The Irish rock scene is in the healthiest state in years, so much so that international publications are starting to pay attention not just to the likes of Fontaines D.C and Girl Band, but also to the broader scene that spawned them. Alongside The Murder Capital, Dubliners Silverbacks look like the next band poised to break out from the scene and make a wider impact. They’re not shy, either, thrashing their guitars through tracks that explore issues like classism and love of false idols. I asked them about their story so far…

‘Just In The Band’ is a song about being in a band inspired by our own experiences and what we imagine it was like for the likes of Iggy Pop and others. It’s also one of our favourite songs to play live.

You get some interesting comparisons when it comes to other acts. Are there any you particularly like? Any weird ones?

We got compared to The Wire last week, I enjoyed that one. I take the ‘Pavement’ and ‘Television’ comparisons as a compliment, we definitely ‘borrow’ a few of their tricks. Both bands had their own unique sound and I’d like to think that we do too.

You seem to have a full-on DIY ethos. How have you found forging your own route?

Doing it DIY was initially a necessity and eventually became a natural progression that made sense for the band. We’ve never really known anything else and it’s been fun, but it’s not necessarily and ethos we’re married to. A good few of our favourite bands started out this way (Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth). I think it often stands to a band if they’ve been doing things for themselves and writing songs for a number of years before they get picked up by a wider audience.

Has it been useful to move on from the ‘bedroom project’ concept and flesh things out a bit?

It definitely has. When we were releasing songs recorded in our bedrooms we were intentionally writing music that would suit the lo-fi ethos and our very limited recording equipment.

Moving to a full band and a proper studio has allowed us to be more adventurous and have much more freedom with what we can write and record. The likes of ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Just In The Band’ would have never worked if we had tried to record them in our bedroom.