The final days of O Emperor were some of the oddest, perhaps, in Irish indie memory. Having announced their departure, the Waterford band won the national music prize, Choice, having already departed the scene. It was, in fairness, an excellent departing record.

At the time, Paul Savage was already working on his new project, ‘Whozyerman?‘, who are all set to emerge fully formed, and very different in style to Savage’s last oufit. The solo project – which will launch a self-titled EP in May – is low-fi , drum-based and enchanting. I caught up with Paul ahead of its launch…

The end of O Emperor must have been quite a moment for you. How did it feel to finish that journey and move on after all those years?

It was strangely satisfying to be finishing up as we knew that we were putting out a really strong final album.

It also gave it a bit more weight and significance as a record, which I was happy about. I think we managed to capture a very special moment in the band’s life which was amazing to have as the final parting piece.

It would have been nice to have played more shows around the release as we were really only getting into it by the time the last one rolled around, but again it felt right to end with a finite amount of gigs to keep it contained as a special moment for us.

What did you take from the experience, in terms of understanding music and the industry?

People should really not take ‘the industry’ too seriously was the main takeaway from that side of things.

In terms of music it was mostly learning about the creation of music as a vehicle for creating experiences, mostly with your friends, but also as a great way to go out and explore the world.

The Choice Music Prize win for ‘Jason’ came at a weird time, in some ways. Did it have much impact on you?

It was a very funny time to win it alright and without downplaying it or sounding ungrateful it didn’t really have much of an impact outside of the lovely well wishes we received, which in itself was just a nice way to close this chapter.