‘TIME FLIES’ as Minnows debut album ‘Holyland’ gets long-awaited digital release

ONE of Northern Ireland’s most iconic singles of the ‘90s, ‘Time Flies’ by Belfast band The Minnows, will soon be available to stream or download for the first time as the band give their debut album ‘Holyland’ a long overdue digital release on July 29.

‘Time Flies’ was released on vinyl and cassette by The Minnows (then known as tiBeriuS’ minnoWs) as their first single on Terri Hooley’s famous Good Vibrations record label in 1991.

A Top 10 hit in Northern Ireland, the song achieved widespread critical acclaim on its release but has gone on to become a signature tune for the band and an enduring favourite of fans at home and beyond – if anything becoming even more popular as time passes.

Following its success as a single, it was to be another five years before ‘Time Flies’ would feature on The Minnows’ debut album ‘Holyland’ in 1996, which also included the popular early single ‘Another Rainy Day’.

Four thousand CD copies of the ‘Holyland’ album were pressed at the time and these sold out very quickly, with Japan the biggest market outside of Ireland.  Despite selling out, there was never a second print run of the popular album, which has led to growing demand in the years that followed for copies to be made available either physically or online.

Now, on the back of increasing interest in the band, following the success of their most recent album ‘Californian Poppy’ and a return to the live stage in 2023 (after an 11-year absence), The Minnows have finally decided to give the album a digital release across all major streaming platforms from July 29, 2024.

The ‘Holyland’ album offers a diverse selection of songs, featuring 13 tracks recorded at two different studios in two very different sets of circumstances.

Four tracks, including ‘Time Flies’ and ‘Another Rainy Day’ were recorded professionally at the famous Homestead recording studio in Randalstown, produced at the time by the late Mudd Wallace and local musician Rod McVey. The remaining songs capture The Minnows at their innocent best – recorded by the band themselves as they experimented and found their way around Green Dolphin Studios in Belfast.

“We were learning the ropes and hadn’t much a clue what we were doing to be honest,” explains lead guitarist and general technical ‘wizard’ Paul ‘Maynesy’ Maynes, now an award-winning sound engineer in his own right.

“I was learning my trade on work experience at Green Dolphin recording studios when the owners went on holiday, so we had the studio to ourselves for two weeks to experiment and to try and capture our live sound on record.  A fortnight later, after much experimentation, we had what we felt was the foundation of a good album.  We already had some professionally recorded songs from Homestead Studios – including ‘Time Flies’ and ‘Another Rainy Say’ so we added them to the mix and hey presto… Holyland was born,” said Maynesy.

Minnows lead singer/songwriter Michael Rafferty (aka ‘Raff’) added:  “We’re delighted to finally give Holyland its digital release after all these years. It’s been a long time coming and something we’ve been meaning to do for ages – but I suppose we just never got around to it.

“It’s certainly not a typical album, having been recorded in two studios. The quality of ‘Time Flies’ and the Homestead recordings is there for all to see but the Green Dolphin sessions were very much ‘trial and error’ and capture a young band finding its feet in the studio, refining its sound and expanding its song-writing horizons. 

“We know those recordings are far from perfect, but innocence and naivety are great qualities that cannot be forged or replicated later and we still have a lot of people who come up to us and say that those early raw ‘Holyland’ recordings are their favourites of all the work we’ve done.

“We know that four thousand people out there have a rare copy of the Holyland CD – it’s great that the album will now to be available globally to a whole new audience, and its longevity now secured online,” said Raff.

The ‘Holyland’ album will be available to stream or download from July 29 on all digital platforms, including iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Bandcamp, and the band’s website www.minnowsband.com.

The Minnows are Michael Rafferty, Paul Maynes, Kevin Carson and Stephen O’Sullivan.  For more Minnows news and music, check out www.minnowsband.com or the band’s Facebook page.