Winners of ‘Best Live Act’ at the 2019 NI Music Prize, Sister Ghost is the project of Co. Derry artist Shannon Delores O’Neill. Having a background playing in bands from the age of 12, the project began with Shannon writing and demoing in her attic – singing and playing everything herself – before enlisting the other ‘ghouls’ to bring Sister Ghost to completion.
Playing noisy, spectral art-rock with a pop & literary heart, O’Neill and the band marshal a diverse set of influences in a singular way – from the ‘Seattle sound’ to the likes of Sonic Youth, Veruca Salt, Patti Smith and Kate Bush.
Shannon has been recognised for mentoring and encouraging other female-identified musicians to perform in the Northern Irish scene, having also set up the Girls Rock! NI chapter in 2016. Sister Ghost has garnered high profile support slots with Shellac, Pussy Riot, Petrol Girls and Le Butcherettes, as well as airplay on BBC 6 Music and a Next Wave Artist slot on BBC Radio 1.
With a debut album in the works, recent singles ‘Fake Friends Run This Country’ and ‘Bruised Fruit’ have received favourable reviews in the likes of Hot Press magazine and The Guardian newspaper; equal parts emphatic and earworming, Sister Ghost’s new material is their most vital to date.
“An independent force; a defiant artist” CLASH Magazine
“One of the most gifted songwriters to come out of the North in a long, long time” Stephen McCauley, BBC Radio Ulster
“Like Joan Jett, Donita Sparks, and Joe Strummer rolled into one”
Pure M Zine
“Tense yet hook filled, Sister Ghosts sound is a breath of fresh air on the garage/punk scene. A blistering meld of Sonic Youth meets Sleater-Kinney and that’s something to be very excited about.”
The Last Mixed Tape
“With Sister Ghost you can hear echoes of Sonic Youth, early nineties discord stuff. It’s just classic indie rock with no mucking about.”
Steven Rainey, BBC Radio Ulster
https://youtu.be/7Vpp0zPcv7M