Source Programme of Events Spring 2019 The Source Arts Centre Programme Spring 2019_Layou | Page 12

Spring 2019
InfInIte
Jest
WE SPOKE TO COLLY AND TOM
FROM THURLES BAND JESTER
AHEAD OF WHAT WILL BE
ANOTHER MOMENTOUS YEAR
WITH THE LAUNCH OF THEIR
ALBUM AT THE SOURCE IN MARCH
You’ve played a lot of high profile gigs in the past
year – what have been the highlights?
Colly: It’s been a good year alright. The best we’ve
had as a band in a few years anyway.
Playing Electric Picnic was class; it was our aim to
play it when we reconvened as a band properly last
year and it’s another box ticked, in a way.
For me personally, though it was the Feile Classical
which we played on the Saturday. The weekend was
amazing from start to finish; we opened for The
Stunning in the Premier Hall on the Friday night
which was cool and then did the big one in the
stadium the next day. The support we got that day
was incredible, I was only a kid when the Feile was
originally held in Thurles with all the greatest bands
in the world coming to our town and I had always
dreamed of playing it. My family and friends being
there drove us on that extra bit on the day. It was a
special day and a gig I’m very proud to have done.
I think I can speak on behalf of all the lads when
I say that one meant a lot.
Jester are about to release an album, can you tell
me how it came about and the recording of it
over the past few months?
Colly: It’s been recorded predominantly with Martin
Quinn in Jam Studios Kells; there’s also a couple of
songs on it which were recorded with Joe Gallagher
in Gaff Studios in Cahir and a couple recorded with
Joe Egan in Clara. All of those people who have
worked on it have helped shape our sound and
make the album what it is and for that we are very
grateful to each one of them. The album has always
been the aim. But it had to be right. We’re
perfectionists which can hinder you at times when
you just don’t want to let it go. Which I suppose we
were slightly guilty of to a point. We nearly went
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The Source Arts Centre
full Lee Mavers (the La’s) on it but thankfully we
haven’t and it’s done now. It’s been difficult to
finalise the track listing because there’s another
album’s worth of material written that’s ready to
go. In fact there’s probably another two albums
worth of stuff ready to go if I’m honest. Who knows
we might even bring out another one if this goes
alright.
This is your debut album. Why now?
Tom: There have been plans for an album for years
to be fair. Various forces aligned for it not to come
about until recently when everything has fallen into
place for us with the record deal we signed with
Velvet Moron Records helping us out no end. Jester
have put out numerous singles and EPs over the
years but have held back with an album as that
seems to have been the trend over the past few
years. The demise of the music industry seemed to