Soundtrack :: Nina Hynes « Harmless Noise

March 1st, 2011
Soundtrack :: Nina Hynes

Mar 1, 2011
Nay
1 comment
CorkXSW, Irish, Music, Soundtrack

Nina Hynes
47 Views

(No Ratings Yet)

Although resident in Germany for the past four years, with three albums under her belt, the name of Nina Hynes is familiar to many. A fourth is in the pipeline while a new single One In A Million was released last month. Now with a confirmed slot at CorkXSW in June, it’s looking to be a good year ahead.

Here are Nina’s personal soundtrack picks for the month of March. Some classics, some favourites and some new discoveries, I really enjoyed listening to these.

Are you particularly fond of any specific genre of music or are your tastes diverse?
Very diverse, no style. Anything with no style.

Can you remember the first piece of music that moved or inspired you?
Gary Numan, “it’s cold outside” (Are Friends Electric?). I had to listen to it about a hundred times with my older cousin when I was about three and it really got inside me.

Is there any kind of music you’d like to know/hear more of?
All good music and my own too..I am dying to get to know more of my own new music.

What influenced your decision to choose a career in a band?
I haven’t chosen that career yet.

How much time do you spend listening to music now? Has it de/increased over time?
About an hour a week I guess. It has decreased for sure. I love silence.

Do you prefer live music or listening from home?
I love live music but haven’t been in a while. I don’t prefer either, different purposes.

How often would you spend at gigs that aren’t your own?
These days, very little, twice a year maybe. Before, for a period of about 4 to 5 years, almost every night/every second night.

Would they be Irish or international bands? Any genre more so than the other?
All of the above. I ended up seeing a lot of lo-fi/ indie stuff as I used to get in free to a few Dublin venues.

Where does Irish music come on your playlists? Are you a fan of home-grown bands?
Yes, Ireland makes a lot of great music. I don’t listen to something because it is Irish but I tend to come across a lot of new and old Irish stuff due to friend networks.

What do you think of the climate of the Irish music scene? Is it a good place to be a musician right now?
I don’t know as I left Ireland four years ago. In a mainstream way, it has never been great for me. Often predictable money pumped projects become popular. For a long time, people seemed to want to hear sing along boys with guitars.
I seems a lot more diverse and healthy at the moment due to online resources though there has always been great experimental and more interesting music going on in smaller venues and under the radar. I imagine with the state of the politics and financial problems, that ireland is a great place artistically right now.

If you could experience a musical era what would it be?
Right now and in the next fifty years.

Name some albums you find timeless and explain their appeal….
Not that they don’t reflect musical history in time as I am not sure this has been achieved yet. Everything is a follow-on from something before but these following artists can stand the changes and still be relevant through different ages; anything by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Arvo Pärt, Cornelius, Gustav Mahler, Jimmy Behan, the Bulgarian Voices, John Cage, Bob Dylan’s early stuff, Seán Ó Riada, Béla Bartók, Myles Davis, David Toop, Max Eastley, Don Cherry, The Baka Pygmies, Tom Waits, Luzmila Carpio, Nina Simone, Steve Reich..okay, I have to stop here as I could go on for a few hours. Also My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, Bibio’s Vignetting the Compost, Brian Eno and Harold Budd: The Pearl and anything solo by Brian Eno….

Now choose some modern tunes that you’ve really enjoyed.
Bibio – Top Soil

Deasy – The Slow Violence Demo

Alice Jago – Lullaby

Ilex_ – Itstormy out there

Colin J Morris’ new album (still to be released)

What do you think constitutes awful music?
Music written to make money or to receive praise with no sense of inner journey or experience.

You’ve hijacked RTE at prime time and the DJ’s tied up in a corner. Choose five songs you think the nation HAS to hear.
1. (Nina linked this video – the song is Into The Fire by Thirteen Senses)