When the four members of Inhaler walked in front of 80,000 people at Slane Castle in June 2023, they felt as if they’d tumbled down a rabbit hole and emerged blinking into a fantasy movie.
“You can see how far back the hill goes, and you see the extent of people there. I remember turning to one of the guys and going, ‘What the f**k are we doing?’ And I remember being so nervous,” says Ryan McMahon, the drummer with the Dublin rock band.
Eli Hewson, the group’s frontman, says: “I was expecting to get booed off the stage. Everyone was there for Harry Styles.”
Seated beside him, Josh Jenkinson, who plays guitar, smiles and says that their friends and family were excited about Slane largely because it put Inhaler in the orbit of the former One Direction star, who was the day’s headliner. “All our girlfriends at the time were over the moon. It did genuinely feel we were in a scene from Lord of the Rings.”
Styles was creating history as that rare pop star to headline the Co Meath venue. The day was equally significant for Inhaler, who confirmed their status as one of Ireland’s fast-rising major-label rock bands.
Despite the jitters and concerns about being jeered into oblivion by the hordes of teenage girls, they are happy to report that the gig went fine. Two years later they are ready to take another leap forward with their glossy, crowd-pleasing third LP, Open Wide.
It’s a slick, hook-filled affair that is brimming with easy-on-the-ear melodies (as in Eddie in the Darkness, the opening track), Coldplay-worthy “ooh ooh” choruses (Billy – Yeah Yeah Yeah) and finger-snapping grooves (the single Your House). It will appeal to all those Styles fans they won over at Slane – and even a few of those they didn’t.
That’s partly thanks to the influence of the producer Kid Harpoon – Styles’s regular wingman in the recording studio – who encouraged Inhaler to push further and to connect with their inner pop stars.
The other big draw is the charismatic presence of Hewson, who at moments sounds like a dead ringer for his father, Paul, known to some as Bono.
Inhaler are understandably wary of coming across as some sort of novelty U2 offshoot: Baby Bono plus some pals from private school. (Three of Inhaler met at St Andrew’s College in Blackrock, one of Dublin’s most exclusive secondary schools.) Yet they are self-aware about their gilded backgrounds and understand the U2 factor is something they must negotiate. They can’t shut their eyes and hope it goes away. With or without them, people are going to draw a connection.
“I always thought I was going to have a harder time than I actually did. My sister had a hard time,” the singer says about Eve Hewson, the actor. “There’s certain advantages to it.”
You know, if you grow up in a house of music, you’re probably going to want to do music. Same if your dad back in the medieval ages was a blacksmith
A famous father puts you in the spotlight, no question. “People coming for the first time to see you – you might sell a few more tickets in the beginning, or whatever. But it’s not going to make people come back,” says Hewson, a matey, down-to-earth 25-year-old who seems at pains not to project nepo-baby privilege.
“You know what I mean? There is definitely a certain perception of you before people have heard you. So [you] kind of weigh it up. The other thing is that it’s not something we want to pretend isn’t happening. That would be silly.”
On the other hand, Hewson doesn’t feel he’s playing life on easy mode by starting a band with friends. He has been surrounded by music his entire life: what’s so strange about wanting to pick up a guitar and sing?
“It just makes me laugh. You know, if you grow up in a house of music, you’re probably going to want to do music. Same if your dad back in the medieval ages was a blacksmith. There’s so much nepotism in every facet of life.” Hewson shrugs, at pains to clarify that he isn’t complaining. “When it’s in the public eye ... you’re allowed give it a bit of scrutiny.”
Of course, being a blacksmith and being the second-youngest child of Bono and Ali Hewson are two very different things. (That’s 18-year-old Hewson on the cover of U2’s 2017 LP Songs of Experience, as snapped by the music photographer Anton Corbijn). For one thing, people don’t spend all their time badmouthing blacksmiths on social media. With Bono it’s another story.
For all his popularity, the U2 singer is also one of his generation’s most widely criticised rock stars – especially in Ireland. In the past 12 months alone the neotrad group Lankum have called him “Such a f****** West Brit” on stage in Dublin and Mary Coughlan has said she was “grossed out by the whole lot” of U2.
How does Hewson feel about people continually taking potshots at his father? “I think I’m well used to it – like, I’ve seen it plenty. I’d just say get to know him first. That’s all I’ll say on it.”
Inhaler look every centimetre the off-duty rock band sitting around a table in a hotel in South Dublin, a stone’s throw from their alma mater. Leather jackets, tight trousers, boho man jewellery, a tour manager who has ushered them to the venue straight from rehearsals: they tick all the boxes. Except one.
Although their first two albums, It Won’t Always Be Like This and Cuts & Bruises, were well reviewed, they have none of the critical acclaim of fellow Dublin acts such as Lankum or Fontaines DC (whose 2018 show at the Tivoli Theatre, with The Murder Capital and Shame, they name as a life-changing gig for them). They radiate faint yet unmistakable traces of dorkiness – a trait they are happy to own.
“We’ve always worn it on our sleeve when people meet us. It’s the same as when we do interviews and ... blah-lah ... we’re just, like, kind of dorks,” they say, speaking over one another. “I don’t think we’ve got to be conceptually cool. We’re just ourselves. We’re uncool sometimes.”
Inhaler have also had to negotiate what might be called the “South Dublin” question. St Andrew’s is one of Ireland’s most expensive private schools. When you come from that background people make assumptions: that your life has been full of opportunity rather than adversity, that your tipple of choice is Heineken, that you have firm views on the state of the Leinster lineout.
“It exists,” McMahon says of such inverse snobby. “But if you want to say that about one person ... No one says that about Radiohead or The Rolling Stones.” “It doesn’t matter,” Hewson adds. “But it wouldn’t be home without it.”
Inhaler started when Hewson, McMahon and Robert Keating, their bassist, were at school in 2012. Three years later they met Jenkinson at a party. In their early years they were a “sh*tty metal band”, though they evolved into something more melodic when they discovered The Stone Roses – still one of their favourites.
At this point it was decided that Hewson should take over from Keating as lead singer, which the retiring adolescent did with a degree of reluctance. (The name Inhaler comes from the fact that he had asthma in his teens.) “It was never a dream as a kid. I started singing out of necessity.” He adds, about overcoming shyness, “I’m definitely better than I was. I was bad a lot of the time ... It’s a miracle, really, to be honest.”
With their first two albums they wrote songs largely so they would have material to perform live. The new LP is different as they went into the studio determined to grow as songwriters. That’s why they chose to work with Kid Harpoon.
That was the least cool thing you could chose to do – ‘You’re in a band … It’s so lame’
The producer – real name Tom Hull – cracked the whip during recording sessions at RAK Studios in London (where The Pogues made Fairytale of New York). He didn’t hesitate to tell them if he felt a tune wasn’t cutting it.
“Honesty is probably the most valuable thing in a studio setting from your producer,” Hewson says. “We had loads of songs that weren’t finished. We went to him hoping that he’d pull it together. And he was, like, ‘You’re not done’. So we had to go back and finish them. We actually found a different way of writing that was more effective.”
It is fashionable to decry the death of the old-fashioned four-piece band. Guitar music has certainly become less culturally central – the reality is that the biggest event in rock this year will be the return of Oasis, a band who peaked in 1995, four years before Hewson was born. But Inhaler feel that is starting to change. Bands are back.
“When we were in school it was all Ed Sheeran. No offence to him: we still love pop music. But I’m talking about bands. That was the least cool thing you could chose to do – ‘You’re in a band … It’s so lame’. Now you’ve got Sam Fender smashing it in the UK, Fontaines, Murder Capital, Last Dinner Party, Wunderhorse … There’s a lot of great music to listen to,” Hewson says. “I don’t know if that’s a result of the stagnant pop music we’ve heard ... It’s nice to hear something visceral. It feels more analogue-y than digital, which is refreshing. I’m happy about it.”
A big summer awaits. Inhaler are touring Britain, the Americas and Australia. Hewson’s birthday coincides with one of Oasis’s Croke Park dates and he hopes to attend. (He knows Noel Gallagher a bit through his father.) Then there is a show at St Anne’s Park in Dublin – their biggest Irish headline concert to date, with a capacity of 20,000.
“In the beginning we went to the UK and we gigged a lot there. We always felt we were missing home,” Hewson says. “It’s nice to be able to facilitate a gathering in your hometown. What an honour. We’ll do our best job. I think it will be great with the new music.”
Open Wide is released on Friday, February 7th; Inhaler play St Anne’s Park, Dublin, on Friday, May 30th
