Question of Taste: Steve Ryan selects Neil Young and John Creedon in his picks
Steve Ryan, second from left, and the other members of Limerick band Windings.
Steve Ryan is from Limerick, and is involved in music in a number of ways, including as an educator in his native city, and with his band Windings. The five-piece band release their new album, Focus On The Past 5, on November 12.
I loved the Jeff Tweedy autobiography Let's Go (So We Can Get Back). I'm not big into autobiographies as a rule, but this was a great piece of work. He has a chapter on what he believes the role of the songwriter/creative musician to be, and it's actually been quite inspiring to re-read.
I enjoyed the Spanish film The Platform a lot. I like filmic visions of dystopia, always set somewhere in the very near future. This ticked all the boxes. Pretty grim, but just the right amount of fantasy so I was still able to sleep after it.
Any of the gigs I've seen recently are kind of ones we've been playing at ourselves. I saw a band called Red Sun Alert playing down at the Clonakilty Guitar Festival. I stumbled on them totally by accident, I heard some noise and I followed it. I walked through Spillers Lane and there they were! They were absolutely savage.
I bought the re-issue of Leave Home by The Men there in Steamboat Music last week. It's the 10 year anniversary of that album, and I remember it having a huge impact on me at the time. It was distinctly raw and quite ugly sounding then, and I'm happy to report that it's still just the same now. I was in a very different place in my life 10 yrs ago, but this album doesn't necessarily bring me back there, moreso visits me like an old, aggressive mate. Like Begbie from Trainspotting.
I don't know! The Longest Time by Billy Joel? Amerikkkas Most Wanted by Ice Cube? Suzanne by Leonard Cohen?
Neil Young and Crazy Horse in The Point in 2001. I went with my Dad and it was momentous in so many ways. I'll never forget it.
It's sporadic. I definitely binge-watch. I've absolutely rinsed Netflix, there's nothing left for me there. I'm probably going to give Succession a go, everybody's on about it.
Big fan of John Creedon, I always enjoy his music choices. Some of them may not be to my taste, but he always plays interesting stuff. I don't really listen to podcasts as such. The odd one I guess, especially Irish music ones that interview artists I want to know more about. The Point Of Everything is a great one for that.
Beastie Boys, PJ Harvey, and The Robocop Kraus. What a show that'd be!
I've been lucky enough in life to meet a whole bunch of my musical heroes. Meeting Daniel Johnston was a big deal. I also met Public Enemy in Dublin Airport when I was 12. I got their autographs, and Flavor Flav told me to stay in school and be good to my moms.
I'm wary of nostalgia, I think. Things are pretty great musically in Ireland right now. People I know and people I don't are releasing new stuff every other week. I'm very grateful and privileged to be here at this particular time to see it, hear it, and to be some small part of it all.
