PHOTO COURTESY OF PARSIFAL MUSIC
Oisin O'Malley, left, Adrian Mordaunt, Colin Smith and Emmett O'Malley make up mrnorth.
Irish band hits Waikiki
Rage and disillusionment in many rock bands can slip into mindless rant and rhetoric when little attention is given to the lyrics. So it's refreshing when a group comes along that is able to convey the heartaches, confusion and anger not only with compelling, gut-twisting melodies, but with tightly connected lyrics that fit the musical puzzle.
It's icing on the artistic cake when -- surprise, surprise -- that music is transgenerational.
mrnorth
With local opening bands
Where: Akala Ballroom, Queen Kapiolani Hotel, 150 Kapahulu Ave.
When: 8 p.m. today and 8 and 10:30 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday
Admission: $10; all ages tomorrow, 18 and over today and Saturday
Call: 593-8333
Meet mrnorth, the Dublin-born band of Colin Smith, brothers Oisin and Emmett O'Malley, and Adrian Mordaunt, who perform tonight through Saturday at the Akala Ballroom in the Queen Kapiolani Hotel.
Haven't heard of them? You will soon enough, and you'll kick yourself if you don't go, because when -- not if -- they return to Hawaii, look for ticket prices to quadruple. Think of a career arc similar to those of their fellow countrymen in U2.
"Quite often when we play to an audience, they're enjoying the music, but you can't tell from their expressions because they're not dancing or moving or laughing or talking," says charismatic lead singer Smith. "They're just staring and listening to the words. It can be quite disconcerting, so I don't look at any of them when I first go out there."
"What we do is tell a story," says Oisin (pronounced o-sheen) O'Malley, bassist, pianist and keyboard player. "People like stories if they're well crafted. Our music and the lyrics have an effect on people. It's what we try to do."
Conversational rather than preachy, the lyrics almost make you feel you're hanging with the guys, listening to something that happened to them the night before, something disturbing that they want to share.
"The band does sound quite dramatic," O'Malley says. "It's not easy listening or background music.
"We rarely write about something slight. ... It has something to say."
Mrnorth continues the tradition of the grand, sweeping, politically aware rock from Dublin. The band has the sound of Big Country, but with the social consciousness of U2's Bono.
AFTER LEAVING their native Ireland while still in their teens, the band chose the unlikely hamlet of Vicenza, Italy, to make a go of it as "a real" rock band, Smith says.
"The U2 comparison has been used before with us," he says. "Thank God there was a U2 in the early '80s for people to learn to like Irish bands.
"It opened the door for all of us. It gave us the chance we needed to be heard."
As mrnorth's European reputation grew, American interest also climbed. In 2000 the band signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell, which led them to move to New York City.
"The big time, succeed or perish," O'Malley says. "The people in that city have seen and heard and done it all. You grow or die."
The band prospered, and word got around of their talent and unique sound. They're now represented by the high-profile William Morris Agency.
"Irish artists in any field make their mark by not going halfway," O'Malley says. "When an Irish band explodes, it's huge."
Adds Smith: "Where you see the Irishness in us, it is in our passion. The music is never light or happy-go-lucky, but passionate and revealing.
"If it's tragic, it's really tragic; if it's emphatic, it's incredibly emphatic."
With influences from Pink Floyd to Jeff Buckley and, of course, U2, mrnorth, after 11 years together, have created a tight yet agile original sound.
Bass player and multi-instrumentalist O'Malley and drummer Adrian Mordaunt lay down the foundation. Then there's the delicate and intense playing of guitarist Emmett O'Malley, whose guitar provides sense and emotion. Smith's brazen and falsetto voice pervades over it all.
Collaborations include all band members, Emmett O'Malley says.
"We have a common goal: A song has to be written, and it has to be the best we can do."
His brother Oisin likes to focus on the commonality of all people.
"Things we all not seem to notice but may occur every day -- they are very significant. "LifeSize" is about how time passes quickly. One minute you're a child and innocent, and the next thing you know, you're in big trouble and in a court of law.
"I tried to make people see how that sort of things happens ... bring it to the surface to think about."
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