Pluck of the Irish
Behind only U2 as a draw in their homeland, Bell X1 sets out to charm Stateside audiences
How many groups become more successful after they lose Damien Rice as their lead singer? That's exactly what happened when the soon-to-be-heartthrob announced he was leaving Juniper, the Irish band he had fronted for several years, for what would become a hugely successful solo career. Juniper drummer Paul Noonan, who had contributed songs to the struggling band and didn't want to see it dismantled, decided to step forward as its new singer. It wasn't easy at first, he allows, but it was necessary.
"I kind of felt very naked for a while," says Noonan on the phone from his new home in Amsterdam. "Playing the drums, you're hiding behind a lot of stuff, and stepping out from behind that was daunting. But it was something we were determined to do when Damien left the band. We had a fire to establish a new identity and show that we weren't bent down by it."
A name change to Bell X1 followed the shakeup, and the band forged ahead, resolutely resuming the business of making music. "We've done quite a few shows together over the years with Damien," says Noonan, 31, "so I really feel that any kind of bad feeling has been done away with."
It helps to balm any bitterness, of course, when your band's latest album, "Flock," debuts atop the Irish charts, places four songs simultaneously in the Top 20, and goes quadruple platinum. And some where along the way, on the strength of a handful of swooningly epic ballads and the swooningly epic shows to match them, you become the second-biggest live draw in Ireland - next to some guys called U2. Perhaps this is why Noonan, a self-deprecating chap with an easy laugh and a soft-spoken manner, peppers his conversation with words like "bizarre" and "surreal" when describing what the past few years have felt like.
"It's a constant series of surprises," he says. "We have reached the point in Ireland where our songs are really well known, and in a shop you might hear a tune on the radio. It's very surreal. It's been a very bizarre journey."
That journey is about to become much more extensive with a steady series of US tours planned for this year and last month's North American release of "Flock" on the indie label Yep Roc. (The disc was originally issued over-seas in 2005.)
Bell X1's sold-out show tonight at T.T. the Bear's in Cambridge marks the band's first time playing the Boston area: "We suspect there may be a few Irish folk there," jokes Noonan. Bell X1 plans to return twice more to the States this year - in May and then again this autumn.
"It's something we wanted to make happen since we started making music - get to the States and put out records in the States, traveling coast to coast and the whole huge romance of that," says Noonan. "We're very aware of how small Ireland is, and I never wanted to be content being big at home. So we've got a great fire and a hunger for making things happen in the States."
Yep Roc owner Glenn Dicker knows how tough cracking America can be from the outside, his label having released solo albums by overseas imports including ex-Jam frontman Paul Weller, British pub rocker Nick Lowe, sardonic songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, and newcomer Liam Finn.
"We can get all the great press in the world, but if the band's not touring and is not visible, it's just going to be a quick blip on the radar," says Dicker, who got his start in the music business two decades ago boxing up and shipping albums for then-Cambridge-based Rounder Records. "We had to commit to really make it happen and get them over here. The goal is for them to spend the majority of their touring and focus in the US this year. They've already got a bit of a fan base, so that helps."
Bell X1 may be a hot commodity in its native Ireland, but Noonan knows there's much work to be done if it's to achieve even a modicum of that popularity here. He claims he's ready.
"People ask us if we're bored to play the songs or do we feel a dread at having to play them for another year," he says. "But to audiences for whom the stuff is new and for whom we are new, it really gives the songs new life. We aren't going to be playing at home anymore until we have a new record, but that's because we'd feel we were cheating people by doing that. But we've really gotten a tangible sense of people willing us on in the States."
Bell X1 actually got its first minor taste of fame in this country after its songs were featured on the TV shows "Grey's Anatomy" and "The O.C." and the band played a few promotional dates. "We soundtracked that famous girl-on-girl kissing scene in 'The O.C.,' so we actually got a few irate e-mails from some Christian folks linking us with that behavior," Noonan recalls. "A couple of the cast members came to see us play the Viper Room in LA, and we didn't know who they were. I'd never actually seen the show, so it was like when Billy Corgan meets Homer Simpson and says, 'Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins.' And Homer says, 'Homer Simpson, Smiling Politely.' "
