Rob Hope (Guitar & Vocals), Yvonne Conaty (Bass & Vocals), Brendan O Gorman (Lead Guitar) & Daragh O Loughlain (Drums).
Influences
(and inspirations)
Kashmir, Kila, Jeff and Tim Buckley, Tom Wait's, Nick Drake, Bjork, Interpol, Modest Mouse, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins (circa 'Eva Adore'), 22, Neil Young, Led Zepplin, Sigur Ros, Massive Attack, Tommy Emmanuel, Robert Johnson, Any good Bluegrass, U2, Radiohead, The Cranberries, Kasabian, Wallis Bird, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, Elbow, Daves Radio, Vesta Varro, Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Buckethead, Slash. Jimi Page, Yngwie Malmsteen, Johhny Mars, Liam Gallagher, Johhny Cash, Jerry Seinfeld, Fr Ted, The Edge, Bono, Fidel Castro, John F Kennedy, Walter Mitty and the Realists, Damo and Fergal from Limerick, Thin Lizzy, Sigmund Freud, Karl Yung, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Paco de Lucia, Brendan Behan, Brendan Markham, Guitar Techiques Magazine, Albert Einstein, Mozart, Bethoven, AL pachino, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Martin Luther King, George Best, Eminem, Arrested Developement, Tribe Called Quest, Bernard Naughton, Nigel Killeen, Franki Coughlan, Declan Collins, Frank Mulveen, Adam Sandler, Johhny Depp, Jean Claude Van Damme, Prince, Albert Lee, the guy that operates the Rouge River draw-bridge in Delray on Jefferson, Insane Clown Posse, Kirk Hammet, Frank Zappa, Also good coffee and back to back episodes of Seinfeld and Scrubs.
Tony Fenton~TODAY FM~Daily Download
If you’re asked to come up with a name when the words Limerick and rock band are mentioned, it’ll probably be The Cranberries. However, a new 4 piece from Limerick are already making waves stateside with the release of their debut album last year. Seneca are Rob, Yvonne, Brendan and Daragh, and we’ve chosen an album track of theirs as our download today.
Seneca released the album Sweeter than Bourbon late last year and the majority of reviews were in their favour, with comparisons to Snow Patrol, Damien Rice and Crowded House being thrown into the mix. They have a winning sound and their single Smile made the Irish top 30, but one track, Down to Today, is another single contender and shows that there are still good things coming out of Limerick!
SECOND SUPPER(La Crosse, Wisconsin) ~Seneca gig review:
..Irish band Seneca's performance at the Warehouse put muscle to their philosophy. Opening with stomp-dance and hard basslines in "The Outside," Seneca moved through a chameleonic set that merged upbeats with downbeats, softness with tension. It was a set that had the brass to morph from the smooth bank robbery theme running through "Good for What Ails You" into the Death Cab-pretty acoustic song, "Marks."
After the ghostly blues of "Clarity" brought the show to a close, Seneca had more than proved their ability to span oceans of song without spreading its gravity and wonderment thin. No song was vestigial, no member's contribution was unimportant or repetitive. The spectrum-running creed was adhered to, and it paid off big.
You will be hearing more from this band. Seneca will return to America in 2009, visas intact and a proper tour underway. See that you're there.
THE LIVERPOOL ECHO -
"SWEET indeed, with a jangly Smithsesque guitar
and the emotive voice of Rob Hope, Seneca make
melodious music that reminds of Snow Patrol,
Coldplay, Crowded House,and The Broken Family Band.
Plaintive and anthemic, visceral and cerebral, this music is
broad in scope and pleasing in countenance, with an
Irishness that touches the Celtic spirit in all of us."
NEW HAVEN ADVOCATE -
"The foursome's debut album is a 14-track mix of tunes with catchy pop melodies, heavy electric guitar riffs, peaceful strings and vocals by lead singer Hope, who sounds like Eddie Vedder on his best day. Energetic and somehow plaintive, Sweeter than Bourbon might be the perfect soundtrack for any John Cusack movie."
THE MALIBU TIMES -
"The band's highly anticipated first album, "Sweeter Than Bourbon" combines not just rocking great melodies, but contemplative lyrics, diverse grooves and the pure, soaring falsetto of Hope's lead vocals."
MARQUEE MAGAZINE -
"Though the album is filled with ambient, softer sounds, some of the true magic of Seneca comes through on the harder-driving numbers like “Good For What Ails You” — a song that still fits that power-pop formula, but builds to a climactic bridge which showcases the depth of the band’s musical and vocal talent.....Seneca goes deeper than the hackneyed themes of shallow relationships and lovey-dovey drivel....It’s a slippery slope that they traverse with graceful realism and a musical conclusion that leaves the listener feeling empowered and righteous."
RESUME (SWEDEN/DENMARK) -
Clarity and Smile would fill any stadium and Sweeter than Bourbon and So beautiful accompany the autumn darkness nicely. It is a melancholy and promising debut with one hand in Irish earth and the other up in the international heavenly stars.
RADIO GLOS ~91,4 Mhz~(POLAND)
"Sweeter Than Burbon - the debut album from Irish alternative rock band 'Seneca', is this weeks album of the week on the station."
UNIKATOWE.PL (POLAND) -
"Zespól Seneca powstal okolo 4 lata w Limerick (Irlandia). W sklad zespolu wchodzi czwórka wspanialych muzyków. Pod koniec 2007 roku ukazuje sie ich debiutancki singiel pt "Smile", który startujac z 33 pozycji na Irish Charts osiada ostatecznie na dosc wysokim, bowiem 13 miejscu. Drugi singiel "Clarity" plasuje sie na 19 miejscu w zestawieniu.
Utwór "Sleepless Amazing" otwierajacy plyte wita sluchacza przyjemnymi melodyjnymi riffami na gitarach. Juz od pierwszych sekund mamy wrazenie iz bedzie to mila dla ucha, melodyjna muzyka. Po przesluchaniu calej plyty tylko utwierdzilem sie w tym przekonaniu. "Sleeplees Amazing" jest spokojnym utworem, stylistycznie przypominajacy troche REM, czy The Pixies. Bardzo przyjemnie sie tego slucha."
DORSET ECHO -
"Seneca, from Limerick (Ireland), specialise in an inscrutable and
extremely pleasing noise on their album Sweeter Than
Bourbon which touches many bases but commendably refuses
to settle on any of them: the REM of Murmur, Nada Surf in the
wistful, falsetto melodiousness of Smile, the poppier end of The
Pixies – the songs where Kim Deal sang harmonies and Frank
Black didn’t rupture his larynx –and even Curved Air on Clarity.
Marks in particular is gorgeous– a circular fingerpicking pattern
adorns the kind of warmly insular melody Elliott Smith
made his name with. Thinking about it, if there is any earthly reason why Seneca should not be massively successful and revered by
simply everyone everywhere, I’m yet to discover it. Their
ideas are boundless and there is no deadweight on the
album; every track is the equal of its predecessor."
THE SUNDAY STAR -
"Packs an Alice in Chains-style whack"
THE LIMERICK LEADER -
".. This is a power-pop album and influences range from the A-Z of pop-music. However, for what it purports to be - an indie-pop record that is sweet at times and harder edged when it needs to be - this is an extremely impressive debut and that is good enough."
THE LIMERICK LEADER -
"SENECA Combine the heartfelt sincerity of Damien Rice's lyrics with the lush and anthemic sounds of Snow Patrol to startling effect."
ROCKWIRED.COM -
"'SWEETER THAN BOURBON' is a sweet surprise!.....It will be very interesting to see what happens when these guys and their music hit the airwaves stateside. Disenchantment has never sounded so enchanting!"
BUZZ MAGAZINE -
"Sweeter Than Bourbon is a beautifully crafted collection of music."
THE LIMERICK INDEPENDENT -
"Without question one of the most promising and talented Irish bands to have emerged in recent years"
THE CLARE CHAMPION -
"Bands like Seneca are few and far between"
'GREEN AND LIVE' LIVE 95FM -
"Mother of Christ, this is fantastic, absolutely fantastic"
HOTPRESS MAGAZINE -
"A band with a knack for taking big and bold jabs at the heartstrings, they blend sweeping arrangements with naked emotional lyrics to create a very anthemic and mainstream sound. This Limerick four-piece could have a very bright future ahead of them if their forthcoming debut album Sweeter Than Bourbon is anything to go by."
GUESTLIST MAGAZINE -
"It has been a long time, probably since the Cranberries broke through, that a band from Ireland has made the kind of impact that Seneca is about to make on the US alternative/indie rock scene.....As you begin to dive into the album you find yourself smack in the middle of one of the best albums you have heard in recent times"
FREQUENCY-IRELAND.COM -
"Warm, propulsive, melodic, anthemic and emotive"
THE CONNAUGHT TELEGRAPH -
"This outfit are without doubt one of the greatest prospects to emerge from Ireland in quite some time and this, their debut album, is one of the standout albums of the year"
HERALD EXTRA -
"So finely tuned that they are beyond the perfection aspired to by the so-called music professionals....Seneca are not a stencil, they have an original stamp."
THE LIMERICK WEEKENDER -
"Soaring, anthemic melodies that will stick in your head long after you hear them".
THE LIMERICK POST -
"Spanning the emotional spectrum, from touchingly heartfelt to dark and menacing, Seneca's is the sort of music you could bring home to your mother but wouldn't sound out of place near a mosh pit?"
Late2005 and only months after forming, SENECA won the Limerick heat of the Jack Daniels Hardest Working Band competition. They then won the 2006 University of Limerick ~ Battle of the Bands competition.
2007 SENECA supported: Republic of Loose, Director, Fred, The Hitchers and The Frank and Walters. The band also had one of their songs ('So Beautiful') selected for the Ceol '07 album which was launched in March and includes songs from Bell x1, The Corrs, Kila, Paddy Casey and many more popular Irish acts.
Aside from all this Seneca have been busy touring around Ireland, headlining in popular venues such as Crawdaddy; Cyprus Avenue; Roisin Dubh; Dolan's and Auntie Annies.
The end of 2007, Seneca's debut single SMILE entered the Irish Charts in its first week at 33 climbing to 27.
2008 saw Seneca continue touring and also add the finishing touches to their debut Album Sweeter Than Burbon. In Feb they played the very excellent MURPHYS LIVE event @ Dolans Warehouse.
Their second single CLARITY, was released that June, and went straight in at 19 in the Irish charts. (thats Top 20 to you sir, lol :)
Seneca's debut album was released soon-after through online distribution and recieved favourable reviews from both Irish and international music press.
Jackie Hayden of Hotpress gave some much appreciated kudos to the band by making them his Pick of the Fortnight in Hotpress magazine
Oct. saw the band open for major Irish acts Republic of Loose and Kila.
During the year two of Senecas tunes (The Outside and Empty Seat), were featured on Setanta Sports Irish ladies Soccer documentary and also on RTE's Capital D program.
Seneca were signed to US based 'In-Outdoor' managment/promotions company with a US tour which kicked off in Nov 2008 taking in the west coast and mid west area and saw the band playing cities througout California then onto Denver, Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Cleveland-Ohio.
One of the highlights of the tour was being joined on stage by none other than Bernie Worrell (Parliament Funkadelic and former Talking Heads Keyboardist). Bernie and his band Woo Warriors were headlining the Red Fox in Eureka/California that night and he offered to play keys over some of the Seneca set. The occasion was so well recieved that Bernie in turn invited Seneca guitarist Brendan onstage to jam with the Woo Warriors during their own set, putting the icing on the cake for such an eventful night.
The end of 2008 saw 'Sweeter Than Burbon' nominated for best Album of the Year by Clare People Interactive-Irish Music Awards and also nominated for the best new comers award in the Irish Mid-West Media Awards.
Dec 08 'Sweeter Than Burbon' is listed by L.E.G Magzine as one of the Top 20 Albums of 2008.
Oh Hellz yea! I'm so glad Matt talked you into doing the Harmony Hills Festival. I will totally see you then! Keep an eye on my YouTube page-- I'll be slowly adding video from the Warehouse show. I had a really great time. Thanks to all of you for being such troopers about the whole being-on-the-road-for-half-a-year thing.
My debut single ROLLIN' IN THE HEY is currently #83 on the Music Row Breakout Chart and is poised to move into the top 75 WITH A BULLET!!!. Request it at your local radio station today and CLICK ON THE ALBUM COVER BELOW TO BUY THE ENTIRE CD FOR A LIMITED TIME FOR ONLY $5.00.
You guys so rock...you are now one of my new favorite bands..and I love you guys...truly! (or couldn't you tell by my amazing irish footwork last night?)
Hey guys! Patrick from Bog Iron here. Just saw you were playing near us on July 31. Wanted to make sure that you really checked that venue out (Ol Factory Cafe in Sand City.) Last we heard, Ol Factory can't have performances over 60 decibels. Which would pretty much limit any band from playing there, unless they were entirely acoustic. Just a word of warning. Later! --patrick
But of course!!! Can't wait to open for you guys! We've got 3 gigs in two weeks so we're pickin up the pace. I don't know how you do it every night, but I love it! -Tosser Tommy
We're missing you already my new friends! I hope the trip to Spokane wasn't too brutal on you. Best of luck on the rest of the tour, I can't wait to do it again next year... bigger and better! Reach for the stars guys. Cheers, Tommy
Book tickets for Midsummer on or before June 29th and get reduced rate tickets at €15 each. Ticket line 061-319866. Quote myspace to avail of this offer.
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