CATARAX LENNY

CATARAX LENNY:

Bass Guitar/Vocals – David Fennelly

Guitar/Vocals – Jamie O’Grady

Lead Guitar/Vocals – Ben Long

Percussion – Eric Gallagher

From their inception in 2007, Catarax Lenny have come a long way considering their original line up included a karaoke machine. After overcoming numerous political, economical and sociological difficulties, the band finally found an equilibrium, settling on the line up of David Fennelly, Ben Long, Eric Gallagher and Jaime O’Grady.

After an optimistic beginning, recording six tracks with the help of Paddy Byrne, stagnation took hold; with difficulty organising practise sessions and a lack of gigs motivation was waning. However, the moment of clarity came when the band performed their first gig at Jaime’s dad’s birthday, leading to investment in equipment of non eastern European origin. This move also followed relocation to Jaime’s ‘garage’, taking pride of place amongst the empties and animal excrement, the band got to work.

It was at this point the collective identity of the band came into being, the name inspired by Lenny, a visually impaired canine supporter of the band who was ever present at these early practice sessions. The intentional misspelling of ‘Catarax’ can be attributed to the epistemology of ‘stuff looking better when it’s spelt wrong’, proven in no small part by the success of Slade’s career.

Following this drive of enthusiasm, the band has become a regular feature around Dublin, playing in The Bleedin’ Horse, Paddy Kearney’s and Whelan’s. Neglecting the well worn clichés of modern indie music, the bands sound emanates an eclectic mixture of folk, country and shoe gaze. Besides the groups’ experimental musical arrangements, the key strength of Catarax Lenny is the use of vocal harmony, the paired voices of Jaime O’Grady and David Fennelly bringing a sense of authenticity to the music.

Gathering momentum going into 2010, the band have been warmly received by Hot Press, the song ‘You’ being described as ‘a neat piece of indie folk rock’. In addition to this, the band have seen their track, ‘Appetite for Revival’ included on compilation album ‘I Love Festival’, which ultimately reached No.5 in the Irish compilation album charts. The inclusion on the album saw the band invited to play a half hour set at the albums launch in Crawdaddys.

Moving forward the band seem set for bigger things, with upcoming appearances at the Le Cheile festival and will be taking part in the King Kong club competition. For the mean time the band will all continue to receive their ‘art grants’ allowing them to commit to making music and, fingers crossed, the betterment of humanity.