FEATURE: Spotlight: CHERYM — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Y-Control Photography

CHERYM

___________

I want to turn my attention to…

PHOTO CREDIT: Nance Hall

a fantastic group who hail from Derry in Northern Ireland. CHERYM are a brilliant trio who are primed for big things. As I do not know much about their background and progress, it is best to bring in a few features/interviews that provide more details and explanation. In terms of a short overview, Breaking Tunes are on hand:

“CHERYM are Hannah Richardson, Nyree Porter and Alannagh Doherty.

Serving up a zingy, fearless new recipe for pop punk rock, Cherym are a three-piece from Derry in Northern Ireland with some seriously infectious songwriting credentials. Taking influence from The Smashing Pumpkins, Bikini Kill, American Football, PUP and Pixies, the trio formed after meeting in college over a joint love of garage rock, pop punk and a desire to be the biggest band in the world.

Starting out as a kick-back against the local music scene boys club, their relentless enthusiasm and boundless energy are the perfect antidote to the drudgery of life under lockdown—a very, very bright shining light for 2021 at the end of what’s been a long tunnel.

CHERYM signed with Alcopop! Records in January 2021 and ITB Booking Agents in April 2021. They have received support from BBC Radio 1 (Jack Saunders, Gemma Bradley, Phil Taggart), KEXP, BBC Radio 6 (Steve Lamacq, Tom Robinson), X Radio (Jack Kennedy) and glowing high profile online reviews from DORK, Alt Press, Upset, Vanyaland, Dead Press, The Irish Times, Punktuation, Louder Than War and more.

CHERYM have performed at The Great Escape, ILMC, Electric Picnic, Indiependence, Stendhal, Manchester Punk Festival and more”.

Before bringing in a recent interview, there is one that Nessymon conducted last year. It is interesting hearing about CHERYM breaking through and pricking ears:

“Hello! Who are you and where are you right now?

Hello we are CHERYM and we are all currently in our rehearsal space cos this is basically the first time we’ve been together since lockdown.

You guys released your first music in 2018. Was that your first foray into music? How did it all start?

Honestly, its difficult to pin point how/when it all started because I can think back to so many occasions were I thought “this is it, I think we can make this happen”. I think we were very lucky that we had some sort of appeal to people from the start, I don’t know why but were so grateful because they pushed us to keep going. To discover who we were as a band.
-Nyree

When you go to the studio do you have a definite idea of what you’re looking for or how much input does a producer have?

We have an idea but I think when we’re in the studio, we suddenly have more ideas to make it better. I think because Caolan is so cool and lets us explore ideas, we do get to make the song 100x’s better. And we are very open to any ideas that Caolan would have because he is a LEGEND.
-Nyree

Over the past while, there has been a lot of discussion in Ireland, trying to ensure that female musicians get as much air time as guys do. Why do you think it’s such a struggle for presenters (if they can choose their own music) or radio stations to acknowledge talented females?

I feel like there’s just always been a massive struggle for women in any career, even if we are being represented in some respects, it’s never to the point where there is accurate population representation for women in music. As well as this there’s always been an obsession for boy bands in radio so it’s hard to get away from the so called “norm” and to a more progressive social acceptance for women in the industry too. We are all acknowledged, but not as much as we should be.

-Alannagh

Your sound is huge recorded, fun, brash in your face. But, your live shows have gathered a lot of attention and over the past year, you’ve played a shed load of shows. What’s the best thing for you about a Cherym live show ?

I think the best thing about our shows is that we never really take ourselves seriously. It’s always good craic and a class atmosphere cause we just let ourselves go and really enjoy the time we get on stage. We just always be taking the p*ss and you’ll never see us being serious during a set, we just love having a good time.
-Alannagh”.

As I say with every artist I spotlight who has started out quite recently, it must be one of the worst times to launch your careers. Although CHERYM have been on the block for a little while, they are planning an E.P. for later in the year. I hope that things are all opened up by then so that they can get their music out there. I am not hearing too many bands coming out of Northern Ireland at the moment. There is a lot of action in E.I.R.E., though not so much with their neighbours. I think that CHERYM will not only highlight how there needs to be more representation and focus on their country. They also prove that there is amazing talent to be found! Recently, the trio gave an interview to NME. They cover subjects like representation and how they were misinterpreted and portrayed early on:

“The members of Cherym had grown up in each other’s shadows, but it took the dream of starting a band for their lives to finally intertwine. Guitarist and vocalist Hannah Richardson, bassist Nyree Porter and drummer Alannagh Doherty had all lived within ten minutes of each other as kids in Derry, so when punk-loving Richardson decided to translate her passion into starting her own band, she didn’t have to look far to find the right people.

“We were the only couple of people that played music in the school, we were the only people that took it seriously,” Richardson says now, referring to herself and Porter. “But you were never there! You were always dobbing school,” Porter snaps back, before all three collapse into laughter. “That’s true,” Richardson replies, before pinballing off at warp speed into a manic stream of consciousness about her favourite bands.

The infectiousness and enthusiasm that Cherym have in person is only exceeded by the jubilation of their early singles. ‘Kisses on My Cards’ is a snarling, fizzing pop-punk jewel that lands somewhere between Bikini Kill and Yuck, while ‘Listening to My Head’ is anthemic, a rooftop power-chord call-to-arms. The whirlwind of energy that they harness took some time to develop, though.

They are used by now to being treated by the outside world as somehow unusual for being a guitar band comprised entirely of women, an industry-wide problem that paradoxically played a part in the band’s very formation. “The initial idea behind Cherym was to be a nice, creative hub for women,” says Richardson. “In Derry at the time, it was all fellas, all boys in bands and it was a bit of a sickener. I think the dynamic changes in bands with guys. I just had this idea that I would love to play in a band with other girls and that it would be so much more beneficial to how I write, it could just be a really cool, wee creative, safe space.”

Early reviews of the band have often misguidedly labelled them as politically-motivated as a result, despite the fact that they have rarely if ever written songs on the subject. “It’s weird to me that you would look at girls on stage and think they’re trying to send a message, just because they’re women,” says Richardson. “Even though we are all extremely tuned in politically and we would all consider ourselves feminists outside of the band, we’ve never really brought that into the music.”

“I do feel like the Northern Ireland music scene definitely lacks representation,” says Richardson. They point to New Pagans and Roe as standout names in the scene, while Porter has a theory as to why the spaces for young artists might be so limited: “There are bands from the 80s who are making comebacks and their music is shite now. You’ve done your time, give the fucking younger generation a go now. Fucking enjoy your retirement, seriously!”.

If you have not discovered CHERYM yet then get behind them and check out their music. They are incredible and I think they will help spotlight Northern Ireland and what is out there. At the moment, the country is still underappreciated and we do not often hear many groups and artists come out of there – it seems that there have been few breaking into the mainstream media over the past year. I love CHERYM and what they are putting out. They are a group who are guaranteed to…