CHALK

Belfast duo Chalk (Ross Cullen and Ben Goddard) have released their long anticipated debut Crystalpunk. It is time to talk about it with the lads.

It must be an exciting time to be you. How do you feel? How has 2026 started for you?

Ross: We've been very busy getting everything ready. We're definitely very much still in the world of bringing it out to people, filming music videos, doing the shows and stuff. It’s a big new chapter for us to step into, compared to how the last few years went when we've just been doing our EPs. Now, it feels like we've opened up the playing field a little bit more for ourselves. It’s quite exciting for us.

I feel that the sequence of the songs on Crystalpunk have been thought out in detail by you. Would you go as far as calling it a concept album?

Ben: Thanks for saying that. We definitely put a lot of thought into the setlist. Even before all the songs were written, we were thinking of songs that could go into other ones. We were like, “Maybe this is song four and five, so if we can get us number six, that would go into number seven.” We do feel there is an arc, a rhythm and a journey we take with the album. We've always been heavily influenced by playing live, and we've approached our live sets like a DJ set telling a story. In that regard, you could say it's conceptual, because we do feel like we tell a story with it.

The climax of the album is “Béal Feirste”, which seems to be all about sticking together as the Irish community. Lately, acts championing for Irish language revival have been upfront in music spheres, the most obvious example being Kneecap. How does it feel to be part of that community, living through and shaping this moment in the culture?

Ross: Yeah, it certainly feels like a moment. I think it will be looked back on the same way as New York in the early 2000s or Manchester in the 90s. Something has been bubbling here, so we're excited and inspired by everything happening around us and all different types of media and culture, like TV, film and music. No matter where you come from on the island or what you're trying to do with your art, there's a place now where that's being looked at globally through a lens. People are reaching out from different places and we are doing shows around the world. They just have such an interest in what is happening here, and to be living in it the last few years has been a pleasure. We feel lucky, it’s a privilege to be able to do what we do at the moment.

From the production process of Crystalpunk, what were the easiest and hardest tracks to make?

Ross: “Pain” was the one that came together fairly quickly and it was the first track we had completed for the album. “Skem” was one that we had been playing live for a few years, but we were toying with the idea of whether or not to have a vocal, or where to take it instrumentally. We were asking a lot of questions about that.

What instruments and production tools do you use in the making of the tracks?

Ross: Usually how we work is a lot of demos would be done on Logic, and then you have a volume of sounds and demos. We listen to that and start to build a framework around it and we'll throw that over to Chris (Ryan) on Pro Tools and his studio in Belfast for pre production stuff. We're not really married to any idea like, “We need to get this particular synth out.” We sample a lot and use different digital stuff on the software more than anything, just out of ease and accessibility. Sometimes there might be a call for using a particular type of sound or synth, and we'll look at maybe using a Moog Grandmother or a Prophet, but usually the synth that I use is Alchemy on Logic, a really cool plugin / instrument that I've been coming to learn the last few years. You can get weird with it, but you can also get really basic analog signs. I've been looking into more automation and stuff like that. That has been the birthplace of a lot of our stuff as well as sampling and creating interpolations of things. For Crystalpunk, we kept in that world of mostly computer based plugins.

Your visual identity is integral to what Chalk is. Obviously, you're both film students who give great importance to your music videos. I miss the era when music videos were more accessible, because right now, we need to chase after them intentionally to get to them. Do you also feel that they should be more active points of discussion?

Ben: The music videos have always been a great way for us still to be connected with our film school background, but we also see it as another opportunity to express the song or the vision we had while making the song. There's a real symbiotic process with them. With what you’re saying, totally. I'd say we're old enough to talk about it. I remember having music video DVDs of Blink 182 and stuff like that. There certainly was a time where music videos could be iconic. I mean, there's a lot of great music videos now. In the rap world’s really big artists, you can see there's still money to go around. You still see people put a lot of money into music videos, which I think shows there's a power and a want for them today. Whatever digital landscape we're in now, I think people think there's a lot less need for them, which I do think is a real shame. It used to be a way for me to find new bands, and that still sometimes happens. I jumped on Turnstile pretty late, but the big thing for me was how insane their new music videos were. They were so cool. Then we found out it was a part of a Turnstile movie, so it made so much sense. I still think there's a lot of power in music videos in a way. It's a really cool way to get another aspect of an artist's music.

Someone on the YouTube comments for your “Pain” music video said: “For real, you guys captured the 90's in this style so well. Imagine hearing this back in the day on MTV.”

Ross: Yeah, it is kind of cool that videos used to be like a film on TV. It would maybe freak you out when you're a little younger, but it would stay with you. That's maybe lost now. I'm not sure. You know, it's all on phones now. I suppose everyone sees everything, but it’s nonstop.

If you were to choose a lyric from Crystalpunk that defines the spirit of Chalk, which one would you pick?

Ben: Well, I've got one in my head. We'll see if Ross says the same one.

Ross: I think I know what you’re thinking, and I would say the same, but I’ll change it to “Don't let the fuckers grind you down.”

What was your pick, Ben?

Ben: It was “Shoulder to shoulder.” Was that the one Ross?

Ross: Yeah.

Ben: They're both in “Béal Feirste” anyway. Maybe “Shoulder to shoulder” epitomizes the album, but I'd say “Don't let the fuckers grind you down.” is pretty Chalk-y.

Crystalpunk is out now. Chalk play The Button Factory on May 15th. Tickets: www.mcd.ie.


words: Deniz Ekim Tilif