“On my deathbed, I will go back to nights like that”

Cat Grogan talks to Dublin band Le Boom about touring, writing, and plans for the future

Le Boom performs for the crowd but their love for music is no performance. “If ye weren’t here, we’d be doing this ourselves anyway,” are the words spoken to the audience by frontman Christy between sets at their December gig in the 3 Olympia. Le Boom is not a new band but they have recently been on the up, playing bigger gigs to larger crowds. Mid-interview, a woman walking by spots the lads and calls over, “You’s were deadly in the Olympia!” This growth, however, hasn’t diminished their love for smaller venues. Christy points to their Belfast show, which saw them play to a room crammed to the brim with only 200 people, as his highlight of the tour: “Belfast for me was the best one… the energy of that room. What more could you want? What more could anyone want? On my deathbed, I will go back to nights like that.” 

“The audience was alive, and Le Boom had breathed that life into us.”

The essence of Le Boom is captured by What We Do, their most popular song on Spotify with almost two million streams. When I first stumbled across the band on the Saturday night of Electric Picnic, I knew instantly that they were onto something good. Their sound and energy were more contagious than the cold I came home with that weekend you would have to fight your head to stop it from banging to their beats. The way they make the decks come alive is unforgettable; they bring the audience in to ride the wave of energy they have created. The set they played was heavier than the rain pounding down and despite the torrential downpour and late hour, the crowd was heaving. The audience was alive, and Le Boom breathed that life into us. 

The lyrics of many of their songs match the intoxicating energy of their music. Friday Night celebrates the release of dancing on the first night of the weekend till you can no longer stand, while Chiqueness in Paris laments the quality of the Guinness in Paris. (Christy admits in conversation that the song was originally called Shit Guinness in Paris, but the official title had to be changed as Spotify deemed it “offensive language”.) 

Coupled with these celebrations of carefree and chaotic nights are the lyrics written by Andy, Christy’s brother. “I started writing about those nights in lockdown when it was just me and the lads I lived with spending our weekends together cos there was nothing else to do,” Andy explains. “And it wasn’t for an audience, it wasn’t for the Olympia, it wasn’t even to show friends,” Christy adds. Fast-forward to today and Andy’s words are moving audience members to unexpected tears (I speak from personal experience…). He talks of an unreleased song that was performed live on the recent tour, and his experiences of losing friends to emigration which created the fabric from which the song’s lyrics were woven with. “It’s very specific, you and your story. You can’t organise a five a side cos the lads are gone to Australia – that’s it.” Whilst the specifics of this story are personal to Andy and are emotionally moving for their honesty, he details a suffering of the Irish as old as the nation itself which still plagues the lives of the island’s citizens today. Yet in spite of the universality of his message Andy is not looking to make a political statement. Instead he is focusing on those things that he has lived and felt, “I’m not speaking for anyone else, just my own experience.”

“I got to a certain point and realised that all of that stuff like thinking you’ll be happier when you get there is a load of b****x… Are you having the craic with your friends? That’s it. That’s where it starts and ends.” 

At present, Le Boom are not signed to any label, and whilst Christy admits that “it’d be lovely to be signed,” he is also quick to add that “if it takes away the feeling of sitting in the sitting room and writing, I don’t want it. That’s what I want to preserve.” Having viewed the music industry in the past as something he could “climb up”, Christy now identifies a fallacy in that mentality: “I got to a certain point and realised that all of that stuff like thinking you’ll be happier when you get there is a load of b****x. F*ck all of that. Are you having the craic with your friends? That’s it. That’s where it starts and ends.” With many of their biggest songs being a result of collaborations, it is no surprise that Le Boom are intent on working with other artists in the near future. “I love collaborating because it pushes me out of my box. But I don’t love names,” he continues, “I want to involve friends and nice people.” 

“Worst case scenario people don’t like the new music and we just end up in a room banging it out to ourselves. So worst case scenario, we’re grand”

Having rung in the New Year performing to a sold-out Button Factory, Le Boom seems intent on carrying forth the energy that has been generated in 2022 into 2023. “Next year is gonna be crazy. We’ve got gigs in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid.” Christy mentions an artist’s residency in Paris that he has lined up for May. There is also talk of new music waiting to be released and the risks that accompany the sharing of new sounds. But the way Christy sees it is “worst case scenario people don’t like the new music and we just end up in a room banging it out to ourselves. So, worst case scenario, we’re grand,” he laughs. If you want to see what Le Boom can do for yourself, they will be playing live Irish gigs throughout March in locations including Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Galway, and Belfast. “So where do I see it going?” Christy muses. “Right now, if it ended tomorrow, I’d say that was class. But I don’t think it’s going to end tomorrow. I think it’s actually going to grow bigger.” If my opinion counts for anything, I would be inclined to agree.