Lisa Regan talks to Edward Rooney, who plays nylon string guitars and James Rooney, who plays the drums/percussion/sonics with the Jung Turks ahead of their up coming gig in the Róisín Dubh.

How do you find performing in Galway?

J ? I've spent the past eight years in Galway and have gotten to know a lot of people here so it's basically a hometown show.
E - Galway has been my home for the past while too, so I recognise the faces, usually bar-staff. The beard quota also tends to be unusually high.

How does performing in Galway differ from other performances?

J ? Well, I would like to think our standard of performance is high no matter where we play, so I guess it boils down to how well the crowd react to it all. To date we have always enjoyed our shows in Galway.
E ? It's pretty irrelevant where you play; the audience are the key element of any show. If the audience are willing to engage then the experience becomes more than distraction.

Can you tell us a bit about the show?

J ? We approach our live show in pretty much the same way as we approach a rehearsal. Up until quite recently we tended to stick to fixed arrangements; we're now becoming more flexible with the song structures. The enjoyment for us is in experimenting with them and seeing where they take us on any given night.

E ? Yeah, we're both getting to the stage where we're comfortable enough to be conducted by the songs. Other than that we've recently introduced some man-on-mandolin action. We aim to please.

What have you been up to until now?

E ? We have been Jung Turks since about 2005. We recorded an EP in August of that year and have been playing live across Ireland in a sporadic way since then, letting people know what it is that we do. I suppose our development has been a slow process but there's a lot you've gotta learn about being a musician, aside from chords and ostinatos. Recently we've been rehearsing and doing some live dates, trying to keep from falling between the cars.

Do you think Ireland is a positive environment for aspiring artists?

E ? Difficult to say, depends on your reference plane I suppose, better than downtown Darfur at the minute that's for sure. In terms of opportunity, it falls pretty far behind the major centres. I mean there's a reason most of the bands operating at a high level base themselves in London, LA, New York etc. On the positive side there's a strong sense of community among artists, the people running shows and small labels.

What are your plans for the year ahead?

E ? Up sticks to New York! No, hopefully to make a record songs-willing. Don't hold us to that; it's highly possible that it will develop into a Chinese Democracy situation.

What are your thoughts on the songwriting process?

J ? The process can be never-ending. A song may be revisited a thousand times over before we are any way happy with it but that's because we feel compelled to do it right, at the least to make an honest effort to get it right.