Juno Falls
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| JUNO FALLS | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Dublin, Ireland |
| Genre(s) | folk pop |
| Years active | 2003 - |
| Label(s) | V2 |
| Website | Junofalls.net |
JUNO FALLS are a modern folk pop band comprising songwriter/frontman Myles O Reilly and his band, hailing from Dublin, Ireland.
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[edit] History
Juno Falls began in 2003 when songwriter Myles O Reilly hooked up with producer Herbie Macken (previous keys player for Niel Finn of Crowded House) and friends, bass player Dara Diffily and drummer David Shakespeare. From that 2 week recording session in a cottage near the remote fishing village of Schull on the south coast of Ireland Starlight Drive Juno Falls debut album was born. After much radio-play success Myles O Reilly attracted the attentions of major labels and signed with Richard Branson's V2 music in 2006. Myles is currently back in studio recording Juno Falls debut international album due for release in 2007.
BIOGRAPHY:
So, what do you do when you sign your first big record deal ?
Head for the bright lights of London, take the plaudits, and listen to everyone telling you how wonderful you are ?
Not for Juno Falls frontman and songwriter Myles O’Reilly.
Packing his bags, Myles left behind his native Dublin and headed for the tranquility of Dingle, on Ireland’s rugged west coast. “Don’t get me wrong”, says Myles, “I love Dublin. It has a great energy and the music scene is very healthy there, but for me the remoteness and honesty of somewhere like Dingle makes the creative process so much more natural”.
Living in Dingle while writing material for the new album brought it’s own perils. While returning to Dingle from Dublin in the early hours of a winterly morning, Myles knew that he was almost home. The grey silhouette of Mount Brandon loomed ahead, as the narrow country roads snaked onwards. Nearly there.
“Suddenly I’m fighting with the car, battling to keep it on the road. Failing!”.
Upside down and compressed into the only space left inside the car, Myles struggled to pull himself free. “I remember making my way back onto the road and looking back at what was left of the car”, he says. “It wasn’t until several days later that it dawned on me just how lucky I was to have walked away from it without a scratch”.
“Some of what I had been writing about prior to the crash now seemed trivial to me”, says Myles. "I had been given a second chance. My life could have ended and what would I have left behind me? After the accident I became more engaged with my art than ever before. It was imperative for me to immerse myself in music and lyrics and to draw from every inspiration. The floodgates were open".
Returning to Dublin several months later with a lap-top full of songs, Myles began the process of “putting meat on the bones of the songs” with the rest of the band
"They brought something really special to the songs," explains Myles."They made the songs sexy, adding a 'groove' and taking them out of the whole singer-songwriter genre“.
Recorded at various points over the course of the last year, including Wicklow, London, Dublin and Nashville, the result is a collection of beautifully crafted songs, sometimes intimate, sometimes fragile, always honest and unmistakably Juno Falls.
"I've always loved pop songs because they're braver than any other kind of music: you're trying to be universal and appeal to a whole lot of people. But there's a side of me that's always been attracted to the beauty and the sadness of artists like Elbow or Rufus Wainwright”.
Road-tested on a month-long tour of the UK and Ireland with Travis, the new songs have already found their live legs. "Fran [Healy, Travis singer] heard 'The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off' on my Myspace page and liked it so much, he asked us to come on tour with them," explains the frontman
[edit] Sound
Juno Falls have often been compared to many of the New Acoustic Movement's bands spawned in the new century such as Elbow, Iron and wine, and Turin Brakes. Although accessible and crossover, Myles and bandmates are never predictable and deliver music that is always quirky and unique. Affording at every turn to surprise and sometimes perplex the listener while staying within the boundaries of conventional pop song structure.
In recent times, O'Reilly has started to use a sampler / loop pedal to "sample" self-made sounds throughout songs in his live shows. The most talked about feature to his live set is his solo re-working of Juno Falls hit '[This Song Is Your Own]' using only vocal loops.
[edit] Trivia
- Myles O Reilly is also a keen web-designer, animator and photographer, at one time working for Ireland's nationwide News group The Independent Newpapers. See his small movies at www.youtube.com/junofalls
- Myles father Brendan O Reilly was famous in Ireland for holding the Irish High-Jump record for 25 years. He was also Ireland's national television 'Sunday sports' presenter and he pursued a career in film and television acting, appearing in the epic Warner Bros. film about two runaway children Flight of the doves in 1969.
- It was Nick Seymour from Australian band Crowded House that discovered and assisted in making Juno Falls first demo's. Later assisting in the band recording their debut album with keyboardist for Neil Finn (crowded house frontman) Herbie Macken.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
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[edit] Releases
| Year | Song | Label | Format | Album |
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| 2004 | "This Song Is Your Own" | N8 | 7"/CD | Starlight Drive |
| 2004 | "Kiss Me" | N8 | 7"/CD | Starlight Drive |
| 2007 | "ATOM BOMB" | V2 Music Ireland | Mini Album | 2007 |
| 2007 | "Weightless" | V2 Music Ireland | Album | 2007 |
[edit] Compilations
Juno Falls tracks have appeared on the following compilation CDs:
| Year | Compilation | Track |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Acoustic Vol. 7 | The Last Love Song |
