17 February 2023
Newsdesk
Matt Wilkinson joined Inhaler in their hometown of Dublin for an exclusive interview on Apple Music 1. They discuss their new album ‘Cuts & Bruises’ (out tomorrow, 17th Feb), playing live post Covid, friendship within the band, lessons learned from U2 and more…
Inhaler are: Elijah Hewson, Robert Keating, Josh Jenkinson and Ryan McMahon
Inhaler (Robert) on playing live post Covid...
We didn't do many festivals to begin with. I think we somehow managed to miss festival season twice or something. But I think having that Covid period, when we did get back to it, we really wanted to grab it when it was right there in front of us. So when we were playing it on stages for the festivals, I think we just had a bit more desire and almost ambition. I think the pressure was good as well. We kind of knew, okay, say these next 10 gigs back, if they all flop, this could be the end of us because everyone had already forgotten about us.
Inhaler (Elijah) on making album two…
We definitely labored over it, but it wasn't... It was pretty quick. I think we came in here, we started writing material for it, with a lot of slow tempo, mid tempo stuff. And then we went into the studio and we needed some singles, so we had to finish up a lot of material there and we ended up writing a lot of new stuff in there. But you can feel this room on the album, I think.
Inhaler (Robert) on band friendship…
Defo, I think those confrontation moments always led to better things. It's like, because usually when someone's upset about something or someone's quiet or... Because at the end of the day it's like we're living together, so you can't just go to work and then clock out. It's like we're constantly with each other. So they usually lead to an answer, which is like, we will have a fight, but then it would lead to a really good discussion to which we're all closer and we feel like more in tune with each other and more together when it came from something that was the opposite. So I think it's a healthy part of every relationship.
Inhaler (Elijah) on learning from his father, U2 lead singer Bono
I guess it must have picked up on conversations and stuff as a kid, and then we just never wanted to be that band that was ruled by one person or... It was like, it's very... I think you're right. The longevity comes from the way it's like if everybody has equal part in it, then everybody's equally invested and nobody will be like, oh, I don't want to do that or I don't want to do that part, I just want to do this part. It's like the fact that we all get to, I guess, reap the rewards together and equally makes it a better experience for everybody.
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