Niall James Holohan

INTRODUCING ..the DARK PRINCE OF POP
Hello. My name is Niall James Holohan. I am the Dark Prince of Pop. My brother used to call me "Nebula" which I recently found out comes from a book called "Allgemeire Naturgeschichte" by Immanuel Kant. The word “nebula” was invented to describe the invention of the Solar System. It means “large cloud of gas” and those who know me will also know that my brother was very much on the ball. I am 6 foot 2 and full of hot air. Over the years “nebula” became “the neb” and the “the neb” has most recently become “nibbins”
I actually had two older brothers, in rooms either side of me, growing up. One of them had long hair, played electric guitar and listened to Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Faith No More & Phil Collins, the other dressed like a cross between Vanilla Ice, Bobby Brown and Bros and preferred NWA, Ice-T, Bobby Brown, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Prodigy and Living Colour. My mother was into old jazz & country, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Crystal Gayle and my Dad who started his musical life in a beat group (the Bye Laws) found himself in a traditional Irish combo, as I came of age.
Safe to say that it was a musical house before I even arrived on the scene and just like most houses, in Ireland, I imagine, everybody had a song they sang at parties. It was in this house in Old Bawn and later, in Knocklyon that I learned what I liked and what I didn’t. After discovering Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass in my parent’s record collection, I learned the value of expressing your individuality through liking those things that are, perhaps, not appreciated as much by those around you. Over the summer of 1991, I wreaked havoc with Tijuana Taxi and when Nirvana appeared into my orbit, my anarchist instincts were solidified forever and I moved from simply writing to writing lyrics and learning the guitar. The rest, is not history, yet, but it is documented well here. Take a look
I have been writing since I was a kid, writing songs since I was a teenager & a professional musician since 2002. I learned, in 2003, that it's important not to say the obvious thing ..and with the release of the Reader’s Wives debut album in March of last year, some have said that I’m within a soggy biscuits' throw of being a celebrated wit with a death defying songwriting addiction that aims to be no less all-encompassing than Frank Zappa. Not me, though! I'd simply say I love music & I like stand up comedy & I'm trying to do something origonal that takes in the best of both. I also read & ocassionaly swim, although usually, on the hobby section of my CV only. I don't sing words LIKE I mean them. I sing words BECAUSE I mean them. Are you with me?
IMPORTANT LESSONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SURVIVAL
If you've been the lone clapper with the slapper at the back of random gigs, in recent years, you may have seen opening for much less adventurous acts in places like Whelan's, The Village, The Tivoli, The Olympia & Vicar Street around Dublin as well as many squalid venues beyond.
My awkward adolescence, in hindsight, quickened my emotional & intellectual maturation and through the mire of my early twenties, celebrating the truth as I was lucky enough to see it, laughing at myself (rather than others) & sharing that kind of humour with whoever's around have become the most important lessons I've learned in psychological survival. They also, handy enough, serve me well as the main songwriter writer & front man of avantgarde pop group Reader's Wives (a 21st Century rock n' roll Dublin band which basically means we would more often stuff a hotel room full of brand new televisions so that entry, for anyone following our visit, is impossible ..before we would, say, throw one out the window) www.myspace.com/readerswives PREVIOUS TO THE WIVES
Previous to the Wives though, throughout 2003 & 2004, I played hundreds of toilets the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland as the Dark Prince. The "tour" started alongside fellow oddball composers Jinx Lennon & Keith Moss in Wheatfiled Prison & wound up, a couple of years later with music industry showcases at South X South West, Austin (Texas), 2004 CMJ New York, 2004 In The City, Manchester, 2004 NEMO, Boston, 2004 & Hard Working Class Heroes Dublin, 2004 & 2005 ..as well as private showcases run by me & my friends in the Lion's Den, New York (2005) and the PlayRoom in London (2005), respectively. It was these self-run shows on both sides of the pond that secured me a digital distribution deal with the Orchard for my cottage industry record label LA FABRICA & also brought me to the attention of Prototype Entertainment (US management) and World's End Sound (UK management) respectively.
LA FABRICA RELEASES
Over this manic period (2003 & 2004) ..It's worth noting that I also managed to release over 20 lo-fi home made recordings under various guises (Niall Holohan, 'Blind' Niall Houlihan, Mister President, the Kings of Industry to name but a few) as well as to throw tracks onto compilations for Matchbox Recordings in the UK and Valient Death in the States. Although rough as fuck in terms of their production/lack of production, I think the keen sense of invention, the searing personality at large and the simple strength of the lyrics/delivery on all the "dark prince" tracks ensure that there's enough there to keep you interested. You know, alot of people like to show put photos of themselves as babies on their mySpace, but mySpace aside, I've always been interested, not only in childhood, but in the entire awkward journey a person takes to find their feet & voice & how they put their foot in their mouth, trying. I have never had any particular desire to achieve success as measured by most of the musicians i see acting like sales personel (all career moves and bet hedging). Instead, I do what I like, when I like and assess my own happiness by the quality of my personal friendships and my overall enjoyment of this yoke they've called life. If you're of simular interest, then you might find the recordings documented below to your liking. I always left the shit in there because it requires the listener to weed out what’s worthwhile and what’s not. It’s always my intention to get the listener to think, as well as shake their arse. If you're not a thinker, congradulations on reading this far & don't fear. Simply skip straight to www.myspace.com/readerswives for all the marketable product your bodily functions can handle.
..or click through to Reader's Wives TV on MUZU .
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DISCOGRAPHY
+ 2002 Niall James Holohan "The Boy When" The Band Shambles "No One Wants To Pay To Listen To Us Rehearse" Man Jabs Demonstration “Sun Shines Down On Me” featured on Valient Death’s 'Hi, How Are You? : A Tribute to Daniel Dale Johnston' record The Kings Of Industry "Every Belgians Worst Nightmare" Niall James Holohan "Driving Barefoot"
+ 2003
Niall James Holohan "Here Come The Planes" EP Niall James Holohan (the dark prince of pop) "Unsigned Pretty Little Girl" featured on Matchbox Recording’s 'Extravaganza' record Mister President "Digital Itch" Mister President "Marketable Product" Mister President "Gossip" Niall James Holohan "All To The Strains Of Niall James Holohan" The Kings Of Industry "Thus Sung Orpheus" Niall James Holohan "Like A Pissed Off Professional" (Live at Spy Bar) Niall James Holohan "Bender" Demos Niall James Holohan "2 Tracks From the Album I Left On The Bus" 'Blind' Niall Houlihan "Porkupada"
+ 2004
Niall James Holohan "Love & Protect Me" EP The Kings Of Industry "Mumbo Jumbo" Niall James Holohan "Beyond The Pale / Leaning Tower of Demos" La Fabrica's 'Dark Prince of Pop' Compilation the Dark Prince Of Pop "Live at Hard Working Class Heroes 2004" Niall James Holohan "A Beautiful Corpse" Niall James Holohan "Gigs, Gigs, Gigs, London"
+ 2005
Niall James Holohan (the dark prince of pop) "Unsigned Pretty Little Girl" featured on Matchbox Recording’s 'Best Of Independent' record Niall James Holohan & the Homicidal Skanks "Live at Hard Working Class Heroes 2005" Niall James Holohan & the Subtleties "Live at CYO" Niall James Holohan & the Postgraduate Programme Board "Live & Alive at the Ruby Sessions" Retired Riot Horses From the U.K. (with Chris Morrin / aka Robotnik) "El Hacis Arruino Mi Vida Sexual" Niall James Holohan & the Legendary Swordsmen "Live at the Sugar Club" Niall James Holohan & the Pedestrian Observations "Live at Crawdaddy" Niall James Holohan & the Unconvincing North Wall Strut "Live at Bewley’s" Niall James Holohan's casette collection "I Can Smoke, I Just Can’t Buy Them" (1995 – 2005)
+ 2006
Floating Home Presents Niall James Holohan "Live at Bewley’s"
+ 2007
Niall James Holohan “Morality Carwash” (Live at San Souci Social Club, Brussels) Niall James Holohan & the Slutty Dates "2007" (live at Whelan's)
+ 2008
Reader’s Wives "Reader’s Wives" Reader's Wives "entr'acte" Niall James Holohan "Lady of the Manor, Star of the Sea" (live at the Tra le Righe Cafè, Sicily)

+ 2009
Reader's Wives TV on MUZU .
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Although some of the 'Dark Prince of Pop' releases have since been discontinued by me, as I swore blind only to do runs of 3/4000 of some of them ..you can download those I've deemed the better tracks through the mySpaces attached here as 'top friends' ..Others, most notably "A Beautiful Corpse" are still availeable, so drop me a line & I'll give you a tailored copy of whatever you like.
If you're an uber-fan, like my dear friend 'Noodle Up' I've also, occasionaly popped up on other people's records
Gerry Nobody "Gerry Nobody" 2003 (I feature on 'Where Does The Soul Go When It’s Burned To A Crisp?') Aidan "Live at Bewley’s" 2005 (I feature on 'The Waltz for the Mass Liberation of the Floating Yellow Ducks') Aoife McElwain "The Chocolate Teapot" 2006 (I feature on 'Laura') Jinx Lennon "Know Your Station Gauger Nation" 2006 (I feature, as one of the Lava Lamps, alongside Chris Morrin on 'Fireplace-itis' 'S.U.F.Y. Hospitals' 'Accept Your Hairloss' 'New Land of Syringes' 'Eating Machine' 'Gobshyt in the House' 'Forgive the Cunts' & 'You are no Scumbag' Robotnik "Pleasant Square" 2008 (I feature on 'Michael Grady Went to Mexico') & Jinx Lennon's new album 'Trauma Themes, Idiot Times' (on which, I feature, alongside Chris Morrin on 'The Man Who Saved the Face of Football' 'Big Protest Day' 'You Can't Keep Everyone Happy' 'Ascend! Ice House Hill')
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