Entertainment Architects – Music PR Ireland

There’s just something really alluring about Belfast five-piece runawayGO. Whether on record or on stage, they are producing sounds that are multidimensional – sophisticated and polished, bulging with big personality, pitch perfect but almost as importantly, they feel like a band who just might actually like each other and could possibly be up for having the craic on a night out. A tight collection of instruments from Javed Love, Chris Jackson and James Lappin create a sonically lovely backdrop for the gorgeous, oozy union of vocals from Dave Jackson and Fiona O’Kane. runawayGO will offer up their self titled debut EP, featuring the lead track Electric, on Friday April 6^th. If there’s a shred of justice in the world, this release will see runawayGO make the move from “Ones to watch” to “Did you see that band? No! Ragin’, couldn’t get a ticket”…

The (nearly) famous five got together in Belfast a few years back, interested only in writing songs, singing songs, enticing groupies and rifling through the dressing rooms of big bands whilst enjoying the giddy heights of the ‘support slot’ role at some of Belfast’s more salubrious venues. They entered a band competition sponsored by a famous brand of bourbon and proceeded to annihilate the competition, returning from London with a decent shot of cash, a few bottles of grog and an injection of faith in themselves and their collective ability to bring an unfamiliar crowd from 0 to 100 in the space of one 30 minute set.

Armed with iPods full of songs that were just a bit shit with the potential for being shit-hot, they headed into the Start Together Studio in their hometown, yoinked out the chaff and set about recording a number of tracks for their debut EP release. Not ones to squander their fairly gotten gains, they added their piggy bank savings to their bourbon bucks and managed to wrangle the mixing skills of Jonathan Shakhovskoy (Beady Eye, U2…) and cajoled Geoff Pesche (Gorillaz, Basement Jaxx, Dizzee Rascal…) into mastering their tracks at Abbey Road. Some of those recordings will appear on this debut EP. Electric will be the lead song. The runawayGO engine is firing on all cylinders: their first single Alligator was a door-opening introduction, their second single Delicate Man, much played and commented upon, even got its own re-working by the legendary break-beat pioneer Paul Grogan, turning it from tune to choon. Another track, Don’t Let Me, features in gritty independent UK movie Making Ugly. Not too shabby at all.

Their ability to silence a room with gentle, shivering melodies and suddenly swerve into an explosion of anthem driven beats and lyrics is what sets runawayGO apart from their contemporaries. It’s what is filling up that front of stage space more and more at every live show they play. It’s what is getting them noticed with the heads who write, review, blog, tweet, play and share.

And so here they are, ready to release ‘runawayGO’, their self titled debut EP, ready to play their asses off across Ireland and the UK, ready to be shit-hot, ready to bring the funtimes to anyone who wants to join the party. You’d almost be jealous looking at their big smiley faces. What a job. If only you hadn’t been skulking around the bicycle shed having a quick fag and eyeballing your fantasy first ride when you were meant to be at those guitar lessons, it might have been you…

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