BY PADDY WALSH
It’s a Thursday night on San Francisco’s Valencia Street and in a tiny office space, a handful of stairs away from the stage on which ‘The Murder Capital’ have just performed, Gabriel Blake is reflecting on the band’s U.S. tour which is drawing to a close.
Just fifteen minutes previously the Irish quintet finished their set to loud acclaim from fans packed into the compact venue The Chapel – another successful leg of the tour complete.
For the bass guitarist, hailing from Letterkenny, it’s been a richly rewarding experience. ‘Aye, we’re delighted with how the tour has gone.”
It was his cousin, Sally Blake, who pointed this interviewer in the direction of the gig. Hearing that we – spouse Bernie and I – were going to be in San Francisco, just a day before we departed Letterkenny, she indicated that Gabriel’s band were playing there.
A quick check revealed that the tour leg would indeed coincide with our visit and tickets bought we duly arrive at the venue – to an energy driven performance that featured material from the band’s two albums to date.
And Gabriel, son of Paschal and the late Pasqueline Blake, is quick to add another string to his cousin’s bow.
“One of the bass guitars I played tonight, Sally bought it for me one Christmas and it was used on our first album,” he reveals.
Gabriel retraces the cities and venues the band have performed in since commencing the American tour in late March.
“We started in Washington D.C. and we did New York, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Boston, and then we’ve done Portland and Seattle.” And other venues in between.
“Our tour manager Tom has been brilliant. He’s toured America a good few times so knows what it’s all about.”
They were due to complete the tour at the Coachella music festival in California.
Given the energy of the band on stage and the distance between venues, it’s surely a strength sapping tour? “Aye, it’s tiring alright but we just get on with it.”
The Murder Capital have earned rave reviews since commencing the U.S. leg of their tour including in the prestigious music magazine, Rolling Stone.
“Yeah, they actually met us in New York and followed us around for a day. It’s great to get that level of publicity and we’re getting even better coverage now with stuff like this happening,” laughs the Letterkenny man.
So how often does he get back to his native town? “I was home at the start of the tour. We did Europe, the U.K. and Ireland in February and then I was home for about two weeks in between Dublin and Donegal and then we flew out from Dublin.”
“We flew to Washington originally but since then we’ve been travelling in a van and everything packed into a trailer.”
And, of course, there are always Irish links to keep them fed and watered!
“We were invited in to a place called Casements which is run by a woman from Meath called Gillian. There’s an artist called Soak from Derry and we had contact from them and they told us there was this place called Casements and she takes in Irish acts when they’re travelling so she took us in and give us dinner.”
Always good to have those Irish connections!
The band released their second album, ‘Gigi’s Recovery’ on January 20.
“It went to number one in Ireland and got into the top twenty in the U.K.” And continuing to sell well as tour attendances confirm.The band members met while studying at the B.I.M.M. college in Dublin (the British and Irish Modern Music Institute). They hail from all over the country and also feature Cathal Roper (guitar and keyboards) from Donegal Town. They formed in 2018 with acclaim arriving very quickly after the release of their debut album ‘When I Have Fears’ which was described by critics as both “dark and intense”.
Indeed it was a time when band members were going through bereavements including Gabriel who lost his mother Pasqueline and front man, James McGovern, who was grieving the death of a close friend.
The new album is in much lighter vein and is obviously making its mark in the post punk arena and beyond it.
Next stop for The Murder Capital is another European tour and a spot at the iconic Electric Picnic in early September which is being headlined by the likes of The Killers, Lewis Capaldi, Billie Eilish and Johnny Marr.
But the ever growing fan base of The Murder Capital know who the real headline act is…..!
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