Ireland its time to get LOOSE

Posted on 22nd Aug 06 by Contributor | 0

Artist: Republic of Loose"""Interview
Author: Nicola Marie O Riordan

These lads have been on the music scene for years as Johnny Pyro and The Rock
Coma. Band members came and went" and in 2001 Republic of Loose were born.
Since the popular tracks "Come Back Girl" and "You Know It" graced our radio
waves in 2005 the success of Republic of Loose has spiralled out of control.
They started off playing gigs in bars to 10"12 people" however this year they
rocked mainstage at Oxegen and even played a well received set on a pontoon in
the middle of the Liffey" Their sound is a "mish"mash" of well loved genres
"blues" gospel" rock" jazz" funk" rap".

Let me introduce the band. Mick Pyro is the most attractive" yet disasterous
front man this country has seen since Shane Mc Gowan. Then we have the adorable
mini guitarist Brez" the only man to work a dodgey baseball cap. He belts out
rough heavy riffs to the best of his ability yet doesn't disappoint when it
comes to intricacies of geetar geekdom. Now meet fellow guitarist Dave Pyro
whose blinding solos make the girls blush and their boyfriends jealous. On
keyboards we have Deco. Deco is usually found tucked away in the corner
modestly taking the sound of the band to a higher place. Benjamin hides his
amazing talent behind his "come and get me" eyes. He brings bass to a whole new
level that would put thunder God "Thor" to shame. Last but most certainly not
least we have the fantastic Coz Noleon who enthusiastically brings an
animalistic energy to the set. Go to see "The Loose" for the experience as well
as the music.

I catch up with Deco" Brez and Coz for a beer in club Dakota Skibbereen to talk
about knitting" ABBA and watching each other sleep.

So lads why did ye change your name to Republic of Loose"

Coz: Eh" we had to change. Well eh a few people left.
Brez: New members joined the band. The band kinda changed so" we sorta got a
different vibe. The old vibe didn't really work anymore.

Who's the biggest Diva in the band"

Brez: The biggest diva in the band" I'll have to say" eh" I'll have to whisper
this so put brackets "whispers." Coz" the drummer. Because eh…he sticks his
nose in everything. So he does.
Coz: Eh that would be Dave
Deco: "laughs" Yeah definitely Dave" without a doubt Dave
Why Dave"
Coz: Eh we'll turn this off and I'll tell ya later.

What's your favourite piece of studio equipment"

Coz: 20 cigarettes.
Brez: Eh suppose the" dunno" the door when your leaving. Dunno" I dunno. I
suppose chairs are good. Studios are like really horrible fuckin' places to be
and stuff very tense there's nothin' really good in there.

Everyone wants to know" lads where do you get your clothes" they're really cool"

Deco: Are they"
Coz: Well believe it or not they actually get shipped in from New York.
Brez: Eh well a friend of ours" he buys some of it. Then we all kinda go out
and buy bits and pieces ourselves. But we kinda usually mish"mash outta a lot
of the crap. Like stuff from charity shops and fuckin' ya know" friends
wardrobes and stuff like that. Mishmash of stuff. It's supposed to be like
really cohesive and look really good" but it actually doesn't look really good.

Besides being fantastic musicians do any of you have any hidden talents"

Coz : Yeah I'm an incredible cook.
Deco: Yeah
Coz: Brez eh he likes to knit. Deco" what's your hidden talent" He kinda keeps
'em hidden.
Deco: Yeah I'm into haberdashery
Haberdashery"
Deco: Yeah haberdashery.
Coz: It's not illegal anyway…..yet
Brez: Dave can open a beer bottle with his toenail" Large toenail" big toenail.

Have you ever had any incidents with crazy fans"

Coz: Not really no they're all really nice and cool and all that. But somebody
took my horrible sweaty towel after a gig. Bloody disturbing.
Brez: Erm….all our fans are crazy.
Deco: Well no they're all genuinely nice…….Mick gets hassle though.

Brez why did you end up on the front cover of the album"

Brez: Yeah people come up to me and go "Why the fuck did you get on the fuckin
album""
But the picture's more "aw" than "aaggh."
Brez: "Laughs" Yeah" yeah that was one of my angrier faces" I dunno" they just
thought it would be a good idea to use that shot. It was actually last minute"
we did the photo shoot and we didn't even realise that it was gonna be used for
the cover of the record in the end so that was it.

Have you ever had any run ins with angry feminists in relation to your lyrics"

Brez: Eh" no no actually a loada women love the lyrics. I dunno weird isn't it"
I dunno never heard any girls kinda giving out about anything so…."Smiles" I
don't write the fuckin' lyrics.
Deco: "laughs uncontrollably" I think Mick has hasn't he"
Coz: Yeah Mick has" he's had a run in with one or two.

What's the most embarrassing cd that you have in your collection"

Brez: Eh I suppose eh" I have…..eh….No I can't no way. I'll give you the
second most embarrassing" it's the eh… nah fuck it. Well I wanna give you
something cool that could be embarrassing. No skip that one" skip that one.
Coz: I don't have any embarrassing cds" whatever I buy I'm proud of it. If you
can defend it well enough then nothing's embarrassing.
Coz: I have this. "refers to "get ready for this" by 2 Unlimited". I have it on
vinyl.
Deco: That's the 90s man.
Coz: I got it for the b"side man" the orchestral mix. "laughs"
Deco: Well I work as a dj" I've got like everything I've got like ABBA" Well
you can defend ABBA too like" ya know.
Brez: Deco's got loadsa ABBA" He's has the entire collection. He's a mad ABBA
fan. His favourite song's "Money" he loves "Money."

Has fame changed anyone in the band"
Deco: What fame"
Coz: Fame"
Deco: They haven't really changed.
Coz: Yeah we're just doin the same shit and gettin' away with it.
Brez: Nobody's ever come up to me on the street ever ever. Well one time it
happened on the Luas up in Dublin and that was it. Mick gets it. If you're not
looking for it you won"t get noticed.

All the girls want to know which do you prefer blondes" brunettes or redheads"

Coz: All three at once.
Brez: She looks like Lindsay Lohan. "pointing at my friend" Kind of. Sorry. I
know that girl is" she's kinda…Yeah yeah she's kinda swaying me towards
redheads. For the moment.

What part of the country do you like to play in the best"

Brez: Cork. Even back in the day when we're only playing like to like ten people
in Cork like. It's still fuckin' deadly.
Coz: Cork. No" genuinely Cork.
Deco: Cork and Dublin are equal.
Coz: We play down here more than we do Dublin.
Deco: We do yeah
Coz: I mean Dublin we haven't headlined since last September and we've done it
six times in Cork this year. So yeah" Cork
Deco: Definitely Cork.

What do you do on the tour bus to keep you entertained"

Coz: Watch movies and not talk to each other. Find new and interesting ways to
sleep.
Brez: Dunno…eh I watch Deco sleep" thinking about what he's dreaming about.
That's the lot. I dunno" look out the window.

I thank the lads for a nice chat" fantastic gig and let them "Loose" on the
dance floor. These lads must get so sick of puns. Anyway until the next gig.
LOOSE LOOSE LOOSE LOOSE"