Artist Spotlight: Broken Noses
By Neele Sophie Marx
It was a typical January day in Galway when Finn Hegarty, while on his regular route, passed the University music room. He remembers getting closer and being surprised to hear someone inside, playing the drums. Finn and Cian Keith who are the founding members of Broken Noses, Galway’s new alt-rock/shoegaze/indie band, had booked a gig but hadn't yet found a drummer. Finn recalls being transfixed, as he stood in front of the door, by the rhythmic sounds of the bass drum thumping like a heartbeat, while the sound of the snare drum cut through the air. At that moment, he says, he knew he had to meet the person playing. As he opened the door, he caught sight of Cathal Curran. In awe, he continued watching the drummer’s wrist flicks bringing the drum kit alive.
On that day Broken Noses had found its missing piece.
When the trio united in January, they could not have foreseen how far they would come in the span of less than a year. Today, Broken Noses are regular performers at Áras na nGael – Galway City’s Irish Language and Cultural Centre. “A few of our songs are remnants of the start of the band, but you have to move and replace them eventually,” says Finn. “I feel like with the newer stuff we are writing there is a more coherent sound. Some of our earlier songs are all over the place thematically.” Their sound takes a lot of inspiration from Irish bands, such as The Cranberries and Toasted Heretics, but also Bob Dylan and The Smashing Pumpkins. Generally, they describe their sound as a mixture of indie rock and shoegaze, with a focus on effects. Broken Noses’ gigs always feel like being transported back to easier times. Bodies move rhythmically to the sound of the drums and bass, and low lights illuminate the three guys on stage. For one night, the worries of growing up are washed away, and you don’t have to take yourself too seriously. In the small shed, hidden behind Áras na nGael’s large blue door on Dominick Street, you are invited to let go. “We are happier about what we haven’t done yet than what we have done, which is always a good sign,” says Finn. Their numerous gigs in Áras na nGael, The Ol’ 55 and Monroe’s have given them the opportunity to share their music. By being unapologetically themselves, they have created a loyal fan base in Galway.
What defines Broken Noses is their authenticity. They enjoy what they do, and they don’t take themselves too seriously. Their music reflects how much they have fun with it, and the importance of music in their lives, which they relied on during the COVID-19 pandemic. “When the pandemic struck and life as we knew it stopped, we found ourselves with more time on our hands than we knew what to do with,” recalled the school friends Cian and Finn. Sharing a liking for music, the two of them began playing their instruments in a backyard shed. Slowly their bridging of time became more than a means without an end, and they discovered their shared passion for music. For quite some time they had no goal in mind in regards to what they wanted to achieve with their newfound passion. They began writing what they described as “horrible songs” and say that they “were taking the piss for so long and still are in a way”. After a while, the monotony of life in the pandemic had come to be stifling for them. It was an overdose of feelings resulting in the urge to get away from everything. “You have something building up inside you,” says Finn. “It’s that overdose of feeling and how we get it out is through music. That’s how we can escape it and release it into the world.”
The original Broken Noses duo wrote their first proper song, ‘Flourish’, in 2021. It was released as their first single in November 2023. Meanwhile, the Broken Noses trio – Finn, Cian, and Cathal – plan on taking a break from gigging to focus on writing, though they remain excited to see where their journey will take them.
