The Sigla Blog

For a while now, I’ve been gradually shifting perspective on a few things and find myself with less time than ever to devote to this blog. As Shane pointed out when he called it a day last month, not only do readers expect and deserve posts of a certain quality (and frequency), you expect it […]

“Right now, my favourite place to make music is this large closet in my basement that I’ve turned into a studio. It’s big enough for three people to fit into, with a large makeshift table made out of a broken door and some milk crates. It gets a nice sound, not much room sound, just […]

The Sensual Walk, a Kate Bush-themed event to mark Bloomsday will take place on Saturday, June 14th. It kicks off at 2pm, meeting on the top of Howth Head, near the car park with a walk around Howth Head. There will be live music from Mumblin’ Deaf Ro, Carol Keogh & Band, Thinguma*jigSaw, Magdeleen van […]

Drew Daniel: My favourite space is somewhere in the future, with no phone, and a calendar with nothing written on it.
M.C. Schmidt: I am a practicalist, so I would have to speak about several places I have been. The production of our music is burdened with stuff: computers, microphones, mixing boards, synthesizers. I love this […]

The 2008 European Championships kicked off yesterday and Fústar has started a chronicle of matches, with the odd player profile and nostalgic recollection thrown in. I’ll be adding posts, and my first - on why I’m supporting Poland - appears today to coincide with their first match later. Yes, I know they’re playing Germany (the […]

I have a double pass to give away for the following three gigs over the next few days. If you’d like to win one (and have a preference for a particular gig), answer the question below and leave your answer in the comments.
Gig 1: Vetiver with support from Paul Curreri - Sunday June […]

Declan Burke - journalist, blogger and crime novelist - is publishing an entire novel (entitled A Gonzo Noir) online over the next couple of months. If you want to read it in installments, here’s some background and Part 1, and you can follow its progress with Parts two, three and four.
Declan’s second book, The […]

The Dublin Fringe Festival are holding a FREE workshop for anyone interesting in theatre production. It takes place at 6pm on Thursday June 26th at the Dublin Fringe Festival Offices, Sackville House, Sackville Place, Dublin 1. Anyone interested can participate, just RSVP by June 14th to jennyATfringefestDOTcom or give them a call on 01 817 […]

Richie Egan has been on a rollercoaster over the last two years. The Dublin musician aka Jape landed most musician’s dream: a major label record deal - only for it to almost slip through his fingers. Ritual, his third (and hugely anticipated) album had been long finished, but record company drama held up the release. […]

JAPE
Ritual
Co-Op
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If the title of Richie Egan’s hugely anticipated third album suggests order and routine, his last couple of years have been anything but. Having had many interested labels snapping at his heels, he finally plumped for V2, only for it to be bought by Universal. In stepped Co-op, V2’s independent wing and after what seems […]

Rose Tremain has been announced this evening as the winner of this year’s Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel, The Road Home. I haven’t read it, but then but I’ve read two of Tremain’s other books and found them really tedious. There were three debut novelists - Sadie Jones, Heather O’Neill and Patricia Wood […]

“We have a city-based practice room we use a couple of times a week but it’s a pretty soulless room in the attic of an office block. We use it more for pure rehearsal, but our favourite place to actually break out new ideas and mess about in search of inspiration is a tiny little […]