Ronan O'BrienWith the band currently celebrating 20 years of making music together, I had the pleasure of chatting with Mal Tuohy from The Riptide Movement to talk about their rise and memories from their incredible career so far.
Hey Mal, thanks so much for agreeing to an interview! I’m just going to start by making you feel old – you’ve been at this for two decades now. I just want to know how the band came to be and what did the early days look like? I know you were in a band called The Relic for a while, how did it all come to happen?
So The Relic was the first band I was ever in. I set that up after an Oasis gig when I was 14. We went to see them in The Point Depot, which saying that, is showing my age. Oasis were such an influential band for me back then, because it just felt like a whole movement was happening at the time. Myself and a few of my mates queued up overnight outside the old HMV in Grafton Street to get the tickets. There were thousands queued up and we stayed up all night. Obviously there were a few cans going around as well, so it was great. We got the tickets and then went to The Point Depot gig in December. The very next day we set up our first band called The Relic.
It was just a group of our mates; there was me and another guy, Jay Nolan, singing as well. In hindsight it was kind of like an Oasis tribute band really. It was gas, we cobbled together a bass amp that somebody had. Nicky, our guitarist, had a really nice blonde Telecaster and he had an acoustic guitar as well. Our first drum kit was Juniper‘s, y’know, Bell X1. They used to practice just around the corner from us in Lucan, above a shop called Walsh’s, and they were selling a drum kit. So our first drum kit was actually Paul Noonan’s drum kit from Juniper! We cobbled together all this gear and my dad had this commercial building with an attic that he allowed us to use for practice.
So what were those early rehearsals like?
During our first rehearsal, Jay was channelling his inner Liam Gallagher and thought it’d be a good idea to throw one of our two guitars out of the window. And it smashed into a million pieces and it was Nicky’s guitar – his brother! He was like “what the fuck man? We only have two guitars and you’re after breaking one of them!” and Jay’s like “oh sorry I got carried away in the music”. So that was our first band, which was 30 years ago this year.
I’ve been in several bands since – I was in a band called The Seratones, which were a really good band. And then The Riptide Movement came about. I went to Australia for a year and came back. Myself, Jay and Nicky, who was in the other band, said we’d like to set up a new band. So we set up Crimson Lizard. Nicky moved to Cambridge because he started college there, so myself and Jay continued the band and renamed it The Riptide Movement. Jerry, the bass player, we went to school with his brother. They’re family friends of ours so we asked him to play with us.
We were looking for a drummer and we went through lots of different drummers coming down for rehearsals. One night, Jay was on the Nitelink coming back from town and there was a guy down at the back of the bus with his earphones on, tapping the back of the seats. He was making a bit of a racket and Jay thought “that guy must be a drummer”. So Jay asked him if he was a drummer and Gar said he was but he was already in a band. Jay gave him a demo anyways and Gar came down for a rehearsal and then that was it. That was February 2006. So yeah that’s how that came about and here we are 20 years later.
The big break for you came in 2013 with “All Works Out” from the fantastic album Getting Through. I know Discover Ireland used that track and you’re probably a bit sick of hearing it, but how did things change from there?
I think it was building up to that point because we released Tip Jars in 2009. All of our albums are like a snapshot of where we were at the time, what we were listening to and what we were influenced by. It was a really bluesy album. I think our newer stuff is actually going to go back that way, because we’re enjoying playing that way. Even how Tip Jars came about was great.
Like I said, we set up in 2006 and we went to go to the States in June. We booked flights and accommodation, the whole lot. We didn’t have the right visas and we got interrogated by customs in Dublin Airport for the whole day. The reason why they wouldn’t let us in wasn’t because of contracts or anything. It transpired through all the interviews that we were going to be playing in these cafés in Greenwich Village and there would have been tip jars passed around. One of the ICE agents was getting really frustrated with us during these interviews. He was kicking chairs and tables going “What about the tip jars man? What about the tip jars?” So that’s how that album title came about.
So we didn’t get into America, we didn’t even get out of Dublin Airport. We were really disappointed and thinking “what are we going to do?” So we jumped on a plane to London and went there for a couple of months. The goal was to get a record deal. We went out and served as a cancellation band. So we went up and down the tube lines playing all the London venues. We got on to all of the promoters who had different nights in different venues around London. So we told them we were in London and if a band pulled out of a gig just let us know. So we were playing nearly every night!
Did your time in London reap the rewards of the effort you put in?
We were getting a great reaction and we made a few contacts. We were pretty happy coming home although we hadn’t got a record deal. When we were in Heathrow Airport, we had a really fortunate meeting. Myself and JP were in the queue waiting to get on the plane and there was a guy in front of us who turned around and saw JP had a Rory Gallagher t-shirt on him. He’s like “Jesus man I love your t-shirt” and Jay goes “Oh yeah this is Rory Gallagher. He’s a brilliant Irish guitarist”. We didn’t know it was Tony [Colton] at the time, he told us “Oh no need to tell me about Rory Gallagher. I produced his first two albums with Taste!” We were mind-blown!
We got chatting anyways and we gave him one of our CDR demos and gave him our details. A month later, we got a phone call from Tony who told us he listened to the demo and loved it. He said we had something special and asked how we felt about him coming over to Ireland and producing our first album. So we were delighted. Tony is an absolute legend; he’s worked with Johnny Cash, The Allman Brothers, Rory Gallagher – of course, The Doors, it’s just endless.
He came over and spent a month here in Ireland with us making What About The Tip Jars? That for us gave us the belief in ourselves that we were on the right path. And getting his endorsement too. That whole time is really special because Tony’s passed now as well. We knew we were lucky at the time but we only really realised how that meeting with him really opened up the path for where we are now.
How did the album perform for you commercially?
We put out the album independently because we couldn’t get a record deal. We thought we’d get radio play and media coverage and all that carry on but we were sadly very wrong. And we had ordered all these CDs and nobody’s buying them really. We sold a good few the first week and I think we charted as well. I think it was 13 or 14 in the charts. But we had all these CDs and that’s how we ended up out in Grafton Street busking. Because we had seen a band called New Fish who had a massive crowd out in Grafton Street, I noticed they were selling lots of CDs from their guitar case.
So we went out and did that. It really helped us hone our audience interaction and that really built us up. So we went from there to making Keep On Keeping On. We made that down in Grouse Lodge and that album brought us on even more. At that stage in 2012 we were selling out Olympias. Still no record deal but it was all building of course. The record labels started paying attention then, and we went on to record Getting Through with Ted Hutt. Again, we did that in Grouse Lodge and we had the album made before going back to America to try and get record deals.
You finally got to America! How was that experience and what came from it?
We played some showcase gigs in New York and L.A. Lots of labels came down and showed their interest. When we got home we got a call from Universal who loved the album and wanted to get behind us. It all just started happening from there. We went on to The Late Late Show and we played “All Works Out“. The guy that was picking the song for Fáilte Ireland had a song picked and he saw us and decided this was the song for the campaign. The next day we got a call about using the song for the ad and then it was everywhere.
I was really proud of that album, it’s a really catchy album and it just took off. People really connected with it, all the songs were all over the radio. That time was really special because it all just took off. We were building for ages and ages and the next thing we were everywhere. We were playing every festival. But on the build up to that, a lot was happening. We were playing some great gigs. We played with The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi and Neil Young all before this happened. So there was a lot building up before that happened.
What were your favourite gigs or memories around that era?
2015 Electric Picnic because we were playing the main stage. It was a Saturday, we got a great time – about 5:00 in the afternoon. The sun was out and it was like 20 degrees or something and everybody was sitting out on the main stage because the weather was so lovely. At that time we were touring with a brass section and a choir as well, so we had a big setup. We went out and nailed that gig. There were like 30 or 40 thousand people at it and everybody knew the words and were singing along to the songs because all the songs were on the radio all the previous year leading up to it. As gigs go, even talking about it now, that was a serious gig.
In later years you’ve had different styles coming through with “The Old Stomping Ground” and JP taking over vocals on “Owe You A Lot“. Is this a new direction people can expect from the band?
No I don’t think so. We put out Ghosts in 2016 and that did really well for us. Some of our biggest songs even when we’re playing live, like “Elephant In The Room“ and “Changeling“ are crowd favourites. After that we had done Plastic Oceans which was a web series, which we spent a year of our lives making. We released “Plastic Oceans“ and “What Will The Kids Say?“ for that. After that in 2019 we put out Something Special EP and that did good as well. “Something Special“ was all over the radio. And then of course, Covid happened.
We were planning on taking a year off just as that happened. During that time I wrote an album basically. Although I do most of the songwriting in the band and have done for the last 20 years, this album wouldn’t have worked putting it out as The Riptide Movement. It was a completely different album, a very personal album and minimalistic. So I put that out in 2023 and then in 2024 we went down to the studio with a few different ideas.
Jay’s starting to do a bit of writing now as well. So he wrote and wanted to sing on a few things which is great, it’s another string in our bow. We recorded “The Old Stomping Ground“, “Owe You A Lot“ and “When The Sun Comes Up“; 3 very, very different songs. Instead of putting pressure on ourselves to make another album, we decided to just make whatever the hell we want.
“The Old Stomping Ground” is definitely a real personal favourite of mine. Is that traditional style of music part of the new direction?
In a way you could say it’s a different sounding song and it’s very traditional. And it is. But if you go back to Keep On Keeping On, it’s very similar to that kind of style. The songwriting itself is something I really enjoy, because it’s real storytelling. “When The Sun Comes Up“ is quite similar to “Plastic Oceans“ sonically. And then of course “Owe You A Lot“ is very different. Maybe not sonically-wise but vocally, because Jay’s doing the vocals and that’s the first time it’s ever happened.
Jay’s in a trad band as well called Daoínse and has been for the last 15 years. So his influences are very trad-based as well. There’s a local pub here called The Wren’s Nest that we go down to a lot and there’s sessions every Tuesday and Thursday. We love the trad scene and we’re very much a part of it as well. We love going down to these sessions and playing, trying out new songs and stuff.
In terms of that being the direction we’re going, I wouldn’t say so. We have a new song out called “800 Years“ and that song is very traditional, but it’s storytelling. It’s a song I wrote in 2021 when I was doing my solo album. It didn’t suit that album so it didn’t go on it. And it was one of my favourite songs at that time when it was written and I happened to find it again a few months ago. So I showed it to the lads and we decided to put it out.
“800 Years” is another fantastic piece. What else have you planned for the future?
There’s another new one coming in May. I can’t really talk too much about that one at the moment, we’re just finishing it. But after that, we have “All Works Out“ with The National Symphony Orchestra which sounds incredible. A lovely version of it. So we’re going to put that out in June I’d say. Which is a nice way to mark our 20 years as a band and it’s pretty much our biggest song.
We have a live album that we did in Whelan’s and we brought in a camera crew and all to film it. It looks great and sounds great, so that’s coming out in the summer as well! And of course, we’re working on the new album. If I had to give a vibe of what it’s going to be like, it’s going right back to where we started – full circle. We have a lot of songs ready, some are in the process of being recorded at the moment as well. We were planning on putting it out in October, but we have so much coming out that it could be pushed into the new year.
It feels great because we’re 20 years in and this year will probably see the most we’ve ever put out. People are still coming to our gigs and buzzing off the music, we’re so privileged that people want to come see us play. We don’t take it lightly, we really appreciate it. The jet fuel is back in the engines, that’s what it feels like.
Listen to the band’s newest single, “800 Years” which is available on all major streaming platforms! As the band continue to mark two decades together, “800 Years” stands as one of their most reflective and ambitious recordings to date. A song that looks backwards in order to better understand the present, it’s certainly one not to be missed!
