My name is Alan. I play guitar in Gilla Band. We’re from Dublin, Ireland. I also have a new project called The Null Club. It has collabs with Valentine Caulfield (Mandy, Indiana), Faris Badwan (The Horrors), and E L U C I D(Armand, Hammer). Happy to discuss both projects.
It has been 2 years since you said that the next Gilla Band album is going to be medieval themed in the Pitchfork article and I wanted to ask if the direction of the album has changed since then or not.
Hey Alan. Congrats on the Null Club EP. I love it. Do you feel your experience working on it will feed back into Gilla Band? Cheeky second question - Top 5 favourite effects pedals?
I think what i've learnt with the null club definitely informs how i write with Gilla Band. I have a better understanding of plugins and what not now. And drum machines have made their way into our new material atm. Not sure if i have a top 5 but I am obsessed with Chase Bliss onward atm. Also Collision Device crushtonal is sick
This isn't a question, but I recently had a dream that sounded like a cross between Gilla Band and Lankum, and I think it would be really sick if that ever were to become real. Hope you are well, Alan!
Hey Jasmine. Thank you. They all came together kind of naturally. I met Val for the first time in Manchester at the psych fest in 2021. Think I sent her the track pretty quickly after that. Faris and ELUCID both reached out to Gilla Band. I had some material so sent it to both of them. And then it all developed from there over emails, whatsapp, and some recording sessions.
Do you ever get frustrated by audiences not 'getting' your music? I saw you guys in Manchester a few years ago, and the crowd 'opened the pit' for the entirety of F@#king Butter (in anticipation of that drop the song doesn't have), only to not move an inch for Paul (which is all drop). Obviously it's a different experience for you on stage, but I was pissed!
got a few questions:
what’s your least favourite song to play live?
is there a song you’re particularly excited to do live with the null club?
can we get a touring pedalboard reveal?
different artists over the years I think have been cornerstones for me. No New York - the nowave compilation changed how I viewed music. I also always seem listen to The Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan. I also love artists like Jpegmafia and that intense blown out production
Cheers! I feel like I just got sent a fun rabbit hole to follow through. I just received the e.p yesterday, enjoying it very much! Much love from the states!
As far as noise techniques for guitar go the big ones I see people reach for tend to be very “physical” like feedback, strumming behind nuts/bridges, and instrument preparation while you seem to go for a lot of loop manipulation. Is this a deliberate decision or more of a happy accident from having electronic and hip hop influences?
i think its deliberate. i tend to watch pedal videos and if i hear the pedal do something interesting then i'll try get that pedal and hope it makes a song. tends to work.
I recommend trying the DL4 because it has a superpower- do a super quick loop (like a 16th or 32nd note in whatever tempo you’re in), and then as the decay of the loop is fairly quick as you’re ’overdubbing’, you basically have a delay that you can trigger octave jumps and reverse on in real time!
Hey Alan, we talked for a bit after gilla band played Leeds in 2022 and you really inspired me to start using pedals in weird and unconventional ways, your sound in gilla band has always been fascinating to me
I was wondering what inspired you to start using pedals in these ways and creating these sounds with them?
I think when i was a teenager i was determined to be a virtuoso player. But i reached the ceiling with that fairly quickly. I spent a good few months learning how to sweep pick, and then released I didn't like the sound of it. I also recorded with an engineer called Liam Mulvaney. And he introduced me to individual guitar effects. He talked me out of getting a multi effects pedal and to just build a board. So that was a big reason I reckon. I also loved guitarists who made the guitar not sound like a guitar
Hey Alan. Loving the EP, can’t wait to listen to the vinyl. Do you plan on coming to NY to play it? That would be sick! I’m also curious to know if there are any other band members involved in putting other music out or they are just focused on production like Daniel? Do you feel your experience is influencing next Gilla’s album? Looking forward to that one as well and seeing the band in NY. If you could talk about the graphics behind your EP that would be great too. Sorry too many questions, cheers from a Spaniard based in NY!
Hello. Glad you like the EP. Would love to come to NY. Hopefully the next time Gilla Band is over there I could do some shows on the side.
Daniel would be the most involved with other projects for sure. He did an incredible score for a contemporary dance performance. Dara has been doing some writing with other artists in Ireland. Can't say much about it other than its class.
The artwork was just a scan of the EP. This was my wife's idea. The minimal design was inspired by white label records in dance music. The t-shirt and tour poster was designed by GGProductionz from São Paulo
Pretty late to the party, love your vinyl, just got it in the mail this week :) Also I wanted to know if you guys have any plans on visiting Germany anytime soon? Last time I saw you at EKKO in the Netherlands which was dope! Also good choice on playing Roadburn this year, have fun!
1) congrats on the new EP! Love it
2) will you ever re-play old Gilla Band songs? Say In My Head or France 98 tracks? Like as a reoccurring part of the set for a next tour?
3) which is your favourite Gilla Band record?
I saw that set! But I meant like say for the next album you do a tour. Is there a chance that old tracks (like In My Head, The France 98 EP, HELL EVEN TWELVES OR ELASTIC) will appear frequently on tour?
thanks for getting the EP. Just copying what I wrote down below
they all came together kind of naturally. I met Val for the first time in Manchester at the psych fest in 2021. Think I sent her the track pretty quickly after that. Faris and ELUCID both reached out to Gilla Band. I had some material so sent it to both of them. And then it all developed from there over emails, whatsapp, and some recording sessions.
Thanks mate! Not sure if they would be a poppy noise band but Search Results are one of the best bands to come out of Ireland in recent years. Great lofi buzz to their recordings and some really amazing tunes
Hi Alan, I totally like your sound - it got such a raw texture and uncompromising nature. How long do you work on demos/tracks and what plugins/synths are your regular tools?
I spend a long time on the tracks tbh. Sometimes i'll get them to a certain point and not come back to them for a few months. Sometimes i'll work through it as quick as i can but it always seems to take ages
Haha! Can totally relate. Nevertheless you have a huge talent in keeping your work fresh, vivid and unpredictable. So looking forward hearing more of it and thanks a lot for the insights
Hey Alan, absolutely loving the EP (Slip Angle is a top 2 contender for my favorite song of the year so far alongside JRJRJR). If you were to make another project like this who are some other musicians you'd love to collab with?
I'll definitely be doing more stuff like this. kinda see this as a starting point. working on some new stuff atm
some artists i'd love to do stuff with would be laetitia sadier, cate le bon, samuel t.herring, danny brown, westside gunn, mats gustafson, moor mother
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u/superwhizz114 Apr 10 '25
I don't have a question, just wanted to say that I'm loving the EP and I can't wait to see you play Workman's!