Sit down with The Plea and they’ll bend your ear about music for hours. They’ll debate their favorite Rolling Stones songs, Hamburg-era versus mid-60s Beatles and whether Be Here Now was better than Definitely Maybe. They’ll describe in detail a Jimmy Page solo and recall the horror of hearing their hero Jerry Lee Lewis play piano with Matchbox 20. Ask them about their own music, however, and they’ll tell you their only aim is to emulate their idols.
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Sit down with The Plea and they’ll bend your ear about music for hours. They’ll debate their favorite Rolling Stones songs, Hamburg-era versus mid-60s Beatles and whether Be Here Now was better than Definitely Maybe. They’ll describe in detail a Jimmy Page solo and recall the horror of hearing their hero Jerry Lee Lewis play piano with Matchbox 20. Ask them about their own music, however, and they’ll tell you their only aim is to emulate their idols. The Irish quartet’s instantly-addictive, anthemic rock nods to countless classic acts from the past, but distills its influences so deftly their songs sound both fresh and faintly familiar. At the heart of The Plea are brothers Denny and Dermot Doherty. Denny sings like a cross between a young Bono and A Northern Soul-era Richard Ashcroft. Dermot plays lead guitar as though born on a stadium stage. Both insist they get on, then argue over whose songs are the best. They live ten miles apart in the tiny town of Ballyliffen in County Donegal, Ireland where they formed their first band in their teens and began chasing a dream to make music as good as the songs that inspire them. Along the way, the pair relocated in London, making their living as an acoustic duo playing T-Rex and Doors covers. They moved to Boston, where they worked as labourers by day, and played the city’s bustling, Irish pubs by night, performing their own songs with an American backing band bequeathed them by a benefactor who spotted their potential. They spent a year in Minnesota, after a scout for a US label saw them at London’s Barfly and hauled them over to the States to record an album that was never released in a big budget studio shared by John Mellencamp and - yikes! - Matchbox 20. (Denny is at pains to point out that two references to Matchbox 20 does not make them secret fans of the band. Dermot worries his younger brother protests too much.) 18 months ago, back in Ballyliffen, inspired by their travels, but disillusioned by record deals that had failed to deliver, the brothers brought in drummer Gerry Strawbridge and bassist Paul Toland, wrote a batch of new songs and posted them on their MySpace site. Interest from labels was immediate, but one offer in particular intrigued them. The founders of legendary, Belgian, dance label R&S Records – once home to Aphex Twin, Joey Beltram and System 7 – were so impressed by the songs they wanted The Plea to be their first ever rock signing. After lengthy discussions on Skype, R&S owners Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes agreed a deal that would lead them to launch an indie offshoot, Apollo Records, on which to release The Plea’s debut album, Modern Chaos. “At first, we couldn’t understand why a dance label wanted to sign us,” says Dermot. “But when we talked to Renaat and Sabine, we discovered they loved a lot of the same music we do. But the main reasons we went with them was that they had so much faith in us and their ideas for where to take the band next were brilliant. And unlike any label we’ve dealt with before, they’ve done exactly what they promised they would, only better.” R&S’ first move was to bring on board A-list producer and engineer Cenzo Townsend, renowned for his work with the likes of U2, Blur, New Order and Snow Patrol. Townsend was sent epic rocker “Nothin’ But Trouble” and beautiful, widescreen ballad “Windchime,” both of which had been recorded with Wez Devine at Dankapro Studios. “We produced the songs ourselves, but they had never been mixed or mastered,” explains Dermot. “Cenzo insisted they didn’t need re-recording – he loved them as they were. He just lifted the sound and pushed the volumes to make them brighter. Then Renaat mastered them. We couldn’t believe we finally had people of their caliber wanting to work with us.” The confidence boost to the band was repaid in spades late last year, when The Plea wrote half a dozen new songs in under a month that are easily their best yet. The built-for-stadiums “Feel It Ticking” has shades of both The Stones and Kasabian. “Dream Machine” has a blissful Doors vibe and a knockout vocal on which Denny somehow swoons every vowel. “The Odyssey” is an instant classic you can imagine thousands singing along to, arms in the air, smiles etched on their faces. “We want to write strong, uplifting songs that make people feel good and, hopefully, inspire them like our idols inspired us,” says Denny. “We have to live with these songs. We have to love them.” Prior to the release of The Plea’s debut album, Modern Chaos, in September, will be a series of singles, starting with “Nothin’ But Trouble” in March. Ballyliffen got a recent visit by iconic rock photographer Jill Furmanovsky, famed for her shots of everyone from The Clash, The Stones and The Sex Pistols to James Brown and Oasis. For their first photo shoot, The Plea asked R&S to send Furmanovsky some of their songs, expecting not to hear back. “But she got in touch and said she loved them,” says a still shocked Denny. “We thought she’d want us to come to London, but she insisted she shoot us in Ballyliffen. She was here for a few days and the photos she took are amazing. The stories she told us were pretty good too.” With everything in place, The Plea boldly moves forward to tour and promote their album. They are excited about doing gigs and showing their music to the world. By Lisa Verrico - The Times
