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From Brides of the summer kind, to Disney of a petite size. Like The June
Brides, Microdisney play pop music that is catchy, entrancing, listenable
and discreetly subtle to the perfumed ear. All this slight whisp of executed
ability is performed with a wry form of happiness, that subtracts the
apparent softness of the music into a scathing form of disguised acerbity.
What I'm trying to say is that they are not as shallow as the whimsicalness
of the music may seem. In fact they are 'hard'. Anyone who's had the pleasure
or aggravation of seeing them live will know the various jilted edges
that Microdisney possess. Cathal (vocals) is the main interpreter of the
'ironic-comedian' stance and like a Shakespearean joker, his wisdom is
considerably wealthier than his humour. A humour which very few can unravel-
me being one of them. Sean (the partner in the whole of the various line
ups Microdisney have encountered over the last four years) is the musical
equivalent of Cathal, backing Cathal's bitterness into a composed bitter-sweetness
medium by the lulling, softening voyages of his compositions. A Simon
& Garfunkel partnership?
Sean: 'Well that connection has only come about through the Blanco'Y'Negro.
All it's about is our minimalisation really and the spacious feel to our
music. It's a sound that we wanted to have as a complete reaction against
what we had previously been doing'.
Cathal: 'We do want to sell records and make our music a little enduring.
But to make it enduring you have to sell it in the first place. You have
to make your mark in time and you have to be honest. What we do is quite
shootful and we are quite keen to see it sold properly. That doesn't mean
we are going to make any bland records, we just don't want to do that.'
Enduring songs are hard to find at the moment, and Microdisney can fill
this gap smoothly, taking their political observation with them.
Sean: ' Everything is political when you come down to it. The reason that
you write a song that is striking and not something that is instant and
makes money is political in itself. There doesn't have to be something
political in the songs. The reason that Microdisney exists as it does
is a reaction against things like that'.
This reaction is a very discreet one.
Sean: 'I think the discreet reaction will carry a lot more weight in the
long run than coming out and saying 'black is black' and 'white is white'.
I mean it's not is it?
Cathal: 'I mean Chris Dean (The Redskins) almost had a fight with a bloke
I know over the Northern Ireland argument. Chris was producing this SWP
argument to take away the troops and everything will be alright, which
is basically crazy'.
Being of Irish descent, Microdisney have a valid interest and concern
for the state of the country at the moment. But what was the decision
of leaving Ireland?
Cathal: 'Ireland has and was going to the dogs and economically it's in
a terrible condition. And I was fed up with living in a small town where
everybody thought they knew what they were doing. We went through a load
of thrills and spills when we got here though!'
Their latest album- 'Everybody Is Fantastic' unlike 'South African Bastards'
shows the most recent Microdisney workings, which showed a distinct interest
with sexuality and the politics that linger around it.
Cathal: 'The last album was admittedly like that or of that nature, but
the next one won't be like that at all. I must admit that at the time
of writing I was thinking a lot about it.'
How does masculinity and femininity interest you?
Cathal: Well quite a lot really. I think it's one of the things that life
is really about. And there's a lot of obvious feelings connected to it.
People seemed afraid to show their hand politically- the title 'South
African Bastards' was through a certain amount of desperation, but we
thought the South Africans were having a soft time in the media so we
wanted to dig at something. I mean politics is important and some people
say you can mirror politics, the whole thing, in terms of human sexual
politics or whatever. Possibly you can but you can't get everything in
it.
Microdisney (NB one word) are now at the crossroads for the moment and
are getting closer than ever to getting into their larger market through
their high talent and breathtaking songwriting. Their album is selling
on a steady increase, audiences fuel audiences, appraisal meets next appraisal-
which ultimately means the fragrance of huge success is sifting their
way.
The sense of sweetness will stick into the veins of popular music like
a scalpel. Blood letting the poisonous germs out of that stenchy environment.
Pop music revitalised, pop no longer a derogatory term, pop the pinion
of acclaim. The time looms, the time looms!
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