2. April 2014
All The Luck In The World
“It’s gotta be this one I know it is I know it is
It’s this one I know it is I know it is
It’s this one, it’s you“
I bet you are not reading these words, you are singing them. Right? It´s doubtlessly the most popular song for a commercial in the last year. The song, “Never“, comes from the Irish 3 piece band All The Luck In The World.
Neil Foot, Kelvin Barr and Ben Conolly have only been making music together for the past 15 months. I don´t even know if they could exactly tell you when the band was founded. They are simply 3 friends that like to play music together and put it on social networks. A few days ago they finished their first German tour introducing the self-titled debut album. Looks like it was a success.
It seems that these 3 guys, still in their teens, don´t need a lot. Song titles are short (“Away“, “Settle“ or Knots“) and instrumentation is concise and sufficient. It is an album that is full of lovely lyrical and melodic genuineness.
I had the opportunity to talk to Ben and took it. Here is what was said.
Thanks for chatting with us today.
No worries, it’s a pleasure.
You just completed a tour here in Germany. How was it going for you? Did you enjoy it?
The tour was great. It was our first tour, and it was a bit of a dream come true to tour in an another country, playing to really nice crowds. Everything went smoothly and we can’t wait to do something similar again.
For all of us that want to find out more about All The Luck In The World would you mind introducing the band members and how it all started?
Neil started the band in November 2011 with a friend of his, but ended playing under the name all the luck in the world on his own. He’s known Kelvin since school, and I met the two of them in college. Kelvin and I joined the band in early 2013 and we started writing music together then.
It´s pretty exciting to have a catchy tune on a commercial all around the world. What is the song “Never“ actually about and are you getting tired of hearing it literally ALL THE TIME?
Never is, in my view, kind of a poignant reflection on how expectations in a relationship can sometimes blur the reality of ones situation, and how this can strain relationships and ultimately result in people being torn away from each other.
Of course, people might hear it differently, and are more than welcome to interpret the song however they see fit as far as we’re concerned.
Personally I don’t get bored of hearing it all the time because I don’t watch television. I actually never have to see the advert, so it doesn’t bother me!
The album All The Luck In The World is full of beautiful music. Where are your folk and indie influences coming from?
Our influences are mostly just strong mutual musical interests that Kelvin, Neil and I share. Bright Eyes, Radical Face and Bon Iver are examples of artists we listen to a lot of, but we’re always looking for music and I can’t say for sure which music that we listen to really influences us, for me it’s not worth thinking about too much.
When writing a song does it slowly build until it bursts at the seams or does that happen in the studio?
The writing process can be different every time, some songs come together easier than others, but that doesn’t mean they’ll work out better in the end. The studio is obviously where the process finishes, and it can last up until final production touches, but some people agree that a song is never really finished from the artists point of view. I guess it’s an unpredictable process that can really take any direction, which is part of what makes it so enjoyable.
Why did you record your debut in Berlin and not in Ireland?
We recorded in Germany because thats what was offered to us first.. I suppose thats of the benefits of being signed to a label based in Germany.
It hasn´t been to long since you recorded your debut album so still let me ask you are you working on something new already?
We’re always working on little ideas because there’s theres always something new bouncing around in the back of our minds.. Soon we’ll take some time to start developing new songs, starting next week.
What is your longterm goal with making music?
We don’t really tend to think long term, because we don’t like to put excessive pressure on ourselves so to be honest with you it’s not something we discuss. What I do know for sure is that if the three of us could earn a living of off this band we would be very happy.
What does the world need to know about All The Luck In The World?
The world doesn’t necessarily ‘need’ to know anything about us. We make our music available and if people like it, they like it. We of course want to make new fans, but we don’t like to talk ourselves up, or to force our music on people. If people decide they want to listen to us, or know something about us it’s all there for them.
I really appreciate you talking to us today. Thank you very much, again!