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BALCONYTV.COM 24/07/2008
PRESENTED BY PAULINE FREEMAN
Aortal are a new Dublin three piece fronted by James O' Toole on guitar and vocals with Conor Friel on bass and Brian Shanahan on drums. This exciting new act combines striking vocals and visuals with the energy of a pumping heart.

Everything about James suggests that in the eyes of today's society he is a spectacular failure! Born and raised in the Dublin Council flats Fatima Mansions but gifted with an extraordinary voice and an amazing vocal range James is very much a product of his environment. Taking his rare vocal gift he has absorbed these influences and reflects them in a vocal ability that is sometimes soft and vulnerable, sometimes raw and venomous.

As a deserter from the industrial army James has continued to fulfil the destiny that fate has given him by happily being a failure. A failure that has survived for seven years on nothing other than whatever he can earn on the streets with his voice and guitar. A failure that has made it to India and back. Playing and singing while lying on his back on a bus rooftop bouncing its ways through the Himalayas. A failure that has made it to South Africa twice, the anti globalisation marches in Evian in 2003 to London, Germany and Sweden all on the talent of his voice alone.

Playing covers in the street, not for notoriety or for the pursuit of pleasure, but because he has to eat, James has spent his time crafting and developing his own unique and original material. In failing to conform to the expectations of society and dissenting with a smile, James has won the time to develop himself as a musician. A precious time that few others ever get. There have been good times and friends made, crowds and busking on sunny days. But weeks of rain, no money and no hope coupled with the violence that is an everyday reality of playing on the streets has left James with his nose broken twice and his teeth kicked in.

It was while recording a solo album that James met Conor Friel. There was an immediate connection between all three members and as accomplished musicians and sound engineers in their own right Conor and Brian began to work with James refining his sound and playing, engineering and producing this early material. From this collaboration was born Aortal so called after the aortal artery in the heart. Aortal is a beating revolutionary core pumping life from the left! Conor brings a punk pop sensibility to the sound and his on stage banter and interaction with the crowd provide the perfect foil to the intensity of James' vocal performance. Brian provides that solid and infectious beat that underlies and defines the tempo of the band. It is this professional musicianship and ease of communication with each other and the crowd from the stage which combine to make Aortal one of the most exciting emerging live acts in Ireland today. They will leave you howling for more....

http://www.myspace.com/aortal

Tune in again tomorrow!!!