Congratulations to MRNORTH for winning the spot to be the opening band for Hanson in Allentown during the promo tour for "The Walk." MRNORTH was kind enough to grant us this interview so that we could learn a little bit more about them.

Exclusive Interview with MRNORTH
by H.notes News Editor - Rena75@hanson.net

Please introduce the band and tell us a little about yourselves. What made you pursue a career in music?
We are mrnorth formed in our hometown of Dublin, Ireland back in the mid ‘90s. We were all still in high school at the time. We are two brothers, a cousin and a neighbor. Colin Smith (singer), Emmett O’Malley (guitar), Oisin O’Malley (bass and piano), and Adrian Mordaunt (drums). We decided to be in a band because we all love music and have our entire lives. Adrian has been drumming since he was 4 years old and has won several drumming competitions including the World Pipe Drumming Championship when he was 14! Colin comes from a long line of classical singers, his uncle Austin Gaffney is a renowned Irish baritone. Both Emmett and Oisin learned their instruments at an early age and had been playing together for years before the formation of mrnorth.

How would you describe your music?
Our music is rock pop with a brain. We love all the rock bands of the 60’s and 70’s but mostly we’re fans of the great songwriters. The song is the most important element. How well you can play is only secondary.

What do you feel sets MRNORTH apart from other artists?
I feel that when you come to a mrnorth show we’re going to try to make it fun for you but also give you something serious to think about and take with you afterward. We also believe that most rock bands today are not vocally driven, we are. The song has to be sung not screamed or screeched.

What is one of your favorite songs to perform and why?
This changes from night to night. People react to different songs each time so whatever the crowd is most enjoying is the one we like the most to perform. From our new album though, I think “Rope” is a current favorite.

Of course we have to ask about Hanson! How was it opening for Hanson?
Opening for Hanson was fantastic. Their fans are hardcore! We were delighted that they accepted and embraced us. It was very cool.

Since performing with Hanson, has your path of success changed?
If nothing else we have realized that the younger crowds are the most important ones. They are the relevant music listening crowd today and they know how to have fun.

Has playing with Hanson affected your fan base? If so, how?
Since playing with Hanson we have gotten a ton of emails and messages from their fans telling us how much they enjoyed our set. We’re really delighted to have these new fans on board and hope to play for them again soon.

Do you have any Hanson stories you'd like to share with us?
Unfortunately we did not get to meet the three brothers, as we had to get back to New York after our set. However when they played at the Supper Club a few days later our singer Colin was approached by many of the fans there who recognized him from the Allentown show.

Which artist, past or present, has had the most influence on you and why?
Our influences are too many to mention. When we hear an artist who’s doing something real and original we are immediately interested. U2 are an obvious example, us being Irish we have constantly been compared to them and with good reason. Their music has always been a strong influence on us.

Is there a particular band that you would love to tour with?
I know this may sound sycophantic but we would love to tour with Hanson! Their fans are amazing and we feel our music is a good match.

What things do you find most frustrating about the music business?
People in the music business who absolutely shouldn’t be. These ones always seem to have the most control over what goes and what doesn’t. An endorsement from Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul should not be the watermark for anyone’s success in the music biz but hey, what do we know about music? ;)

What is the craziest thing that has ever happened at one of your concerts?
When we opened up for OAR on a recent tour one of their crewmembers stormed the stage in his underwear. Pretty funny.

Can you tell us a "best" and "worst" fan story?
Worst fan story – a fan that got a tattoo of something she shouldn’t have in a place where she absolutely shouldn’t have. The less said about that the better… Best fan story – Our very first website was a fan site made by a girl in Iowa. We’ve never even been to Iowa!

Time to confess - what is the one CD in your collection that you would hate to admit to owning?
I own two Ace of Base CDs. I’m not ashamed

Is there anything coming up with the band that we should be watching for?
Yes. On April 5th in New York City we are holding a very special event to celebrate the release of our new album. It takes place at the Florence Gould Hall and we will be performing the record with the Greenwich Village Orchestra live on stage. They added their sound to the album so we thought it only appropriate they accompany us on stage to recreate exactly what we accomplished in the studio. Tickets are available on our website Mrnorthmusic.com.

Please tell us about your new album, “Fear and Desire.”
It’s been a while in the making. Our first album “Lifesize” was recorded and produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. It was quite an expensive and highly produced effort. This time we opted to produce ourselves. We wrote all the songs along the similar themes of fear and desire and put them together to express what happens to you in a relationship. We’re very proud of the songwriting and most especially the sound production, which we stopped at nothing to achieve. The use of the orchestra is something we had always dreamed about doing and we finally did.

For those of us who would like to hear your music and get your CD, how would we go about doing that?
Our album is available in stores all across the US. You can also order it online from the usual outlets, Amazon, Awarestore etc. You can download it from iTunes too. All the information is on our website.

Any final thoughts - anything you'd like us to know about MRNORTH that we haven't touched on?
We are eventually going to make a comedy album. No kidding. Not sure yet exactly when but it’ll be called “Introduction to Bash” and it has nothing to do with anything but our bizarre sense of humor.

Thank you so much for doing this interview!