Eamon Carr interviews Matthew Devereux

IT’S BEYOND THE PALE

One of Dublin’s quirkiest bands are bigger in Budapest than they are at home

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Why Go Bald, The Pale’s debut album titled after Dublin’s iconic neon sign, was released in 1990. A few years later the band enjoyed their biggest success with Dogs With No Tails, which became a Euro hit again in 2001 when covered by a Turkish ska band.

Perversely, The Pale’s mainman Matthew Devereux was operating below rock’s  critical radar until the release over the last few years of two impressive albums on the excellent label, 1969 Records.

“I’ve been threatening to make these records for quite a while,” says Devereux. “I’ve got OCD when it comes to songwriting. For each record I produce 40 tracks and keep breaking it down until I find a theme or family group. I like a song to be slightly like a cousin. I’m a fan of the classic songwriters like (Nick) Cave. I’ll recognise a song and say, ‘That’s a cousin of another song because it has that gammy eye or quintessential red hair.’ I theme-ise the songs.” Read more »