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1.) We’re super-excited to have some time today with acclaimed Irish hardcore duo Spearside; greetings and salutations you two and thanks for taking time from a busy schedule to speak with us and our readers here at Vents Magazine! Before we dive into the Q&A music-lined rabbit hole, could you both say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our ever-inquisitive readers?
Hey guys, I’m Oisín, I play guitar – and I’m Cian, I play bass. We write and record everything ourselves for Spearside.
2.) Major kudos and accolades on the stunner of a new Spearside EP Couldn’t Be Told! Oisín, can you talk about what inspired one of the best EP releases of ‘25?
We wrote and recorded it around the same time as we were working on ‘Hatchet Man’. Both EPs were inspired by a lot of the classic and current hardcore bands we’ve been digging into over the past couple of years. My fiancée is from Boston so I’ve been spending a lot of time over there soaking up the east coast punk and hardcore scene so it’s not a huge surprise to us that those influences have come through in our latest releases.
3.) Cian, Couldn’t Be Told was self-produced by you and Oisín; congrats! Can you talk about what the pros are to producing your own material versus bringing in someone like a Rick Rubin-type to do the work for you?
Producing your own music can be a double-edged sword. While we have full control over each element of the mix, you can be fairly pedantic if you’re not careful. That being said, it allows us to be as raw and authentic as possible and trust our own intuition regarding the sound. This is something that has taken us a while to fully embrace, so it is very satisfying when we hear the finished versions of our songs now.
4.) Oisín, the track Sentimental stands proudly front-and-center on the new Couldn’t Be Told EP and is a real favorite of ours! What’s the scoop behind this gem of a ditty and how it came into being?
Sentimental is a weird one. It’s a combination of three or four different demos that we brought together and put lyrics to. That’s why there is such a stark contrast between each section of the song. We wanted to have at least one track that incorporates our more psych influences even if just for a brief moment. It’s also definitely influenced by some of the more pop-y hardcore-adjacent bands like Fiddlehead and Ovlov.
5.) Cian, in your humble opinion what differentiates the Couldn’t Be Told EP from the Distinguished Competition on the 2025 music landscape?
I suppose we can only compare ourselves to the Irish music scene at the moment. There aren’t many bands here that like the same stuff as we do, so there really isn’t much of a hardcore scene in Dublin. That probably makes us stand out a bit at home in itself. We don’t necessarily try to be different for the sake of it. We just write songs that come out sounding distinctive in our current environment.
6.) Oisín, in the wake of the October 22 release of the new Spearside EP Couldn’t Be Told, can fans look forward to a potential LP release from the band in 2026?
We’re finishing up our debut LP right now. It sounds like the most ‘us’ thing we’ve done yet. It’s very ‘song’ oriented, which has always been our primary focus even if we like to headbang every now and then. We’re looking to put it out as early as we can manage in 2026.
7.) Cian, what does the touring/performing dance card look like for Spearside in the coming weeks and months?
Right now we have a headline show in Thomas House in Dublin on 12 December that we are really looking forward to. Beyond that our goal for 2026 is to get out of Ireland for shows. We’re hoping to return to the UK for a couple of shows but our biggest goal is to try and get over to the US for the first time.
8.) A question for both of you: Who are some of the folks both in and out of the world of music who have inspired and informed your own professional pathway?
Thankfully we come from a very supportive and musical family who have always pushed us to do music on a pro/semi-pro level. Our dad (Barry Walsh) especially – he was in a band when he was our age and still puts out solo music so we were never going to miss it really. We’re lucky to have a very patient manager too (Philip Cartin) who believes in us more than we believe in ourselves at times. We’re big family guys more than anything at the end of the day.
9.) Oisín, what’s the VH1-Behind the Music origin story on how you and Cian decided to pull together your resources to create Spearside?
We’ve always played music together since we were kids. As soon as Cian was old enough to play in bars we started playing punk shows around Ireland. Spearside is very much a 50% effort creatively, we both have to make subtle compromises here and there to make sure we’re not just recording two solo projects and calling it a band. It has taken us a long time to sculpt our sound, but that’s always how we’ve approached music. Now we’re arriving at a place where we’re both deeply invested in what we’re creating. We’re not in any rush.
10.) Cian, at the end of the day what do you hope listeners walk away with after giving many-a-spin to the drop-the-mic EP release of Couldn’t Be Told?
An impression of trying to be as honest as they can.
