Hermitage Green stick out a Claw and blow some kisses to try stay in the game
Limerick band Hermitage Green have a new single, 'West Broadway Girl'.
The music video for Hermitage Green’s single 'Heaven' hits you over the head. It’s playful and provocative like a short film. Dan Murphy of the band goes about his day running into people in his life – a girlfriend; a grizzled guy at his local cafe; a couple strolling in the park with a baby; and his fellow band members, including his brother. What’s unexpected is he plants long and loving mouth-to-mouth kisses on each of the people he meets.
“With the video we wanted to challenge social norms,” explains Barry Murphy, the band’s singer and bass player. “My brother Dan is well-travelled. Some of the things he’s encountered would seem unusual to us Irish. Men would kiss each other as opposed to shaking hands. He’s spent a lot of time in India, for example, where men would hold hands walking around the place as pals, not with any sexual connotations.
“Dan thinks we’ve built up social constructs around kissing. Why do we make it sexual? It’s a bizarre thing. A lot of people were weirded out by the video. Why is this guy kissing the barista? Why is he kissing his brother? Which was a horrendous thing to have gone through, but I did it for the love of art.”
The folk rock band Hermitage Green consist of the Murphy brothers and three other mates from Limerick. After 10 years of graft, building up a loyal Irish following as well as international tours, they hit a wall – like the rest of the live entertainment industry – when the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March.
The band were in Dubai, having just done a concert and en route to Australia, when they had to turn around, arriving back in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day. Unbeknownst, the curtain had just come down on their live gigging schedule for the year.
“It has been a hammer over the head,” says Murphy. “The first few months were strange. There was a rush for music. People were trying to stay relevant, trying to put up online stuff they were doing at home. There was a sense of desperation from all of us. What do we do in this situation? Now we’re in this lull period.
“I’m trying to be as positive as I can, but you feel like you’ve lost your entire identity. We’ve gigged every week – with the exception of the odd holiday – for 10 years. That’s all we know. We would cram studio sessions between gigs.
“We worked so hard on our live shows. We love it. We were growing too. That’s the hardest part. We were in such a good place. But what can you do? We don’t know when it will change. We check to see what other peers are doing to scratch that itch, to perform, to get your music out there.” The band have an album ready to go. They were supposed to release it in June, but they’re keeping it on ice. In the meantime, they’ve just released a single, 'West Broadway Girl', a love letter to Murphy’s wife, Orlaith, and her independent spirit.
A music career is Murphy’s second act. He is a former Munster and Ireland international rugby player. He’s used his contacts from the game, including the legendary Peter 'Claw' Clohessy, to good effect.
“Claw booked us for a couple of our first ever gigs in his bar,” says Murphy. “I think he paid us €80 and gave us a few free pints. A few years ago, he came to one of our gigs at King John’s Castle. When we came down off stage afterwards, he was there with my dad.
“My dad sells all our merchandise at our gigs. We call him ‘Merchandise Mick’. He’s great craic. He loves hanging out. We bring him everywhere. He’s like a roadie and our man who gets us out of bed in the morning.
“Down at the merchandise desk at King John’s Castle, Claw was standing next to him. He had roped the Claw in as his assistant. The two of them were there wearing our T-shirts. The Claw was trying to flog T-shirts to these innocent, drunk Hermitage Green fans for 50 quid!”
Every band could do with a Claw-type figure in their entourage right now.
- Hermitage Green’s single 'West Broadway Girl' is out now. See: www.hermitagegreen.com
