Relish are a rock band from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

composed of brothers Ken (vocals and guitar) and Carl (drums, keyboards and vocals) Papenfus, and until 2013 Darren Campbell (bass and vocals). They have released three albums: 2001's "''Wildflowers''" (Platinum), "''Karma Calling''" (Gold) in 2003 (both of these were on the

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Ireland label), and ''"Connected"'' in 2011. "Wildflowers , Karma Calling was released as a double album package by Universal Records (Ireland) in 2015. The band are perhaps best known for the songs "Rainbow Zephyr" and "You I'm Thinking Of", from their debut album, ''Wildflowers''. The former (a big Irish radio hit in its own right) was covered by

Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...

with slightly changed lyrics and released as a single "

Hey Whatever "Hey Whatever" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released on 15 September 2003 as the lead single from their fourth studio album, '' Turnaround'' (2003). The song is a re-written version of "Rainbow Zephyr", a popular song by Irish ro ...

", which went on to become an international hit. ''Relish'' were fully formed by the mid-1990s when bass player Darren Campbell teamed up with the brothers. The band signed to EMI in 1998 and immediately caught the attention of famed producer

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...

(

The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

). Fans of the band include

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

and Larry Mullen Jr of U2.

History

Upbringing

The Papenfus brothers are sons of South African jazz singer Jane Londis (of Golden City Dixies fame) and doctor of psychology, author and percussionist Stan Papenfus. Their parents fled South Africa whose apartheid system deemed their inter-racial marriage illegal and settled in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in the early 1970s. The Papenfus' sons early musical upbringing was augmented by their parents record collection of jazz, gospel + world music and 1960s rock; their only possession brought from South Africa.

Early bands and Relish formation

Pre-Relish musical outfits included 50/50 (half cover versions/half original) with Steafán Hanvey and grunge + funk metal band The Id. Darren Campbell joined the band, and The Id became Relish after the departure of keyboard player and vocalist Brendan Kelly. Reduced to a 3 piece outfit, all members took up vocal duties with Ken reluctantly assuming lead vocals. After three years of consistent demoing, gigging and building relationships with labels, one demo struck a chord that had record labels visiting the Relish rehearsal room in their home town of

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

Releases

EMI years

Wildflowers

Following a series of auditions in the Papenfus' living room in front of a bemused number of record company A&R personnel, the band signed to EMI Ireland in 1998 and began work on their debut album ''"Wildflowers"'' with acclaimed producer

(

Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian ...

), in UK studios Rockfield, Air and

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

. Al Clay (

Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh pop and rock music, Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Richard Jones (n ...

Pixies Pixies may refer to: * Plural of Pixie * Pixies (band) The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim ...

) was commissioned to produce and mix the next phase of recording at BJG and Windmill Lane studios in Ireland. The 2001 release debuted at No 6 in the Irish charts and was well received in both the UK and Ireland. It spawned a top 10 and two top 30 singles, and a No1 in the airplay charts in Japan with ''"You I'm Thinking Of"'' The album, and particularly its lead singles, ''"Let It Fly"'' and ''"Rainbow Zephyr"'', brimmed over with direct soul and gospel influences, soft in tone but with a clear rock edge.

Karma Calling

''Karma Calling'' was released in 2003 debuting at No. 8 in the Irish charts. Produced by Al Clay it achieved a No11 Irish hit single with Father, Brother, Lover and Son''. During this period live slots included appearances at Scotland's

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

, the

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

, Japan's

Summer Sonic Festival is an annual music festival held on one weekend in August simultaneously in both Chiba and Osaka, Japan. The festival features revolving lineups performing one day in Osaka then performing the next day in Chiba and vice-versa. The lineup often ...

, and by personal invitation by U2's

Larry Mullen Jr. Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2. Mullen's distinctive ...

at Ireland's

Slane Castle Slane Castle () is located in the village of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family seat of the Conyngham family since it was built in the late 18th century, on land first purchased in 1703 by ...

Post EMI years

Connected

On 19 November 2010 Relish performed their first live gig in five years. It was a charity fund raiser for Brendan Kelly, former band member and ex lead vocalist of ''The Id''. In October 2011 a new album called ''"Connected"'' received a low key UK + Ireland release on their own label ''Zephyr Sounds'' licensed to US label

Rock Ridge Music Rock Ridge Music is an independent record label and artist management company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 2004, it has signed, managed, and/or promoted artists including Reel Big Fish, Sister Hazel, Rachel Platten, Matthew Perryma ...

/ADA Warners (which included radio hits "Something To Believe In", "Connected" and "Together You") to positive reviews. Written, recorded, engineered, produced and mixed (almost entirely) by the Papenfus brothers, it was a heavily revised version of "Three Times"; a Japanese only release through CCRE Entertainment in 2009.

''Wildflowers , Karma Calling''

''Wildflowers , Karma Calling'' was released as a double album package in Ireland only by Universal Records (Ireland) in 2015. It was released with the inclusion of the bonus track and hit single "Got It Made".

Side projects

Session work

Andrew Strong

Carl Papenfus appeared on drums with

Andrew Strong Andrew Strong (born 14 November 1973) is an Irish singer and the son of Irish musician and singing coach Robert (Rob) Strong. He grew up in Shandon Park, Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, (where his father lived while performing with showba ...

at Rockpalast, Bonn in 1995

Players

After parting ways with EMI in 2005, Relish took a hiatus with individual members enjoying other musical projects, most notably the Papenfus brothers collaboration with Damon Minchella (

Ocean Colour Scene Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) is an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums, including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 singles to d ...

), Steve White, (

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

Mick Talbot Michael Talbot (born 11 September 1958) is an English keyboardist. He was a co-founder of the Style Council with Paul Weller, and has also been a member of Dexys Midnight Runners, the Merton Parkas and The Bureau (band), the Bureau. Career ...

(

Style Council The Style Council were an English pop band formed in Woking in 1982 by Paul Weller, the former lead vocalist, principal songwriter and guitarist with the rock band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previously a member of Dexys Midnight Run ...

) in "supergroup" The Players album "From the Six Corners" (2005) supported by a European tour including an appearance at the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

=Juno Falls (V2), Paul Brady, Lesley Roy (Jive), Hal, The Answer, Steafan Hanvey

= Carl appeared as drummer on several projects including "Weightless" (2005) by Juno Falls ( V2), "The Paul Brady Songbook" (2002) by

Paul Brady Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age. Initially popular for playing ...

, "Unbeautiful" by

Lesley Roy Lesley Roy (born 17 September 1986) is an Irish singer-songwriter from Balbriggan, County Dublin. She was signed to an independent Irish label in 2006 followed by a record deal with US label Jive Records. She released her debut album '' Unbeaut ...

( Jive) in 2008, "The Time The Hour" (2012) by

Hal HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bengaluru, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

, "Nuclear Family" (2013) and "Honeymoon Junkies" (2006) by Steafán Hanvey and toured Europe with The Answer filling in for injured drummer James Heatley on a leg of their support tour with

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

documented on the accompanying DVD of their live album "412 Days of Rock 'n’ Roll." (2011)

=Paul Weller, Julian Joseph

= Ken guested on guitar with

live and on television and is featured on the live dvd "

Studio 150 ''Studio 150'' is the seventh solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul Weller. It comprises covers of songs by a variety of artists, and showcases Weller's myriad musical influences. It was named after the small Amsterdam studio in wh ...

(2004)" by

whilst also appearing on the aforementioned Steafán Hanvey albums. Ken also took the lead role in

Julian Joseph Julian Raphael Nathaniel Joseph OBE (born 11 May 1966) is a British jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and broadcaster. He has worked solo, in his big band, trio, quartet, forum project band or electric band. Biography Joseph was bo ...

's jazz opera

Tristan and Isolde Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Of disputed source, usually assumed to be primarily Celtic, the tale is a tragedy about ...

that was premiered in London's

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

=Sing Street (musical/soundtrack)

= During 2014/15, Ken and Carl Papenfus co-wrote and performed as guitarist and drummer respectively on the soundtrack of the John Carney movie

Sing Street ''Sing Street'' is a 2016 coming-of-age musical comedy-drama film written and directed by John Carney from a story by Carney and Simon Carmody. Starring Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen, Jack Reynor, Kelly Thornton and Fe ...

, which was later nominated for a Golden Globe on release in 2017 and to be performed as a stage version on Broadway Sinéad O'Connor During 2014 and 2015, Ken and Carl Papenfus performed as guitarist and drummer respectively in

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

's band extensively touring Europe, the USA, Australia and South America and later in 2015 produced and performed her cover version of

Blind Willie Johnson Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945), commonly known as Blind Willie Johnson, was an American gospel blues singer and guitarist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930, thirty songs in all, display a combinat ...

's classic "Trouble Soon Be Over" for the album "The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson" which received two Grammy nominations. The Late Late Show Ken and Carl Papenfus have been members of the house band for Ireland's premier live entertainment programme and second longest running late night talk show in the world - The Late Late Show since 2021.

67 Management

The Papenfus brothers went on to form a music management company, 67 Management, managing

who they've represented since early 2019

Production

The Answer, Marilyn Bane, Sinéad O'Connor, Grainne Duffy The Papenfus brothers first collaboration with The Answer was in producing their first effort ''Breakdown Honey'' (2002). Ken and Carl Papenfus wrote and produced several songs for Marilyn Bane, runner up in Ireland's talent show "

You're a Star ''You're a Star'' is an Irish music competition series broadcast by RTÉ One from 2002 to 2008. Produced by the broadcaster and Screentime ShinAwiL, the series was similar to formats such as '' Idol'' and ''The X Factor''. For its first three ...

" (Irish X Factor) in 2007. For

, Kenny and Carl Papenfus produced and solely performed the cover version of

's classic "Trouble Soon Be Over" for the Grammy nominated album "The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson" also featuring

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

Blind Boys of Alabama Blind often refers to: * The state of blindness, being unable to see * A window blind, a covering for a window Blind may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Blind'' (1987 film), a documentary by Frederick Wiseman about th ...

et al. Also, Ken and Carl have produced several more songs for

: the 2020

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

cover of "Who Was That Masked Man" for

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

magazine's celebration of his 75th birthday, "I'll Be Singing" for the soundtrack of the film "

Wild Mountain Thyme "Wild Mountain Thyme" (also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") is a Scottish/Irish folk song. The lyrics and melody are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and ...

" nominated for a

Hollywood Music in Media Award Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and with Bear McReary produced the theme for the popular

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series " Outlander" (Season 7), sung by

released Summer 2023. Ken and Carl produced and performed on "Shine" by Grainne Duffy.

Zephyr Sounds / High Altitude Recordings

In 2013, the distribution end of the Zephyr Sounds label was opened to facilitate artists and labels globally through Ingrooves, Fontana. Relish released their first single of 2015 "Got It Made" on the Zephyr Sounds imprint via

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

(Ireland) which also appears as a bonus track on the re-release, double package "Wildflowers , Karma Calling". The company changed its name to High Altitude Recordings in 2016.

Awards

''Relish'' received "Best New Hope" at the Irish IRMA Awards in 2001

Discography

*''"Wildflowers"'' (2001) *''"Karma Calling"'' (2003) *''"Three Times"'' (Japan only) (2009) *''"Connected"'' (2011) *"Wildflowers , Karma Calling" (2015)

References

External links

Official Site

67 Management
{{Authority control Musical duos from Northern Ireland Musical trios from Northern Ireland Musical groups from County Down Rock music groups from Northern Ireland Downpatrick 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music