Interference (band)

Interference is an Irish band originally headed by the singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell. The band was established in 1984 and since then remains active, with Glen Hansard on lead vocals.

Early Beginnings
The band was originally formed by James O'Leary and Fergus O'Farrell, in 1984, in Cork, Ireland.

In early 2000s the band decided to construct an alternative form of itself, called DogTail Soup. The project featured a lineup of well-known musical artists, such as Camilla Griehsel (a Swedish musician), Maurice Seezer and various others.

DogTail Soup
The band devised an alter ego, where each of them would alternate the role of singer, performing their own songs as well as covers. The chosen name, DogTail Soup, was derived from a line in one of Vearncombe's 'Black' songs, "Cold Chicken Skin".

Interference and DogTail Soup developed a cult following in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the 2000s following several tours in the region.

DogTail Soup has released an album, Rough, in 2008, on a music label, Nero Schwarz (an independent label established by Colin Vearncombe, one of the co-creators of Dogtail Soup).

Once & "Gold"
Interference outings became sporadic as O’Farrell's health caused long periods of inactivity. The song "Gold", however, is an O'Farrell solo composition, and it features in John Carney Box Office Hit film Once. Released in 2007, the film features a house party scene where Interference perform the song. The song features strongly in Once: The Musical. The success of "Gold" led O'Farrell to sign a worldwide publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music.

Deaths of O'Farrell and Vearncombe
Colin Vearncombe died in a car crash on 26 January 2016. O'Farrell died from muscular dystrophy 7 days later on 2 February.

In 2017, a tribute concert was organised to celebrate O'Farrell and his work. To coincide with these performances, the second Interference album, The Sweet Spot, produced by DanDan Fitzgerald, was released on 2 February, 2017.

Eleven of these were re-mastered by Bob Ludwig in Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, Maine, USA.

Awards and Notable Mentions
Throughout its music career, the band was nominated and has received numerous awards.

The band was featured in the Academy Award-winning movie Once, in 2007. Songs by interference have also been included in the soundtracks for Alan Gilsenan’s All Souls Day and Damien O’Donnell’s Inside I'm Dancing. A collaboration with Glen Hansard, the song ‘Don’t Go Down’ features in the John Carney film, Sing Street.

In 2018, Trinity College Dublin’s Music Society awarded Interference an Honorary Patronage to the College faculty in recognition of their contribution to Irish Music.

Documentaries
A film documentary on the life of O'Farrell, titled Breaking Out was released in November 2021. Filmed over ten years, it follows O'Farrell and his band from their own recording studio set-up in Dublin in the early '90's to the last recording sessions, O'Farrell’s death from muscular dystrophy in early 2016 and the release in 2017 of their last album The Sweet Spot. To accompany the film a soundtrack album was compiled, featuring the 31 interference tracks heard in the film.