“The Lions Are Ravenous and They Eat Us Up”: On Tour With the Irishmen of Inhaler

“We’ve been touring for years, and we look awful now,” drummer Ryan McMahon proclaimed on a couch next to his bandmates. The rest of Inhaler, the Irish band made up of guitar player Josh Jenkinson, bass player Robert Keating, and lead singer Eli Hewson, all nodded in agreement. When they called us from Houston, the boys had been put through the wringer, as Keating confessed that codeine had helped them, survive a number of sick-day performances. But you’d never guess the “My Honest Face” singers were as worse for wear as they claimed. Maybe that’s just the Irish in them. Hailing all the way from Dublin, the indie-rock band just dropped their third studio album, Open Wide, in February 2025, which features hits like “Your House” and “Billy (Yeah Yeah Yeah).” Despite the wear and tear of life on the road, the band decided to take the project Stateside. Before they jetted off to begin the European leg of their tour, we caught up with the lads to talk about Spring Break in Florida and how it feels to watch TikTok fan cams of themselves. “It’s very flattering,” Jenkinson quipped. “But it’s like, if you see it yourself, it’s not for you.”

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ARY RUSSELL: Where are you guys right now?

JOSH JENKINSON: We’re in Houston.

RUSSELL: Houston? Okay. Is that your first time? 

RYAN MCMAHON: Second.

JENKINSON: Yeah, second time playing in Houston.

ELIJAH HEWSON: You should know this. [Laughs]

RUSSELL: How is it to celebrate it in Houston?

HEWSON: It’ll be good. The backstage crew were all saying, “I don’t know, it’s not really a thing here.” But we’ll find somewhere. I think tonight will be the epicenter.

RUSSELL: I remember a long time ago, you used to do this thing where you would ask for Irish pub recommendations in the city. Do you guys still do that or not?

HEWSON: No. I should pull that out tonight though. That’s a good one.

MCMAHON: This is our third St. Patrick’s Day in America now in the last four years or something.

ROBERT KEATING: We’ve just been in America all the time. It’s great. I mean, they celebrate it a lot harder.

RUSSELL: Next time you guys are in New York, you guys should actually go to a place called Woodlawn, which is all the way up in the Bronx, but it’s known as one of the most Irish places in the country. You’ll hear so many Irish accents. It’s so crazy.

HEWSON: Oh my god, it actually does sound like a fun day.

RUSSELL: I want to talk to you guys a little bit about the record before we start talking about the tour. Specifically, you guys worked with Kid Harpoon on this record. How did you guys come to meet and start working together?

HEWSON: Well, we’d heard obviously of his talents, because he did the Harry Styles album and then more recently after that, the Kings of Leon album. Kings of Leon, for us, were everything at one point. And it was like, “Okay, if he can do that and he can do pop, then maybe he could do us.” And we just got on the phone with him and instantly fell in love. He’s a bit of a scientist, to be honest. He really gets involved. He’s not like one of those producers who sits with their shoes off in the background, comes in every couple hours. He’s there all day. He’s really great.

RUSSELL: It’s been just the four of you for such a long time, so how did bringing in an outsider affect your chemistry as a band? 

JENKINSON: I think it made us stronger as a four, because as you said, it’s an outsider coming in, so I think he also respected that too, that we were all going to kind of gravitate towards each other and have each other’s backs. So I think he was very diplomatic in the way he worked with us and stuff like that. 

HEWSON: Yeah, I think he was aware. Also because he just worked with Kings of Leon and they have their strict routines and social hierarchy in that band, I guess. He was very kind of used to it, I think.

 

RUSSELL: Was it a challenge having someone force you a little bit outside of your comfort zone? Because like you said, he had previously done the Harry record, which is very, very pop.

JENKINSON: Yeah, I think it definitely challenged us to make sure we had all our shit together because we don’t have a good track record of it, but this time we did it and it was great. We did pretty much all of it ourselves, which was a really nice feeling.

HEWSON: There were moments where we were hinting that we wanted him to write something, but I think he really wanted to just produce and see what came out. We had that before with our old producer, but we’ve worked with him since we were 18, so we were kind of set in our ways, certain kinds of habits.

RUSSELL: Are there any producers you guys want to work with in the future?

MCMAHON: Good question. I’d like Kevin Parker to produce something.

HEWSON: That would be cool. I mean, yeah, anyone like that. Tame Impala was also a massive influence on us.

MCMAHON: A few names, but you don’t give away anything.

HEWSON: You don’t want to be too uncool. You don’t want anyone to think that you want them.

RUSSELL: You’ve got to make them sweat. Be like, “Oh, I don’t really care.”

HEWSON: We’re playing hard to get.

RUSSELL: Exactly. So for your first two albums, you guys were on the cover. So what was the decision behind not having your faces on this one and showing a cherry blossom instead?

MCMAHON: We’ve been touring for years and we look awful now.

RUSSELL: You guys are run down.

JENKINSON: Just wanted to switch it up, I guess.

RUSSELL: So, now moving into tour a little bit, I did some kind of calculation and in terms of the pre-show set list, I think I figured out that it’s from Bobby’s Spotify?

JENKINSON: Great deduction.

KEATING: You worked hard for that one. It’s public, isn’t it? That playlist?

RUSSELL: Your account is public, but it doesn’t really have a set vibe. You’ve got “Nightcall” by Kavinsky, but then you go to “Birds of a Feather,” but then you go to Fontaines D.C. So I’m really curious, what is the rationale behind the songs that you’re going to pick to set the tone for the show?

KEATING: I don’t know. I can’t remember when we started making the pre-show playlists. I think we started doing it once we realized we actually had that power as a headline act, because when we used to support loads we wouldn’t even really consider it, but I think it’s just a fun part of the night where I guess people just get to enjoy themselves and just trying to play to the room, I guess. It’s a mix of our favorite songs and songs that we like, but then also songs that maybe our fans would like as well. But we haven’t ever spent too much time on it and I think that’s probably a good thing, because it would never get done otherwise. As long as there’s no Inhaler on it, because that would be overkill, I think.

RUSSELL: You got to keep the fans hungry like lions.

KEATING: Exactly, so the lions are ravenous and they eat us up.

RUSSELL: Well, speaking of eating you up, your fans get really crazy. I mean, you guys have already got people that are lining up at 5:00 AM for your gigs. What is the quintessential way for a fan at a gig to get your attention? Who are your eyes gravitating towards in the crowd?

KEATING: People who don’t film. When you can see people’s faces as opposed to their phones.

HEWSON: It’s funny, because sometimes people hold up signs with really small writing and they’re quite far away and they’re like, “Please read this,” or whatever and you’re trying to play a really hard part or something. But yeah, usually it depends. It’s easy to do a gig and kind of just squint your eyes and just see all of it as one thing, but focusing in on the details sometimes is a little scary. Our fans are always very, very sweet and they always bring us presents and they’ll always come back with a pocket full of shitty three-dollar shades and maybe some cigarettes. I don’t know, they all look like a big community. I think that’s something that’s really nice about it, that they’re all really bonded over our music and they’re spending time together in the line, I think. And just being at the show all day, it’s a pretty nice thing to be able to do for people.

RUSSELL: And your fans are really loyal.

MCMAHON: I met one outside who said that it’s her 20th time seeing us tonight. So cool.

RUSSELL: You guys have this rock star energy. I’m curious, is there ever a chance that you guys would fully crowd-surf, fully immerse yourself in that kind of era of ’90s rock stars from Sonic Youth, The Stone Roses, that type of vibe?

KEATING: I was going to say, Eli’s already done it.

HEWSON: I did it years ago, before we even had an album out.

RUSSELL: How’d that work out?

HEWSON: They kind of half held me up. I just kind of stayed there. I can’t believe I did that.

JENKINSON: It was funny. It was good. Ryan did it as well by accident.

MCMAHON: When I fell into the crowd. There’s a great clip of it online, but we won’t tell you.

JENKINSON: Yes. None of us have actually done it during the gig. I don’t know, I guess we’re too concentrated on what we’re playing.

RUSSELL: Before you go out on stage, how are you guys mentally, physically, emotionally preparing? What’s in your system?

MCMAHON: It’s different most nights.

KEATING: Heavy rage of hard drugs [Laughs]. That was a joke. A lot of codeine. Actually, to be honest, we’ve been sick a good bit recently, so that’s almost not far from the truth. We just finished up a tour in the UK and some of us were on antibiotics since we were doing shows with fevers and we were just like, “This is tough.” But we honestly go pretty easy. We’d all have maybe sometimes a shot for some of the gigs where we get more nervous. Other times we’ll just roll on with a bottle of water and just enjoy the show. There’s no crazy rituals.

MCMAHON: Some venues have a little tune-up room in them where we come in and play a bit of music together before going on. People do their warm-ups. It’s all very boring stuff, honestly.

KEATING: I guess it’s boring for us, but I guess most people would find it interesting because we’re not just sitting around doing cocaine and getting hammered and then going out and playing a show, which is what I think people think bands used to do or still do, which is just very far from the truth if you want to have consistent touring life and a happy life.

RUSSELL: Cocaine is not conducive to that. So you guys have opened for Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Harry. What are some of the things that you’ve learned from them?

MCMAHON: Well that’s a good question.

JENKINSON: Well, the Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys all had tune-up rooms, which is just a practice room, and I think we all were like, “Wow, that’s amazing.” Because you just think they just roll on and do their thing without practicing or giving a shit. So to know that they’re actually practicing before made me go, “Oh wow, I should probably be doing that.” Then we’ve been doing it and even some of the bands that we’ve toured with, one or two of them have said, “Oh, we looked at the way that you guys practiced before going on.” So it’s pretty cool to know that.

MCMAHON: I think the Monkeys, not directly, passed on to us how important it is to put care into the show. After they finished soundcheck, Alex Turner would go off for an hour to the sound desk and go through lights and things like that. And so we’ve taken that and tried to put more time and care into making sure that things are as right as we can have them. Sometimes we don’t always execute them as best we can, but the care is definitely there. It kind of depends on the venue, I think. 

RUSSELL: You guys have some free time on tour. I see from the photos that you play Guitar Hero, and I think you guys went to Harry Potter World. What is everyone’s house in Harry Potter?

HEWSON: Oh, man. We didn’t get sorted. I imagine if I had to guess, Rob’s Slytherin.

KEATING: Josh, Ravenclaw; Ryan, Hufflepuff. Eli, you’re Griffindor. That would be my sorting.

RUSSELL: This will sound like a stupid American question. Do you guys have amusement parks in Ireland?

HEWSON: We have small ones like Clara Lara, a little water park.

MCMAHON: We’ve nothing back home on the scale of anything over here in America.

HEWSON: Yeah, I feel like, honestly, Disneyland or Universal is bigger than Dublin the city.

RUSSELL: I know you guys have been to America before, but what’s been your favorite moment outside of touring? 

HEWSON: I would say literally the night before going out in St. Pete for just two hours, but just seeing a bit of spring break in Florida, which I’ve never ever seen. I’ve only seen it on South Park before.

RUSSELL: What horrific things did you see on Florida’s spring break?

HEWSON: It reminded me of like, Magaluf in Spain, which we went to when we were 18. And I really liked the heat and the weather and everyone was just out being wild. I like the weirdness of it. Where else have we gone? 

MCMAHON: We’ve gone to a lot of new places on this run actually. Portland, Maine was beautiful. I don’t know, I think I’m just excited to keep coming back here and seeing new places for the first time. It reignites the love of touring a little bit.

RUSSELL: What’s been the best meal that you guys have had on this run?

JENKINSON: We had good burritos in Florida.

KEATING: Fort Lauderdale, we had a great day of food. Josh and I had Mexican three times in one day.

RUSSELL: Living or dead, what rock legend would you want to attend your show?

HEWSON: What’s the deaf guy? Beethoven? I’m joking. God, that’s really tough. 

KEATING: What’s his name? Link Wray, the guy who did that first-ever electric guitar song. If he’d heard Josh’s guitar sounds he’d be like, “How the hell is he playing that?”

MCMAHON: That’s a good answer.

JENKINSON: I don’t know. I don’t want anybody to come.

KEATING: What about Pitbull? 

RUSSELL: Mr. 305. 

HEWSON: Mr. Worldwide.

RUSSELL: You guys spend hours and hours on the bus traveling from place to place. I’m sure you’re filling that time with TikTok, as most people are, or Reels. What is on your algorithm rotting your brain?

JENKINSON: You don’t want to know.

RUSSELL: I do want to know.

JENKINSON: It’s like brain rot to the highest capacity. It’s beyond brain rot.

KEATING: I showed Louis [Lambert], our keyboard player and our best friend, my algorithm the other day and he was appalled. He’d sat down for 20 minutes and couldn’t understand why my algorithm looked the way it did.

JENKINSON: I think one thing that we do all kind of get is a lot of live videos. Your man Joe [Keery], I see him all the time. I don’t listen to Djo, but I see him all the time. Clairo a lot. 

MCMAHON: I see a lot of Tyla on my Reels these days.

KEATING: I see Tyla as well.

RUSSELL: Is there a TikTok trend or phrase that you either love or hate?

MCMAHON: The word “slay” kind of annoys me. Very much.

JENKINSON: I don’t mind slay.

KEATING: Slay represents like, “You go, girl!”

HEWSON: I don’t know. I hear all this stuff like “skibidi rizz” and shit. Where was that when I was a kid? 

RUSSELL: Do you guys ever get Inhaler edits of yourself?

HEWSON: Yeah. That’s why I have to delete TikTok.

MCMAHON: I get a little bit more of those, but mostly my friends sending them to me being like, “You disgust me. Why is this on my feed?”

RUSSELL: You guys aren’t flattered by someone basically creating this cinematic experience of you on stage?

JENKINSON: It’s very flattering but it’s like, if you see it yourself, it’s not for you. You know what I mean?

HEWSON: Did you watch The White Lotus last night? The Sam Rockwell bit. That’s what it’s kind of like for Josh.

JENKINSON: For me?

RUSSELL: Josh is like, “No, I love it. I look great.”

JENKINSON: I just want to see Rob edits though. That’s all I need.

KEATING: One thing I will say is that we do appreciate the fact that they’re helping our band and people are excited to make Inhaler content, though we don’t like watching it ourselves because that would be incredibly narcissistic and egotistical and some of them are bizarre. It’s still cool that people want to go home after a day at school or a busy day at work and then go, “Oh, I want to make this thing about this band because I like them.”

HEWSON: It kind of started off with people who were just making memes. And then our fans would just make really mean memes.

KEATING: It still is that.