With a shudder, he describes staying up all night drinking in Prague hours before Gurriers were due to drive across central Europe for their next gig. When the group assembled in their tour bus the following morning, his bandmates immediately clocked that he was in the horrors \u2013 and found his predicament hilarious.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a distinct lack of sympathy in all directions. I\u2019m a complete wind-up, like; then, when I\u2019m in the position where I\u2019m a little bit tender, I\u2019m getting it from every direction. I deserved it,\u201d he says, laughing.<\/p>\n
The incident was born of youthful exuberance shortly after the release of Come and See<\/a>, the debut 2024 album from the acclaimed Dublin postpunk band, when they were heralded as heirs to Fontaines DC<\/a>\u2019s crown.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we went on the first big tour after we released the first record \u2013 at one stage we did eight, nine shows in a row. The last one before a day off, we played in Prague,\u201d Callaghan says. <\/p>\n \u201cA load of my mates came out for the weekend. I remember going out afterwards and getting pissed; got into the hotel at probably, like, 7am, had my bag in the van at 9am. We were driving to Vienna \u2013 driving for nine hours. And I was hanging.\u201d<\/p>\n [\u00a0Irish postpunk band Gurriers: \u2018Everyone asks about the Dublin music scene. It\u2019s not just Dublin any more, it\u2019s everywhere\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n The anecdote gets a laugh from his bandmates, who are dialling in from various locations. As they join the Zoom call, it\u2019s immediately obvious that the group, so raw and furious on record, are in an upbeat, even jolly frame of mind before the release of their second album, Nobody\u2019s Coming to Save You.<\/p>\n But they\u2019re also upfront about having accumulated a lot of hard-won wisdom since they formed, in 2020, when they held their first rehearsal weeks before lockdown. They\u2019ve learned to curb their partying, appreciating that excess is a fast track to burnout. <\/p>\n They\u2019ve become increasingly mindful, too, of their emotional health \u2013 something they need to look after in an industry that is notoriously tough on mental wellbeing.<\/p>\n That process includes showing kindness towards one another and, self-inflicted hangovers aside, being aware of their bandmates\u2019 frailties, Dan Hoff, the band\u2019s singer, says. He has taken mental-health breaks from Gurriers when he has felt the need to decompress from touring. Self-care is something he\u2019s mindful of, having left his previous band because of the anxiety he experienced at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about complete honesty,\u201d he says from his flat in Dublin. \u201cI\u2019m on medication. I\u2019m going to go to therapy. I try to talk about my mental-health issues the same as if I have a common cold.\u201d<\/p>\n Attitudes towards mental health have come a long way, but there is still a stigma to it, Hoff says. \u201cIf the people around you are more educated about what is wrong \u2013 well, not wrong with you, but what you have \u2013 the easier it is to navigate things.\u201d<\/p>\n Come and See was a big hit with critics, and Gurriers could have easily cranked out a facsimile. <\/p>\n But they were determined to go out on a limb, and so, while their second album replicates the storm and fury of its predecessor, it also takes a risk by introducing a punk-funk element, resulting in new songs that have the feel of a riot at a discotheque. They may no longer drink their way through tours, but creatively they\u2019re still living on the edge, pushing things to the limit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could have very easily pigeonholed ourselves and made a Come and See II,\u201d Hoff says. \u201cBut if you want to be in a band and you want to prove to yourselves and to your audiences that you can evolve and push the envelope further, why not take risks and go for it?\u201d<\/p>\n What hasn\u2019t changed is the political element in Gurriers\u2019 writing. Just as Come and See addressed the rise of the far right in Ireland (Approachable was a viciously humorous takedown of the National Party), so Nobody\u2019s Coming explores subjects such as the war in Sudan and the slaughter of innocents. (\u201cWe wash this blood off of our hands,\u201d Hoff howls on the band\u2019s single Party Lines.)<\/p>\n They feel strongly that musicians should stand up for what they believe, and were proud to withdraw from the South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, in 2024 after Kneecap\u2019s manager, Daniel Lambert, told them the event was sponsored by the US military and defence contractors connected to the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n The drama started the day before Gurriers were due to play at the influential festival, by which point they were already in Texas and ready to go.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember getting a phone call off Dan Lambert the night before. We were playing on the Monday, and he rang me on the Sunday night, saying, \u2018We\u2019re not [participating in SXSW].\u2019 They\u2019d been in America and they were coming home,\u201d Callaghan says. <\/p>\n \u201cWe spoke to the other bands and took the decision to all pull out. We had the governor of Texas tell us we should all leave Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019ve had our share of free margaritas. I\u2019m not going to tell a younger musician not to go out and enjoy themselves\u2019<\/p>\n \u2014 \u00a0Pierce Callaghan, Gurriers<\/p>\n But if they remain fervently political, Hoff insists they aren\u2019t trying to preach to anyone \u2013 and they don\u2019t pretend to know how to solve the world\u2019s problems. He recalls a review of Gurriers that criticised them for \u201csaying so many political things but having no answers\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHow the fuck am I going to have the answers?\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the answers. Nobody does.\u201d<\/p>\n He believes the last thing a band should be is dogmatic. He recalls a youthful infatuation with the firebrand atheism of the scientist Richard Dawkins<\/a> and the late journalist Christopher Hitchens<\/a>. It ended after he decided they were as doctrinaire in their convictions as any Bible-thumper.<\/p>\n \u201cI would always find them to be very preachy. Very dogmatic \u2013 which is what they\u2019re fighting against. They\u2019re creating their own religions, almost \u2013 Hitchensism, Dawkinsism. It made me feel betrayed by these men. I never want to be preachy. I want to tell you how it is: here are the facts, that\u2019s how I feel about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Gurriers also don\u2019t pretend to have any answers to the thorny issue of whether the Irish music industry is doing enough to support home-grown artists. With Fontaines DC, they\u2019re part of a generation of Irish bands that are acclaimed in Britain, where they receive much of their airplay on BBC<\/a> 6 Music.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an argument that British radio is far more supportive of Irish artists than RT\u00c9<\/a> or Today FM<\/a> is; look at how 6 Music championed CMAT<\/a> at a time when she hardly got a look-in on daytime playlists back home.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an obvious temptation to write off Irish radio as hopelessly behind the times and still trapped in a mindset where, if you don\u2019t sound like Hozier<\/a> or Dermot Kennedy<\/a>, then you\u2019re not getting on the radio. Gurriers say that the truth is more nuanced \u2013 and that comparing RT\u00c9 or Today FM to a behemoth such as the BBC isn\u2019t necessarily illuminating.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not me creating excuses for RT\u00c9, but you\u2019re talking about two countries of massively different sizes and massively different budgets,\u201d Callaghan says. <\/p>\n \u201cThe BBC doesn\u2019t do everything perfectly. But 6 Music have carved out a little space for alternative music, and the infrastructure is there and the support network is there from the wider BBC. When 6 Music was created you had people like John Peel.\u201d<\/p>\n He believes that left-leaning voices in Irish radio were siloed off and never given any real power or influence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pioneers of alternative music on Irish radio, they never got their own little thing. You think of, like, Dave Fanning<\/a> \u2013 the idea that 35 or 40 years ago Dave Fanning could have been given his own radio station and that it could have developed into its own thing. It could have been an amazing thing, but it didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Gurriers\u2019 frustration with the challenges of operating a band from Ireland has resulted in the biggest change since Come and See: the band\u2019s decision to relocate to Manchester. Hoff remains in Dublin, but his bandmates have all crossed the Irish Sea to the home town of Oasis<\/a>, The Smiths<\/a> and The Stone Roses<\/a> \u2013 a city where the rent is comparatively affordable. There was no burning desire to up sticks, they say; the motives were largely practical.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s this classic case of Irish artists, particularly Irish bands, making the move to London,\u201d Mark McCormack, the band\u2019s guitarist, says from his parents\u2019 home in Castleblayney, in Co Monaghan, to which he has returned for a flying visit. (He and Callaghan grew up in the town and met at school.)<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re making a little bit of money \u2013 and the emphasis is on \u2018a little\u2019. Let\u2019s not blow the whole thing on a house in London that we\u2019re not actually going to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n Manchester seemed like the best compromise. \u201cThere\u2019s great community. It\u2019s not too big, and serves the purpose of having a base in the UK now. The whole purpose of living in the UK is that we drive everywhere, as opposed to flying and then getting a van there. We have a van in the UK. We all pile in, we go to Calais and then we go where we need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019ll be back on the road shortly as they gear up for a tour that will include not only a return to Texas but also a number of dates in different venues in Dublin soon, and in Belfast in October.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had our share of free margaritas,\u201d says Callaghan. \u201cI\u2019m not going to tell a younger musician not to go out and enjoy themselves. But I think you ultimately have to look after yourself and the people around you if you want to keep the show on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Gurriers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/RMAPJLL6DZCOHHWNVNWKEXBEKQ.jpg\")
Gurriers were determined to go out on a limb, and so, while their second album replicates the storm and fury of its predecessor, it also takes a risk by introducing a punk-funk element. <\/p>\n![\"Gurriers.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Y7HTE54SRVG37BT4OJK4RHKODY.jpg\")
Gurriers. Photograph: Steve Gullick <\/p>\n![\"Gurriers’](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GH4WPKZOYVEHHOBE44J5PLRZH4.jpg\")
Gurriers\u2019 frustration with the challenges of operating a band from Ireland has resulted in the band\u2019s decision to relocate to Manchester. <\/p>\n