Limerick band The Low Field make their debut

LIMERICK quartet The Low Field have made their debut with the release of two singles and a hometown headline show. Their aim? To be quiet, then loud, then quiet, again.

During lockdown, drummer Brendan McInerney, guitarists and vocalists Danny Ó Sé and Diarmuid Ó Sé, and bass player Mícheál Keating, collided to play emo music influenced by folk rock. This June, the quartet released their debut singles - Heaviness and Tachycardia - and celebrated in Dolan’s with a headliner show on June 15. 

Speaking of their band name, Diarmuid laughs: “It’s a field in Tralee where Danny is from, it’s like a pitch. He just has a list of like names that he wants for bands, and he always wanted to a call a band The Low Field after that soccer pitch.”

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When asked about their influences, the vocalist and guitarist adds: “I'd say we are more influenced by American acts than Irish acts. We'd be more of an American genre that we just latched onto with an Irish accent.”

With their debut releases, The Low Field aim to present the two different sounds they will be exploring through their music.
 On the slower and softer side of things stands Heaviness, while Tachycardia sets a heavier and more energetic tone. Something that might have been subconsciously done, according to the guitarist.

Diarmuid explains: “Because there are two vocalists, we kind of wanted to present a song for each. So even though it's the one band, the sounds will be slightly different, because me and Danny had different influences. We just wanted to show the kind of two sides of the band.”

After taking a sip of Guinness, Brendan notes: “We've been sitting on the songs for a while as well, so we were just itching to get something out. But definitely to show that there are two songwriters in the band as well, and like two main focus.”

The four friends “properly” started the band in 2021, during lockdown. Brendan recalls: “I got onto Diarmuid saying that we should make music together.” Then, the musicians bonded over one album - Ground Aswim by Sinai Vessel.

“We bonded over this one album, and we were just were obsessed with it. We really wanted to make music like that. The way it sounds, it has a really like organic feeling, and we wanted to do something similar,” Diarmuid said.

Diarmuid points out they don't necessarily want to tackle any themes in particular with their songs. “I think we just write about stuff that happens to us or like just what's going on in our lives. I guess we’d get some sort of universal feeling and just write about it,” he says.

However, their songs might be on the “sadder side of things.”

“It would be more about trying to find a meaning as opposed to being maybe political or anything like we are in other aspects of our life,” Diarmuid says.

“We’re all political but I think with the music, we're just trying to make something that will stick with us throughout life and try and attach meaning to it, meanderings.”

What is their creative process like?

“Danny or me would send a voice memo of just the vocals and guitar. So then when we all meet up, we have to try and figure out the rest of the song. But I guess the main song would already have been written, and then we try and build ideas around it. Practice spaces are so expensive, so we don't really have  jam sessions where we spend like six hours trying to write a song. We would write songs at home and then bring them to the band. We haven't really been able to just say like, let's try and write a song with this chord and see how it goes,” points out Diarmuid.

The Low Field formed with band members from the Casavettes, Bleeding Heart Pigeons as well as Deadbog. As this isn't their first rodeo, does this mean they don't get nervous anymore?

Brendan laughs: “I tend to black out, to be honest.” According to Diarmuid, they're a very awkward band. “We just look like a socially awkward band. “I'm pretty sure Danny and I stare at the ground while we're playing.”

But for now, fans will have to wait for more releases, as the musicians will be busy bees over the summer. What can be expected of them in the future?

“Probably not a lot until after summer,” Diarmuid laughs. "Danny’s going to Brazil for a month. And then a lot of us are involved in running a festival as well that happens in August, so that's gonna be taken up all that month at family."

So far, The Low Field have not gotten in touch with any PR agencies or managers. “We're so new, we haven't really done much yet. We're still cruising nicely,” smiles Diarmuid.

One thing is certain, the future looks promising for the Limerick quartet.