Irish alt-grunge upstarts Bleech 9:3 have been turning heads after recently supporting Keo on tour and gearing up to join Shame on the road. Their blistering 90s-infused debut single ‘Ceiling’ is driven by a raw, existential intensity – a fascination with longing, emptiness, and negative space. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Barry Quinlan and guitarist Sam Duffy, their partnership began in the unusual setting of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and grew as they moved from Dublin to the bright lights of London in 2024. We sat down with Barry and Sam to talk about everything from addiction and sobriety to the inspiration they draw from the recent explosion of Irish music.
How did Bleech come about?
Barry: Bleech came about when we realised we wanted to do something different with our music – to make something new. We’d both been in other bands back home, which were great experiences, but we reached a point where we wanted to say something different.
Sam: Barry and I had been writing music together for a while. There was just more we wanted to express than what we were doing before, so we joined forces. We actually met through sobriety. I was newly sober; Barry had been around a bit longer. It was amazing, man, to not only meet someone your own age in that space, but someone you wanted to make music with – someone who really inspired you.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences, and how have they evolved over time?
Barry: When I was a kid, my dad used to play these great records in the car – ‘The Bends’ and that sort of thing. Radiohead have always been a massive influence on me. Leaving the politics aside, I’ve always been drawn to the music. From the time I could walk, I was listening to Radiohead.
Sam: It’s funny – when I was younger, I only listened to old music: the ’50s, ’60s, a bit of the ’80s and ’90s. The stuff that was popular when I was a teenager was more indie bedroom pop, and I just wasn’t into it. I was listening to Nirvana instead. But now, I mostly listen to new guitar bands – records made in the last five years or so – because there are so many great ones, it’s amazing.
Are there any non-musical influences that inspire you?
Barry: Yeah, absolutely. For me, a lot of the writing is inspired by biblical themes. Maybe that comes from my own relationship with spirituality, which I had to rediscover after struggling with addiction. That experience really sharpened my focus, and that kind of material really inspires me.
Sam: Barry and I watch a lot of films together – we get really inspired by them, even just for the band’s aesthetic. We’ll take little images or ideas from what we watch. There’s a film called ‘The Seventh Seal’ that we saw together, it’s full of powerful imagery. All the songs we’ve got now were already written by then, but watching it felt like one of those moments where the imagery just perfectly aligned with Bleech.
You mentioned you were in other bands – was there a defining moment when you realised Bleech was the one, and not just another hobby?
Sam: I don’t know, man – it’s hard to put your finger on it. It’s one of those things where, if we weren’t doing this, we’d be lying to ourselves, you know? There wasn’t a specific moment or anything that pushed us towards Bleech – it was just the songs we were writing, and the connection we felt to them. Doing anything else would’ve felt dishonest.
Tonight was the first show of a UK tour – is this your first proper run on the road?
Barry: Sam’s done tours with his old band – but yeah, this is my first. I work in a pizza place in Crystal Palace, and the night before the tour started, I was walking up the hill to work after parking my car, thinking about all the dates we had coming up. It hit me – that was a really special moment for me, you know? It felt like a kind of salvation from the everyday. Even when I ended up cleaning the toilets that night after closing, it didn’t matter.
Is the dream to make Bleech full-time?
Sam: One hundred percent, man – hell or high water. You give so much of yourself to it. Right now, when it’s not financially rewarding, it’s probably the most fun and interesting stage. But at some point, hopefully, it’s only fair that we get to just focus on this full-time, you know?
How do you keep the energy up on tour when you’re playing so many dates?
Barry: I think you just have to. The truth is, you never know if it’s the last show you’ll ever play – and if you forget that, it could be. It’s a hard mindset to hold onto, because there are always days when you don’t feel great or you get bad news. But eventually, you’ve got to park all that and just go for it.
You’re heading back to Ireland for some shows too – do those gigs feel different or more special?
Barry: Yeah they do because when we go back to Ireland, there are a lot of people we know so the support you feel there is amazing. But we also always say that it’s just as rewarding to play to people we don’t know in places like London. When someone who’s never heard of us comes up after the show with the same enthusiasm as someone who’s known us for ten years, that’s pretty special.
There’s been a huge explosion in Irish music over the past few years. What’s it like seeing acts from Dublin and across Ireland getting so much attention?
Sam: It’s the most inspiring thing – really, it’s great. Even today, we were in a clothes shop in Sheffield and there were pictures of Fontaines D.C. on the walls. You get this sense of connection, of relatability, like, we started out in the same place and had the same experiences. It’s incredibly inspiring, to be honest.
Your debut single ‘Ceiling’ is out now – how does it feel finally getting a song onto streaming platforms?
Sam: Oh man, it feels fucking great. It’s been a long time coming, I’m super stoked.
What made you pick ‘Ceiling’ as the first track to release?
Barry: Funny thing is, when we first wrote it, I didn’t think we thought it would be the lead single. But through playing it live, it really took on its own identity and when management suggested it as the first release, we were like, yeah that makes sense.
Sam: It took us a minute to get our heads around it, but I see it now. We recorded three songs, so there’ll be three releases. We’ve been playing them all live for a year, so finally getting to put them out is unreal.
Where do you see Bleech in a year’s time – what would you like to have achieved?
Barry: You know that old saying – if your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough. I hope a year from now, I’m really, really frightened.
Sam: I’ll just add to that – in summer 2024, Barry and I flew to London with just an idea. It’s been a little over a year now, and we’ve come such a long way. We’re ready to put in even more work to get the results we’re aiming for.
Words: Donovan Livesey