The Ocelots are twin brothers Ashley and Brandon Watson from Wexford. Building on the folk-rock essence of their debut, the duo released in 2025 their highly anticipated second album, Everything, When Said Slowly. This album unveils a richer, more expansive sound, masterfully produced by long-time collaborators Cillian and Lorcan Byrne (Ailbhe Reddy, Susan O’Neill). The narrative woven throughout the album explores themes of Irish migration, the perception of time, love, and the simple joys of cycling.
“The title Everything, When Said Slowly is a response from an old Irish man’s perspective on people leaving our hometown of Wexford over the years past. He said it was a very long time since they left, but not much time if you said it fast. I found it wonderful and profound, but also deeply moving and fitting for the album’s sentiment. How time flies or drags depending on what you’re experiencing, especially when it’s time in a place you said goodbye to.”
Blood harmonies are the centre of The Ocelots’ sound – imperfections of a voice breaking or a tempo shifting. Recorded live in Orphan Recording Studios, by Gavin Glass (Lisa Hannigan, BellX1, David Keenan, John Grant, Villagers), the band’s performances help form a driven, energetic scrapbook, coloured by flutes, synths, harmonica and harmonium. The twin brothers blend absurdity and sincerity in an array of literature-inspired musings. Open tunings and clawhammer banjo bring country-folk contemplation, but the imagery is very much urban, living outside of the romanticised glaze of wood cabins and cottage-core nostalgia.
“Apart from recording the majority of the album in an intense window of three days, we had a long overdubbing phase back in Leipzig. We were able to be more creative with the final touches. I worked in a bookstore and inside we had this beautiful noisy harmonium. I had a lot of fun with that, and I was in love with the sound. Brandon worked day after day on lead guitar parts, harmonica parts and arrangements for cello lines or extra harmonies. It took way longer than it should have, but it was worth it”.
“Everything, When Said Slowly is a joy to listen to—a haunting and majestic album” – KLOF
“Steeped in classic singer-songwriter Americana, invoking everyone from vintage Neil Young to Sufjan Stevens. ” – UNCUT
“Having already seen Wexford duo The Ocelots before, there was a strong hunch their Sunday set would be well worth heading to. Apparently plenty of festival goers thought the same too.. The band, share an easy chemistry and vocal range and the two brothers’ brand of upbeat folk Americana has all in attendance swooning. The Ocelots’ set confirms that the group are worth all the hype which they’ve been building over the past couple of years. – Body & Soul Festival Live review – Nialler9
“Pop-infused indie folk with a touch of literature and blarney” – Americana UK
“Blending folk, indie and rock with confidence – a melancholic undercurrent of country-folk adds to its allure” – Songlines Magazine
“Rich in spellbinding harmonies, The Ocelots second album, Everything, When Said Slowly, takes indie-folk in a compelling new direction. Overall, an impressively honest and poignant piece of work.” – Hot Press
“Take a step back, and that deep breath – that is what folk music of a modern variety has fixated on, and few are doing it better than The Ocelots…” Cult Following
“These brothers are young and assisted with only acoustic guitar and banjo, they harmonise beautifully. As well as their own songs they have keen sense of where they come from as they paid tribute to the Mayor of MacDougal Street, Dave Van Ronk. The Ocelots are clearly a band to watch, and you can see them developing quite an audience with younger listeners.” – Americana UK Live review
Book a table for pre-concert dining
Acapela Studio provides pre-concert dining between 6.00pm and 7.30pm from our pizza oven. To view the current menu visit here.
Please purchase your concert tickets first before booking a table. We will not accept any table bookings that do not have a corresponding ticket purchase.
Then return to the event page to book your table, by selecting the date of your event, number of diners and time you require table. The times shown are the only vacancies left. Please complete your email and phone number as this is required to ensure your table is allocated. You will receive confirmation of your booking by email and text.
If on the date you have chosen no tables are available - no times will be shown and the booking system will revert you back to todays date - PLEASE ENSURE YOU BOOK THE CORRECT DATE!
PLEASE NOTE THE VENUE RELIES ON THE INCOME FROM DINING TO ENSURE WE CAN BOOK ALL THE GREAT ACTS PERFORMING.
Income from the provision of pizzas is very important to the venue and if you have booked a table it is a requirement that all people sat at tables order food - a salad alternative is available to pizzas. Please do ensure that all individuals will be ordering on your table - if this is not the case please cancel your table so others who are looking to dine can do so. Our apologies to raise this but recently we have had many tables (some very large) where less than 50% of those sat at tables have ordered food. Financially this is a real problem to the sustainability of the venue.
- All seating at tables must purchase a pizza - so please do not book a table if everyone is not eating.
- Please ensure that you arrive 10 minutes before the time slot allocated to order your pizzas prior to your booking time.
- Tables not seated within 15 minutes of the allocated time may be lost and allocated to other audience members wishing to order pizzas.
- If you wish to book a table for 6 or more please email info@acapela.co.uk
Please note that all of our pizzas are made fresh to order. It may take up to 45 minutes to be served during busy periods.
IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO BOOK A TABLE YOU CAN STILL ORDER PIZZAS ON THE NIGHT (USUALLY ON BUSY NIGHTS NO LATER THAN 7.15PM) AND WE WILL SERVE THEM TO YOU WHEREVER YOU ARE SAT IN THE VENUE - IN A PIZZA BOX.