encouragement from his earliest days, eventually causing him to pick up a hand-me-down guitar while still in single digits.

Coupled with his love for music, was an equally abiding adoration of literature and the power of words in general, prompting him to begin writing down stories, thoughts and ideas from a very early age.

By 14-years-old, the two passions suffused and he began writing his own songs, at first sparingly but eventually at an almost frightening pace that some would say bordered on the obsessive.

For himself, however, he had found the one thing that he truly wanted to do in life and, for one who simply brims with thoughts and ideas, it offered a perfect release and he has often remarked that it was, and remains, the only true constant in his life.

Holohan made his recorded debut in 2001, with the self-released album, The Boy When, which drew comparisons to the likes of Beck, Badly Drawn Boy and They Might Be Giants, the latter as much for the inherent quirkiness of the album, as any sonic association.

With the benefit of reflection, even he might admit that it was a flawed work, but it nonetheless served as an accomplished opening shot and the announcement of a bright new talent on the Irish music scene. And what a talent.

Over the next six years, the self-styled "Dark Prince of Pop" embarked on what can only be referred to as a creative frenzy, serving up album after album under a plethora of names that included Blind Niall Holohan, Niall Holohan, Mister President and Kings Of Industry to name but a few.

By 2006, he had released over 20 albums, representing almost 1,000 songs, most of which were in the lo-fi tradition.

Recording and writing at such a pace, it is fairly obvious that there would be weak moments but every album contained its fair share of standout tracks, marked by a canny knack for melody and the kind of lyrical ambition that sits entirely in keeping with the island's rich literary tradition.

They were also often characterized by a tongue-in-cheek idiosyncrasy and humor, as evidenced by album titles such as Every Belgian's Worst Nightmare and Two Tracks From The Album I Left On The Bus.

As a committed fan of comics such as Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks and Doug Stanhope, humor is a central part of much of his work, much like fellow Dublin singer, Jinx Lennon, who has often shared a stage with Holohan.

Given the amount of time, effort and devotion that is required to produce albums at such a clip, it is hardly surprising that he initially existed almost exclusively as a studio artist, only emerging once in a while to play an occasional gig around Dublin.

In time though, his nervousness in a live setting subsided and by 2003 he became a regular around the capital's live circuit and was soon found playing throughout the country gigging everywhere from prisons to the most squalid venues in Ireland and the UK.

Such inventive thinking, along with his "where there's a will there's a way" attitude, has served him extremely well.

Where other artists see insurmountable obstacles, Holohan just sees a challenge, convinced that he is doing what he is meant be doing and aware that hard work pays off handsomely in the end.

This sentiment has been enough to see him tour all over Europe and the US over the past couple of years, taking in appearances at Texas' famed South By Southwest Festival.

In 2005, he even personally organized showcases in New York and London that secured him global distribution and management in the US.

Even with all these achievements, by 2006 he felt that there was something missing, something more that he could do, in his pursuit of songwriting perfection, so in the fall of that year, he began recording an album with a full band in mind, something that he did not complete until almost 18 months later.

In March of this year, the public got to hear what even Holohan himself has been referring to as his first album proper, with the release of the superb eponymous album, Readers Wives.

Virtually impossible to describe, given its scope and range across genres, sufficed to say that it is one of the most imaginative Irish albums you are likely to hear, characterized by Holohan's superb and quirky lyric writing skills.

In his own words: "The album, for good or ill, is a blueprint for what I'd like to do, which is to make the kind of music that couldn't have been made, 10, 20 or 40 years ago. A record, that's of it's time with a track list that reads like the best kind of stand up-comics' set list."

Tracks like Advertising Heroin, Sexually Attracted To Myself and One, Two are chockablock with ideas, craftiness and humor, carried on wonderful melodies that ebb and flow in the kind of nuanced manner that would fall flat on its face in the hands of a lesser songwriter.

Currently, the band is out touring the ever-expanding European summer festival circuit, thrilling crowds with a show that is interactive, engaging and hugely entertaining, in all its live splendor.

Having had the pleasure of recently catching them live, I can fully attest to a show that entertains on many levels, shining under Holohan's gregarious stage persona.

Audiences in the States may have to wait until later this year or early next year before having the chance to catch them in person, but given Holohan's burning desire to get better with every song and every gig, it only means that you'll get to see an even better band by the time they make it over to the left side of the Atlantic.

In the meantime, you could kill at least some of that time by going out and buying the album.