BRIAN was the name chosen by songwriter/musician Ken Sweeney who released two albums, three singles and one EP between 1989 and 1999. Brian’s first single A Million Miles was voted No 4 Single of the Year in a critics poll by Hotpress Magazine in 1989, and the band, then a duo with Niall Austin, attracted a lot of record company interest after trade magazine Music Week wrote that “every discerning A&R men should be checking out their demo“. Second single You Don’t Want A Boyfriend attracted more acclaim. Following Niall Austin’s decision to return to Dublin, Ken signed with Setanta Records and released album Understand in 1992, which contained both early singles. Live shows saw Brian attract more interest as Virgin Records issued Understand in France with follow up The Planes EP. Second Brian album Bring Trouble was recorded at Cocteau Twins studio, September Sound, and featured BBC Radio One Single of The Week, Turn Your Lights On which was nominated Irish Single of The Year 1999 with live shows supporting Robert Forster and Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens in London and Dublin. Ken now works as an entertainment journalist in Ireland and his radio docs, R.E.M. Out Of Athens, In Search of The Blue Nile, The Go-Betweens and The Irish Writers, and The Trashcan Sinatras have won Irish and international awards.
His first radio drama, Wogan’s Sweet Sixteen, about Terry Wogan fighting to play Irish records on the BBC at the height of the IRA bombing campaign, was runner up in RTE’s PJ O’Connor Drama Awards.
His debut album Understand will be re-issued by Needle Mythology on August 29th as an expanded version called Understood to include the 1993’s Planes EP and a previously unheard track which was intended for the original album.
Indie Sunset in Rome 