DUBLIN

1999 -

OVERVIEW Take five players with a love of all things musical, an energetic live performance and a body of melodious and expressive songs, you have the mixed-sex Dublin quintet, Little Red, approaching their first anniversary and giving you plenty to talk about. The band formed in the summer of 1999 by singer/songwriter Jenny Lindfors and Clara Murray, who had played together for almost two years in the three-piece Wednesday’s Child but broke up after their first gig in March 1999. Undeterred Jenny and Clara decided to form a new band, and set about making demos chosen from some of the fifty songs in Jenny’s back catalogue. The pair met to record every Wednesday night during the summer of 1999 joined by Peter Stuart, accomplished piano player and old friend who added keyboards and would contribute the occasional song. During the Wednesday Sessions, four songs were put down: Jenny-penned Soulbox, How do you Know and Never any Time, as well as Indiscretion, written by Peter. The band centred on a combination of acoustic guitar, jazzy piano and strong harmonies, a distinctive sound in all of their songs. Clara describes the music as ‘gutsy and melodious’ and adds that the tunes are of wide-ranging appeal to all music lovers. “It’s an unusual sound but basically easy music to get into.” The demos had gone well, but all concerned were keen to expand littlered into a fully-fledged band, which required the addition of a rhythm section. Help was at hand as Dave Sedgwick, a friend of Peter and Jenny’s became interested in joining. Dave who despite being a musician of diverse musical tastes including Queen and Manowar, had no preference for any single instrument. Formerly of the band Violence (pronounced Filence and co-founded with Peter Stuart), he taught himself the drums virtually overnight. “I was only interested in enjoying myself,” he later stated. “I’d been in an REM tribute band, bought myself a telecaster and just wanted to play in a band, regardless of what instrument.” Clara suggested Bernard O’Neill as a bassist, with whom she had formerly played in the band Maenad. With influences from Pink Floyd to Primus, Bernard joined the band in Clara’s flat one night and soon they began to book rehearsal time together. The final quintet gelled, with Bernard and Dave adding a heavy-rock element to the music which made it even more difficult to define – a sound Hot Press would attempt to describe as ‘folk and jazz-tinged sixties rock’. Little Red played their first gig in Brogan’s Pub in October 1999 to a welcoming and attentive audience. With frequent practice sessions taking priority over gigs, the band further tightened their sound and reached the Final of Trinity College’s Battle of the Bands 2000, also making an impressive appearance at IMRO’s Best Of Showcase in Vicar Street in May 2000. 1999 - Band formed