From a slot at Electric Picnic to opening for The Strypes, Featuring X have been on the up and up in the Irish music scene. They talk to Christine Allen about their humble beginnings and their quest for world domination.

Q: Girls, your most viewed video to date, ‘Wild Love’, has caught the attention of many online. So just who are FEATURING X?

A: Sugar, spice, and everything nice. These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girls. But Professor Utonium accidentally added an extra ingredients to the concoction– Chemical X. Thus, Featuring X were born. Using their ultra-super powers Niamh, Eleanor, Dara, Jenny and Sarah have dedicated their lives to playing music.

Q: We think the name Featuring X is pretty cool. Where did it originate from?

A: Boys have XY chromosomes whereas girls have XX chromosomes. We are girls and therefore we “feature” X chromosomes = Featuring X. We aim to educate.

Q: How was the band itself formed?

A: The five of us did Transition Year in school, and discovered a mutual interest in music through that. We originally came together for a small, local talent competition. Dara had been playing guitar for a few years and Niamh had always been into singing. I (Sarah) learned bass for the band. Originally, Eleanor was our drummer and Jenny was our rhythm guitarist. However, when Jenny learned drums and we realised that Eleanor’s trademark pouting was hidden behind a drum kit, they switched positions.

Q: You’ve been supporting Cavan four piece The Strypes of late. Is it important for you to show live music fans that girls can rock out just as hard as lads?

A: The rock music scene is a male dominated one, so people generally underestimate female musicians. Male and female musicians shouldn’t be in separate leagues. We’re all about girl power, but we don’t feel like we need to burn our bras and prove ourselves to be able to “rock out just as hard as lads”.

Q: What bands/artists do you as a group collectively look up to?

A: We all have different music tastes but we mutually fangirl over Arctic Monkeys, The xx and Florence and the Machine

Q: Where do you get the inspiration for your tracks?

A: Anywhere and everywhere. Eleanor (she writes the songs) once said “I was watching the music video to “Stay high” by Tove Lo, thought she had cute hair, then wrote a song.”

Q: How would you describe your music?

A: A mix of indie, rock and pop.

Q: Featuring X were chosen to play as part of the Guinness Amplify programme, launched earlier this year to support emerging musicians. How have you found this experience so far?

A: Incredible! We will never get used to walking past giant billboards with our faces on them.

Q: Playing Electric Picnic must have undoubtedly been a major highlight for the band in 2013. What other gigs have stood out?

A: The Bellybang festival in summer 2013, supporting The Strypes and any gigs we have played in Sweeney’s in Dublin

Q: Having released your debut EP last year, you’ve now bagged a record deal with indie label Native Records. Where can we expect to see and hear from you in 2015?

A: We’re aiming for world domination but failing that, we’ll have some new tracks out in early 2015. We’ll continue to gig all over the place, so keep an eye on our Facebook for details!