Get the bus and come to The Academy with us!
UPDATE: Mullingar Chamber have put on a free bus to the album launch in The Academy on May 14. It leaves at 6pm from The Market Square.
Sarah Slevin
The Blizzards have invited Mullingar to get a seat on a bus to support their upcoming album launch, the band’s biggest headline show in three years.
The band have announced details of their fourth studio album and want local support at their launch gig on Saturday, May 14.
The band have organised buses to run from Smiddy's Bar, Mullingar to the album launch at The Academy in Dublin. Their album ‘Sometimes We See More in the Dark’, will be out on May 13.
Frontman Bressie (Niall Breslin) said that local support is important to them. “We want the support of the town, and we want to make it easy for them. It’s tough driving to Dublin, it’s expensive if you want to stay,” he said.
“When we first started as a band, and nobody had a clue who we were and we played in Whelan’s in Dublin on a Monday night, and it sold out on the day,” Bressie said.
“It was purely because a big group from Mullingar got on a bus and came up and took over Whelan’s, so part of this is going back to that again and that’s the type of support we need to get back. There’s only one way to support music now and that’s going to live gigs.”
Bressie said the band are proud of this album as it represents the best of them and their writing.
They have released three tracks, ‘Friction Burns’, ‘Trigger Me’ and ‘Play God’ of the 10 on the album.
When asked about the style of the rest of the tracks, Bressie said the album is The Blizzards going back to where they started.
“There is a consistent element, but the album has lots of different energy. The goal for the band with this record was to go back to the garage-band feel. We went back to the plug in and play stuff that started The Blizzards,” Bressie said.
“Some of the songs that people haven’t heard are really heavy while others are utterly chilled out.”
The Blizzards’ last studio album was released in 2019, and Bressie said the new one was mostly written at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We wanted to put an album together even though it was really difficult to do. We had no budget because we weren’t gigging so there was no way of actually funding it, we weren’t in the same room,” Bressie said.
“But we really just hustled and it’s the proudest I’ve ever been of the band, to get something over the line against all odds.”
He said that bassist Louize Carroll, who joined the band in 2017, added something new to the writing process.
“Louize coming in has injected a different type of creative energy, one that has pushed me a lot,” Bressie said.
Louize explained how the process was for her, and that it was special as it was her first time making a full-length album with the band
“In many ways I feel more belonging and meaning together as a band with this new body of work. I’m so proud of what the band have achieved,” she said.
Bressie also added that they had the addition of a local creative team to work on the album design with them.
“We made the decision to have a creative team on board and it was right on our doorstep. The Bronte team are the best team I’ve ever worked with, and I’m not just saying that because they’re Mullingar,” Bressie said.
The band have a busy few weeks ahead, as they are also performing at the Westmeath Bachelor Festival this weekend.
“I’m always really nervous about home gigs. Not in a bad way, but it’s just your mum might hear you from the garden,” Bressie laughed.
“When the bachelor festival was on years ago, the town was on fire in the best possible way, and I’m delighted they brought it back and fair play to them for organising it. We should be so excited about it for the town and really embrace it,” Bressie said.
The Blizzards take to the stage at The Academy in Dublin 14 May for their launch day, and a bus is going from Smiddy's Mullingar at 4pm that day.
Mullingar musicians Aimee and Codyy have been confirmed as support acts for the band on the night.
People can pre-save the album https://linktr.ee/theblizzardsband and buy tickets for the gig at ticketmaster.ie.
To get a seat on a bus from Mullingar, visit Smiddy's Bar or Dalys, and the cost is €15 per person.