Music
Fresh List
Ticketmaster Fresh List 2026: Croíthe
Ticketmaster Ireland has launched Ticketmaster Fresh, a new monthly platform championing emerging Irish talent. Kicking things off for 2026 is Dublin-based indie post-punk band Croíthe, the first act to join the Ticketmaster Fresh List.
We spoke with Croíthe about influences, goals, and the community of the Irish music scene.
Can you introduce yourself?
Caodán: We’re Croíthe.
Ben: And we’re Ticketmaster Ireland’s Fresh List’s first act.
Caodán: We’re very excited to be here.
Ben: I’m buzzed!
How did the band start?
Caodán: The band started in 2024, when us three [Ben, Caodán and Francis] were in school, and then we just started playing together. We’ve known each other since primary school. And then we put out an ad on TikTok for the drummer, and then Keevy replied, and then we started jamming together. And then it started from there.
How would you describe your music?
Ben: That’s always a hard one!
Francis: I always try say a little bit of shoegaze, but that’s mostly just because we make a lot of noise. I’d say we’re post-punk first and foremost. I’d say so.
Caodán: I think we listen to a lot of music. So, we’re influenced by a lot of different things.
Ben: Yeah, depends on our mood.
Who are your influences?
Keevy: The Cure, I’d say one of them.
Ben: I’d say the Smiths.
Caodán: My Bloody Valentine.
Francis: Slowdive.
Caodán: A lot of new bands as well, like The Murder Capital and Just Mustard definitely influence our sound.
How did you get your name?
Caodán: I can’t really remember, to be honest!
Ben: For the setting of it, we got copyrighted for our old name, and we thought everything was ruined. We just had to basically pick a name on a week’s notice.
Caodán: I had old names that we never used, and I think Croíthe came from something in school, it was in an Irish poem and we thought it sounded cool. We really liked the whole Celtic imagery and stuff. We wanted to incorporate that into the music. So it just felt suitable for the music.
Ben: Yeah, we had a few options, but that was definitely the clear one we wanted to pick.
What would be your dream venue to play?
Caodán: The 3Olympia would be one.
Ben: Yeah, the 3Olympia is a really cool venue.
Caodán: Worldwide, the Red Rocks in San Francisco.
Francis: I’d say Iveagh Gardens would be really cool.
Ben: Also, Barrowlands in Glasgow.
Do you have any backstage rituals?
Keevy: Not as much anymore.
Ben: We definitely started with them but we just gave up!
Caodán: I have my own, where the hour before the show, I’m kinda unapproachable.
Ben: You’re like that anyway!
Caodán: I just go away put in headphones and listen to ‘In Dreams’ by Roy Orbison and ‘If I Can Dream’ by Elvis Presley. I always listen to that kind of stuff, it calms me down before I go on stage. Just kinda listen to music to get me ready for the show.
Ben: I always try calm myself for a good hour before we go on, and then, two minutes before we go on, I’ll try hype myself up.
Caodán: Sometimes, if I get too hyped, I’ll just go all guns blazing.
What’s been your most memorable live experience?
Ben: Third night in Rotterdam. We played a festival called Left of the Dial and each night the venue was slightly bigger. By the third night, I think the cap was around 450, 500 maybe.
Keevy: The crowds really good.
Ben: Yeah, the crowds are great. They’re all just really big music fans over there. So that was a really good experience. We were received really well, we had a great set.
Caodán: They had these pipe organs on the wall, and a spotlight. So when I was looking at the side stage, you could, like see, like the spotlight with my shadow in it, like Phantom of the Opera.
Ben: It was very cinematic.
Who would be on your dream festival line up?
Caodán: The Cure.
Ben: Thin Lizzy.
Keevy: Pulp.
Francis: My Bloody Valentine or some more American bands.
Ben: The Strokes.
Caodán: Interpol. That whole New York scene, really.
Libertines too. Murder Capital as well.
I’m probably missing the obvious, like the Smiths and the Beach Boys!
How do you approach songwriting?
Caodán: Usually, I’d write a lot of the songs. So for me it’s kind each time my process, I don’t really have a set process. I’ll just get the lyrics out of nowhere, I just think of a line, I kinda go off that line, and it’s a kind of idea. That’s how I wrote a lot of first EP. A lot of phrasing, I had, like the titles before I wrote it. Like the song ‘The Kiss’ I just had that title the case from the painting for like, ages, and then wrote song around it. It’s like a sporadic thing.
Ben: Sometimes we’ll have an idea for months that we’re playing around with, and then it’ll just come together eventually, like, oh, that’s what we can do with that. It just depends on the song, because each one’s kind of different in how we approach it. Sometimes you’ll come in, have the whole structure and everything, and then we’ll play around, or it’ll be a riff, or it’ll be a drum part. Yeah, it’s different every time.
Who would be your dream collaboration?
Ben: Interpol, I think.
Caodán: I think it would be too similar.
Ben: Yeah, but I’d like to play with them. If writing a song, it would be different.
Caodán: For me, it would be Damon Albarn. He works with so many different artists, so I think working with him would really push you to your creative limits. And maybe someone like Ethel Cain. We’re big fans.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Caodán: Gabriel from the Murder Capital, told me when we were starting, I can’t really remember exactly what he said but he was just like, “You just need to remember how much time you have. Don’t get really swept up thinking you have to deliver, there is momentum you just need to go along with.” If you see this Gabriel don’t quote me on it, but it was along the lines of you have time the time and use that time. Perfect it.
Is there a lot of support in the Irish music industry between bands themselves?
Ben: Yeah, definitely, it’s a very good atmosphere. I think if you go over, like, we played in London a few times, it’s a good atmosphere over there, but it’s just so big, it’s hard to, like, you know, feel like a homely vibe.
Caodán: There’s a sense of community. Everyone goes to the shows. Even last night [at Tilt], you’d see different members from different bands you played with before. Everyone supports each other, and everyone’s doing gigs.
Ben: Everyone knows everyone you know. Even in Cork, we’re great, great friends with a lot of bands from Cork, from even just playing with them the one time, or even more. It’s just very together, which is really cool.
Caodán: Everyone is so supportive of each other, it’s lovely to be on the scene.
Ben: I feel if we started out in London or something, that would just be so daunting, because it’s just so big.
Caodán: It feels very fresh now, this new wave of music. It’s very similar to what new wave was or, not comparing us to Nirvana, but like that kind of grunge scene, where it is a whole wave of bands.
Ben: Yeah, it’s just the whole band subculture.
Caodán: There’s a community. There’s so much there, there’s so much passion.
What would be the key track of yours that you recommend people listen to?
Keevy: ‘I Heard I Saw’.
All: (agree)
What is your career highlight to date?
Caodán: Probably Rotterdam and Grand Social. We did our headline in the Grand Social in November for our EP. That was just lovely, kind of coming home from a European leg of shows. It was really nice to come home.
Also our EP got to Number 1 on the vinyl charts. That was a big highlight for me, holding it. The day it came out, I went into Tower Records, and I was just holding it.
Ben: I think we’ve had some really cool stuff happen, even this year alone. We’ve a lot of stuff planned, we’re just really looking forward to getting going with all that.
Where can fans see you next?
Ben: You can see us next in Limerick on the 13 of March in Dolans and the following night in Whelan’s, Dublin on 14 March.
Caodán: It’s going to be a really special night. New tunes to be played.
What does the next year look like for Croíthe?
Caodán: We’re touring Ireland in March, and then we have some UK dates in May. We have a few festivals in Europe throughout summer, and the plan is to get another EP or album out. We have it all demoed.
Ben: We’re very excited to get back in the studio.
Keevy: Yeah, get more music ou,t really.
Caodán: And end the year with a big show somewhere. Who knows!
Croíthe play Dolan’s, Limerick on 13 March and Whelan’s, Dublin on 14 March 2026. You can buy tickets here.
Artists can submit themselves for consideration for the Fresh List here.
