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Oct 09, 2025 Web Exclusive By Dom Gourlay Photography by Carla Roves

Meet Child of Prague, a Dubin-based six-piece whose music transgresses most genres while encompassing elements of chamber pop, grunge, jazz, classical, math rock and traditional Irish folk. And that’s just from the songs we’ve heard so far.

With band members originally hailing from as far afield as Boston, San Francisco and London, Child of Prague take each of their influences to places none of the band’s peers or contemporaries have been. Initially beginning as a writing project between founder members Jack McDonnell and Adam Tracey, Child of Prague soon evolved into six-piece incorporating the additional talents of Amelia Durac, Rachel Baum, Noah Edwards and Miranda Gallacher.

Their debut five-track EP Clothed In The Sun came out last month (September 19th) to a positive response from fans and critics alike, and next month (November) they’ll play three of their biggest UK headline shows to date in London, Leeds and Manchester respectively.

Having witnessed their performance opening the main stage at Deer Shed Festival in July, Under the Radar sat down for a chat with Adam Tracey, one of the band’s two founders.

Dom Gourlay (Under the Radar): When did the band start?

Adam Tracey: We’ve been writing songs together for a while now. We played our first gig around two years ago. I think we’re coming up to the anniversary of it. We played in a bookshop as a duo at the time, so we’re going back there as a six-piece to mark the two-year anniversary soon. Me and Jack (McDonnell) started writing songs before we found our current line-up, adding new instruments and trying out different sounds. Bringing in trad elements as well; Irish traditional stuff.

The band formed in Dublin and are still based there but mostly originate from different parts of the world. How did you end up coming together?

We’re all living in Dublin at the moment which is great, all of us being in the same place. I’m originally from Tipperary, Jack’s from California, Noah’s (Edwards) from Massachusetts, Rachel (Baum) and Amelia (Durac) are both from Dublin, and Miranda’s (Gallacher) from London. We all met at college here in Dublin. We don’t all go to Trinity College, but we all met through mutual friends and stuff.

With you all coming from different countries, cultures and backgrounds, does that play a big part in the eclectic musical mix as well?

100%. Myself and Jack bonded early on through Midwest emo, twinkly guitar music and math rock, then myself and Amelia both love traditional Irish music so wondered what it would look like if you put those two ideas together. Like reels with effects pedals then speeded up. We like experimenting with different sounds and instruments.

What was the first song you wrote together?

“Grey Hairs” and “Basking Sharks” off the EP are probably the first songs we wrote. We always used to play them together as one ten-minute song. They were never apart. I think that was the first time we really found our sound. We added a lot of harmonies and I think that was when we realised we were onto something. So, I’m really glad we finally got to put them out this year. Albeit two years later!

How does the songwriting process work? Has it evolved over time?

A lot of our earlier stuff was written by myself and Jack, mostly through jamming together. We recorded a lot of it using Logic music software, more as a sketch book than anything else. Me and Jack used to live together so we’d spend nights just recording these ideas on Logic, even sometimes just tuning guitars in a certain way. Since the other members joined the band, they’ve also brought in ideas so some songs just keep building and building. I think we’ve all matured since some of these sketches were laid down, so by allowing everyone’s input the songs have evolved considerably from when me and Jack came up with the original ideas.

What are the lyrical themes running through the songs?

I always write about personal stuff. Mostly things like coming to terms with being a man and what you leave behind. We’re coming towards the end now, but me and Jack first bonded at college during a period of change so there’s elements of loss, figuring out our first relationships, our first time away from home. So, we’re using these songs to articulate that to ourselves and each other.

Child of Prague’s debut EP Clothed In The Sun came out last month. How did you arrive at the five songs which ended up on the EP? Did the tracklisting change over time?

I like the way those five songs show off different sides of the band. Not just in the various influences and ideas we all bring, but also in how everybody in the band has their own little moment in the spotlight. There’s times when we can really show off, there’s other times where it falls back to an acoustic guitar and voices. We worked with Sergio Maschetzko (IDLES, Interpol, English Teacher) on one of our songs, “Burning,” to make this intimate, interlude kind of thing. But then it varies. We have songs like “Burning” that lasts just over two minutes and others that go on for six minutes. Thematically all those songs fit together in a way that makes sense and also in book-ending that period of growth as a band.

So, what’s coming next? More singles and another EP or even an album?

Definitely. That’s where our minds are at the moment. We’re putting together demos at the moment so we have another project to work on. We’re trying out new sounds as well. We’re using a lot of sampling to see how that works with what we do. We’ve just wrapped up a project to get our first vinyl done, so the five tracks off the EP will be on one side and then with all of us being based in the same place now, we’ve recontextualised all those songs and pulled out new versions of them which will be on the other side. Some of them we’ve stretched out, like “Burning” for example, which now has some new verses added to it. It lasts five minutes now and is completely different to the version on the EP.

When are you looking to release that?

We’ve put them up for presale now, so we’re hoping they’ll be ready to go out in the early part of December by 10th at the latest. Hopefully, there will be another single to go soon as well. We’re definitely working towards recording an album in the future.

What are your plans for 2026?

We want to try and get as many gigs as possible and play to different crowds. I’d love to get back to Wales and Northern Ireland again. It would be nice to play more festivals as well. Our ambition is to play all the Irish festivals and then see if we get booked for any in the UK and Europe.

Do you see Child of Prague more as a live band or a studio project at this moment in time?

I think we’re coming out of a period where we were very much a live band. Now the EP has been released its given us more opportunities to work in the studio so I think we’re somewhere between the two. We love playing shows and always will want to play live as much as possible but we also like trying out new ideas in the studio.

What advice would you give to a new band or artist that’s just starting out?

As soon as you start out, try and play as many shows as possible. Just to get more experience as much as anything. If you’re comfortable playing in front of people you don’t know, that’s also really important. Write as much as you can, not necessarily giving yourself a hard time, but enough to have a nice steady stream while also re-editing your songs. That was a big thing for us and probably still is. It took us a long time to realise that once a song is written it doesn’t mean it can’t be revisited and reimagined. Don’t close yourself off to bringing in new people and use your friends to help when you’re starting out. Mainly so you can focus on writing and getting better as a band. Get your friends with good eyes to help you with the artwork and videos, or social media and promoting. We’re not just a band. We have a collection of about fifteen people who’ve helped us.

What’s been your highlight of being in Child of Prague so far?

A couple of things for me. Getting out that first single (“Burning”) with the label was really important as that was the moment we knew were taking things seriously. We played Vicar Street - is a really big venue in Dublin – supporting James Vincent McMorrow who was a really big influence on us early on. The venue is only just round the corner from my house as well, so that was also a big moment for me. I felt really privileged to be playing on that stage, and also when we played the Windmill in Brixton as that was our first show in the UK. That’s a venue with so much history and it was also a privilege to play there.

Its interesting you mention the Windmill as I can see similarities between Child of Prague and some of the bands linked to that Brixton scene such as Man Woman Chainsaw, Black Country, New Road and Otala. Are there any other bands you have a special bond or kinship with?

Yeah, we have a little community of bands here in Dublin. Arabú are another band making music influenced by Midwest emo. I think any bands that bring in instruments that aren’t really necessary will always get my vote! There’s a great band called Midwest Cowboy who I think are quite similar to us in how they approach music. They’re brilliant and not afraid of pretty harmonies or using more classical instruments. I saw Black Country, New Road play at the Olympia in Dublin a couple of weeks ago and they blew me away.

Black Country, New Road are a prime example of a band that’s constantly evolving without ever conforming into the expectations of a scene, which is why they’ve achieved and continue to achieve such longevity. Do you envisage Child of Prague following a similar path?

Absolutely. We have a big thing about sampling and recorded drum loops at the moment so its going to be interesting to see where we go next in terms of incorporating more electronic and ambient sounds into what we do. Its definitely all on the table for sure!

The EP Clothed In The Sun is out now on Faction Music.

Child of Prague play the following shows in October and November

October 16th – Pro Weekend Fest, Castellón, Spain
November 13th - London, The Social
November 15th - Leeds, Live at Leeds
November 15th - Manchester, YES

For more information on Child of Prague visit their Bandcamp page