RTÉ 2fm Radio Press Pack, Week 9
Saturday 28 February – Friday 6 March 2009

Highlights
Dan Hegarty with God Is An Astronaut In The RTÉ 2fm Studio Session
Dan Hegarty with The New York Dolls Live in Benicassim

THE LATE SESSIONS
2am: SUNIL SHARPE
Mr Techno Ireland brings his monthly electro bulletin to the nation. Stand by to be shocked.
3am: 4KEE
Our reggae resident returns with another fist full of the latest hard sounds from Jamaica.
4am: THINK TOY
The lego-like genius of all things electro and ambient returns for February’s mix.
Producer: Ian Wilson
RTÉ 2fm, Saturday 28 February, 2.00am

THE LATE SESSIONS
12 midnight: DAVE CLARKE’S WHITE NOISE
Here is the Baron of techno with his monthly show live from Holland.
2am: PHIL YORK AT KIDDSTOCK
A bit of live Hard House from the DJ, producer and promoter Phil York. He runs several record labels including Tranzlation, Distinkt, Nuklearpuppy, Bootek, Attitude & Dark by Design Records.
For several years Phil has co-promoted Scotland’s biggest hard dance night, Nuklearpuppy, which is at Ego in Edinburgh on the second Friday of each month and a similar one in Leeds called Hard Beat Manifesto.
Alex Kidd is the man behind Kiddstock, the hard house and techno fest held for the last two years in Durham, on the English North East coast.
Recorded on 16 August 2008 in Thimbleberry Farm, Co Durham, England.
3am: DJ OC
The king of hop in Ireland is here with the monthly message from the hood!
4am: SOLID STEEL RADIO SHOW WITH TOM RAVENSCROFT
With a very definite Afro beat vibe this is the first time we have had a mix by Tom Ravenscroft from the Solid Steel Radio Show. Don’t mind all these people saying their shows are “eclectic, groundbreaking, cutting edge” – this is the real deal.
Produced by Ninjatune for the Eurosonic Partnership of the EBU
Producer: Ian Wilson
RTÉ 2fm, Saturday 28 February – Sunday 1 March, 12midnight

CORMAC BATTLE WITH SILO IN SESSION
From Cork, Silo formed in 2001 and the band still has original members Philip and Eoin Murphy teamed with brothers Shane and Cian O’Leary. Silo have played extensively throughout Ireland but they have also been invited to showcase their music in London by management companies and record labels in Britain after an early demo saw the band being picked for the National Student Music Awards in 2008. Later in 2008 the band recorded and released their debut single Unlucky for Some.
Their London based management has also had a lot of success with Silo’s debut single which is getting extensive air play in both Ireland and the UK and has been picked up on alternative stations in North America. Their debut album is to be recorded later this year.
Producer: Ian Wilson

RTÉ 2fm, Sunday 1 March, 9.30pm

*Highlight*
DAN HEGARTY WITH GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT IN THE RTÉ 2FM STUDIO SESSION
God Is An Astronaut was officially formed in 2002 by brothers Torsten and Niels but both have been writing and playing music since the early 90’s. The band released their debut album The End of the Beginning in late 2002 on their own label, Revive Records. The album consisted of 11 tracks, most notably The End of the Beginning and From Dust to the Beyond whose videos received rotation on MTV’s 120 Minute show across Europe.
In mid 2004 Lloyd Hanney, who was trained by the late jazz drumming legend Johnny Wadham, joined the band. Their second album All Is Violent, All Is Bright was a much closer representation of their dynamic live sound. The album itself has received worldwide exposure with countless radio plays and great reviews.
The controversial video for their single Fragile, taken from the album received plays on MTV2’s 120 minute show and MTV’s The Comedown.
In 2006 they released their first E.P. A Moment of Stillness which spent a number of weeks in the official Irish charts. In mid 2006 a licensing deal with U.K. label Rocket Girl saw both their E.P. and second album All Is Violent, All Is Bright being re-released and made available worldwide in both online stores and record stores.
In April 2007 they released their third album Far From Refuge. This nine track album had an 11 track version released in Japan. The band have played a number of shows in the UK, Germany, Spain, Holland, Russia, Turkey, Portugal, Belgium, England and in the USA.
Producer: Ian Wilson
RTÉ 2fm, Monday 2 March, 12midnight

DAN HEGARTY WITH RSAG IN THE RTÉ 2FM REPEAT STUDIO SESSION
R.S.A.G. (Rarely Seen Above Ground) is Jeremy Hickey, a multi-instrumentalist who records, performs and produces all his own material. Live, R.S.A.G. plays drums/ percussion and sings and the backing tracks are recorded in his studio. Visually, he has created a virtual band which is projected on a screen behind him.
R.S.A.G’s career has catapulted in the last seven months and has included a recent support of The Fall in the Spiegeltent. He also headlined the Body and Soul Arena at Electric Picnic where he was joined on stage by Liam O’Maonlaigh and Ronan O’Snodaigh. The impromptu jam that followed left weekend revelers reeling. The underground has been unearthed – it is time for R.S.A.G. to present his debut double album, Organic Sampler. The reviews have been unbelievable with a five star review in the Irish Times making it album of the week. The shows have been packed from Whelans to Andrews Lane and from England to France.
Producer: Ian Wilson
RTÉ 2fm, Wednesday 4 March, 12midnight

*Highlight*
DAN HEGARTY WITH THE NEW YORK DOLLS LIVE AT BENICASSIM
Legendary band, The New York Dolls originally formed in New York City in 1971. In 2004 the band reformed with three of their original members, two of whom, David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, continue on today and released a new album in 2006. The original bassist, Arthur Kane died shortly after their first reunion concert.
Credited as originators of the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era of glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later spawned The Ramones, Blondie, Television, and Talking Heads. Their story is littered with rock and roll’s legendary names – Shadow Morton (Shangri La’s) produced one album, Malcolm McLaren tried the kind of provocative stunts that worked for the Sex Pistols but blew up in the Dolls’ faces. Dressing the band in red leather for performances with a Soviet flag backdrop was no substitute for the original sexy outrage of glam rock. Along the way members Billy Murcia and Johnny Thunders died in drug related incidents.
Recorded at the Benicassim Festival on Friday 18 July by RNE 3 for the Eurosonic Partnership of the EBU.
Producer: Ian Wilson
RTÉ 2fm, Thursday 5 March, 12midnight

JENNY HUSTON WITH OLLIE COLE IN THE RTÉ 2FM SESSION
This is the first public airing of Ollie Cole’s solo material and he talks to Jenny about his new life after Turn.
Ollie Cole was born and raised in County Meath but has spent the past number of years in Dublin where he writes, records, plays and promotes his music full-time. He first began to attract serious notice as the front man of Irish three piece Turn.
Turn formed in 1998 when Ollie as lead singer/guitarist and drummer Ian Melady joined forces with Dublin bass player Gavin Fox, who they met at a Dublin recording studio. Turn went onto huge success both at home and abroad and released three albums Antisocial (2000), Forward (2003) and Turn LP (2005) on Setanta Records. Most importantly he’s been recording his debut solo album. Ollie with the help of Gavin Fox, Graham Hopkins and other music friends recorded the album during the course of 2008. The album is called We Albatri and is due for release during the summer of 2009. Turn’s music had featured in many films and International TV shows such as One Tree Hill, and therefore it was no surprise that Big Life (Klaxons, Badly Drawn Boy, and The Verve) signed Ollie to a publishing deal once they heard his first solo album.
Producer: Ian Wilson
RTÉ 2fm, Friday 6 March, 9.30pm

Further Information:
Jack Fox, (01) 208 2452, jack.fox@rte.ie
Sandra Byrne, (01) 208 2506/ 087 249 3048, sandra.byrne@rte.ie
Sarah Martin, (01) 208 2312/ 087 750 1850, sarah.martin@rte.ie