Bleech 9:3

When Bleech 9:3 songwriters/guitarists Barry Quinlan and Sam Duffy first crossed paths in their early twenties, it almost seemed inconceivable that they hadn’t met before. Throughout their tumultuous teenage years spent gigging in various projects around Dublin, they’d lived near-parallel lives mired by the chaos-purgatory spiral of addiction; like two shadows cast by the same light but never touching.

In the throes of the early stages of recovery – when a better life still felt elusive and intangible, something to be hoped for, though not necessarily to be believed in – Barry and Sam were introduced to each other at a 12-step rehab programme. Barry soon signed up to be his new friend’s sponsor and take him through the process, and felt energised by the similarities in their ambitions and worldview.

“I think to find someone your own age, with the same dreams as you, from the same city and is also suffering from the same thing… we knew immediately that we could help each other,” recalls Sam. “You can lose your mind thinking about how rare that is.”

“Being part of this band has meant the world to everyone involved,” says Luke. “There’s a real desire to care about artistry, and to want to constantly get better at our craft. It’s been about not stopping at the first barrier: we had to push through to find ourselves.”

Following the release of new single ‘Cannonball’, Bleech 9:3 stand on the edge of something momentous. Fresh material is in the works and a devoted fanbase continues to surge, while a run of over 150 live dates looms large. The road ahead might be rich with possibility – but the band’s existence alone is proof that from the ashes, something fearless can be reborn.