Introducing: Lightning Books

Originally from Ireland but now living in Amsterdam, Irish musician Dave O’Riordan started Lightning Books back in 2019. After hearing 2021’s well-received Pangs LP, the release of the band’s Dream On single seemed like an opportune moment to catch up with them.

First up, could you tell us a bit about Lightning Books?

Lightning Books is a band that I started in 2019. I moved from Dublin to Amsterdam and after a few years started to work with some local musicians here. The very lo-fi folk songs I was writing started to get more elaborate and I started to add inspiration from a much wider range of music.

What inspires you to write?

I write mostly to create songs that I think don’t yet exist but that I’d like to hear.

Who would you say has had the most influence on your music?

Probably my parents and having spent a lot of time in cars as a kid listening to records they liked. Leonard Cohen, The Waterboys, Neil Young.

Beneath The Trees (Single) by Lightning Books

What has been the biggest highlight of your musical career so far?

The first Lightning Books album Pangs was mixed and mastered by Remko Schouten who’s known for his long-time work as the live sound engineer for Pavement. He’s the producer from Stephen Malkmus’s Wig Out at Jagbags and he’s also worked with people like Jason Molina, Devendra Banhart and Mark Kozelek. He liked my record enough to help promote it through a small label that he runs so that was pretty exciting.

Dream On / It’s Dangerous To Go Alone (Single) by Lightning Books

What music or band to you keep going back to, listening wise?

I keep coming back to 60s pop and soul music. There’s a relatively small group of writers and musicians behind a massive amount of unreal songs from that period and I think there’s a timelessness to a lot of stuff that was produced then.

It’s also amazing just how good music from the 60s sounds, considering the limitations of technology at the time. I record a lot at home in a studio I’ve set up, and myself and anyone else who records with a modest enough setup should be inspired by what could be created by people who probably would have given anything for even the shittiest of today’s digital technology.

What has been the most memorable gig you’ve ever played or attended?

I think a lot about the last gig I saw before covid which was Damien Jurado.

Is there any artist or band you’d love to collaborate with?

Cowboy Junkies

What album or song do you keep going back to?

This Street, That Man, This Life by Cowboy Junkies. I heard it first when I was a kid and even then, realised how devastating it is.

I read before that Brian Wilson has a room in his house that’s mostly just full of cassette tapes he’s recorded of his thoughts about Be My Baby by The Ronettes.

He’s not wrong but if I was going to fill a room with cassettes full of rambling about a song it would probably be This Street.

What’s the inspiration behind the lyrics to Dream On?

It’s a continuation of the last song I released which is called Something Woke Me Up.

What’s up next for Lightning Books in terms of releases?

I’m working on an album that’ll be called Coffin Pillow and putting out songs from it as singles over the rest of the year.

You can find out more about Lightning Books over on their TikTok and Instagram pages. You can listen to Dream On and more songs from Lightning Books on Deezer, Bandcamp, and Apple Music.