thedeadflags news

HWCH

2009-08-25T17:57:00.003+01:00

Just a quick note to say that we've been selected for the prestigious HARD WORKING CLASS HEROES Festival which will be held in Dublin on the weekend of 16-18th October. The festival is all about celebrating the best indie and underground music Ireland has to offer and showcases many artists that go on to big things. We're delighted to be chosen and are really looking forward to the festival.

Yay us. Read more at http://www.hwch.net/

Recording Update 1

2009-08-13T19:35:00.003+01:00

Hallo there.

Sitting here in what was once a kitchen in a lovely house on the edge of a lake in Donegal but is now the control room of the headquarters for the recording of our debut album. Dave's standing beside me doing the second take of a re-recording of a song you all know while Karl and Kevin sit on the other side of the dinner table/control desk twiddling things and generally trying not to make Dave laugh. We finished our live takes this morning with another re-recording and the cabin fever is being kept at bay by liberal doses of hob-nobs, tea and ridiculous punning.

The scoreboard on the wall beside me shows that Kev is well ahead with final drum takes done on 13 songs and Dave is very, very slowly creeping up behind him. I've got vocals, backing vocals and guitars to do on everything so it's a fair bet I'm not going to be winning this album. Everything so far has been recorded live with guitar, bass and drums being put down simultaneously but now begins the business of seperately recording all the other elements (and redoing those bass and guitar takes that just don't cut it).

Once more, we're not going to let you know what's being recorded but already things are beginning to sound a lot like we hoped they would. A long way to go yet but it's great to be some of the way there. Got to go as Dave has just completed that song and the lads are doing an impression of a bunch of dogs barking the riff from the next one.

Unlimited love to y'all

Billy/TDF

ALBUM

2009-08-07T16:23:00.003+01:00

Right.

Myself (Billy), Dave and Kevin are going to be locking ourselves away in a house in darkest Donegal for the next 2 weeks with Mr. Karl Odlum to begin what we hope will become our debut album. There's no release date or anything set yet so don't get yourselves into any kind of panic- it'll be 2010 before anything like that'll be happening. However, this is a big step for us and we're delighted to be finally going for it.

We've got a great set of songs, painstakingly culled to a 15-16 song shortlist to be recorded over the next few months and we're really hoping to put what we've learned with previous releases to good use with this one. We're very much upping the ante and all I'll say is that this is not going to be a flash-in-the-pan kind of thing. We're aiming to put together an album that'll knock your socks off so we're going to take our time about getting it right.

If our internet access is working, we'll try to keep you posted during the recording process and we'll be having some shows in Sligo and Bundoran in mid-August so we'll see you then

flags, the dead xx

Our Grand German Adventure

2009-08-07T15:50:00.006+01:00

So we played the Eier Mit Speck Festival in Viersen near Dusseldorf in Germany.

A wonderfully organized (it was a German festival, not an Irish one after all) event, we had our own driver and free beer/food all weekend. Free eggs and bacon every morning (hence the name) and a wonderful atmosphere in general.

we took to the stage around 2pm on Saturday and it duly started to absolutely piss down during our set. with technical hitches aplenty, we rocked out as best we could in front of the soaked hordes, most of whom left the mudbath pit area and sought shelter in the various tents around the place but they still watched and clapped and cheered and sang along. in the middle of O My Love! O My God!! (which a fair proportion of the audience seemed to know, probably thanks to it being up on the festival website) the sun came out and more people ventured out to dance and frolic to our wonderful tunes.

after the set, we headed backstage to the bar and began a marathon drinking session during which we met all the other bands and had a good old broken-english natter about the german and european music industries.

strangely monikered but actually very entertaining bands such as "She's All That" and "Buttermaker" kept us going all afternoon and (it may be the beer's fault) but we really began to enjoy the sounds of German hip-hop and Dutch reggae after a while.

then as the night came on, entering the 8th hour of boozing, myself (that's Billy) and Dave were chatting behind the stage when a northern irish accent yelled "Ah, The Dead Flags! How are ya?" and we turned into the face of Andy Cairns of headliners Therapy? After a brief bit of starstruckness we had a wee chat and wished him luck with their set. Then we headed to the side of the stage to watch their fantastic set to an absolutely huge crowd during which Andy dedicated a song to us and got the crowd to give us a big hand.

Following those great events, I took stock of my utter drunkenness and decided it was better for everyone that I head back to the hotel. Dave and Kev stayed drinking with Therapy? and the rest of the bands and from what we could all piece together, it was a great night all round.

Sunday was spent like this:

So to sum up our German Adventure in one word:

Thanks to Saori, Miranda, Jurgen and all the crew for such a great weekend. Even the DeadFlagMobile breaking down in Kinnegad on the way back from Dublin to Sligo couldn't put a dampener on the experience.

Check out the official festival photo's and website here.

Balcony TV

2009-07-15T14:39:00.000+01:00

Ch-check it out motherlovers

Crawdaddy Concession

2009-07-08T15:01:00.002+01:00

Print this out and present it at Saturday's Crawdaddy show to get in for €8.00 rather than €10.00. Who loves you?

THE DEAD FLAGS at CRAWDADDY Saturday 11th July (Press Release)

2009-07-08T14:58:00.000+01:00

“THE DEAD FLAGS are not just good, they’re irritatingly good. Your daddies died in the punk wars for this”- HOT PRESS Magazine

Friends, lend us your ears. THE DEAD FLAGS play a special show at Dublin’s renowned Crawdaddy venue this Saturday 11th July and you, the public, will not want to be elsewhere.

Straight outta Sligo, the band have spent the last year building a sizeable national following and establishing a reputation for energetic and life-affirming live performances on a seemingly endless national tour. Three men banging out guitar pop with an emphasis on witty lyrics and melodies you’ll still be humming this time next week, the band cite Eels, Supergrass and early Violent Femmes as their main influences.

Their song “I Can’t Be Held Responsible” will be familiar to many from Alison Curtis currently using the track as a jingle for her nightly Today FM show as well as regular airplay on BBC Radio One, 2FM, Phantom and more. The song is taken from the band’s 4-Track EP “We’ve Got The Ways And The Means”, produced by rising Irish producer Karl Odlum (Ham Sandwich, The Frames).

The release of their infectious debut single “O My Love! O My God!!” in August 2008 brought them critical acclaim - “Pick Of The Fortnight” (Hot Press), “Single Of The Week” (Irish Daily Star) and “Song of the Month” (Campus.ie) - as well as Chart Success with the single peaking at No.22 in the IRMA Irish Singles Chart and No. 1 on DownloadMusic.ie.

With a European tour just rapping up, the band now enter the studio with Odlum to work on their debut album. Saturday’s show will showcase new and old material, all on the shortlist for these imminent recording sessions, as well as helping to provide the means to make those sessions happen.

Catch The Dead Flags at:

Sat 11th July Crawdaddy, Dublin
Sun 12th July Pop 4, TG4
Wed 15th July Balcony TV (www.balconytv.com)
Sat 25th July EIER MIT SPECK Festival, Germany
Fri 21st August The Clarence, Sligo
Sat 22nd August The Chasin’ Bull, Bundoran, Co. Donegal

For more information, check out
www.thedeadflags.com
myspace.com/thedeadflags

Ahhh, the EIER MIT SPECK Festival...

2009-07-07T20:50:00.000+01:00

Some Oh-So Exciting News

2009-04-25T17:24:00.002+01:00

So you want an update do you?

Well, for the past few weeks we've been working on some new songs for you, the huddled masses who call themselves fans-of-the-flags. We've also been booking some shows for the coming months to take advantage of the Summer festival season and try and get ourselves playing to some future-fans-of-the-flags.

First up though, we'll be appearing on national TV once again, this time on TG4's "Síle" show- it's an afternoon magazine programme and we'll be recording a song for them on Monday. We're very excited as we're not often allowed in front of camera's due to our devastating handsomeness causing dangerously high levels of arousal (ladies) and blind jealousy (the men). Also, we'll be filming in a bluescreen studio so when you see it, we may well be flying through space or something so that'll be fun. We'll fill you in on when that'll be broadcast as soon as we know ourselves.

We've also just confirmed that we'll be joining our heroes Super Furry Animals and some great Irish bands like Fred and Ham Sandwich on the bill for this year's Sea Sessions Festival which takes place beside the (yes, you guessed it) sea at Bundoran, Co. Donegal. The gig takes place on the weekend of 26th-28th June and we'll be playing on the Saturday night around 8pm so don't miss it/us. Check out the Sea Sessions website here.

We'll have more news and gig announcements pretty soon so get your fine selves back here asap.

'Til then xx

Tour Tour Tour

2009-04-06T14:02:00.009+01:00

well.

just back from a wee jaunt around this fair isle playing shows in Dublin, Limerick, Clonmel and Donegal Town. I thought i'd let you know how fun it was, in a visual manner.

dave fell off the wagon in limerick. ever seen "Harvey"?

myself and kev met some alpacas in waterford

and i found my family name to be ubiquitous in clonmel. hilarious.

Cheers to everyone who came out and of course, those who let us sleep on their beds and floors. 'twas great and we'll be out again soon

Cheers!

BF

Drop-D

2009-04-01T00:17:00.001+01:00

Howdy.

An interview with us for Drop-D, a lovely Irish music magazine. God we're hilarious:

Drop-d: Dead Flags, how the hell are ya?

Dead Flags: Tired and Horny. But not necessarily in that order. Thanks. You?

Drop-d: Top of the world.... tell us who you are and what are you getting up to?

DF:We are three- Billy and Kevin (Lowery)who are here right now and another, Dave (Power) who is elsewhere (not here). We're sitting in our drummer's kitchen drinking fine Columbian coffee on top of a pile of money with many beautiful ladies. Don't know what Dave is up to but it most likely involves piles of money and many beautiful ladies. We're lucky like that.

Drop-d: Explain your band in three words, or 10, actually make it a couple of sentences.....

DF: Rock. And. Roll. Again, not necessarily in that order but you get the idea. We're just a bunch of music-liking people who get together and make music. On top of a pile of money with many beautiful ladies of course.

Drop-d: Give us a few influences of yours.

DF: Aside from the afore-mentioned piles of money and many beautiful ladies, Eels, Nick Cave and Violent Femmes have been quite influential. Currently, the Top Gun Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has been floating our boat.

Drop-d: How do ye write your songs? What kind of gear do you use...ie instruments, not drugs, well....

DF: Billy writes them using strings, wood and plastic and then the rest of us fix them for public consumption.

Drop-d: Sligo groupies are better in bed than Dublin groupies, true or false?

DF: It's hard to compare without having them in the same bed at the same time so we'll say Longford.

Drop-d: Oh My Love, Oh My God, made you into media darlings for a wee while, the single did well in the charts and the usual suspects gave their nods of approval, does that add any pressure for the upcoming release of the EP?

DF: It was hard going for a while but things have been better since they turned off the media spotlight.

Drop-d: Is the Irish music scene as good as some say at the moment or is it just hyped-up bolloxology?

DF: It's so good right now, we've switched to the hyped-up bolloxology genre. Once you make the switch, a whole load of opportunities present themselves.

Drop-d: Any predictions for the upcoming budget?

DF: I could go on for hours but I think it's been covered far better in Dave's dad's new book. (Metamorphosis: Lessons from the Formative Years of the Celtic Tiger by Dr. Cornelius Power is out now from Oak Tree Press)

Drop-d: Hotpress likes you, that's kinda like when the fat ugly chick in the class sends you a valentine's card......

DF:Harsh. She may be the fat ugly chick but no-one's forcing you to leave the light on. Also, great kisser.

Drop-d: You're playing a good few gigs in the near future, wanna plug them? Will you be playing at any of the festivals in the summer?

DF: Yup, we're playing Whelans on Thursday. Baker Place in Limerick on Friday, Piper Inn in Clonmel on Saturday and Pier 1 in Donegal Town on Sunday. Billy'll be doing a solo support in The Lantern in Navan in May and then off to Europe- some shows in Holland in June and headlining the Eier Mit Speck festival near Dusseldorf in July. After that, we're playing every single festival in Ireland during the Summer. Yay!

Giggage!

2009-03-30T10:57:00.001+01:00

Some newsletter-derived postings:

Your favourite band in the world (ever) THE DEAD FLAGS will be gracing the stage in Whelans this Thursday night for an evening of simply unforgettable rock and probably roll too. Headlining at the wonderful "Clockwork Apple" showcase in the intimate upstairs venue at Whelans on Wexford St, the lads will be joined by the wonderbar blues/country stylings of The River Valley Band whom you can check out here.

Doors open at 8pm and entry is usually €10.00 but what say we let you print out the flyer above, bring it along and get in for €8.00? Yes. If you're around the South-West of the country, los Hombres Dead Flags will also be hitting "the road" and playing Limerick's Baker Place on Friday, Clonmel's Piper Inn on Saturday and then jetting all the way up for a charity gig at Pier 1 in Donegal town on Sunday night. If we see you out there, we'll play a song for you.

See you soon!

TDF

Wolf On Arm

2009-03-03T21:46:00.003Z

Hallo all.

So, we've decided to get all arty-farty on your asses. The wonderful Model Arts & Niland Gallery in Sligo has asked us to participate in a special showcase and we've generously accepted.

Model::Niland is a fantastic art gallery in Sligo who have temporarily closed their doors so as to expand their facility on The Mall. While the building is closed however, they're keeping the activities going, making sure that no-one forgets about what they do. One of the those activities is a new showcase called AltSligo where Sligo-based or Sligo-born musicians get together and play in a space around the town not usually used for music.

Ourselves, the fantabulous Túcan and the incomparable Chequerboard will be playing the inaugaral show at a recently-vacated Pharmacy shop on Wolfe Tone Street in Sligo. The Pharmacy has been cleared out and used as a workshop space for the last few months and this Thursday 5th April, us three acts will be playing 25 minute sets, beginning with Chequerboard, then Túcan and then our good selves.

Doors open at 8.30pm, admission is €10.00 and includes a complimentary drink. How's that for great? Because of the small and experimental nature of the space, the capacity is extremely limited so if you're coming, make sure you get there in good time.

See you there!

Mal

2009-02-25T11:46:00.005Z

Over the weekend, we lost a great friend, Malachi Arrigan.

Mal was a wonderful, wonderful friend, flatmate (to Billy) and supporter of the band. He was one of the most kind and considerate people you could meet with an infectious laugh and a completely original take on the world that made it so good to talk with him about anything at all.

Last summer, Mal travelled around Asia with some friends and specifically asked us for a Dead Flags T-Shirt so he could "spread awareness" of the band by wearing it in photo's in front of landmarks, whilst riding elephants, playing with monkeys etc. He forced strangers to listen to our songs and filmed their reactions, posting the results on YouTube. Every time he emailed his friends to update them on his adventures, he would promote our next gig. Whether he did these things as a friend or a fan, this was Malachi all over.

We, like everyone who knew or ever met him, will miss Mal incredibly. Our thoughts are with his friends and especially his family at this very difficult time.

Goodbye Mal- see you on the other side.

Billy, Dave and Kevin xx

We're bringing the rock to you

2009-02-17T23:25:00.002Z

Well,

If you're a student at DIT Kevin St in Dublin, Ireland and have never experienced THE DEAD FLAGS live, then your laziness has paid off- we're bringing our show to you.

Yup, we just confirmed this a few hours ago so this is as much notice as we could give you: we'll be dropping into DIT Kevin St on Kevin St in Dublin at 1pm on Thursday 19th to play a wee free lunchtime show for y'all.

Enjoy!

alright partypeople, it's about that time

2009-02-10T20:08:00.002Z

Yes, it's time for the Dead Flags Video Bulletin- like a news report that doesn't focus on things going down the plughole, the DFVB informs you of all the Dead Flags-related news you need to be aware of right now. Enjoy...

A Merry Christmas to Y'All...

2008-12-26T12:18:00.001Z

Yes, THE DEAD FLAGS wish you a Happy Christmas and hope that the yuletide log burns brightly in your hearth. Have a good'un and see you on 3rd January. 2009's going to be a good year.

TDF xx

Updates, Schmupdates

2008-12-09T13:01:00.002Z

Just to keep you in the loop...

"I Can't Be Held Responsible" has been receiving regular national airplay on Today FM and thanks to 2FM's Cormac Battle, got a few spins on BBC Radio 1. Thanks Cormac!

Our next show will be supporting the wonderful Reader's Wives at Whelan's in Dublin on Sat 20th December. Due to some festive commitments, this has been changed from a full-band show to a solo performance from Billy. Expect the annual wheeling out of our Christmas Classic "Stockings Filled" and much more merriment than is strictly necessary.

Hope to see you there!

TDF xx

HOT PRESS out Today!!

2008-12-04T12:35:00.001Z

Hey

Check out this fortnight's Hot Press where Kevin has some sort of sex column and the following was written about us:

"Fresh from the success of their infectious debut single 'O My Love! O My God!' The Dead Flags have just released their first four-track EP We've Got The Ways And The Means. Produced by Karl Odlum the opus features 'I Can't Be Held Responsible', 'Gentleman's Club', 'You Will Never Love Again' and 'Stop Raging'. The band - a former HP Pick Of The Fortnight - have been going from strenght to strenght this year gaining lots of airplay and a slot on the prestigious 2FM 2Moro 2our. The release is available from record shops nationwide..." I'll get my scan on so you can see it in all it's hilarious detail.

Thanks HP!!

Cheers!

2008-12-04T12:34:00.001Z

Quick one...

We had a blast at the three shows of our mini "fan tour" in Sligo, Dublin and Bundoran. Hilarious stuff and 'twas wonderful to play to so many new pairs of ears. If you were there- THANK YOU!!, if you were not, why?

WHELANS CONCESSION (how nice are we?)

2008-11-25T13:48:00.003Z

Well FlagFans,

it's that time of year again. Yes, The Dead Flags are coming to the legendary Dublin venue of Whelans to launch our EP and we want you to be part of the fun. And we want that so much, we're prepared to cost ourselves money! Good lord.

Basically, admission to the show will be 10 euro. But really, only fools too excited by the notion of witnessing the band's second coming to Dublin's rock mecca to see how they can save themselves a few euro will be paying that amount. You, since you are so smart and in possession of much foresight, will be able to print off this flyer...

...and gain admission to the show for only 8 euro! A full 20% reduction!!

Of course, if you're a student, you can just bring along your ID and get in for only 5 euro!!! Essentially, THE DEAD FLAGS are having a sale because we've been listening to the news and realizing that while the recession is great for musicians (people always need music...), it is bad for you, the general populous.

Enjoy and see you there!!

Somebody's been getting national radioplay...

2008-11-24T00:20:00.003Z

(it's us)

Yes, the wonderful Alison Curtis has been spinning "I Can't Be Held Responsible" on her weekday show and also on her Sunday night "The Last Splash" show on Today FM this week. We're obviously pretty chuffed about this and hope that some of you who read this are here as a result of hearing it's delightfully distorted bass grooves blasting out over the airwaves. If that's you, WELCOME! If not, sure you can still be happy for us can't you? Can't you??

Cheers Alison!

WE'VE GOT THE WAYS AND THE MEANS

2008-11-19T12:04:00.003Z

Brothers, Sisters, Family and Friends...

We'd like to announce the arrival of the newest addition to THE DEAD FLAGS' family, our new EP WE'VE GOT THE WAYS AND THE MEANS. 4 Tracks showcasing our abilities, telling our stories and proving once and for all that nobody cuts the mustard quite like your friendly neighbourhood Dead Flags.

Yes sir, we've finished it- it's recorded, mixed, sequenced, mastered and we are currently awaiting the imminent delivery of our very first EP. Produced by Karl Odlum (Ham Sandwich, The Frames, Kila) and mastered by Kevin Metcalfe (Supergrass, Snow Patrol, The White Stripes), we've put together some incredibly ambitious and downright rocking versions of our very favourite Dead Flags songs and now present them to you, the fan.

We're releasing the EP properly in January 2009 but we were far too excited to wait that long you guys to hear it so we've put together a fans-tour. Basically, we're putting on three shows- one in each of the bandmembers' hometowns- where our biggest and most loyal supporters can get their greasy mitts on the CD first, before we sully the whole notion by presenting them to the public at large.

Details:

We'll be playing The Clarence in Sligo this Friday 21st November with special guests RED BRICK HOUSE who opened for us on the Sligo date of our tour in August so we're delighted to have them back with us. Admission'll be 10 euro and it'll be a late one with doors opening at 10.30pm. Should be amazing though- biggest venue we've every played in Sligo so expect us to rise to the challenge...

Next up is the EP Launch proper in Whelans on Wexford St in Dublin on Wednesday 26th November. Support'll be from How Will They Cope? who'll be answering that very question with some great tunes and our old friends Mr Tea and The Biscuits who'll be rocking you with their ukulele-flavoured folk rock. Admission is 10 euro but there'll be 8 euro concessions available by printing out a flyer from this website or our mailing list (it'll be up soon) and if you're a student, great news because we'll only charge you a fiver if you bring your ID.

Finally, we return to our old stomping ground of The Chasin' Bull in Bundoran, Co. Donegal for some ol' school rocking. Fiver in and it's going to be great.

So, see you there?

REVOLVER this Saturday

2008-10-22T11:37:00.004+01:00

Hey Hey!

It's been a busybusy few weeks what with the recording/mixing of our new EP and something called the economy collapsing around us and all that but never fear, your heroes are returning. We'll be playing as part of the ultra-prestigious REVOLVER Presents... nights in Radio City, Dublin this Saturday 25th October and you're going to be there too. Isn't that great?

Yes sir, we're playing with our old muckers, the wonderful RED KID along with The Red Labels and Gran Casino who seem to be fabulous also. It's a great night with plenty o' live music followed by a late bar and DJ Set by Phantom's Sinéad Ni Mhórda so it really is the only place to be this Saturday.

If you want to come (and why wouldn't you), tickets are only €10.00 and you can pre-buy them from our good selves so just mail us at info@thedeadflags.com and we'll hook you up. PS: we'll be premiering some new material on which we've been working so we think it'll be a good show.

See you there!!

BF/TDF xx

Well, well, well

2008-09-18T17:51:00.005+01:00

Hey there FlagFans.

As promised, we've been recording again. We tend to spread things out a bit when we record so I can't claim that we've got anything in the bag per se, but we do have the drums and bass done. All that leaves is guitar, vocals, the trademark DeadFlags backing vocals and of course, all the other instrumentation that I won't tell you about because you might get too excited.

We've got a bunch of shows coming up in October- supporting a few very different bands. We're hoping to use these shows to try out some new material and of course spread the word about our good selves. We'll be playing the rather prestigious REVOLVER night at Radio City in Dublin on October 25th which should be a great show- usually 3 up-and-coming bands cranking up the volume for the assembled throng in a bid to out-do eachother and then a DJ after. Should be great fun and we're really looking forward to it.

Then, if you've checked out the Tourdates page, you'll notice that we've started to book some headline shows for November. We're tentatively putting a tour together to promote the release of the EP and of course that means it'll be out in November some time. When we've finished it, we'll let you know exactly when, but that's the plan.

Also, the other day we did a photoshoot with Miss Loreana Rushe (who's done some great work with people like Fight Like Apes lately) a sample of the fruits of which i've posted above. 'Twas a lot of fun and hopefully the results will be a bit more us than previous photo sessions where (through nobody's fault but our own) we ended up looking like humourless bastards. Which we're not. Honestly.

Anyway, that's it for now- we've got a lot of work to do over the next wee while to outdo the success of the single so bear with us...

Talk to you soon

BF/TDF xx

AU Review

2008-09-08T12:47:00.001+01:00

The boys at the wonderful Alternative Ulster (or AU) magazine gave us the following review for OMLOMG in the latest issue:

"With the impossibly upbeat, handclaps and harmonies opening and lines like "we were doing the no pants dance", The Dead Flags seem determined to have us grinning like village idiots. This track has pierced the Irish music charts and it's easy to see why. It's gleeful stuff, with zesty ditty 'O My Love! O My God!!' echoing the bubblegum punk-pop of Black Lips. B-side 'How Long' exhibits an entirely different facet of the Dublin-based band's character. The boisterous energy is replaced by sad-eyed earnestness. A sweet lament for the one that got away, the song hums with tender charm, the guitar ripe as a harvest of painful memories. Bruised, battered and quite beautiful."

Cheers!!

Updates for all y'all

2008-08-31T11:32:00.002+01:00

Well, to the outside world there ain't a whole lot happening in camp flag right now. Let me assure you, we're not just basking in the fantastic reaction of the world to our debut single and the lovely things the press has been saying about us. Nor are we congratulating ourselves for our best tour yet. No, as per usual, we've got our heads down, working on the next one.

In September, we enter the studio (or, more correctly, whatever houses will have us) with O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!! producer Karl Odlum to work on our next release which will take the form of an EP. We're pretty sure we know what songs are going on it but we're not going to tell you in case we change our minds. We're also booking a rake of gigs for the coming months so fear not the fairly empty tour schedule for September/October/November/December, it's getting filled in as we speak. As we've stated several times before, we really enjoyed our little sojourn 'round the country to promote the single so we're hoping to take that to the next level. All will be revealed in time but just to give you a heads up.

We'd also like to take the time to thank our wonderful support acts for the OMLOMG Tour (in chronological order): Floyd Soul and the Wolf, Red Brick House, A Plastic Rose, Story of Hair, EleventyFour, Blasterbra and the great Jennifer Evans and the Ripe Intent who were on the same bill as us in Letterfrack for the crazy EASA show.

So now you know what's going on, I'm going for breakfast.

Til next time dear readers,

Billy/TDF xx

We's in Hot Press again

2008-08-28T11:44:00.002+01:00

Hallo Children,

According to Dave (I haven't been out of the house to pick up a copy myself), we got a wee mention in this fortnight's Hot Press Magazine- the piece is essentially underlining that we used the services of the wonderful Kevin Metcalfe of SoundMasters in London for mastering our debut single. But it does have a photo of us and The White Stripes (more clients of Mr Metcalfe) to show how big league we are.

In other news, I've posted a bunch of photo's of our Whelans show on 11th August on the "Look" page- they were taken by Glenn Doyle and are wonderful.

Talksoon xx

Stage-Times for Saturday

2008-08-21T15:17:00.002+01:00

Hey. Just to let y'all know that we'll will be playing at 2.45pm on Saturday at the Tullan for the Township Charity thingy. Cowboy X'll be on before us at 2pm and we'll be followed by Red Kid and then of course, The Blizzards.

See you then and there

News News News

2008-08-20T12:15:00.006+01:00

Hey there.

Great to have some time off playing gigs to hundreds of people who hang on your every note. It's downtime like this that enables me to do fun things like get all run-down and have a cold. Ah well, I'm sure everything'll be fine come Saturday- we'll be playing an outdoor show at Tullan Strand in Bundoran, County Donegal. It's a charity show and we'll be third on the bill (we've been assured) just behind Red Kid and headliners The Blizzards. If you're in the area, we'd love you to come and cheer us on.

If you missed Whelans, I think this photo sums up what it was all about (thanks to Glenn Doyle):

Little bit of news- we've confirmed (well, GerryPlasticRose shouted to me as he was going on stage in Whelans last Monday and I shouted back in the affirmative) that we'll finally be playing our first show north o' the border in October. A Plastic Rose will be launching their third EP at Radar in the Speakeasy which is the Queen's University Belfast Student's Union (QUBSU) and we'll be supporting them along with Disconnect 4. It's on Thursday 9th October and we're really looking forward to it.

We've also started to book some shows for the coming months so if you're interested in us playing your area/city/town/village/house then please let us know and we'll do our best to oblige. We'll be hitting The Chasin' Bull on Saturday 29th November so as of now, that's our next confirmed headliner. Don't worry, we'll be booking a lot more.

News from Camp Flag

2008-08-15T21:53:00.003+01:00

Hey there...

Well, it's been a ridiculous few days. While we were "on the road" out there in Ireland, things were afoot that would culminate in the last 24 hours being some of the most eventful of our short lives. We're all destroyed from touring and just got home so I'm not going to be very detailed here- I'll just give you the nuts and bolts of it and fill in the blanks when I can see straight.

EVENTS:
O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!! today entered the Irish Singles Chart at No. 22
It is the highest new entry this week, the highest independent single and the highest Irish single (aside from The Script).
The single has also reached No. 1 in the download charts of http://www.downloadmusic.ie/

HOT PRESS published a highly positive review of our single in Thursday's edition and in the last week, glowing reports were featured in METRO, HERALD AM, THE IRISH DAILY STAR and several regional papers as well as Drop-D ezine and the single being named pick of the month on Campus.ie.

Also, in the last week we played to a packed house in Whelans (a longtime ambition) and by all accounts, it was one of the gigs of the week. After great shows in Cork and Galway, we finished the tour in style by rocking out with 300+ european students in Letterfrack on Thursday night. That was also an amazing gig and was followed by me reinitiating my temporarily suspended marriage to lady liquor.

As an aside, 2 mates of our's were drinking in a pub on Thursday when they bumped into David Walliams (Little Britain et al) and Michael Gambon (The Life Aquatic, Harry Potter films etc) to whom they promptly handed the CD. Partial Quote: "I love the track..." (David Walliams) Full Quote: "I love the track title". An hilarious occurance.

Now, after driving the length and breadth of this fair country in the pissing rain, I'm going to plonk myself down in front of the fire with my family (and Dave) and fall asleep with a beer in my hand.

One thing has just occurred to THE DEAD FLAGS: on Sunday, Larry Gogan will be presenting his usual Chart Rundown on 2FM. Larry Gogan will be introducing our record (or at least mentioning it). Larry Fucking Gogan. Childhood dreams are about to be fulfilled...

G'night now

Billy/THE DEAD FLAGS xx

Cork Details Confirmed (finally)

2008-08-12T12:22:00.000+01:00

Hey there. After several mishaps, we've finally confirmed our support for our show in Cork's Cruiscin Lan tonight. It'll be EleventyFour, a good friend of our's. She's great so get there early all you millions.

TDF in METRO

2008-08-12T02:43:00.002+01:00

The Dublin-based free mornin' commuter tabloid METRO had this to say about THE DEAD FLAGS this morning:

"You can't throw a brick in this town without knocking half a dozen identi-kit indie bands on the back of the head. Standing apart from the parade of Interpol soundalikes are The Dead Flags, three Sligo transplants who tout such intriguing influences as Nick Cave, Eels and - in a diverting veer off the alt.pop road-map - Violent Femmes. This isn't just a case of talking a good game, either - having reformed 12 months ago after a brief hiatus, the Flags are currently at work on a debut album with no less a figure than local counter-culture godfather Karl Odlum (last seen strumming a guitar on Gemma Hayes' sweetly woozy Hollow of Morning LP). In tandem with their studio work they've also been assidiously courting a grass-roots following. Selected for last spring's 2FM 2MORO 2OUR, a jaunt around the country's entry level provincial venues, they follow in the steps of high achievers like Ham Sandwich and Concerto For Constantine. Such has been their progress, it's likely we'll hear a great deal more from these noirish hopefuls in the months ahead. Just one quibble: a name like The Dead Flags is more suggestive of a hardcore post-punk crew than a group of gloomy romantics. Fingers crossed this doesn't stifle their potential. Tonight's show marks the launch of debut single O My Love! O My God!!"
-Eamon de Paor

Now, there are a few details in there that aren't entirely accurate (for instance, we're not recording an album right now) but thanks to Mr de Paor for his very kind words. The adventure continues...

A Gift...

2008-08-10T20:35:00.003+01:00

If you print out this flyer and bring it along to our show in Whelans, Dublin tomorrow night (Monday 11th) you'll get in for €8.00 rather than the general admission of €10.00. Don't say we never give you nuthin'... (click on the image to download or launch in a new window)
We'd prefer if you printed the flyer in draft quality on used or scrap paper and tried to fit more than one per sheet. We gotta look out for the trees you know. Poor trees.

Tullan Strand Show

2008-08-10T14:45:00.007+01:00

While we were playing in Bundoran on Friday night, I had a chance to find out more of the details of our upcoming Tullan Strand gig with The Blizzards and Red Kid so I thought I'd pass on some knowledge to your good selves.

"On Saturday August 23rd, a bid will be made to hold the world’s largest ever surf lesson on Tullan Strand, Bundoran, Co. Donegal. The Tullan Strand surf lesson is part of a full day of events. There will be live music at the beach beginning at 12pm with The Blizzards, Red Kid, Onya, The Dead Flags and many more. The surf lesson will take place at 5.30pm."

So it sounds like a great day out and a great cause. And another opportunity for me to miss out on learning to surf. Ah well. At least we'll be sharing the stage with some great bands and getting to rock out on a beach in the baking sun. Or pissing rain... let's face it, it'll probably be the latter. See you there!

Visit www.tullanforthetownship.com for details

New Single 'O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!' is out NOW

2008-08-09T15:57:00.006+01:00

The new single from THE DEAD FLAGS 'O My Love! O My God!!' is out now on CD & Download.

The CD includes the bonus track "How Long?" and is avaliable from Tower Records, Zavvi and all good record shops nationwide.

You can download the single from www.downloadmusic.ie and iTunes

To download 'O My Love! O My God!!' without a credit card text: music 1388 to 57501. They'll text you a code which you can exchange for the song on www.downloadmusic.ie for €0.99cent.

Check out the music video for 'O My Love! O My God!!' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTxlLtfgnbI

Request 'O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!' on the radio:

Today FM Text 085 4100102 or e-mail:
Ian Dempsey 7/9am: breakfast@todayfm.com
Ray Darcy 9am/12pm: ray@todayfm.com
Ray Foley 12/2.30pm: foley@todayfm.com
Tony Fenton 2.30/4.30pm: tfenton@todayfm.com

Phantom FM TEXT 083 3111052 or e-mail:
Front Row with Sinéad Ni Mhórda 10am/12pm: frontrow@phantom.ie
ICon with Cathal Funge Tuesdays 8pm/10pm: icon@phantom.ie

and on your favourite local radio shows

TDF in the Irish Daily Star...

2008-08-09T15:26:00.002+01:00

The following appeared in the Irish Daily Star on Friday 8th August 2008:

"ON THE RISE

Just in time to reinforce the Blizzards' assault on miserable music comes The Dead Flags.

With a similar spritely disposition, the Dublin trio are releasing the energetic O My Love! O My God!! today.

Produced by Karl Odlum, the man behind albums by Ham Sandwich and The Aftermath, it's a whirlwind of frantic pop punk.

The group - Billy Fitzgerald, Kevin Lowery and Dave Power - will be a hit with those who like the zany pop of The Blizzards' Trouble or The Knack's My Sharona.

The harmonies and virulently catchy hook will see to that!

They're touring to support the release, so catch 'em if you can at Zavvi, Sligo at 5pm today, The Chasin' Bull, Bundoran, tonight, Tower Records, Dublin at 5pm on Monday or Whelan's, Dublin the same night.

- O My Love! O My God!! is out today"

Nice, huh?

TOUR DIARY: Day 1 (Zavvi Sligo, The Chasin' Bull Bundoran)

2008-08-09T02:53:00.004+01:00

Well, that's day one over with. A huge thanks to everyone who came to see us play in ZAVVI in Sligo this afternoon. It was a strange one (being the first time we'd ever performed in a record shop or indeed a shop of any kind) but a lot of fun.

After much rushage we made it to The Chasin' Bull in Bundoran to set up and soundcheck where we met Floyd Soul and the Wolf, the band who were our special guests for the night. They rocked and (as i think i mentioned) made us look like a bunch of pussies by comparison. Their lead singer is one of the tallest lead singers i've ever met. And he has tattoo's...

Anyway, we got up after their brilliant, really old school rock set and pretty much turned the energy up way too high and went for it. The Bull is always a great place to play and tonight was no exception. The crowd were cool and did what we wanted them to do (clapping, shouting, that sort of thing) and seemed to really enjoy it so thank you if you were one of them.

I'm very tired after a day of driving up and down the road to Bundoran and doing 2 gigs in one day. Now to fall into bed with my dog at my feet and sleep til tomorrow's onslaught of activity. Oh yeah, we were in the Irish Daily Star today. They said things about us that were very complimentary. I forget exactly what they were and the paper's down in the car so I'll print the article for you when I've got some sleep.

Stay good now. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Night Night

Billy/TDF

Stats...

Tour Day: 1

Kilometres Driven: 160

Gigs Played: 2

Autographs Signed: 1

Shirts soiled with sweat: 3

SINGLE ON SALE NNNOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!!

2008-08-08T10:25:00.002+01:00

Heading out the door to lug equipment around for the day (yaaayy!!) but just to let all y'all know... the single was released this morning. It'll be available from noon on downloadmusic.ie so do pleeease head on over and purchase one or indeed a hundred.

tour kicks off with an in-store in Zavvi Sligo at 5pm and then a full show at The Chasin' Bull in Bundoran at 9pm. See you soon...

BF/TDF

Song of the Month on Campus.ie and other adventures in local media

2008-08-06T22:30:00.002+01:00

Campus.ie have named our new single "O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!" as their 'Song of the Month'. Which is nice.

And the Sligo Weekender just did a big spread on the release too. That may not seem like big news to you, but for someone (like myself) who hails from Sligo, it's like getting on the cover of Time magazine or something.

Video Shoot Memories

2008-08-06T18:46:00.005+01:00

Back in June we shot a video. A friend of our's brought along a good ol' fish-eyed holga and wiled away the loooonnnng, boring hours taking pictures of the backstage goings-on while we mimed along to O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!! another 20 times...

Anyway, this friend (thanks Vick) uploaded them to facebook today so i robbed them and stuck them up on our "look" page. This is the only way you can experience the sheer joy and excitement of a Dead Flags video shoot without actually accepting the always open invitations to come and be in one. Enjoy... Hey, what's that cop doing there?

MORE TOUR UPDATES

2008-08-06T18:28:00.003+01:00

We just confirmed that we'll be doing an in-store this Saturday in Mojo Music, Ballyshannon. It'll kick of at 1 o'clock so come along and cram into the store to see me (Billy) howling my little throat out. And singing too. Yay!

Single Purchase Details...

2008-08-05T15:58:00.005+01:00

Hey Hey

So by now I'll bet you're wondering "where can i get my hands on that wonderful single THE DEAD FLAGS are releasing this very Friday?". Ok, settle down and please don't speak all at once. The following is all you need to know (for now) about buying multiple copies of our wonderful single "O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!":

The single is available in 2 forms: a digital download and a beautifully crafted physical CD. Which do we recommend? Both. The physical copy features not only the fantastic single itself but also the handsomely-mounted bonus track "HOW LONG?" which is fast becoming a live favourite. The download will cost you €0.99 and the physical copy will set you back a whopping €2.99.

Record Stores:

TOWER RECORDS, Wicklow St, Dublin
ROAD RECORDS, Fade St, Dublin
PLUGD RECORDS, Washington St, Cork
REDLIGHT RECORDS, Eglington St, Galway
ZHIVAGO MUSIC, Shop St, Galway
THIRD WAVE MUSIC, O'Connell St, Sligo
ZAVVI Sligo, Johnston Court, Sligo
MOJO MUSIC, Saimer Court Shopping Centre, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal

(note: if you're wondering why only the above shops are stocking the single, it's because we're concentrating on areas where we're touring in the first week of release. we intend to stock the single in other outlets around this country and Northern Ireland in the coming weeks)

Digital Downloads:

Downloadmusic.ie (not available to download til 8am on 08/08/08)

iTunes (note: due to processing delays, it looks like the single won't be on iTunes by the release date of 08/08/08 but we'll let you know when it's up)

Mail Order:

Road Records are also selling the single my mail order (www.roadrecs.com) from the release date on.

Tour Confirmations...

2008-08-01T10:35:00.005+01:00

Just a quick note- we've confirmed the wonderful BLASTERBRA as our special guests on the final date of our tour in DeBurgo's, Galway on Wed 13th August. If you're unfamiliar with the work of BLASTERBRA, you can check them out here

Also, for all you tribespeople looking for a copy of the single, it'll be available in Redlight Records on Eglington St and Zhivago on Shop St.

Also, RED BRICK HOUSE, whom we met on our excursion to the Donegal Music Festival in July, have been confirmed as our special guests in McGarrigles in Sligo on the 9th. And in case you missed it, to add extra value to the price of your ticket, we've confirmed A PLASTIC ROSE as our 2nd support in Whelans, Dublin on the 11th. APR'll be on before STORY OF HAIR so get there early. It's shaping up to be a pretty special night.

See you there

BF/TDF

Single Release Tour

2008-07-31T02:19:00.000+01:00

Just to keep everyone up-to-date, the next shows we'll be playing are the following:

Fri 8th August
ZAVVI (in-store), Sligo @ 5pm
The Chasin’ Bull, Bundoran
+ special guests Floyd Soul & The Wolf

Sat 9th August
McGarrigles, Sligo
+ special guests Red Brick House

Mon 11th August
TOWER RECORDS (in-store), Dublin @ 5pm
WHELANS, Dublin
+ special guests Story of Hair and A Plastic Rose

Tues 12th August
An Crúiscín Lán, Cork

Wed 13th August
DeBurgo’s, Galway

See you out there...

O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!! Press Release

2008-07-31T02:14:00.000+01:00

For anyone who doesn't know, we're releasing our debut single "O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!" on Friday 8th August 2008. Below is the press release which should answer any burning questions you may have:

O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!
Debut Single
Releasing 08.08.08
CD/Download available from all good records stores online and nationwide
Featuring the bonus track “How Long?”

“THE DEAD FLAGS are not just good, they’re irritatingly good. Your daddies died in the punk wars for this”
- HOT PRESS Magazine

Produced by Karl Odlum, the man responsible for recent hit Irish albums by Ham Sandwich, Mark Geary and The Aftermath and mastered by Kevin Metcalfe (The White Stripes, Snow Patrol, Supergrass), "O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!" is a perfect example of the spiky, alternative pop with which THE DEAD FLAGS have been thrilling audiences and critics alike all over the country this past year.

Brimming with positive energy (more than living up to the number of exclamation marks in the title) and with an infectious melody you'll still be humming this time next week, with this song the band have finally bottled their essence and now present it for public consumption.

Following a rollercoaster year that's seen the band being championed by Hot Press Magazine, 2FM and Phantom in Dublin and playing shows the length and breadth of the country on their own tours and as part of the prestigious 2FM 2MORO 2OUR showcase, THE DEAD FLAGS are poised for their biggest breakthrough yet.

Selecting the band as Hot Press Magazine’s “Pick of the Fortnight” in May, Jackie Hayden describes “O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!” as “a Jam-style raucous rocker with terrific life-affirming vocals, not to mention a great sense of fun and irreverence”. The song has been picking up steady airplay on Dublin’s Phantom 105.2 and Beat FM’s Rob O’Connor named it as one of his “Thumbs Up Tunes” in May.

Billy (vocals, guitar), Dave (bass, vocals) and Kevin (drums, shouting) make noises ranging from raucous energetic pop to slow-burn anthemic rockers and their live shows are all about entertainment and passionate performance. The band like to leave the audience smiling but begging for more. Beloved by their fans and making big sounds underground, their debut release looks set to finally bring THE DEAD FLAGS' music to a much wider audience. And it's about bloody time.

"O MY LOVE! O MY GOD!!" releases on Friday 8th August and will be available from all good record stores online and nationwide. Check www.thedeadflags.com or myspace.com/thedeadflags for further details or to see the official music video.

WELCOME TO THEDEADFLAGS.com 4.0

2008-07-31T02:05:00.000+01:00

Hey Hey!!

Billy here. So in the run up to the release of the single, we've been finely tuning every aspect of the band so in the spirit of all that... voici la new website!! We got a few queries as to certain aspects of the old one and it's graphic layout was very much about our last national tour so we've brought things up to date with something a bit more functional and a lot simpler.

One of the main things we've done is brought in an external, blog-based news page. Some of you may have noticed that things trailed off on the updating front for the last website a while ago- this was down to how long it took to update the pages. Happily, we're now a hell of a lot busier as a band so we don't have the time to be programming and re-programming every time we want to talk to y'all- this new method will enable us to post text and images where-ever we can get internet access instead of messing around with HTML and the like.

So there it is. I hope you enjoy the new site and all it has to offer. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a single to release.

See you out there....

BF/TDF xx