Maicín are an Irish five-piece pop sensation making what
they like to call “Channel-Surf Rock”: A flickering eclectic
blend of jangle pop, folk, new wave, and even boogie
woogie. Imagine the love child of Neutral Milk Hotel and
Prefab Sprout. Now get your head out of the gutter and
imagine Maicín.
Maicín began as a creative escape for songwriter Matt
Hurley and drummer Aidan Kelleher, two young architects
worn down by London life. What started as weekly jams to
escape the mundanity of corporate life quickly became a
fully fledged band. Well not quite “fully fledged”. Upon
returning to Ireland, the band was completed by a mix of
childhood friends and family: Darragh McNamara (bass),
Méabh Fitzgerald (keys), and Ryan Daly (lead guitar).
Working with producer Oli Deakin (CMAT, Elanor Moss,
Swimming Bell), the band are confidently creating a sound
that is entirely their own. Equal parts angular and lush, with
distorted guitars and omnichord living in precarious harmony
with lap steel and harmonica. It shouldn’t work but it really
does.
Their rise has been fast. In 2025, Maicín won both the UCC
Battle of the Bands and the Intervarsity Battle of the Bands,
marking them as one of Ireland’s most exciting new acts.
That same year, they toured the UK with Amble, stepping
onto legendary stages such as Barrowland Ballroom, Albert
Hall, and Shepherd’s Bush Empire. At home, they’ve played
Cyprus Avenue, Coughlan’s, Cork City Hall, Roisín Dubh,
The Academy (supporting Clifford’s), Crowbar Terrace, and
the Spilt Milk Festival
Their singles Find Somebody New, It Is What It Is, and One
Channel Television have each passed 10,000 streams on
Spotify, while standout track Che Guevara has crossed
20,000.
Hurley’s songwriting ties the band’s erratic and expansive
arrangements into a cohesive package fit for the
consumer… I mean the individual listener. Hurley writes
about the everyday experience whether that be spiralling
thoughts of dread, the plight of office life or even just the
sub-par stout of the UK.
For Maicín, the band is where meaning and mischief meet.
They take it very seriously… sometime.
