When Under Ether
Channel 6's existence was somewhat baffling - apart from a pretty logo and some 90s American TV repeats for those whose Megavideo allowance for the day was spent up, the only vindication for its place on the NTL digibox was its ever-present Night Shift. Hosted by a new face for indie boys to fall asleep to - the really-quite-charming Michelle Doherty - it provided a hitherto elusive platform for upcoming Irish bands who'd scobbled together enough spare change to glue a promo video together - MT-USA for the Irish hipster generation, if you will. Its abrupt cancellation upon the sale of Channel 6 to TV3 to pave the way for yet more Exposé airtime created a vacuum for an alternative Irish music show.
Thanks to the fortuitous cutbacks and cancellations in RTE, Night Shift's team have a second shot at creating that alternative with the commission of a 6-episode season of When Under Ether - essentially Night Shift, plus a second presenter (the previously behind-camera Elton Mulally), multiplied by a new show structure. With a ream of last-minute guests, live sessions, and videos both Irish and international, the show has almost certainly warranted a second season and a skipful of acclaim. Its presentable presenters popped into the office for a cup of Twinings' finest.
When you were running down the list of PJ Harvey songs to name the show after, was ‘Wang Dang Doodle' ever a possibilty?
E: I didn't even know there was a PJ Harvey song called that! When Under Ether was a working title for the show initially, and then it stuck. When we went to RTE they wanted to change the name of it to something a lot more generic and obvious, but by that time we'd grown to like it, and it suited the vibe of the show, and they let us keep it.
Have you come up against any other walls in RTE?
E: They've been really good, and supportive, actually.
M: We were dropped in the deep end a bit. We thought the show wouldn't start until the New Year, but then all of a sudden we found out it was all going out before Christmas and had to be finished by the middle of December. It's good though, you don't have too much time to think about it and just get on with it. Starting from scratch, videos-wise was tough.
E: We thought we'd have 4-5 weeks to prepare, but ended up having to film it all in about a week and a half before airing. It was a scramble. After the first show went up and the reaction was good, we could relax a little bit.
The alternative Irish music scene lacks a national platform outside of radio - I remember discovering bands like The Immediate through Night Shift - the chances of work like that getting shown on UK, or international TV are next to none.
M: It was horrible when the Night Shift finished, because bands really did appreciate that opportunity. We had two hours a night, and such a scope to give everyone a chance. It catered to a lot of tastes, we never had to push anything on viewers.
E: It's a no-brainer as far as we're concerned. Everybody involved in Irish music in any way knows there's an audience for this show - it was just the economics that went wrong.
Something like a nomination for the Entertainment.ie awards must be a vindication you're doing something right.
M: For me that's fabulous.
E: The reaction so far has been positive all round.
You've got a bottomless budget and the biggest address book in the world - who do you put on the show?
M: I know who I'd have on first. Them Crooked Vultures. It'd be cool to have the three of them [Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones] in a studio together. That'd be special.
E: Mine would be Tom Waits.
And your all time favourite video?
M: Battles ‘Atlas'.
You'll love our next issue, then.
M: I adore Battles. That Chequerboard video was beautiful, I used to love showing that on Night Shift.
E: The one that made the biggest impact on me was Smells Like Teen Spirit. That made me want to be in a band. I'm trying to think about something newer...
M: OK Go?
E: Yes! Perfect.
When Under Ether airs on Tuesdays at the sociable hour of 11.50pm on RTE2, and is available from the RTE Player at www.rte.ie/player. The show is up for public vote in the Entertainment.ie Annual Awards. Help it beat Exposé, yeah?
