Hot Press
Encyclopedia
Hot Press is a fortnightly music and political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

 magazine based in Dublin, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 founded in 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes is the award-winning editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s...

. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...

 of 19,215 during 2007. It has won a number of PPAI Awards, including Website of the Year (2003 & 2007), Magazine of the Year (2002) and Publisher of the Year (2004) and has been cited by independent sources
Independent sources
The term "multiple independent sources" in journalism, criminal justice, science and general research, refers to two or more unconnected people, organizations, entities or objects which provide a given set of information or samples. For example, two separate people who witness a traffic accident,...

 such as The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

and the British based NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

. Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948  – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...

 featured on the cover of the first issue. The magazine title is a play on the term "hot press
Hot press
Hot press may mean:*Hot Press, an established Irish music and political fortnightly founded in 1977*regional name for an airing cupboard in Ireland and Scotland*hot pressing, any form of a machine press which uses heat – in particular:...

", a common Irish term referring to a domestic airing cupboard.

The magazine has featured interviews with politicians, breaking stories that are later covered by national and international news agencies
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...

. It is also known for having conducted one of the last interviews with the model Katy French
Katy French
Katy Ellen French was an Irish socialite, model, writer, television personality and charity worker. According to the BBC, "in the space of less than two years, she had become one of Ireland's best-known models and socialites." She collapsed at a friend's house on 2 December 2007 and died on 6...

 before her death in 2007. Other issues discussed during its existence include abuses within the Catholic Church.

In 2005, the Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner
The Irish Examiner, formerly The Cork Examiner and then The Examiner, is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country...

said: "Hot Press still gives a platform to Irish music" and is "a vital outlet for up and coming Irish music and music writers, having given starts to Declan Lynch, Liam Mackey and Liam Fay". The newspaper included Hot Press editor Niall Stokes in its top fifty list of "most important and influential people in Irish music during 2005".

Early history

Hot Press was founded in 1977. It is edited by Niall Stokes. Since then, the magazine has featured some significant stories in the music world, both in Ireland and internationally. Hot Press has covered the career of U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

 since the late 1970s. Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....

 first talked to Hot Press about her lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

ism. Hot Press writer Stuart Clark was present on the day that Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...

 came closest to splitting up. He gained an insight into the life of band member Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...

, including an interruption to the interview during which the Oasis songwriter was told that his brother Liam would not be gigging with the band that night.
"Fuck, no way man," he (Noel Gallagher) insists. "I'll probably get away with it tonight but I'm not as good a singer as he is. I'd much rather be stood in front of me amplifier doing the odd backing-vocal. The cunt! I tell you what I'm tempted to do - go on stage and tell the crowd his room number so they can go round the hotel and get their money back off him."


Hot Press arranged a meeting between Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...

 and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 where they asked the U2 singer to interview the latter for the magazine and he agreed. Reporter Steve Cummins boarded the Babyshambles
Babyshambles
Babyshambles are an English indie rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty during a hiatus from his former band The Libertines, but Babyshambles has since become his main project . Babyshambles has released two albums, three EPs and a number of singles...

 tour bus and wrote about the chaotic life of Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...

 and his band.

2000s

On 20 June 2002, a 25th anniversary celebration special aired on Rattlebag. In 2004, a radio advertisement
Radio commercial
Commercial radio stations make most of their revenue selling “airtime” to advertisers. Of total media expenditures, radio accounts for 6.9%. Radio advertisements or “spots” are available when a business or service provides valuable consideration, usually cash, in exchange for the station airing...

 for the magazine, which referenced Ann Sexton's newly established column and used the word "masturbation
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...

", was banned by RTÉ but carried by independent stations such as FM104
FM104
FM104 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcast across Dublin, Ireland, on the frequency 104.4 MHz. It is operated by Capital Radio Productions Limited , and is a subsidiary of UTV Radio. The station broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland...

 and Today FM
Today FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...

. Also that year, Olaf Tyaransen
Olaf Tyaransen
Olaf Tyaransen is an Irish author and journalist, and is a contributing editor with Dublin's Hot Press magazine and the Evening Herald...

 handed into Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

 an anti-war petition in the name of Hot Press. In October 2006 Hot Press experienced a rivalry with the Irish version of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

, edited by former Hot Press writer Steve Cummins. In 2008, Hot Press obtained a new rival in the form of State
State (magazine)
State.ie is an Irish website and formerly a monthly music magazine, which launched in March 2008 and folded in January 2009 having published a total of nine issues...

.

The Hot Press Annual 2007 (published in 2006) featured interviews with the Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...

 and others. The first issue of 2007 was a Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

special where there is an exclusive interview with the show's executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

 Mike Scully
Mike Scully
Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...

. It included musicians such as Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...

's Gary Lightbody
Gary Lightbody
Gary Lightbody is an Northern Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol.- Early life :...

 and other celebrities talking about their favourite Simpsons shows/moments. 2007 was also the year that Hot Press announced a war against ticket touts following a number of high profile incidents, such as the Arcade Fire ticket fiasco. In 2008, Hot Press reported on the controversy
2008 BCI Irish music crisis
The 2008 BCI "Irish" music crisis erupted in Ireland in March 2008 when it emerged that certain bands and musicians who had recorded material in Ireland were classified by the BCI as "Irish" music for radio airplay. Independent radio stations regulated by the BCI have an obligation to play agreed...

 surrounding non-Irish artists being counted as Irish on radio.

In an interview with Hot Presss Jason O' Toole
Jason O'Toole (journalist)
Jason O'Toole is an Irish author and journalist. He writes a weekly interview column, "The Jason O'Toole Interview", for the Irish Mail on Sunday and the Irish Daily Mail...

 model Katy French revealed that she would consider having an abortion if she got pregnant during the peak of her career and that she loved fur despite being a "massive animal lover". She also aired her religious beliefs (she was a Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

 but also practised Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

) and spoke highly of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 and her Muslim friends saying,

When you read the Koran
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

, you realise that Islam is a beautiful religion.


In the same interview she was asked if she had ever used cocaine and denied ever having done so. Yet in November 2007, French confessed to an Irish tabloid that she had previously been a regular abuser of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 in the past only to be come disillusioned with this. In the early hours of Sunday 2 December, Katy collapsed at a friend's house in Ashbourne
Ashbourne, County Meath
Ashbourne, historically called Killeglan or Kildeglan , is a town in County Meath, Ireland. It is about 20 km north of Dublin city centre and is bypassed by the M2 motorway.-History:...

, County Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...

. She died at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan
Navan
-People:Navan was the childhood home of Pierce Brosnan, who appeared in the television series Remington Steele and was the fifth film actor to play James Bond. TV personality Hector Ó hEochagáin, and comedians Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan also hail from Navan....

 on the evening of 6 December just six weeks after her Hot Press interview was published. The interview became a regular source of information for newspaper reports in the aftermath, and was revisited in the Hot Press Annual 2008 which went to press just as she died.

O'Toole has also conducted other interviews for
Hot Press. In 2009, he interviewed Jimbo Wales, the co-founder of online encyclopedia project Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...

, about his life and work. Wales spoke of various issues including his salary, his belief that marijuana and other illegal drugs ought to be legalised, the possibility of introducing advertising to Wikipedia, his addiction to the social networking
Social network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...

 website Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 and the death threats he has received in the past, saying "there are crazy people in the world. People have all kinds of crazy agendas. They are angry… and then they’re mad at me and they send me death threats". O'Toole also interviewed Ian Strachan Hot Press blanked names in its UK edition to comply with court rulings. O'Toole also conducted the first interview with Patrick "Dutchy" Holland, an institutionalised criminal, for more than twelve years, which also turned out to be his last.

Hot Presss Stuart Clark conducted a public interview with Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...

 at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

 on 6 February 2009, hours before an interview on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show (season 46)
The 46th season of The Late Late Show, the world's longest-running chat show, began on 5 September 2008. It aired on RTÉ One each Friday evening from 21:30. The series marked the first occasion on which regular host Pat Kenny was absent, following the unexpected death of his mother. Gerry Ryan...

 with Pat Kenny
Pat Kenny
Patrick "Pat" Kenny is an Irish broadcaster and former disc jockey and continuity announcer. He is employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is their highest paid presenter. He presents Today with Pat Kenny on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning between 10:00 and midday...

.

Hot Press was at the centre of a legal dispute over the copyright of the term De Dannan
De Dannan
De Dannan was an Irish folk music group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin , Alec Finn , Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh and Charlie Piggott as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane to join the band...

 in 2009 after it featured an advertisement using the term to promote a new tour by the traditional group. In September 2009, an interview conducted by Olaf Tyaransen
Olaf Tyaransen
Olaf Tyaransen is an Irish author and journalist, and is a contributing editor with Dublin's Hot Press magazine and the Evening Herald...

 with the comedian Tommy Tiernan
Tommy Tiernan
Tommy Tiernan is an Irish comedian, actor and writer. He and Hector Ó hEochagáin present The Tommy and Hector Show on i102-104FM. Tiernan also featured in Father Ted.-Early life:...

 at Electric Picnic 2009
Electric Picnic 2009
Electric Picnic 2009 was the sixth edition of the Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday September 4, Saturday September 5 and Sunday September 6 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland...

 proved controversial when Tiernan made some remarks which were later perceived as antisemitic. The comments were reported in the Irish and international media; however, both Tyaransen and Hot Press editor Niall Stokes, as well as Tiernan himself, defended them as being taken out of context.

Contributors

Past writers for Hot Press have included ninth President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

 Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins is the ninth and current President of Ireland, having taken office on 11 November 2011 following victory in the 2011 Irish presidential election. Higgins is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster. Higgins was President of the Labour Party until his...

, the authors of BAFTA award-winning Father Ted
Father Ted
Father Ted is a comedy series set in Ireland that was produced by Hat Trick Productions for British broadcaster Channel 4. Written jointly by Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan and starring a predominantly Irish cast, it originally aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May...

, Graham Linehan
Graham Linehan
Graham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor, comedian and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...

 and Arthur Mathews
Arthur Mathews (writer)
Arthur Mathews is an Irish comedy writer and actor who, often with writing partner Graham Linehan, has either written or contributed to a number of popular television comedies, most notably Father Ted. He is a graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology...

, Sunday Times television reviewer Liam Fay, author and Daily Telegraph columnist Neil McCormick, the late Bill Graham, The Sunday Business Post
The Sunday Business Post
The Sunday Business Post is an Irish national Sunday newspaper published by Post Publications Limited. Post Publications is owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Ireland, the average weekly circulation was 57,783 for the period January to June 2009. The...

US correspondent Niall Stanage
Niall Stanage
Niall Stanage is a journalist from Belfast, Northern Ireland.Stanage was born in 1974[3] and attended Carryduff Primary School and Methodist College Belfast, in Northern Ireland. He went on to read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University...

, Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner
The Irish Examiner, formerly The Cork Examiner and then The Examiner, is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country...

soccer correspondent Liam Mackey, The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

columnist John Waters
John Waters (columnist)
John Waters is a columnist with The Irish Times and a former editor of Magill magazine. His career began in 1981 with the Irish political-music magazine Hot Press. He went on to write for the Sunday Tribune and later edited In Dublin magazine and Magill...

, food writer John McKenna, Sunday Independent
Sunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...

journalist Declan Lynch
Declan Lynch
Declan Lynch is an Irish journalist, writer and playwright. Lynch was born in Athlone, Ireland, and now works for the Sunday Independent....

 and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

football writer, Football Weekly regular Barry Glendenning
Barry Glendenning
Barry Glendenning is an Irish sports journalist who currently holds the position of deputy sports editor on the Guardian Unlimited website run by the UK newspaper The Guardian. He is perhaps best known for his work on Guardian Unlimited's football podcast Football Weekly hosted by James Richardson...

 and Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

writer Jason O'Toole
Jason O'Toole (journalist)
Jason O'Toole is an Irish author and journalist. He writes a weekly interview column, "The Jason O'Toole Interview", for the Irish Mail on Sunday and the Irish Daily Mail...

.

Current writers include Olaf Tyaransen
Olaf Tyaransen
Olaf Tyaransen is an Irish author and journalist, and is a contributing editor with Dublin's Hot Press magazine and the Evening Herald...

, Peter Murphy, and Jackie Hayden.

Themes

Hot Press mainly covers music and politics. However, it also deals with other topics such as books and comedy.

Music

A large number of the most popular artists from the world of rock’n’roll and pop music have been interviewed by Hot Press, including those as diverse as David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...

, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

, Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...

, R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

, Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...

, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...

, The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...

, The Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...

, The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

, Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...

, Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...

, New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...

, 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...

, Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...

, Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...

, The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....

, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

, Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...

, Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...

, Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

, David Gray
David Gray (musician)
David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later...

, PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...

, Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...

, Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...

, Beyoncé, and many more.

In recent times, Hot Press has published interviews with the new breed of modern rock band, championing Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...

, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...

, Editors
Editors
Editors are a British indie rock band based in Birmingham, who formed in 2002. Previously known as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield, the band consists of Tom Smith , Chris Urbanowicz , Russell Leetch and Ed Lay .Editors have so far released two platinum studio...

, Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...

, Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....

, Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park are a British alternative rock band, formed in 2000. They are signed to Warp Records. The band consists of Paul Smith , Duncan Lloyd , Archis Tiku , Lukas Wooller and Tom English...

, Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...

, Razorlight
Razorlight
Razorlight are a UK based indie rock band formed in 2002. They are primarily known in the UK, having topped the charts with the 2006 single "America" and its parent self-titled album, their second...

, HARD-Fi
HARD-Fi
Hard-Fi are an English indie rock band formed in Staines, Surrey in 2003. The band's members are Richard Archer , Ross Phillips , Kai Stephens and Steve Kemp .They achieved chart success with their third single, "Hard to Beat" and then followed by other successful singles such as...

 and Keane among others. In 2006, Hot Press also interviewed some of the more popular emerging solo artists and songwriters of that year from James Blunt
James Blunt
James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...

 and Sandi Thom
Sandi Thom
Alexandria "Sandi" Thom is a Scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She became widely known in 2006 after a series of webcasts and the success of the single "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker ".-1984–2004: Early life:Thom was born in Banff, Aberdeenshire...

 to Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...

 and Nellie Furtado.

Well-known Irish artists from U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

 and Enya
Enya
Enya is an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. Enya is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in the Donegal dialect of the Irish language, her native tongue.She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad before leaving to...

 through Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

 and Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

, Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....

, The Cranberries
The Cranberries
The Cranberries are an Irish rock band formed in Limerick in 1989 under the name The Cranberry Saw Us, later changed by vocalist Dolores O'Riordan. The band currently consists of O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler...

, The Frames
The Frames
The Frames are an Irish band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six albums...

, Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...

, Damien Rice
Damien Rice
Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....

 and Ash
Ash (band)
Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide.-Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 :...

 to David Holmes
David Holmes (musician)
David Holmes is a Northern Irish DJ, musician and composer.-Career:Holmes began djing in Belfast from the age of 15. His first hit was the song "DeNiro", with Ashley Beedle, in 1992. In the early to mid 1990s he ran two club nights in the Belfast Art College known as Sugar Sweet and Shake Yer Brain...

, The Thrills
The Thrills
The Thrills are an Irish rock band, formed in 2001 in Dublin, Ireland. The band was founded by lead vocalist Conor Deasy and guitarist Daniel Ryan, guitarist and bass player Padraic McMahon, pianist Kevin Horan and drummer Ben Carrigan. Their big break came with their debut album, So Much for the...

 and The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...

 have been interviewed extensively by the magazine, as well as the more recent or up-and-coming Irish artists such as Bell X1, Humanzi
Humanzi (band)
- Album & singles :Humanzi released their debut album ‘Tremors’ on Fiction/SFR July 24, 2006. It features the singles ‘Fix The Cracks’ and ‘Diet Pills and Magazines'...

, Future Kings of Spain
Future Kings of Spain
Future Kings of Spain were an Irish rock band, from Dublin.Future Kings of Spain on 28 September 2007 released their second album Nervousystem. Recorded in London and Malta with producer Ian Grimble , it was released in Ireland on the band's own label, What’s The Kim? and entered the Irish Albums...

, Delorentos
Delorentos
Delorentos are a Dublin-based Irish alternative rock band, formed in 2005. They consist of Rónan Yourell , Kieran McGuinness , Níal Conlan and Ross McCormick...

, Director
Director (band)
Director are an award-winning Irish art rock quartet from Malahide in County Dublin. The band's members are Michael Moloney , Eoin Aherne , Shea Lawlor and Rowan Averill ....

, The Blizzards
The Blizzards
The Blizzards are an Irish band from Mullingar in County Westmeath. They were formed by Niall Breslin in late 2004, and also feature Dec Murphy , Justin Ryan, Anthony Doran and Aidan Lynch...

 and Republic of Loose
Republic of Loose
Republic of Loose are an Irish funk rock band from Dublin. Formed in 2001, the band currently consists of lead vocalist Mick Pyro, bass guitarist and vocalist Benjamin Loose, keyboardist Darragh, guitarists and vocalists Dave Pyro and Darach O' Laoire and drummers and percussionists Andre Lopes...

, as well as reviewing music from The Marshals
The Marshals
The Marshals are an Irish rock quartet from Dublin. They were the very first opening act to perform on the Main Stage on the Saturday afternoon of Oxegen 2006.-Band members:* Lead Vocals and Guitar: Micheal John...

, The Immediate
The Immediate
The Immediate were an avant-garde Irish rock quartet, based in Malahide. They made a considerable impact on the Irish music scene despite releasing only one album during the span of their association together. The album was In Towers and Clouds . It received primarily positive critical feedback and...

, Ham Sandwich, The Flaws
The Flaws
The Flaws are an Irish Choice Music Prize-nominated, Meteor Award nominated indie-rock quartet, hailing from Carrickmacross in County Monaghan and Dundalk in County Louth...

, Travega, The Aftermath
The Aftermath (Irish band)
The Aftermath are an Irish mod/pop rock band, currently based in Mullingar. They are composed of brothers Johnny and Michael Cronin , both of whom are originally from Longford but raised in Leeds, UK, as well as Mullingar guitarist, Justin McNabb and bassist Martin Gray...

 and Vic
VIC (band)
VIC were an Irish five-piece rock band from Dublin who had been described by Jackie Hayden of Hot Press Magazine as possessing a "pop sensibility which feels completely unique". On the 12th of September 2010, the members announced that they were "closing the VIC chapter" and relaunching as a new...

.

Festivals

Hot Press covers all the major international music events, as well as Irish festivals such as Oxegen
Oxegen
Oxegen is an annual music festival in Ireland held since 2004, sponsored by Heineken. As of 2007, 2008, 2009, the festival has been cited as Ireland's biggest music festival. And by 2009, the festival is cited as the greenest festival, being a 100% carbon neutral event in Ireland. It was previously...

, Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic
The 2005 festival took place on Saturday 3 September and Sunday 4 September. It is best remembered for Arcade Fire's performance which came before their subsequent mainstream success...

, Live at the Marquee
Live at the Marquee (festival)
Live at the Marquee is an annual music festival which takes place in Cork, Ireland during the summer, usually over multiple days in June and July....

, Cois Fharraige
Cois Fharraige
Cois Fharraige is a three-day Irish surfing and music festival, first held in Kilkee, County Clare in 2007. The name is derived from the Irish language phrase, "beside the sea". It is notable as Ireland's first surfing and music festival and is a joint project between MCD and Sony Ericsson...

 and Heineken Green Energy
Heineken Green Energy
Heineken Green Energy is an Irish music festival that takes place at Dublin Castle over the May bank holiday weekend. It attracts over 50,000 people per year for what is the opening of the music festival season in Ireland...

. Sometimes the magazine has a free CD with music by artists playing at the festival in question.

It sponsors the Hot Press New Bands Stage at Oxegen.

Politics

Hot Press has had a strong liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 left wing stance on politics and social issues. During the 2007 General Election it supported many smaller left wing parties such as the Green Party
Green Party (Ireland)
The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...

 and Labour
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

. It currently is critical of the Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 government, pro Seanad
Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...

 reform and was opposed to the June 2007 decision of the Irish Film Censor's Office to ban the videogame Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2 is an action/adventure video game developed by Rockstar Games and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii on October 29, 2007....

This is the first time a video game has been refused certification by the IFCO.

Hot Press has interviewed several politicians, including President of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

, Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...

, DUP
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...

's Ian Paisley, Jr.
Ian Paisley, Jr.
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Jr., MP is the Member of Parliament for North Antrim and member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Democratic Unionist Party and an author. He is the son of the DUP's founder and former leader, Ian Paisley.In 1990, he married Fiona, and they have four children...

 MLA
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....

, leader of the Green Party
Green Party (Ireland)
The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...

, John Gormley
John Gormley
John Gormley is an Irish politician. He was the leader of the Irish Green Party from 2007 to 2011, and was a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South East constituency from 1997 to 2011. He served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2007–11...

 and Minister for Finance
Minister for Finance (Ireland)
The Minister for Finance is the title held by the Irish government minister responsible for all financial and monetary matters. The office-holder controls the Department of Finance and is considered one of the most important members of the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Finance is...

, Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 7 May 2008 to 9 March 2011. He was head of a coalition government led by Fianna Fáil which until 23 January 2011 had the support of the Green Party and independent TDs.Cowen was also leader of Fianna Fáil from 7 May...

.

The sort of smug know-all commentator... I suppose if anything annoys me, that annoys me... I could instance a load of fuckers whose throat I'd cut, and push over the nearest cliff, but there's no percentage in that. – Former Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

 Charles Haughey
Charles Haughey
Charles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...

 speaking to Hot Press writer John Waters
John Waters (columnist)
John Waters is a columnist with The Irish Times and a former editor of Magill magazine. His career began in 1981 with the Irish political-music magazine Hot Press. He went on to write for the Sunday Tribune and later edited In Dublin magazine and Magill...

 in 1984.


In his May 2007 interview with Jason O'Toole
Jason O'Toole (journalist)
Jason O'Toole is an Irish author and journalist. He writes a weekly interview column, "The Jason O'Toole Interview", for the Irish Mail on Sunday and the Irish Daily Mail...

, former Minister for Health
Minister for Health and Children (Ireland)
The Minister for Health is the senior minister at the Department of Health in the Government of Ireland and is responsible for health care in the Republic of Ireland and related services.The current Minister for Health is James Reilly, TD...

 Cowen admitted to smoking marijuana, saying,

Anyone who went to the UCD bar in the ‘70s that didn’t get a whiff of marijuana would be telling you a lie. I would say there were a couple of occasions when it was passed around – and, unlike President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, I did inhale! There wasn’t a whole lot in it really – (it was like) a Sweet Afton, as a 10-year-old, under a railway bridge on a rainy day, in small town Ireland in the late ‘60s. I certainly got more enjoyment out of a few pints.


This confession later provoked much criticism from opposition parties in the Dáil
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

. Ministers Willie O'Dea
Willie O'Dea
Willie O'Dea is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a Teachta Dála for the Limerick City constituency. He served as the Minister for Defence from September 2004 until 18 February 2010, when he resigned from his post due to controversy over a defamation case.-Early and private life:O'Dea was born...

 and Brian Lenihan, Jnr
Brian Lenihan, Jnr
Brian Joseph Lenihan was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and barrister who served in the government of Ireland as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform from 2007 to 2008 and as Minister for Finance from 2008 to 2011...

 played down the controversy, denying Cowen was "setting a bad example". Mr. Cowen later became Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

 following the resignation of Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....

.

In June 2007, DUP
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...

's Ian Paisley, Jr.
Ian Paisley, Jr.
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Jr., MP is the Member of Parliament for North Antrim and member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Democratic Unionist Party and an author. He is the son of the DUP's founder and former leader, Ian Paisley.In 1990, he married Fiona, and they have four children...

 MLA
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....

 caused uproar in an interview with Jason O'Toole by publicly denouncing acts associated with homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

. This was the year before Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson is a former Northern Ireland Unionist politician. She is married to Peter Robinson, who is currently the First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly....

, wife of First Minister
Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
The Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive...

, Peter Robinson
Peter Robinson (politician)
Peter David Robinson is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party...

 made her thoughts on the issue.

A December 2008 interview with Irish European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

er Charlie McCreevy
Charlie McCreevy
Charles "Charlie" McCreevy is a former Irish politician. He was the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004–2010. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD in 1977 and held the seat in Kildare until 2004 when he became Ireland's European Commissioner...

 was the subject of news stories and other commentary in a number of Irish based newspapers, including the Irish Independent, the Irish Star, the Irish Mirror, The Sun, the Irish Mail, the Mail On Sunday and The Irish Times and was covered extensively on radio, on RTÉ News
RTÉ News
RTÉ News and Current Affairs , is a major division of Raidió Teilifís Éireann responsible for news programming on television, radio and online within the Republic of Ireland. It is, by far, the largest and most popular news source in Ireland - with 77% of the Irish public regarding it as their main...

 and in other television including TV3's The Political Party. Internationally the interview was covered by the Wall Street Journal and The Morning Star
The Morning Star
The Morning Star is a left wing British daily tabloid newspaper with a focus on social and trade union issues. Articles and comment columns are contributed by writers from socialist, social democratic, green and religious perspectives....

, and the main news in Denmark featured it, as well as Das Journal in Austria, Diário Digital in Portugal and France's leading daily paper, Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...

. The interview, conducted once again by Jason O'Toole (on this occasion in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

), had McCreevy say that Ireland's decision to reject the Lisbon Treaty had to be respected by the rest of Europe. McCreevy also revealed that he was pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....

 when it came to matters of abortion.

In May 2009, Patricia McKenna
Patricia McKenna
Patricia McKenna is an Irish independent politician. She served as a Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency from 1994 to 2004.-Background:...

 confirmed in a Hot Press interview with Jason O'Toole her intention to run as an independent candidate in the European elections.

Cover notes

Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...

 used a February 2003 edition of the magazine featuring the band on the cover as part of the artwork for their 2004 single "California Waiting
California Waiting
"California Waiting" is the fourth single taken from the Youth and Young Manhood album by the American rock band Kings of Leon. An alternate version of the song appears on their debut release, the EP Holy Roller Novocaine. This version was recorded in a rush to finish the record...

".

A 1985 cover featuring Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

 was selected as one of the favourite fifty of his 750 magazine covers in a Friends Of Bruce Springsteen Special Collection poll in 2005.

Hotpress.com

Hotpress.com is a website operated by Hot Press. It was launched in 2002, initially promising a free archive with 25 years of content. As well as music, it has sections dedicated to other topics such as comedy, fashion, films, football and sex. On 30 July 2009, it hosted a live transmission from Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...

 who performed tracks from their album Humbug
Humbug (album)
Humbug has received major critical acclaim, with many praising the band's newfound maturity. Billboard stated that the band "justif[ies] the hype by shifting its best qualities into different, equally dazzling shapes," while The Record Review noted that with Humbug, the Arctic Monkeys proved...

. On 1 July 2011, a new look hotpress.com was launched.

Hot Press Yearbook

The Hot Press Yearbook is released annually. Promoted as a "Who's Who list of everyone worth knowing in the music and entertainment business" in Ireland, it is anticipated by those who may or may not feature on it. The launch party features live musical performances and is attended by musicians, journalists, publicists and others associated with the industry.

Books

Hot Press has published several books:
  • A Man In A Woman's World by Jackie Hayden, general manager of Hot Press (co-published in Nov 2007 with Killynon House Books.)
  • Diary Of A Man, by Dermod Moore, 2005. A collection of essays by the magazine's columnist aka Bootboy.
  • The Rooms, by Declan Lynch, 2005. The third novel from Declan Lynch.
  • The Palace of Wisdom (Sex Lines & The Story of O), by Olaf Tyaransen (2004, 2002, 2000) (all of Olaf Tyaransen's books have covers featuring paintings by Irish Artist Graham Knuttel
    Graham Knuttel
    Graham Knuttel is an Irish painter and sculptor, whose work has been collected by various celebrities, such as Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Frank Sinatra, Eddie Jordan and Michael Stipe. Initially known for sculptures, he has since become a painter....

  • McCann: War & Peace in Northern Ireland, by Eamonn McCann
    Eamonn McCann
    Eamonn McCann is an Irish journalist, author and political activist.-Life:McCann was born and has lived most of his life in Derry. He was educated at St. Columb's College in the city. He is prominently featured in the documentary film The Boys of St...

    , 1998.
  • My Boy, by Philomena Lynott with Jackie Hayden, 1996 Synopsis: The story of Phil Lynott
    Phil Lynott
    Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott was an Irish musician who first came to prominence as a founding member, principal songwriter, and frontman of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy....

     as told by his mother. It is also her story, from the days as a single mother bringing up a young black child in Manchester and Dublin, through the heady success of Thin Lizzy
    Thin Lizzy
    Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...

    , to the tragic chain of events which ended her son's life and plunged her into depression.
  • Crime Ink, by Jason O'Toole, 2009 (a collection of O'Toole's Hot Press pieces published by Merlin Publishing). Top ten in the Irish Bestsellers Chart.

CDs

Hot Press issues free CDs on an irregular basis. These have included:
  • Phil Lynott: The Lost Recordings which was re-released with an issue in August 2006 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Phil Lynott
    Phil Lynott
    Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott was an Irish musician who first came to prominence as a founding member, principal songwriter, and frontman of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy....

    's death. The CD featured five recordings which had never been released, including two tracks that had never been heard before.

Competitions

As part of their thirtieth birthday celebrations in 2007, Hot Press ran a competition in association with Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...

 Ireland with a top prize of winning an internship at Hot Press. They asked sixth year and third-level students to submit no more than four hundred words about any music subject of their choice and the competition closed on 29 January 2007.

Four students won an internship at Hot Press, which took place in the summer or autumn of 2007 at the winner's discretion, as well as other prizes.

The panel of judges included writers and musicians, such as Neil Hannon
Neil Hannon
Neil Hannon is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter, best known as the creator and frontman of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy. The band's official website even goes so far as to say, "The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon," and Hannon is quoted in an interview as saying, "The Divine Comedy...

 of The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy (band)
The Divine Comedy are a chamber pop band from Ireland, fronted by Neil Hannon. Formed in 1989, Hannon has been the only constant member of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral instrumentation bar drums. To date, ten studio albums have been released under the Divine...

; best-selling author Alex Barclay
Alex Barclay
Eve "Alex" Barclay is an Irish crime writer.Barclay studied journalism at university and worked for a period in fashion and beauty journalism as a copywriter in the RTÉ Guide. In 2003, she left the fashion industry to write Darkhouse, the first of two novels featuring NYPD detective Joe Lucchesi...

; Paul Howard of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly
Ross O'Carroll-Kelly
Ross O'Carroll-Kelly is a fictional wealthy "D4" rugby union player created by journalist Paul Howard.The character first appeared in a January 1998 column in the Sunday Tribune newspaper and later transferred to The Irish Times...

 fame; Hot Press editor Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes is the award-winning editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s...

 and deputy editor Stuart Clark.

AIB Photojournalism Awards

Photographer Graham Keogh won an AIB Photojournalism Award for a Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

 photo in 2009.
|-
| 2009 || Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

 photo || Arts category of the AIB Photojournalism Awards || 3rd
|-

Illustrator's Ireland Awards

At the 2006 Illustrator's Ireland Awards, David Rooney
David Rooney
David Rooney was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler who played for Cumberland...

 won the Best Editorial Illustration Award and the Best Overall Illustration Award for his Liberation illustration which showed a Bhurka-wearing woman with her toe in water as oil fields burn in the background.
|-
| 2006 || Liberation || Best Editorial Illustration Award ||
|-
| 2006 || Liberation || Best Overall Illustration Award ||
|-

PPAI Magazine of the Year Awards

Editor Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes is the award-winning editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s...

 won Editor of the Year at the 2008 PPAI Magazine of the Year Awards.
|-
| 2008 || Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes is the award-winning editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s...

|| Editor of the Year ||
|-

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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