Hawklion

When music scenes run their course, bands that came from that era risk becoming irrelevant. Dublin three piece Hawklion avoided this pitfall by decamping to the studio and reinventing their sound.

In the middle of the last decade, with indie music in full swing Hawklion's former guise The Looks were one of many promising young Irish guitar bands. But the the end of the noughties saw a definite shift in tastes and the band were determined to move with the times.

“I think The Looks was very good for its time. The whole indie thing was very exciting, it was a great gateway into music. But it just got to the stage where it just seemed that the scene was winding down. Music seemed to need something different, something new” says gutairist Chris.

“We decided we wanted to start up something new, something that wasn't like anything that we'd previously done. Something sort of boundless and any genre will do as long as it sounds good”.

Inspired by the new wave of synth led bands, Hawklion incorporated elements of electro and punk into a polished pop sound.

“We were always listening to more electro stuff, especially towards the end. Things like Metronomy and then Foals came along and they managed to bridge the gap just perfectly. It was an enviable position when they came along, we were like 'that's amazing'.

“But we were aware at the same time that there's only ever going to be one of any given band like say Metronomy or Foals. So we weren't going to try and copy them but at the same time we were admiring what they were doing and trying to take on board the way they were showing us that music was going”.

The band's more pop orientated direction was the biggest departure from The Looks and has seen tracks from their debut Gold & Silver EP played on BBC Radio 1 and Xfm.

“We don't want to be an anti-pop band anymore. You can create an electro-indie-pop-punk sound, but you don't have to be difficult about it. Once the core song in the middle of it knows what it's about, I think you'll end up with a good pop song. And I think that's what we managed to achieve on the Gold And Silver EP”.

Hawklion have worked hard for the fruits of their labour. They spent a year locked away in the studio working on their new direction, which Chris admits was a trying experience.

“When you give yourself over completely to a project like we did with Hawklion you do go mad sometimes. When you emerge yourself so deeply in something you become really emotionally attached to it. When things work out it's the best thing ever. But when you're feeling a little self-conscious about it, it's the worst thing ever. We luckily came out with it the EP, because we could have been in there still, now. It all came together”.