Following their newest single, “Kids (Don’t End Up Like Me)”, indie-pop band, The Academic, released their new EP, Community Spirit. The Irish quartet is made up of Craig Fitzgerald, Dean Gavin, Matthew Murtagh, and Stephen Murtagh. Amassing over 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone, and having shared stages with bands such as Twenty One Pilots, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and The Strokes, The Academic are growing through the music industry in strides. The Academic sat down to discuss influences behind the album, how it came to be throughout quarantine, and where they hope their music will take them next in a chat hosted by 1824.

Creating music throughout the pandemic and within quarantine has been the most common and recent challenge amongst creators. During the production of Community Spirit, Craig explains how the band went “back to basics in a way.” The Academic discusses the fear of creating music at home, given the easy possibility of losing quality and the overall essence of the song. Craig goes on to elaborate on their goal while producing in quarantine, “We wanted to go back to the earlier days of catching the performance--how great Dean is on drums and how great Matt and Stephen are as bass and lead guitar-- that was the beginning of it and then we would add to it.” The Academic mentions recording most of the album within Matt and Stephen’s house and being back in all of their childhood homes, establishing the whole vibe and even the title of the EP. Stephen talks about the challenges while recording from sending audio files via email and WhatsApp, and trying to establish a method of producing during a pandemic, “We tried to act as a bubble and not let the pandemic effect as much as we could.”

The original project of Community Spirit started from what Craig describes as “losing my mind during lockdown.” With touring and shows being postponed and cancelled, the band established a method of coping through creating music. In naming the EP Community Spirit, they explain how it came from the fact that they were all back in the communities they grew up in, as well as rallying the band together and becoming self-sufficient on producing each song as a team and from home.

“The essence of the whole EP was a feeling of being home even though we had escaped it and got to go elsewhere.” -Craig Fitzgerald

Throughout Community Spirit, there is a ton of creative lyricism mixed with storytelling and a high functioning narrative. “We wanted to maintain the essence of innocence when we were that young with lyrics,” Craig explains on the lyrics, “We wanted to allow the narrative of the EP to be us as children, but we’re looking back at it as adults.” During the whole production of Community Spirit, The Academic elaborates on the mastery of different layers mixed within the songs, and emphasizes “trusting the process.” The originality and finely tinkered songs from Community Spirit show how impressive and mindful the band committed to fabricating a worthwhile EP.

With songs such as “Not Your Summer” and “I Don’t See Good,” the foundation of a solid beat mixed with an interesting bass and exciting guitar are just the beginning of the beauty that is Community Spirit. The Academic are no strangers to quality crossed with electricity in their music. Intriguing retro vibes and vocals in songs like “For the Camera” and “Smart Mouth” move Community Spirit along flawlessly. Craig emphasizes the importance of not “overcooking” the songs during production because of the ability to add more and more layers, but instead maintaining a good balance amongst different tones, melodies, and synths to design fresh music.

“We're never going to sit down and say ‘we have to make this kind of album.’ So many of the songs on this latest EP, I never thought they’d sound how they ended up sounding.”

-Stephen Murtagh

With an upcoming tour around the United Kingdom and the hint of some shows outside the U.K., The Academic is ready to take the stage in full force again. The Community Spirit EP built an energetic 5-song track list, and represents the diversity and overall music genius that is The Academic.

The Academic’s new EP, Community Spirit is available on all platforms now!