Entertainment

Hothouse Flowers man Liam O Maonlai in full bloom as he gets ready for latest Belfast gig

He’s best known as the frontman of Hothouse Flowers, but Dublin musician Liam Ó Maonlaí works with all manner of artists and teams up with trad band Ulaid in Belfast next week. He talks to Brian Campbell about Bowie, Belfast, U2 and new Hothouse Flowers material

Liam Ó Maonlaí plays Belfast on Wednesday March 2
Liam Ó Maonlaí plays Belfast on Wednesday March 2 Liam Ó Maonlaí plays Belfast on Wednesday March 2

WHEN Liam Ó Maonlaí comes to the end of a concert and starts to walk off stage, there can be only one thing that his legions of fans must think to themselves: “Don’t go… don’t leave me now, now, now…”

This, of course, is the chorus of the huge Hothouse Flowers hit from 1988 and when Liam joins trad band Ulaid (John McSherry, Donal O’Connor and Sean Og Graham) in Belfast next week, he says there’s a good chance that Don’t Go might get an airing.

“The lads have been listening to a few songs, so we have a few days to prepare and there’ll be at least one Flowers song. I’m always up for just lashing into something,” says Liam.

“Don’t Go goes nicely into a polka, so that could happen.”

He admits that the tune has been “a pivotal song” for the band, who formed in 1985 and who are currently working on their first studio album since 2004’s Into Your Heart.

The Flowers released their first record, People, in 1988. It became the most successful debut album in Irish history. It also reached number two in the UK charts, while some of the success of Don’t Go – apart from its catchiness, of course – was down to the song’s video being played to millions during the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.

Liam was last in Belfast last year with his group Ré – featuring piper Maitiú Ó Casaide, concertina player Cormac Begley, singer and fiddler Eithne Ní Chatháin and Peter O’Toole of the Hothouse Flowers.

“We played in 17 churches in 17 nights; it was great. The Belfast one was pretty amazing, because the history of that

church [First Presbyterian Chruch, Rosemary Street].”

He says he’s looking forward to teaming up with Ulaid.

“I did some work with both Donal and John before. I think I first met John in Ardoyne at the GAA club there, when we played until the small hours of the morning. I do like getting up north.”

There’s a chance that the singer might be back up north later this year with Hothouse Flowers, who played a well-received British tour last October and November.

“That tour was great,” says Liam. “It was the first time in a while that we played big venues and got the old-school tourbus with beds in it. It was good to revisit that.

“The last stop was the Glasgow Barrowlands, which is such an amazing place. The initial impact of the crowd, every time, is unbelievable. It’s a magic venue.”

Coincidentally, on the same night the Flowers were in Glasgow, another quite well known Dublin band – U2 – were also playing the city.

“They were. Typical, trying to steal our thunder,” laughs Liam. “We actually also did three nights in London and they were connected in with the U2 gigs. The promoter thought it would be a good idea to put us on in the Brooklyn Bowl part of the O2 in London. We do have a strong following in England and it worked really well. And we got to see U2 a couple of times too.”

The Flowers and U2 go way back – the former’s first single Love Don’t Work This Way was released on U2’s label Mother Records.

“They took a great interest in what we were up to and they did give us a leg up here and there,” says Liam.

“I remember we were playing in the Ed Burke theatre in Trinity in Dublin and Bono and Adam were at that gig, dancing in the aisles.”

Liam was alwo a contemporary of Kevin Shields, the singer/guitarist in much-loved indie rock band My Bloody Valentine

[MBV].

“Colm Ó Cíosóig, the drummer [with MBV], was in my class in school and then I met Kevin with Colm and the three of us became a little bedroom band.

“I’m sure I could have stayed on with them, but I wasn’t allowed. I was too young and my folks weren’t too excited about me doing that at that stage.

“Kevin’s a lovely, gentle, quietly spoken and interesting guy. He was kind of an ‘open book’ kind of character. He just loved the guitar and was always learning.

“My mother played piano, my father sang and played piano, so music was always there; it was just daily life for me. Kevin kind of got a guitar and set about the task of doing music and there’s an energy to that which is also really exciting.”

Liam says he grew up as punk was exploding but was into lots of different music in his youth.

“I was peer-led as well and liked what my friends like. I liked The Stranglers; I got a great buzz out of the sound that they had. And I loved the Sex Pistols and The Ramones.

“In my later teens, my then girlfriend was really into Bowie and turned me on to his music and that whole image-conscious side of things.

“And then trad was just always there. At

my school, traditional music was what

lots of the kids were into. It was just

music and a real scene and wasn’t to do with a GAA club or a Comhaltas club. It was just in the bones.”

Well known for speaking Irish and promoting the languge, he says Irish “was just always there”.

“My dad taught it to me as I was learning to speak. He taught me through song as well. I didn’t even know it was a language – or that English was a language.”

And for a man who can turn his hand to all manner of instruments – including piano, harp, bodhran, whistle and guitar – does he have a favourite?

“I just love making music, but the piano is great for me. It’s a safe place for me.

“When I do solo gigs, the piano is my canvas and I can move from a sean nos to a blues song or a Flowers song and use the piano to draw one out of the other. And sometimes the music that happens in between is the interesting bit.”

In terms of the Hothouse Flowers, he says they have recorded some brand new material.

“We’re all very excited about it. But we’re also a herd of cats who are always going in all kinds of different directions, so the real trick is to get us together to be focused on the thing.

“I think there’s music there that’s ready to be heard. We’ve always had a sound but to me this represents where we’re at right now and what I feel about music; I think it’s the best that the Flowers have done so far. I’d be disappointed if we didn’t manage to get it out this year.”

So will they be touring later this year or early next year?

“Oh yeah, there’ll be more gigs. It’s just about figuring it all out. They could be small clusters of gigs, because none of us is really in a position to do long tours.”

When I spoke to Liam he was just back in Dublin after an eight-date solo tour of Germany.

“It was great. It’s always been good in Germany.”

So it’s not just David Hasselhoff that has a dedicated German fanbase then!

“Oh yeah, well myself and Dave are the same kind of genre,” says Liam with a laugh.

n Liam Ó Maonlaí and Ulaid play the Olympic Concert Room in the Clayton Hotel in Belfast on Wednesday (early show, doors 6pm, tickets £15) as part of the Belfast Nashville Songwriters festival (belfastnashville.com)