MacD on Music: Menace II Society

There's nothing better than seeing live music. Luckily, a pretty key part of my job involves going to gigs on a regular basis. One of the best parts of local gigs is getting to see the up-and-coming acts that are usually supporting the headliner.

In my two and a bit years here, I've got to track the rise of a few acts this way. At a gig by General Fiasco in Sandino's around Christmas 2021, I got to see two great young bands that showed a lot of promise: TRAMP and Parker (whose debut album 'Never Let This Go' is available now in Cool Discs). Since then, I've got to see these two go from strength to strength.

Recently, I got the chance to see two more groups that are sure to go on to great things: Emily 7 and Cairo Station, both of whom opened for The Switch earlier this year in Sandino's.

This week, ahead of the release of their new single 'Menace', I'm talking to Cairo Station, the Belfast group made up of Cara Collins (vocals), Felix McAuley (guitar) and Ben Gribben (bass) about their origins, the single and their plans for the future:

How did the group first come together?

Felix: The group was formed by myself and Ben in 2023 and we played a few sold out headlines as Cairo Station with the band having a couple of different line-ups/musical styles over the first few months. Towards the end of 2023, Cara joined the band as our missing piece, and we settled on the sound and direction we wanted to go for.

Who would you say are your main musical influences?

Ben: As individuals we all come from different places musically but our main reference point as a group would definitely be bands like Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C., Radiohead and Elastica.

Tell me a bit about your new single.

Cara: ‘Menace’ is the first song we worked on together as a band and the connection we’ve built together and to the song over the last few months made us want it to be our first release.

Felix: It started as a Bass riff Ben came up with, that we were playing about with last year before Cara joined us. We jammed around with it in Ben’s house, adding guitars, ideas for the drums and getting an overall structure down.

Ben: After we’d completed the instrumental, Cara joined the band and really gave the song that power and character it needed for us to feel satisfied with it. After that the song quickly became a staple in our set and in March, we went to Start Together Studios in Belfast to record it with Michael Bell.

What would you say have been some career highlights since starting the band?

Cara: In our 7 months playing together we’d probably all have to say playing Mandela Hall in January was a definite highlight. The atmosphere with the massive stage, crowd and the lighting set up was amazing. It was also a bucket list moment having seen so many bands we love there such as Slowdive and Gurriers.

Felix: A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of supporting the Dublin band CABL in Ulster Sports Club and we were all totally blown away by them so I’d say that was a highlight as well

Have you got much planned for the future? 

Felix: Currently we are planning shows down in Dublin and a return to Derry that we’ll hopefully be able to give more detail on in the not-too-distant future. We’ll also be returning to the studio to finish off our next single at the end of June!

Are there any other artists you think we should be keeping an eye on?

Ben: I’d have to shout out Gush, they’re a band who have been coming up at the same time as us in the Belfast scene. They just released their debut single back in March and things are going really well for them.

Cara: supporting CABL was cool as they’re an amazing act based down in Dublin. Another Dublin band I really like would definitely be Martina and the Moons, they’re cool and I really want to see them live soon.

Felix: CABL have to be my favourite band I’ve came across this year, but I’d say keep an eye out for Wifeswap, they’re based down in Dublin and they’ll be putting a new single out on the same day as us so definitely give that a listen.

And that's it from Cairo Station. Their new single 'Menace' is out this Thursday on all good streaming platforms.

Now, onto other business. It's been quite a while since we've got new music from TRAMP, who have been busy winning NI Music Awards, closing out Stendhal and generally just conquering the world.

This past Friday saw the release of 'Postcard from Poland', their new single released in aid of Nour Alsaqqa, a Palestinian currently living in Dublin who is raising money to help her family escape the genocide in Gaza. The song is available now on Bandcamp and 100% of the profits (excluding Bandcamp fees) going to help Nour's GoFundMe.

Finally, time for the socials. Cairo Station can be found on Instagram @cairostationband and TRAMP are, of course, @thisistramp.