Reader’s Wives

Reader's Wives self titled debut album was released to critical acclaim on Irish Independent label La Fabrica, March 29th 2008.
"an eclectic, biting & socially astute record from a band with balls. 4/5" - Connected
"an iron fist in a velvet glove .. shades of Louis XIV" – State
"a melting pot of various moods & styles, an excellent debut" - the Star
"an unflinching debut album, a grimy set of songs, a sort of Weimar waltz to hell" - RTE Guide "unique, talented & likely to impress" - Evening Herald "a passionate, chaotic celebration & a genuinely life affirming force" - whelanslive.com "a cracking album of great tunes, ska, rock, folk and whatever else you like" - the Event Guide "Niall James Holohan emerges as a witty & amiable raconteur" - Irish Independent "less a band to watch than one to embrace & cherish" - Danny McElhinny, Mail On Sunday "a stylish and graceful debut from a talented band" - the Big Buzz
"Reader’s Wives have once again awoken my whole being to the world of music" - roomthirteen.com "instantly listenable music, funny, credible & commendable" - Newtownards Chronicle "diverting, polished and hard to pigeon-hole" - the Ticket / Irish Times "a joyous and powerful record, packed with great vocals, shining anthems & bright ideas" – News of the World "Niall James Holohan is Dublin's Morrissey" – Mongrel R.I.P.
"exquisite lyrics laced with rapier wit" - connector.ie
Reader's Wives TV on MUZU .
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BIOGRAPHY
Hello mySpace-d out friends. My name's Niall James Holohan. I'm the main man behind Dublin band Reader's Wives. No longer need you surf the internet looking at crappy stage managed bands full of girls with fake tits, guys with fake moans and truly awful, thoroughly manufactured scenester haircuts who'd do anything to have their shockwave haircuts & painted nails pictured in NME. We're not trendy. We're not 17. There's only one reason this band are here. We love music. It's like medicine to us.
For those of you who've met me, virtually, just now, I've been writing since I was a kid, since I didn't know what else to do, playing music & writing tunes since I was about 14 & a professional musician since about 2004.
MUSIC
Every time I've taken a knock in my life, music has been there, to keep me going, frighten away the fear, lift me back on my feet & give me back my faith in the future. It's no accident that I do this for a living. Why waste money on psychotherapy when you can listen to the Velvet Underground, Bitches Brew or Neutral Milk Hotel?
STAND UP COMEDY
I'm also a fan of the best of stand-up comedians & political satirists like Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart & Doug Stanhope. Not just funny guys, but guys who can handle social criticism & rage with humour. People who, when things get absurd, can laugh instead of despair. I suppose, it is as a result of my love for music & this kind of stand-up that, as a Reader's Wife, I'm devoted to expressing that which demands to be said and on which it is impossible to be silent, through music. I have more ideas in a rhyming couplet than most people have on their entire album. I'll take the Pepsi challenge with anyone on that ..
'THE DARK PRINCE OF POP'
In the past few years, I've been your typical self conscious solo writer / performer, spending many lonely nights in various rented rooms in South Dublin trying to figure out what I wanted to contribute. In an effort to find my voice (and balance), I wrote & recorded some 20 lo-fi releases under the name Niall James Holohan (the dark prince of pop). They're rough around the edges but if you like that kind of DIY thing, there's alot of good stuff in there, should you have a few hours free to flick through the 1000 or more songs on your choice of mp3 player. I'll let you know where you can get the entire Niall James Holohan (the dark prince of pop) mp3 collection, tentatively entitled 'the Death of the Album', pretty soon.
THE "KISS ME, I'M IRISH" TOUR
After 2 years of solo touring through most of Europe & a sizeable section of the U.S. I decided, in 2006 that it was time to stand still for a second & make a full on debut album that I could offer as a calling card. You know, to kickstart whatever it is I've been preparing for all these years & to promote a live show & live dates that were gathering pace. It was recorded through the summer & autumn of 2006 & completed in April of this year.
THE DEBUT ALBUM
Reader’s Wives debut album was released to critical accalim in Ireland on the 29th of March 2008. We have since been touring around Europe extensively, making friends and fans everywhere we've gone. We have also been sure to return to Dublin, whenever possible and will continue to do so no matter where we decide to base ourselves in 2009.
FAITH IN THE FUTURE
The debut album, for good or ill, is a blueprint for what I'd like to do, going forward, which is to make the kind of music that couldn't have been made, 10, 20 or 40 years ago. A record, that's of it's time with a track list that reads like the best kind of stand up-comics' set list. If you're aware of any subject that's previously been deemed unsuitable for song, let me know & I'll have a crack at writing a song about it for you. The sort of sounds I have in mind is what you might call Americana, for Europe, it's materials, subjects & targets relate to Europena history, folklore & European geography & my songwriting ingenuity, for what it's worth, hinges, I think, on both agreeable melody & topical lyrics that arn't afraid of making concession to humour, dark or otherwise. I often present myself as an artiste-bohemian, always an air of weariness, even though I will more often do so to parody the role. Not everyone gets that joke but then not everyone gets most jokes that are worth telling, so, you know, you keep moving.
Getting out on the road & playing live again, across Europe, this past year has been so rewarding & the people & places we've been lucky enough to see will inform our second record, which willl be recorded in 2009. Our touring has also brought us further friends in the business side of the live music world. Across Europe, as in Dublin and I imagine anywhere else, we've seen so many artists who are stuck in the 20th Century mindset of simply trying to make it look like they're interested in what their friends & fans have to say & we've realised another strength we posess. We're different. We stand out because we really do respect & listen to any friend of fan we're lucky enough to meet & make. You'll notice all our biographies and press material are written, stubbornly, in the first person because we’re an independent band who are proud of the work we do to promote ourselves. I think it would silly, in 2009 to hide behind the usual kind of third person reportage style that is part of the old world of pomp, hot air & posturing all artists should be trying to do away with once and for all anyway.
Thankfully, the old music industry is crumbling. Games are moving to the front of what used to be record shops & recording has moved out of studios and into homes. You can make a record at home now for, what? A couple of grand? If all this means the death of celebrity & of huge stars making crap records, that would be fine by me. When I attended South X South West in Texas in 2004, the big promise of digital technology was that, in breaking the old way music was put out there, it would free independent artists like us to find our friends wherever they felt like engaging in our music. Slowly, thats happening. All the while, the live music boom continues apace, with escalating concert attendances and more acts than ever on the road. Not just that, but all the signs indicate that the live scene is about to get livelier still and that’s music to our ears ‘cause that’s what we’re all about. Simply playing for growing number of people who are interested in hearing us. Reader’s Wives has never been, and never will be about a clique of people. We belong to whoever likes us & we’ll show up to play for those people wherever they’ll have us.
What's more encouraging is that now, for the first time, business people are having to summon the humanity and passion that artists and music lovers have always had in order not to be removed from the equation entirely. Artists and music lovers have an opportunity now to take the corporate edge out of both pursuits. And as someone who considers himself as both an artist, and a music lover, I'm excited about the future. Bring it on!
Like the man below said. We're all alive at the same time. Don't forget it. Let's make it fun. I hope you're well & to hear from you / see you soon
SIGNED
- Niall James Holohan, Reader's Wife
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