A new Mersey beat with All We Are

ALL We Are’s Rich O’Flynn isn’t fazed by the hype.

If anything he rather enjoys the attention. A Cork city native transplanted to the north of England he understands that, in a country that churns out perfectly decent indie groups by the dozen, the hardest challenge is standing out from the crowd.

“Hype is people talking about your band,” says the musician from the suburb of Douglas. “The UK is really competitive. Not in terms of everyone is out to get you – there’s just so much music around. The more people talking about you the better: hopefully they are loving the music. That’s all you can do.”

Back in Cork, O’Flynn served time in a succession of workaday alternative outfits, including The Berries (and was a graduate of the music course at Colásite Stiofáin Naofa). However, All We Are transcend student disco cliche: their sound is woozy and disembodied, with a dreamlike quality that is difficult to get out of your head. Early on, someone dubbed their aesthetic as ‘the Bee Gees on diazepam’, which is a little cute but cuts to the essence of what they are about.

“The term struck a chord with us, he says. “It fits our single ‘Utmost Good’, which we released year and a half ago. We liked it.”

O’Flynn moved to Liverpool six years ago to study at the city’s Institute For Performing Arts (Lipa). Straight away he was struck by the supportive nature of the Liverpool music scene and by its eclecticism. Soon he had struck up a friendship with guitarist Luis Santos from Brazil and bass player Guro Gikling from Norway (O’Flynn nominally mans the drums – however, all three members pitch in with production and vocals).

“You can’t argue with Liverpool’s pedigree,” he says. “Look at all the great bands it has produced. It’s also got a fantastic DIY community whereby everyone gets involved. It’s really quite unique.”

The band has finished its album which is due in February. They are signed to Domino, one of the UK’s most respected independent labels (stablemates include Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and Villagers). Several majors were also pursuing their signature – once Domino made its interest clear, however, All We Are knew it was the only option.

“We’re a huge fan of the roster,” says O’Flynn. “We released ‘Utmost Good’ and we got a bit of attention. At the launch show, Domino happened to be in attendance. The next day we went up to their offices and took it from there. A couple of other labels were looking at us. It was always going to be Domino. It’s not that they are hands off – they take an interest. At the same time, they are really open to your thoughts.”

As yet untitled, the debut LP was produced by esteemed backroom figure Dan Carey, best known lately for his work on Mercury-nominated records by Nick Mulvey and Kate Tempest. Working with a high profile producer can be an awkward undertaking – especially for a young band still finding their way. Carey, though, set All We Are at ease from the outset and is now a firm friend.

“He is an absolute legend, “ says O’Flynn. “It was a good experience from every perspective. He was respectful of our vision – a wonderful person to work with.”

O’Flynn’s love for Liverpool shines through. He and his bandmates were quick to put roots down in the city. Though all from overseas none of them feel like strangers – they’ve been welcomed by the city and its music scene.

The institute at which he studied was established by Paul McCartney and O’Flynn got to sit in with the Beatles icon on a songwriting workshop.

“As a third year songwriter I was majoring in song writing,” he recalled in an interview in 2010 .”They pick certain students to have a workshop with him so I actually sat with him for half an hour, just face to face, one on one. I played him some of my songs, he played me some of his and we chatted.

“The place where we had the workshop is adjacent to the Protestant cathedral and there’s a graveyard down there with big massive grounds and he was telling me how he used to write down there with John Lennon. It was really poignant.”

At Lipis, the future members of All We Are initially were not sure what sort of musical direction they wished to pursue together.

Realising they were in danger of being holed beneath the waterline by procrastination they decided to set their misgivings aside and get on with being the best band they could be. Since then they’ve hardly looked back.

“We just said f**k it – let’s do it as a three-piece. Liverpool has been really good to us. It’s a really international city. We’ve always felt that it’s a great place from which to start a band. There’s an awareness of the cry and of its heritage. “

Indeed he doesn’t hesitate in naming the city as the outstanding influence on the band: its independent sensibility courses through their veins.

“We do see ourselves as a Liverpool band,” he says. “We have a fan base here and were welcomed really quickly by other bands.”

That isn’t to say that he doesn’t miss home. He’s looking forward to coming back to Cork for Christmas and to playing the Other Voices festival in Dingle (see panel), with the gigs broadcast on RTÉ in the spring.

“I’ve always been into music. It’s what I wanted to do with my life. After school I looked around and tried to see where the options were. There seemed to be a greater variety of courses in the UK than Ireland. Liverpool seemed a good choice and off I went. It’s been a fantastic experience.”

• All We Are play Other Voices festival in Dingle next weekend