DUBLIN

DATES

OVERVIEW Dublin singer/songwriter/artist Lieselle McMahon is embarking on her first solo project with her 3-song debut, The Zing EP, and is already raising a few music industry eyebrows. You might have heard of her before. She’s been singing and experimenting with bands around Dublin city since she was seventeen. A quick scout around might unearth an old demo of hers knockin’ about alternative music shops or pirate radio stations. The Zing EP was recorded and produced by Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy, who have worked with The Blue Nile, Human League and Perry Blake, as well as Irish acts like The Immediate, Gemma Hayes, Aslan and The Stunning. Vocally, Lieselle has been described as a mix of Debbie Harry, Patti Smith and Alison Goldfrapp with a touch of Bjork and Laurie Anderson. She cites her biggest musical influences as Nina Simone, David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, The Sex Pistols, Joni Mitchell, Blondie and PJ Harvey. Over the past decade, Lieselle has dabbled in pop, punk, indie, jazz, rap, electronica, trip-hop, drum’n’bass and trad. “I’m into experimenting”, she says, “I’ve found in the past that I’ve got to be excited by what I’m doing or it just won’t come together - whether it’s banging on a bongo at an open-air rave or live improvised jazz singing on stage. I like to be constantly moving and exploring”. Her musical collaborations have been diverse. Her trip-hop song “Honey” with band Elixir was the theme song for an independent film about Dublin prostitutes, collaborations with band Rinka were used in advertising and in 2004 she sang with The Darach de Bruin Band at the biggest Irish festival in the States, Milwaukee Irishfest. Lieselle studied dance and classical piano from a young age and took up classical guitar in her teens. When asked about her name, she says, “People hear my name and assume I’m part German, but “Lieselle” came from The Sound of Music – my Mum was a fan”. She’s also acting in various projects, “My interest in acting was aroused when I was asked to appear as “the niteclub singer” in David Elio Malocco’s “Magdalen” in 2002” “I first started experimenting with my own stuff about five years ago when I got a computer and got into messing around with samples and sequencing programs in between working with other bands. I love using weird keyboard sounds and putting my piano through effects pedals. My favourite part of songwriting is just messing around and improvising.” Her musical style has developed through writing, singing, performing and recording with a long list of bands and DJs, the first one at ten years old, led by Barry Murphy (The Last Sound) and with Katherine O’Malley (contemporary dancer with Rex Levitates, Modern Irish Dance Theatre, etc). Other bands have included Prodigy-esque Colorfast, experimental jazz fusion outfit Preparation H, and the trad-electronica band, Rinka. There was also a series of one-off collaborations with DJs and bands over a period of a few years. Now though she’s excited to be doing her own thing: “There were lots of reasons why I decided last year to record The Zing EP – the biggest being a friend’s death and a sudden realisation on stage in the States that this is all I will ever want to do,” she says.” Sometimes a change of perspective can be a good thing”. 2005 - Release of 'The Zing' E.P. 2006 - Release of 'Daddy's Boy' E.P.