Makeshift Art Bar

Makeshift Art Bar - Blaring, Brilliant, Belfast

From left to right, Alleyah, Joseph and Callum are Makeshift Art Bar

A couple of weeks ago I was graced with the discovery of Belfast Trio Makeshift Art Bar, the band (Joseph on vocals and guitar, Callum on guitar and bass and Alleyah on drums). I discovered the band through Tik Tok and immediately their compound timing, eerie riffs and immense energy caught my attention. Finding bands before they're big is always unique but finding one with this much quality is very rare. For my debut interview, the boys were nice enough to sit down and talk over the phone about their influences, their craft and the future of Makeshift Art Bar.

Firstly, makeshift art bar is one hell of a name, where does it come from?

Joseph our lead singer came up with the name, we had been practising for a few weeks without a name and we spent a lot of time trying to pick one. Joseph just said Makeshift Art Bar and we all got behind it, it sounds cool and it allows people to come up with their own ideas and imagery about what it could mean.

Makeshift Art Bar as a name definitely puts itself out there for the listener’s interpretation! from the material we’ve heard online the band is shaping up nicely, what are your main influences instrumentally and lyrically?

We all have our own influences and music we enjoy, but our music definitely shows our love for post-punk; the birthday party which joseph takes inspiration from both lyrically and stylistically. Also would take influence from various noise bands such as unwound and especially Gilla band.

Alleyah our drummer takes influence from the drummer Sean Kinney as well as style inspiration from the album songs for the death by queens of the stone age, after years of being a jazz drummer with a love for artists like Elvin Jones and Kenny Drew she has moved more into the rock and post-punk genre however keeps this style with her.

Callum (guitar/bass) is into stuff like Black Country, New Road and Fontaines DC, taking inspiration sonically from bands like Sonic Youth, lots of noise. I was lucky enough to meet Jacob Bugden after Beabadoobe’s gig in Belfast, I like the way he plays and I think he’s helped take her music to the next level. just a very cool and tasteful guy

It’s cool that you’ve all got separate influences too definitely makes the band feel more fleshed out and original. What does your songwriting process look like?

Typically I (Joseph) initiate the ideas at home with bass lines and guitar parts and bring them to the band to flesh them out. we would normally jam out the music and the lyrics would come very improvised and subconsciously for what feels right at the moment. after our first gig that we just played though, we’re putting more of a focus on collective and improvisation so it’ll be exciting to see what comes next

That leads nicely onto my next question, how was the ulster sports club gig and what is the Belfast live scene like in general?

First of we have to show love to Bedroom Community for taking a chance on us and giving us a platform and an opportunity to play at such a sick venue. The gig was more than we could’ve imagined, the audience was amazing and we can’t wait to do it again.

As for the live music scene in Belfast, it is a very lively and diverse scene but we don’t feel like we fit into any of the scenes specifically with there being a lot of indie rock and hard rock or metal bands which leads us to think there’s a gap for a scene of experimental music

What would you say differentiates yourselves from other up-and-coming bands in that scene?

We would say we have a very strong sense of identity aesthetically as well as sonically which we think is an important aspect to draw interest in our work. We know that the bands we’re into dive heavily into aesthetic and mixed media. Chalk and Enola Gay are local bands who have done this to great success.

There are bands in Belfast that do this very well, casual riots for example which we saw recently and the atmosphere was great.

We would also say that the bands that are currently on the rise in Belfast are a bit older than us, and we would love to see more young bands coming through. Other “Post Punk” bands exist in Belfast however each one sounds totally different from the next with the genre tag being so broad.

what next for Makeshift Art Bar? Are any gigs planned? Any outside of Ireland? Any plans for an ep or an Album?

Currently on self-recording a few singles/extended play but we don’t really have a time frame as of yet. As for gigs we’re just looking to play as much as possible to further establish ourselves. We’ve gained some recognition from our last gig and we are hoping the people of Belfast get behind us and other acts to promote local music. As of now, our next gig is going to be in HMV in April but we’re hoping to get some more gigs in the meantime. We would be interested in gigs across the UK and Ireland but our current is to further establish ourselves in the local scene and bring out some new music

Final question, the most important one, Stout of choice?

It would be blasphemous to not say Guinness but shoutout to Beamish

Makeshift Artbar can be found throughout social media at @makeshift.art.bar on Instagram and @makeshiftartbar on TikTok