men i trust
April 2019 FREE
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MASTER AND APPRENTICE Innovation never stands still, and neither does this Irish micro-distilled gin “tasting expedition”. To help celebrate the launch of METHOD AND MADNESS gin, we’ve created an interview and portraiture series exploring the dynamic of master and apprentice.
“Our ambition when making gin is to pay respect to the past while creating something unique for some madness.”
These well-known mentors and their apprentices highlight the ethos and creativity of METHOD AND MADNESS; where master distiller Brian Nation works closely with his apprentice Henry Donnelly. In working together they are “able to combine the knowledge and tools of the past with the skills of the present to create spirits for the future” at their Midleton distillery. Visit districtmagazine.ie to read the full series.
Niall Sabongi
“It’s not a case of trying to teach but rather remind people that we are an island and we’re very proud of the bounty we have around it.” 2 3
Adam Carroll
Henry Donnelly
Kim Mackenzie
“She’s going to have to absorb quite a lot of information, quite a lot of which might not be so comfortable and might be a little bit hard to take but it’s all for her benefit to get her on her chosen path.” Brian Nation
Zie Kirk
LAUNCH METHOD AND MADNESS gin have just launched and you can be one of the first to taste it in a truly interesting setting with DJs and delicious beverages. Setting off at La Peniche on Mespil Road, you’ll go on a 90 minute “taste expedition” boat journey up the Grand Canal. Micro-distilled with 16 balanced botanicals, led by black lemon and wild Irish gorse flower; METHOD AND MADNESS gin is “bursting with citrus, spice, and a hint of ‘What if?’.” The voyage will be an intersection of art and science, which is the ethos closely aligned with one of the world’s newest gins, METHOD AND MADNESS. Tickets are €25, with departures at 7.00pm and 9.00pm on Friday April 5, and 5.00pm, 7.00pm and 9.00pm on Saturday April 6.
Please enjoy METHOD AND MADNESS responsibly.
Visit Eventbrite.ie for tickets.
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1 -2 ADAM COURT off GRAFTON STREET - DUBLIN 2 GOOD FRIDAY PARTY
LOST LANE LAUNCH PARTY
KORMAC SUPPORT Spacevolk
FRI. 12.4.19
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INTERSKALACTIC
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ZASKA, HAIKU JOIN ME IN THE PINES THURS. 25.4.19
SAINT SISTER FRI. 26.4.19
DAVID KITT SAT. 20.4.19
WYVERN LINGO SUPPORT Síog
SAT. 27.4.19
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SHIPS KATIE KIM MARGIE LEWIS
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BRONAGH GALLAGHER
THE VERY ROUND ROBIN
SUN. 5.5.19
THURS. 2.5.19
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with Joseph O’Connor and more special guests
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JAMESON CASKMATES AND TONIC. WHY? TASTE, THAT’S WHY.
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We’re drowning in print right now and we’re not even complaining. As well as the GUIDE that you’re holding in your hands right now, we’re publishing the Spring edition of our food and drink cut CHAR very soon too, with Matty Matheson adorning the cover. Also, in the next month or so we’re going to announce District Issue 006, so keep your ear to the ground for that. We’ve been working on shoots and interviews with some of the most illuminating names in hip hop, R&B and alternative music for our bi-annual, and as always we’re going to have a huge party to celebrate. We’ll keep you in the loop. With all of these deadlines it’s lucky there’s so much good stuff happening in Dublin at the moment for us to cover in this month’s GUIDE. For the cover story Carla Jenkins caught up with Emma and Dragos from the band Men I Trust to discuss the impact touring has on their creativity, illustrated by images they kindly supplied to us from their last few months on the road. I had an in-depth conversation about destroying ego with Dublin’s own Krystal Klear, Aoife Donnellan caught up with one of the most exciting groups in Ireland, PowPig, and Hannah O’Connell and Natalya O’Flaherty discuss the young spoken word artist’s debut headline show. -Eric 8
Editor // Eric Davidson
Deputy Editor // Hannah O’Connell
Operations Director // Craig Connolly
Creative Director // James McGuirk
Additional Design // Annie Moriarty
Culture Editor // Aoife Donnellan
Food & Drink Editor // Caitriona Devery
Photography // George Voronov, Ellius Grace, Joshua Gordon,
Edoardo Forato, Kirstin Campbell, Aaron Corr, Daniel Reidy
Words // Carla Jenkins, Rosie Gogan-Keogh, Sophie Murphy
Advertising // Ricky Lahart / ricky@districtmagazine.ie
Website // districtmagazine.ie
Issue 001-005 Creative Director // Johnny Brennan
We want you to keep and collect every issue of GUIDE, because for us it’s a snapshot of Dublin culture that you can look back on. But if you are disposing of this magazine, please be responsible and recycle it.
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12 / Men I Trust 20 / Perfect day in Dublin 24 / Collaborative Language 28 / Film-maker Sam McGrath 32 / PowPig 38 / Ode to Urbanity 44 / Live guide 46 / Alyssa Carson on Mars 54 / Skin Deep: Otis Ingle 58 / Natalya O’Flaherty 64 / Artist Spotlight: Pigsy 68 / Club guide 70 / Krystal Klear 76 / Quinton Campbell 82 / Lunchonette at NCAD 86 / Pizza
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men i trust 12
Words: Carla Jenkins
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n Canada, there is a city that speaks predominantly French; I’ve always found that a funny thing. Known for its architecture and European lifestyle in a country that is synonymous with snow and being mistaken as the USA, Quebec endures quietly and stylishly. It is trés chic, trés beautiful and trés unexpected. Men I Trust crept up on us in that same quiet, stylish manner. They too are trés chic and trés beautiful, hailing from Montreal; everything that you wouldn’t associate with bands that refuse labels or management or handling. They exude an air of keeping on with keeping on. When I caught up with Emma Proulx and Dragos Chiriac, two out of the three that comprise of Men I Trust, they were sleepy and peaceful. “We just woke up, so we’re half human right now,” Emma tells me. “It’s not that early, we should be ashamed…” “We had a late show a couple of days ago and we saw some friends,” Dragos explains. “So…” These hazy French-Canadian accents are very much in keeping with the music of Men I Trust. Their sound is that same heady mix of exotic familiarity which would feel destabilising if it wasn’t so beautiful. You can listen to whole albums before you realise that you had allowed their songs to blend into one experience. Forming in 2014, the trio have travelled, rested, and are now on the cusp of a new tour. “At the beginning it was just Jessy [Caron] and Dragos together, they were high school friends who met again at university,” Emma tells me. “Jessy was studying jazz guitar and Dragos was doing musicology, so mixing and mastering. They started talking about making beats and they were really drawn to Daft Punk-ish music and Italo disco, and they enjoyed it so much that they kept on doing it and started the band. “For the first one or two years it was guest singers and just the two guys together. I was one of those guests, and I suppose I was really motivated… From then on I never left the band. Maybe because I was the only one who didn’t have any other projects… I don’t know. But I’m here and it’s been three years.” There’s an interesting dynamic in the group, and I think it comes from the friendship of its members. Does quality music get made more naturally if the members are friends first, or does the friendship come after the making of good music? I put the question to Emma. “Both works! When you start a band, you’re a little more in harmony because you’ve tested your friendship before. We all have our horror stories about bands who were not friends… We’re really good friends in real life, it makes things a lot easier. The creative process is split in three, the sound has definitely evolved, my presence has changed something.”
Emma’s presence has indeed changed something, but it’s all for the better. I don’t think that I can be blamed for wondering about the dynamics of the group before Emma joined, and how it changed when she did. “It’s not frustrating, but it’s so often compared to what people think it is, because everyone tends to put it in relation to me,” she says discussing how the band name came about. “It was super positive, it was the two guys together and they wanted to be called Trust, basically to have a positive name. But Trust was already taken, so they went with Men I Trust.” The band have toured extensively, to the point where touring is synonymous with their music and image – their visuals seem always to be on the move, everywhere and nowhere at once. “It’s easy to forget what happens, because so many things happen,” Dragos tells me. “When you travel you try to keep a travel diary, but our travel is touring! We only really realised we toured by looking at those pictures!” Emma adds. “All the venues look the same and you spend so much time on the road, so [by taking pictures] I can remember all the moments more clearly,” says Dragos. He is considered in his answers and laughs at himself when I recall one of his quotes about keeping his music minimal to let the melodies tell the stories. While so many songs by Men I Trust are tracks that know themselves and are unashamed about their potential, I wondered if the minds behind the tracks were as self-assured, particularly on such a gruelling tour schedule. Does touring affect their creativity? “For me, touring means I definitely have less time to write music,” says Dragos. “I have enough time to write lyrics, but it’s hard to be in the car and make a music project… There’s so much ambient noise and it’s harder to concentrate. Touring also influenced our song-writing when we were back home too, because all of the shows you play let you see how different crowds react to different songs. When we started touring we had lots of dreamy, very slow songs and ever since that time we started making more guitar-driven songs, more upbeat like ‘Say, Can You Hear’ and ‘Seven’. They’re the ones that are the most uplifting and fun to play live. When people go out and see your show it’s fun if part of the set is introspective and intimate, but at the same time you also need to have some uplifting songs because people are there to have a good time and dance.” “I think everything that you go through in life is going to impact you in a different way,” says Emma. “It’s personal for everyone, but touring for me has been about looking at different landscapes and environments that inspire me… Being less in the studio and more in venues, our reflexes are different… More show-driven. But I think it gives a good balance.” 15
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“We try to say the most with the least” 17
We are brought back to that question of landscapes and geography that initially haunted my thoughts about the music of Men I Trust, and that haunts their visuals. Images that are beautiful to the absolute extreme, enough to become otherworldly, accompany the songs expertly. Looking at the sound and visuals together, one understands what Dragos means when he describes song-writing as “making a movie in your head”; as something totally experiential. From dusty wide vistas to blue lakes, the pictures mark the chameleonic and adaptable tendencies of Men I Trust. From melodic beachy, dreamy pop to harder, more guitardriven, rhythmic sounds, no two tracks sound the same, and yet, they blend into a sonic landscape just like the ones that Emma stands in front of in their pictures. It’s the ultimate maximalist product from a complete minimalist output – not drowning the sound out with technique, but instead having it deafening in its mastery. “We try to say the most with the least,” Dragos says. “That’s just a general quality of poetry.” And do they want people to feel emotional about their creations? “Yes and no, because emotional has a lot of different meanings,” Emma tells me. “When you’re younger you tend to listen to over romantic music, very sad music or…” “Self-destructive music?” chimes Dragos. “Yeah, or intense,” she replies. “I think with the feedback that I have from our music that makes us really happy is that it comforts people, but it’s not destructive. Larger than in the moment. We really think about the lyrics, they’re really important to us. That’s what makes us proud. We try to make it as meaningful as possible and that’s the passion we have.” And where do these lyrics come from? “It’s usually either what we live, or something that happens to us,” answers Dragos. “The lyrics are more like ideas and we’re in a conversation with the listener asking, ‘Hey, what do you think about this idea?’, that’s how I see it.” Men I Trust don’t use management or labels, but instead are totally self-contained in their dealings. I believe that this contributes to the raw tightness of their sound, their confidence in their playing and the slight irony in their title. We could live without their music and they accept that, but the world would be worse off without them. without. Without cliché, their belief in their art carried them through every separate occasion in which external forces told them to give up. “At the beginning we needed help from people, but no one was interested in signing our band,” Dragos tells me. “We talked with a couple of industry people, and they didn’t think there was any commercial potential. So, we had to learn how to do everything ourselves, and once you do something once, twice, three times, it starts to get pretty easy… It’s not a big deal, and the liberty you have in doing your own stuff is the best. Also, the thing with a label, we like being able to do 18
a song or an album and release it when we want, not to be slowed down by a team. We just put it out.” We are living in a time when many artists feel they must allow their talent to be handled and managed for it to be validated. I ask Emma and Dragos if they felt that their decision not to seek management or a label was rebellious. “I would say, thinking back about those days when we were struggling, we felt a little rebellious, but it’s not the main reason. It’s for creative freedom,” says Emma. “It’s fun to have our own stuff and go at our own pace,” adds Dragos. “We don’t do our own press any more, we used to, now we pretty much just answer emails to people who connect with us, like you did! We just answer emails and do our music.” Something that I find staggering to wrap my head around is that Men I Trust released two albums before establishing a large fan-base. This would be impossible without their mindset and decisions to opt-out of external pressures; it takes a certain level of gumption, confidence, self-belief. “It’s not as easy as it looks,” Emma laughs. “The freedom is nice, but it’s a lot of work… If you’re really motivated it’s a very good way to do your thing. You don’t need to be surrounded by a huge team.” “Consistency is the most important,” Dragos says. “If you’re a band starting off, don’t focus straight away on releasing a whole album. It takes a lot of experience to do that.” And what then about releasing their albums – wasn’t that particularly daunting, without being sure that other people would enjoy them? “What is a shame with an album [being released too soon] is that you don’t have an audience already, or people waiting for an album,” says Dragos. “So, you can put so much effort into a project, you can almost go crazy doing that full time, with your head just in that…” I ask if they had any advice for musicians currently in the position they found themselves in before. The answer was in the same chic, minimal, beautiful way that seems to come so naturally to both. There was a tenderness in the way that Emma spoke about Dragos’s perseverance that betrayed her complete trust in her band-mates talent and ability. He laughed, but it was there, and it was mutual. “People’s plan B become their plan A,” Emma tells me. “Everyone around Dragos had a plan B but he didn’t, and he was in deep shit… He had no money, but he said the only way he’d survive is this, and he was so motivated. Just have a plan A, and if you can’t eat one morning then maybe try figure out things, but stick to it as much as you can, even if it’s hard.” Men I Trust play The Workman’s Club on May 8.
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PERFECT
David Tapley
Musician @tandemfelixareok Last place you ate? I would like to take this opportunity to promote one of the most exclusive eateries in all of Dublin and that is the canteen in the office complex where I work. I am currently eating a pork burger and listening to Stiff Little Fingers. Last pub you went to? I had a bad post-Paddy’s Day head on me, so my girlfriend and I went to Smyth’s on Haddington Road for a settler. Favourite place to escape to? I like the famous weir in Lucan village as a place to sit and think. Favourite place to go to in the sun? The cinema. What’s one thing you see every day here? A computer screen. What would you like to see less of? Liverpool in the top four. Best memory of the city? I have a poor memory, so casting my mind back is a problem. But an oddly specific memory from my childhood was driving home from town after my sister’s college graduation. My dad parked near where he worked and the visual stimulation of driving home through the Dublin night has stayed with me for some reason. Best place for a Guinness? Fallon’s at the bottom of Francis Street. Southside seaside or Northside seaside? Went to the “Hole in the Wall” in Sutton last year and that was very pleasant. There was a helicopter hovering above because someone almost drowned.
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Interviews & Photography: Ellius Grace
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Keith Kavanagh Illustrator & Animator @johnnycigarettex
Last place you ate? Moore Street, eating coddle out of an auld one’s claw. Last pub you went to? Lucky’s, to write your number and ‘Call for a good time ;),’ in the bathroom. Favourite place to escape to? Games Workshop, to get away from paparazzi. Favourite place to go to in the sun? Anywhere, with a beach towel, a foldable mirror and a bottle of baby oil. What’s one thing you see every day here? My reflection in wedding dress shops, except the mannequin has my face. What would you like to see less of? Garda after me. Best memory of the city? Winning the Women’s Mini Marathon. Best place for a Guinness? On daddy’s knee. He lets me play with the ball from the can afterwards! Southside seaside or Northside seaside? Southside seaside! I’m going to retire in Dun Laoghaire, swim in the Forty Foot every day and live forever!
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COLLABORATIVE LANGUAGE
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rtist Lisa Freeman is interested in redesigning the way people interact with language; a fundamental aspect of life. This month The LAB Gallery is hosting a workshop, affording participants the opportunity to rediscover language. Lisa hopes to help people to isolate aspects of text that appeal to them, as well as inspire them to reclaim meaning for use in their own lives. Empathy, compassion, love, fear, hate; all aspects of the human condition rely on the way we communicate them to the world. Responding to one another in an authentic way is crucial for everyone to prosper. In a time when rhetoric means power, I spoke with Lisa Freeman and LAB curator Sheena Barrett about how they hope people will reimagine their relationship with language.
Words: Aoife Donnellan Photography: Daniel Reidy
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What inspired this collaboration between text and language? Lisa: I’m always looking out for odd ways that people communicate with each other and the idea of melding two different forms of communication to make some sort of hybrid ‘newness’ really appealed to me. I write scripts for my performances, I am interested in language and how meaning and interpretation can shift when it is methodically manipulated. Some of the sources for my scripts come from an investigation of self-help books, violence in popular culture, mainstream media, contradictions about appearance, feelings, cultural traditions and societal/political views. I wanted to create collaboration between text and language out of sheer curiosity and at the heart of this workshop is experimentation. I hope that the structure will allow participants to work intuitively and let go of their preconceived ideas around writing or forming words together in this short time frame. Could you explain the concept of “new language”? Lisa: Miscommunication in all its forms is a tricky area. We’ve all been burnt in some way by the miscommunications we’ve directly or indirectly experienced. For me, the idea of a ‘new language’ is essentially a space to graft together words and phrases to place them out of their original context. When you look at things from a distance that you normally see at the tip of your nose, a new thought might occur about said thing. When you find yourself in a privileged position to observe rather than accept what you see, what you say in response to this might be a new language.
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Linear meaning can be so stifling sometimes that I run a zig zag route, even though I know it’ll take longer I feel freer. It’s odd but refreshing; I look forward to people joining me. Reconfiguring the intentions of language has never been so important as monetised media and clickbait, continues to incite fear and violence. Why is it worth understanding the language we use? Lisa: I’m fascinated by cliché-ridden language and stock phrases. The comfort of relying on this language can be dangerous. There’s always the chance that people will become the product of the clickbait media they consume. This consumption is so every day that I want to open up the possibility to take control over this language and form new, if not strange ideas that will hopefully allow us to reflect, or will ask questions of our current time. Finding new ways to articulate oneself is a chance to challenge the conventional, standardised codes of expression; in my practice I conduct this through performative situations. With this in mind, I want the participants to experience a sense of ownership over passivity. People are beginning to understand the power of their language, with Twitter debates sparking political action. Do you think censorship has a place in the 21st century? Lisa: I see such enormous value in having this online territory to share your message and feel the support. A huge example of this for me was the REPEAL movement. It was heartening to know that there was a
constant flow of people posting, sharing, liking... I felt held afloat by it. But I also see the lack of censorship in things like the comments sections and the toxicity within this is troubling. Like American congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says, ‘It’s increasingly starting to look like our society (namely, our democracy) has a Facebook problem’. This comment came in the wake of Facebook removing ads that criticised its power. Questioning censorship and who has the power to censor is an important reality, one that we are slowly coming to terms with. Sheena: I think the issue of censorship of humans versus censorship of the bot is also interesting. Jennifer Redmond during her artist residency in Parity Studios in UCD demonstrated how easy it was to set up an automated Twitter account which spewed hatred in response to users, triggered by certain words. The increasingly toxic environment that ensues is deeply problematic in normalising violent and threatening language directed at individuals in a public sphere. Rhetoric is unfortunately king when it comes to everything from the election of Trump to the private nature of defending sexual assault cases. What do you hope participants take away from the workshop?
A visual as well as linguistic arts organisation, The LAB Gallery is home to a number of artistic collaborations. Why is intermediality important, in this case text, language, and workshop? Sheena: The ethos of The LAB Gallery is to support artists to experiment and take risks in their practice and we seek to scaffold that risk. We’ve found that intermediality is a space where the themes necessary in an artist’s practice can be explored deeply which allows the artwork to emerge in time. I’ve always been fascinated by the exchanges, understood and misunderstood, in the process of intermediality. Sometimes what’s miscommunicated can lead to really interesting outcomes, just as through the process of explaining, opening and making vulnerable, one media to another allows us to better reflect on what we thought we knew to understand it better or differently. We love opportunities to bring people together around a subject so that we can learn from each other in social, respectful contexts that push our thinking further together. Collaborative Language-Making workshop takes place in The LAB Gallery on April 12.
Lisa: There’s a sense of liberation that comes with performing or presenting in front of a group of people who don’t know you and I hope this will open up new conversations or potential collaborations for people. I see this workshop as a ‘refresher’, like you’re taking a look at this language that you normally pass by but looking at it in a critical manner. The final part of this workshop is focused on performing or presenting this language to the rest of the group, this sense of a real body in front of you communicating back their fragmented findings serves to the importance of IRL experiences. I strive towards empowerment and hope participants can come away from the workshop with this too. The fragmented nature of the narrative of modern life, expressed through captions and Rupi Kaur, lends itself to picking and choosing words to hold on to. Do you think that purposefully collecting only the words you like is a damaging exercise? Lisa: I do think building a wall around yourself with only the phrases you like, as a filtering process is damaging. It’s important to be aware of the dangers of this, and willingly subject yourself to the words of others, whose opinions you may not agree with, in an effort to learn. The workshop will highlight this and open up a discussion around the wider picture.
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SAM MCGRATH Words: Carla Jenkins / Portrait: Edoardo Forato
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hat’s a sign that you’re good at something you haven’t been shown how to be good at? Most District readers (who I suppose are a lot like myself), are more or less from a culture that champions A grades, marks out of five, best of threes, 100 per cents and awards and signifiers of recognition. It’s a corporate culture, one that before we know it has us primed and ready to be eaten up by the nine-to-five, the grabbing-a-coffee-fora-commute-we-hate, the monetary bonus at Christmas time that tells us we’re doing okay. And every so often, there’s a glitch in the system. The video to Kojaque’s ‘Bubby’s Cream’ sees the artist hanging out a wash: pink bedsheet, pink t-shirt, pink pants, pink sock, red sock. The culprit, the villain in the piece that’s turned the pristine white bedsheets a soft(boy) shade of pink. Film-maker Sam McGrath, the brains behind the sock, is a bit like that red accident in amongst the white wash. He’s the glitch in the system, with the result being a creative output that’s softened out the edges and saturated the colours. It might have initially given your ma a heart-attack when she opened the barrel door, but being acquainted to, it she’s sort of gotten used to it. “I did BESS [Business, Economics, and Social Science – the kind of degree for an accountant, or Taoiseach] in Trinity for years,” McGrath tells me. “I fucking... hated it. I just absolutely despised it. I did maths, applied maths, physics, accounting, economics in my Leaving Cert, and I always lovedfilm. It was was always secretly my passion, but I was kind of scared of that. At the end of the four years I was so depressed and down. I thought that if I keep going down that path, I genuinely won’t survive. I can’t.”
Amazingly, McGrath only started his film-making in earnest a year and a half ago. Since then, he has churned out banging videos illustrating banging tunes – Kojaque’s most recent ‘Flu Shot’, ‘White Noise’ and ‘Bubby’s Cream’, Luka Palm’s ‘Date Night’, Le Galaxie’s ‘Women in Love’ and Soulé’s ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ among others. The pieces are rooted in Dublin city; from late night car parks to beachy strands, cinemas to out-ofhours BBQ stops. The colours and accents are as vibrant as the characters in ‘Flu Shot’’s cha-cha dancers; the cinematography is clean and the concepts are wild and familiar at the same time. You’d see these videos acted out on Dame Street in the early hours of Saturday night, and it’s the feat of capturing that on film (usually conceived in London) that Sam has managed to achieve. “It’s really weird, I never would have felt my Irishness until I moved to London. When I’m writing stuff or creating in any way, the Irishness does kind of come through. All the characters are Irish, and they all speak as if they’re Irish. I never would have thought that – stuff always just comes out of me as Irish. It’s strange.” When I suggested to McGrath that there has recently been a really big move towards visual culture in Dublin, what with things like the Grey Area Project, he was ashamed to admit he had hardly noticed it. Not from it being simply unremarkable, but because he was already so immersed in a visual world of his own. “I’ve gone to the cinema once a week if not twice a week since the age of 10. So yeah, I haven’t really noticed any changes. I’m not quite sure what to say. It is that thing where you grow up with something it’s hard to see it for what it is.”
“I definitely prefer to work in Dublin, I think. The culture in Dublin is so nice, you know? London is really, really great, some of the most talented people I’ve met I’ve met there. It’s an odd one – London is set up for the professional side of things much better. It has the architecture, the infrastructure. In that regard it’s better in Dublin. But in Dublin, there is a real ethos for making shit for the sake of just making shit. People just go out and do it. One thing I’ve found is with location. Over in London, everything is sussed out – it’s like you can film here, but it’ll cost you five grand a day. But you go to Dublin, everyone is so keen to help out – they’ll give you a free lunch as well. For ‘Date Night’, everything was a favour. In London, it would have cost 20 grand.” Relying on others may be a characteristic key to the familial feel of the Soft Boy output, but there are also characteristics unique to Sam’s own work: a strong move towards using saturated colours, visual signifiers of pop youth culture, smooth shots that build and move to show so much within a sequence. I asked McGrath’s how he finds the ideas – or, I should call them, the concepts – for his videos. He tells me that each time he approaches a new project he asks himself, ‘Would I watch this?’. The answer to that question is McGrath’s only driving factor. “I don’t like to analyse my own work because it makes it weird when you do that, but for me it’s like is this interesting? Would I like to watch it? Cool. Then do it. “It really depends on the project,” McGrath tells me. “My work for a music video – I get sent the song and I’ll listen to it about 400 times, genuinely. I’ll sit in the bath and put it on loop over and over and over again. And I’d just see how it makes me feel, what kind of colours and stuff like that.
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If I’m co-directing then it’s usually just the two of us locked in a room and we fire ideas back at each other. That’s super, super fun. I really do prefer working that way, absolutely. Particularly with someone like Kevin [Kojaque] who is so crazy talented. It’s way more fun to be excited when there’s someone in the room with you, you know? It’s still a lot of fun making stuff by yourself, but being able to share something like that is amazing. You have someone to bounce off of the whole time. And in the nerve-wracking release phase, there is someone to be like ‘well, I love it, you love it, and that’s all that matters.’ “There’s a real security in company. It’s such a healthier attitude. If you get that towards your solo stuff, amazing. It’s just a bit harder.” This sense of self-doubting certainly never held McGrath back when he first moved into making films, but don’t mistake that as it being an easy transition. “I graduated with BESS, did the full four years,” he tells me. “Trinity was cool, obviously, but I just wasn’t doing what I liked doing. I was like, give the film thing a go. Try it out. I started doing it, and I just fucking loved it. it was instant, it was fucking amazing. I was so, so bad at first, it was absolutely terrible. But I just felt good doing it. That was kind of how I knew I was on the right path. It was something I was willing to work harder at than I ever knew possible.” We went back to the start with McGrath telling me how it all began. “I would just sketch ideas that me and my friend would make. We’d do it in a weekend, and we’d think it was funny. We’d do loads of small things like that. We tried to make a short film, it was terrible, one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Everyone said it was awful, but I was glad that I did it. You learn, completely. Every single thing you do, you learn from it.” And there are other experiences McGrath had that he learned from, not all film or BESS related. Testament to someone knowing himself, he was so unacquainted with what he truly wanted that he hit real lows. You have to hit the bottom before you can see the top, as he knows overly well. For Sam, he had to see how bad it could be before he was able to say what it was that he truly wanted, and that’s when things started to change. “I think it was all based on how awful things were for me. I was really a complete alcoholic and struggling with drugs and I reached rock bottom. It was really hard, and I was so low in a horrible place. I was willing to try anything and I just went for it, I wanted to try. It was instant. Something just clicked.” “I hadn’t gotten a job yet, I literally just
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finished my summer exams and I hated it. I pushed off, all the applications for the big five accountancy firms, and I kept kicking it down the road. I found it so hard to write those cover letters because I just thought, ‘You are just lying, you are just completely lying.’ That summer I just started making things and then I didn’t want to stop. “Doing BESS was me holding myself back. It’s so scary to put yourself out there. Saying you want to make films is the kind of thing that you only realise when you say it, and that’s when you realise in that moment that people will back you. You’re terrified to admit what you want because you’re scared that you won’t get it, but it was Kevin that taught me just to embrace the fear of that. It’s going out there, not being scared to be scared.” Sam McGrath is so complimentary of everyone he works with, to the point where he almost downplays his own role.Between championing Kevin Smith and Ellen Kirk, Soft Boy Record’s visual mastermind, you could be mistaken into thinking that Sam simply stands behind the shoulders saying ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘Do what you like’. But you’d be wrong to thing that. The concepts arrive, and it’s McGrath who brings them to life on film. His ultimate dream is to make ‘narrative feature films’, he hates that term and would rather I say ‘movies’. Just like when I ask about the symbolism behind the sock, the fish, colours like pink and red, and he tells me that he doesn’t get bogged down in all that stuff, those “details”. He undersells himself, in a way, and it makes him only more endearing because the work begins to speak for itself, its own language. It’s staggeringly professional, and you get the sense that it’s born from someone who really just relished making it. He is the red sock in the white wash, quietly manipulating the way that we see the world around us. And we are all the luckier for it.
“At the end of the four years I was so depressed and down. I thought that if I keep going down that path, I genuinely won’t survive. I can’t.”
@sadmcgrath
Kojaque - ‘Flu Shot’
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P O W P I G 32
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owPig are a genre-defying fourpiece from Limerick. While Anna Marie Rooney, Andrea Mocanu, Laura Drennan and Leah O’Donnell may still be in school, they already have a Body&Soul and Other Voices performance under their belt. With a Junior Brother collaboration just out and Knockanstockan and Indiependence billings on the cards, 2019 looks set to be a defining year for the new band.
Words: Aoife Donnellan Photography: Aaron Corr
It’s impossible to confine PowPig to one genre because their output is so diverse. Their catalogue ranges from ballads like ‘Rosalee’, to the alt-rock ‘Ode to Wiseau’, to the soulful ‘Pretty Woman’ off of their new release. Their talent as musicians is undeniable and their humour makes them all the more likeable. Anna, Andrea, Laura and Leah met through Music Generation Limerick - an education programme that offers young people the opportunity to work with professional equipment and receive mentorship from Irish musicians. Denise Chalia, GodKnows, and Hazey Haze are just three musicians who’ve mentored, or come up through the programme, giving a snapshot of just how influential it’s been to the Irish music circuit. Laura joined first, followed by Anna and Leah. Andrea was the last piece to fall into place, coming to the group after Anna reached out to her on on Instagram. With their four-piece complete the next step was to figure out their creative process. Trying to find common ground in a new group can be difficult, and as the interview went on I quickly learned [each question was answered by four voices in a cacophony of sound], that there was a lot of energy in PowPig. Leah admitted that the first few songs the group wrote, “were not good” but that they quickly developed their own creative language. “It was so awkward when we started playing but we became friends pretty quickly.” Some of that early work materialised into tracks that would later feature on their ‘Denture Adventure’ EP. Now with the beginnings of releasable music the band needed a name. This came when practice moved from Music Generation HQ to Laura’s house. “I have a ceramic pig made from cow skin, that my mom bought,” Laura explains, and in response to a dubious look adds: “It’s actually quite nice [laughs!]. We had a few names and the pig was there, and we were like, ‘Oh cow pig - PowPig. There it is!’.”
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Ever since that fateful day people have been urging them to change their name, but that’s not happening. “We started in that fun spirit and to change it would be like we’re conforming,” Anna elaborates.
Andrea adds, “I feel like if we take ourselves too seriously, it’s just kind of like, ‘Ew’. I’m not able to express it that well, but when we are all stuck in a room, it’s boring to try and perfect something over and over and over again when you can have fun with it, have a bit of a scream! Anna is notorious for that.”
“Whenever someone has an idea, no matter what kind of idea, if it sounds good we’ll build on that,” explains Laura. Another outlet for their endless energy is that they create all of their own imagery. Their visual identity is primarily designed by Andrea and Anna and this encompasses album covers, posters, merch, as well as their social media. They’re incredibly blasé about their obvious talent, noting that they didn’t take themselves seriously at first.
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“We started in that fun spirit and to change it would be like we’re conforming.”
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Anna confesses, “We honestly didn’t think anyone would see it.” Anna goes on to explain the group’s innovative social media presence. It’s a perfect realisation of the generation they belong to. Endearing irony permeates their Instagram, as well as their music. They express an authentic persona through ‘meme culture’, creating a collective joke and inviting us all in on it. PowPig allow their unbridled expression to seep into their online personas, where they have ultimate freedom as an unsigned band. Self-promotion seems to be a theme running through successful Irish music at the moment; a lack of managerial censorship leading to an increase in the number of collectives popping up nationwide. PowPig are one more band choosing to take on the industry themselves. “When we first started we didn’t take ourselves seriously at all,” Anna explains. “So I was kind of taking the piss out of it, but a lot of it came from our humour. At the time when I first started posting we weren’t very, very close… So when we were getting to know each other, I was pulling that humour in which I felt was different to my own humour, so I was trying to integrate that into the Instagram.” “Social media is core to the Irish music scene at the moment,” Anna says. “It’s definitely a community. Other bands we follow on Instagram, when we see them at gigs we say hey. It’s just about hyping each other up, you know? It’s nice,” adds Andrea. PowPig have been overwhelmingly positive about their experience in the Irish music industry so far, but when pushed the group elaborates on some of the downsides. Most notably the ‘Oh my god, a full girl band!’ comments. Leah explains that “the whole thing that we’re girls, the whole thing that we’re young, that we’re like on some sort of wave because of feminism,” crops up every now and then, but PowPig don’t dwell. Andrea chimes in, “Cut toxic people out.” As the interview comes to an end, the band look to the rest of 2019. Laura explains that the group have had to take less gigs than they would have liked to thanks to the Leaving Cert, but June edges ever closer and PowPig are ready to get back on the stage. “Not even 18 and you’re booked at a festival,” Anna says. “Bucket list complete!” It is the year of the pig after all. PowPig play The Grand Social with Junior Brother on April 18.
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Ode to U 38
Urbanity 39
Council House, 2019 Neil Dunne -
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Silk screen and mixed media on canvas
Untitled Greg Purcell - Photography
Subset no. 52 Subset support ICHH - Grey Area Project
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Untitled
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Greg Purcell - Photography
Taproot Art presents: Ode to Urbanity, the second benefit auction in aid of Inner City Helping Homeless, featuring art derived entirely from urban landscapes. The live auction will take place April 27 in MART Gallery, and features work from notable Irish street artists including Aches, Decoy, as well as some large scale bespoke work by SUBSET and fine artists, such as Neil Dunne. The opening night will have music by Dublin Digital Radio and Hugh Cooney “may or may not feature, talking to a host of strangers on the street�.
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LIVE GUIDE
April 2019 MORMOR
DAVY KEHOE
THE SCRATCH
GZA
ILLA J
SHY MASCOT
For fans of: Men I Trust, Badbadnotgood, Thundercat Saturday April 6 The Grand Social €15.60
For fans of: Red Enemy, Junior Brother, Fontaines DC Saturday April 6 Whelan’s €18
For fans of: Oddisee, J Dilla, Slum Village Sunday April 7 The Grand Social €17.45
For fans of: Mount Alaska, New Jackson, Talos Saturday April 6 Project Arts Centre €13
For fans of: Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, NWA Sunday April 7 Button Factory €35
For fans of: The Internet, Anderson .Paak, Rejjie Snow Monday April 8 The Workman’s Club FREE
DAVE
For fans of: Kojo Funds, Yungen, Yxng Bane Wednesday April 10 The Academy Green Room €16.45
DAMIEN DEMPSEY
For fans of: Maverick Sabre, Sinead O’Connor, David Kitt Friday April 12 Vicar Street €48
THE SPECIALS
For fans of: The Jam, Madness, Bad Manners Friday April 12 Olympia Theatre €70
MUNKY
For fans of: Sonic Youth, Just Mustard, Joy Division Friday April 12 The Grand Social €10
DUBLIN IS SOUND
BEXEY
GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW
CHASING ABBEY
CHRISTIAN LÖFFLER
MILO & ELUCID
JUNIOR BROTHER & POWPIG
ALI SHAHEED MUHAMMAD & ADRIAN YOUNGE
RED BULL FREE GAFF
DANIA
For fans of: Pillow Queens, Squarehead, God Knows, Tebi Rex Saturday April 13 The Grand Social €7
For fans of: Steve Lacey, Madlib, Illa J Saturday April 13 The Sugar Club €18
For fans of: Kiasmos, Pional, David August Wednesday April 17 Button Factory €25
For fans of: Pillow Queens, O Emperor, Wastefellow Thursday April 18 The Grand Social €14
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For fans of: Le Boom, JyellowL, Quinton Campbell Friday April 19, Saturday April 20 & Sunday April 21 Secret Mansion €20
For fans of: Lil Peep, Fat Nick, Danger Incorporated Saturday April 13 The Academy 2 €16
For fans of: Maverick Sabre, Post Malone, Tebi Rex Sunday April 14 Olympia Theatre €24
For fans of: Wiki, Jonwayne, Open Mike Eagle Wednesday April 17 The Sugar Club €15
For fans of: A Tribe Called Quest, Souls of Mischief, De La Soul Friday April 19 The Sugar Club €22.50
For fans of: Mango x MathMan, Chuks, Jafaris Saturday April 20 Voodoo Lounge €20
VULPYNES
For fans of: Fontaines DC, Bitch Falcon, Slaves Saturday April 20 The Academy €13.50
KEAN KAVANAGH
For fans of: Kojaque, Mac DeMarco, King Krule Saturday April 20 The Workman’s Club €13.60
ANTIBALAS
For fans of: The Souljazz Orchestra, Fela Kuti, William Onyeabour Saturday April 20 & Sunday April 21 The Sugar Club €20
DEVLIN
For fans of: Giggs, Kano, JME Wednesday April 24 The Grand Social €18.50
BLACK SHEEP
For fans of: Brand Nubian, Souls of Mischief, Digable Planets Friday April 26 The Sugar Club €20
POST-PUNK PODGE & THE TECHNOHIPPIES
LOYLE CARNER
TOKEN
ANGEL HAZE
THE ANTLERS
JAFARIS
For fans of: The Rubberbandits, Craic Boi Mental, Acid Granny Friday April 26 The Sugar Club €20
For fans of: Joyner Lucas, Hopsin, Royce Da 5’9” Sunday April 28 The Academy Green Room €16.35
For fans of: Grizzly Bear, Perfume Genius, Sun Kil Moon Tuesday April 30 The Sugar Club €30
For fans of: Rejjie Snow, Casisdead, slowthai Saturday April 27 The Grand Social €22.50
For fans of: Mick Jenkins, Princess Nokia, Mykki Blanco Tuesday April 30 The Academy Green Room €19.50
For fans of: Mick Jenkins, SABA, Noname Friday May 3 Button Factory €15.50
Exhibition of the month FOLLÁIN Folláin is a platform for artists of any format to share their work. Whether it be film making, painting, sculpting or songwriting the opportunity to show work is not always readily available, and almost always costs an arm and a leg when you do get the chance. “Our aim is to provide a space where the only thing artists have to worry about is their art, and where there will always be something for everyone who wants to attend to enjoy.
Jaja Studios, Saturday April 6 €7
START YOUR NOVEL
ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE A NOVEL? LOTS OF IDEAS AND NOT SURE WHERE TO BEGIN? THIS SIX WEEK COURSE WILL GET YOU STARTED.
WITH CHRISTINE FOLEY
WWW.STARTYOURNOVEL.EVENTBRITE.COM
STARTING MONDAY APRIL 29TH 7PM – 9PM €160
BLOCK T, 45 8 BASIN VIEW, DUBLIN 8
on Mars
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Words: Craig Connolly Photography: Designual
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B
orn in Hammond, LA almost exactly 18 years ago, Alyssa Carson knew from the age of three that she wanted to go to Mars. While you were dribbling Frubes onto your booster seat Alyssa was watching Nickelodeon’s The Backyardigans becoming fascinated by the imaginary places they visited in each episode. Those imaginary places became a visual aide for the three-year-old to dream about one day touching down on the Red Planet. Thanks to the unwavering support of her father, Bert, Alyssa became a space camp veteran, visiting 12 camps from the age of eight onwards. Now 18, she is training for the journey of her dreams, a dream that was planted long before Elon Musk was a household name and long before Donald Trump’s non-belief in climate change made you rethink which planet we might need to call home. Of all the interviews I’ve done, this is the one that is spiking people’s interest the most. A lot of people are asking me ask to ask you about so many things. I’ll start with one of my own questions first though. How often do you dream about space and what emotions do you feel? It tends to become normal to me because it’s something I’ve been working on and something I’ve been dreaming about forever, it’s something that I’m very passionate about and very interested in learning more on, as I learn more my passion is definitely growing more. Obviously before you started doing this you didn’t realise how much attention you’d get, you’ve become the face of modern space travel. Do you find that daunting? Yeah, it’s kind of been crazy. When I started this it isn’t exactly where I expected things would go, but it’s having a positive impact - especially on younger kids. What I’m really trying to express is that if you have a dream or passion you don’t have to wait until college per se to start fulfilling that dream. You don’t have to go after these traditional jobs that most people have and that there’s actually loads of options and opportunities for the next generation to get involved in. 48
What are your thoughts on being a role model for these young people and young women in particular? I enjoy talking to kids, particularly talking to girls and teaching them a little bit about space and about following their dreams, it’s been a lot of fun to speak publicly and meet people because that’s the most impactful way to do that, then with social media and things like that it’s been a great way to teach a lot of people about what’s happening in the space programmes. I know when I was first starting out it was around the same time the space programme closed for NASA and I had a lot of my family asking, ‘What is Alyssa going to do now?’, so I feel like there was a lot lost at that time, but through social media I’ve been able to show and tell people that there is a mission to Mars that we’re hoping to achieve, there’s a rocket being built and there’s a lot of stuff going on. What’s the most exciting part of it all? The most exciting part is the different training I’ve had to do so far, it’s a lot more exciting than the studying part, I’ve gotten to do training in zero gravity, spacesuits, decompression, G-force and all these different things as well as travelling to great places. Do you feel you lead a normal life for someone your age in spite of the fact you have specialist training and host talks around the world? Yeah, my dad and I always thought that it was super important that I had a balanced life, I wasn’t necessarily a bookworm who just studied space all the time. In school, none of my friends really ask about space or what I’m doing, they’re used to it to the point where they don’t necessarily care anymore, obviously they’ll support me but it’s not the first thing they think about. Growing up I played competitive soccer, I did dance, ballet, piano, girl scouts, language club, robotics… So you’d consider yourself a stereotypical American school kid? Yeah, pretty much.
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“it’s something I’ve been working on and something I’ve been dreaming about forever”
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You seem to have a really strong bond with your dad, how important has he been through this whole process? He’s been super supportive and definitely been a big part of everything I’ve done. When I told him that I wanted to do this he said, ‘Okay, you can do it!’. He travels with me everywhere and I don’t know where I’d be without him, it’s amazing to have that one person supporting you. If you were to go on a programme into space in the next two years you’d be the first teenager to go there, is that achievement something you want to work towards or are you happy to wait for the right opportunity? That’s something I want to work towards, especially through a project called PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere) where they want to do a suborbital space flight mission to study clouds. A lot of the training for Project PoSSUM correlates to space so that’s why I’ve been working with them, we also work a lot with spacesuits. Through PoSSUM I’ve gotten my applied astronomic certification which actually certifies me for suborbital flight. It would be a really quick trip; up a couple of hours, cross the line and come back, but it would still have a huge impact for the next generation. How realistic is that to happen before you turn 20? I was originally looking at having it happen before I turn 18, but that’s not possible anymore, we’re looking at the likes of Virgin Galactic and we’re talking to everyone to see if it can happen. There seems to be a misconception online that you are going to Mars in the near future, realistically how long do you think it willw take before you could take part in a Mars journey? I’m definitely not 100 per cent selected for the mission to Mars, but what I’m doing is building a resumé and I’m doing lots of things that make me unique to give me a higher chance of being selected. That’s what I’m working towards right now, building more and more on the resumé. I’m not necessarily looking to apply to the astronaut’s programme until I’ve gone through college and once I start working in astrobi-
ology, which is what I want to study, is about the time when I’ll start applying, right now the mission to Mars is predicted in the early 2030s. Wow, so you’ll still be just about 28 or 29 then? Yeah, I’ll be around 29 then. Aside from your mention of studying astrobiology in college, do you have a bucket list of things you’d like to do and achieve on Earth before a mission to Mars? There are some rules for the astronaut selection process, some of those include having a bachelor’s degree in science, technology or engineering. You also have to have three years of work experience or if you’re coming from a pilot background you have to have a thousand hours flying experience, so these are the things I’m working towards to qualify. Have any of your idols reached out to you to show their support? There’s definitely been people that have reached out, some of which have helped me on the way; an astronaut called Sandra Magnus who was actually living in my home state of Louisiana. I went to meet her when I was nine or ten, I was asking her when she decided to become an astronaut and how it all started for her. She told me that when she was nine she got the interest and told me that if you have the interest you can decide what you want to do when you’re young and eventually grow up and fulfil that dream. That motivates me that I can make my dream of going to Mars a reality. The message she passed on to you when you were nine is now what you’re passing on to nine year olds who now look up to you... Yeah definitely, it’s become what my message is as well. She had a really deep impact on me and I can still remember the moment to this day.
Alyssa Carson speaks at Dublin Tech Summit in the RDS on April 10. For tickets and more information go to dublintechsummit.com
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Boycott the Eurovision.
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SKIN DEEP:
otis ingle Words & Photography: Ellius Grace
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F
or the last four months I have explored some of the talented artists working on the Dublin tattoo scene with a series in GUIDE called Skin Deep. I connected with each artist through an interview and photoshoot, but most importantly by getting a tattoo from each one. To give my skin a break, I’ve decided to shift gears and feature people in the city who wear a lot of tattoos, but aren’t tattoo artists themselves. Their lives are punctuated by the tattoos they have received over the years, as is slowly beginning to happen to me too. Each tattoo marks a time in the wearer’s life, mapping out history on skin. From the commemorative to the frivolous, each piece is a statement, a link to the past, to a decision made permanently. Otis Ingle has been receiving tattoos (and giving some to himself) since he was 14, and over 25 years later, he now has a rich collection of mainly traditional-style pieces, depicting everything from religious figures, to animals and commemorations of relatives and loved ones. We headed out to the Forty Foot one evening, by his native Dun Laoghaire, where he goes for a swim multiple times a week.
Born and raised in Monkstown, he’s is a bricklayer and a boxing coach. His tattoos are layered up, with many newer pieces covering up old Indian ink marks he made on himself back in the day. Otis has been getting tattoos since before they were popular in mainstream society. A strong act of rebellion, you risked ostracisation and prejudice when receiving a tattoo. Today, so many subcultures, including tattoo culture itself, have been dragged into the mainstream. An act that pushed people further into the fringes is now a fashionable choice for many. Something that is often done to fit in, not stick out. Otis’ pieces, from the small Indian ink fish on his hand, to the words ‘Don’t Wake’ on his eyelids, are a graphic history of a life lived full. After his swim in the sea, we had a chat about his ink and life, and I guess I’ll let him introduce himself first. “I work on a building site, lay a few blocks every now and again. I’m just a free spirit really, just go with the flow is my motto. Don’t take anything too seriously. Here for a good time not a long time. All my life in Dun Laoghaire.” 55
The idea of Skin Deep is to meet people who have lived a life around tattoos. I’m 40 years of age and I’ve been getting tattoos since I was 14. So yeah, you could call that a life. I’m sure the pieces punctuate your different years, are there any of your tattoos that speak to a specific moment of your life? A lot of the stuff I have on me are religious things, like my back piece is the ‘Rock of Ages’, my head is Jesus and Pharaoh’s horses, I’ve numerous crucifixes all around the place. There are religious themes, I always went towards more traditional stuff, religious iconography. When you look at old tattoos and ‘real’ tattoos, you’ll always see Jesus in the traditional books, people getting them for faith. I’ve ‘faith’ and ‘hope’ written on me too.
It’s acceptable now. Justin Bieber, David Beckham, all of these rappers with the face tattoos... I’ve been in a tattoo shop getting a tattoo and I’ve seen a 20 year old kid come in and say, ‘Hey, I want to get a sleeve done’ and the tattoo artist says, ‘What do you want in the sleeve?’ and they say, ‘Oh, well, you could do a bird and maybe a clock, my granda died at 6.15pm…’, so they do that, put a load of black clouds around it and then you look like your next door neighbour. I used to go into the tattoo shop years ago and there were 10 sheets of flash, there was Jesus, a sheet with reapers on it, then maybe another one with pin-up girls on it, you didn’t have much choice. You didn’t have the internet, you couldn’t come in and say, ‘Look what I saw on Instagram today’, and get that. I remember going into the Mint, which was
It was a spider that’s covered up now that I got for six pound. Sometimes I regret covering them up...
a deadly little shop off Henry Street, and they had a sheet of IRA flash, and I always wanted to get one but never did. There was a lad with an assault rifle with a balaclava on, then there was ‘No Surrender’... You won’t see a Topman kid getting anything like that.
fella and against the whole mainstream culture of tattooing.
Who does most of your work? Tommy Brennan in Classic Ink. It’s just him and friends of his. He’s always getting guest artists over so I get more off of him. Since just after the early days, I’ve probably never gotten tattooed by anyone else in Dublin! Back then it was just The Mint, Johnny Eagle’s… Maybe one or two more. Bray used to be great for getting tattoos, because they never used to ask for ID, you could go in wearing your school uniform and get one! A friend of mine Alan Confrey, he tattooed my belly in my mother’s room. He’s died since, he was a real good tattooer, a great
Did you always envision having this many pieces or was it something that just happened naturally? It was a natural progression, yeah. But my uncle had tattoos and I remember thinking I’d like to have one or two he had, then you get one or two and you say, ‘Well that would look good if I fill all my back in’, then, ‘That would look good if I filled my neck and chest in’, then it went from covering up Indian ink on the arms to filling up pieces. It’s like an addiction or an obsession, you just keep coming back. So it’s like a procedural thing where you reach one level then you move to the next? That’s the truth, 10 years ago I said I’d never get a tattoo on my head, then you get a neck one done, then you get the side of your head done… Now I have the top of my head done… Then it’s, ‘I’ll never get my face tattooed’, next thing my eyelids are done. I’m saying now I’ll never get my nose tattooed, but next time you meet me I might have a cobweb across my nose! You can never say never with tattoos. You were saying earlier you have seen the attitude towards tattoos change, that you’ve been getting them before it was mainstream and not as taboo. Kids nowadays, the ‘Topman culture’ I’ll call it, all just want to wear a white t-shirt and have a sleeve up one arm and look like the next person. When I first got them I was getting them not to look like other people. To be different. I wanted to get a tattoo to be on the outer rim. Only a few head the balls, a few sailors, a few lads on the dole and a few lads who had done an odd robbery every now and again had them. We’d go on the hop from school, some lad robbed his mam’s handbag, or was after getting money from someone, and five or six of us would get a small tattoo each.
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Tattoos are still seen as rebellion today, but not in the same way.
Even though it’s not as taboo anymore, a lot of people won’t get anything past the arms and neck.Do people treat you differently because you have so many tattoos? Sometimes. But I honestly have to keep pushing, I got the head done because I know the Topman kids with the skinny jeans, same shoes and same tattoos won’t push it that far. I’m going to be one step ahead of them [laughs]! Do you remember what your first tattoo was?
Talking about the friendship you had with him, I always find when you get something from an artist, if you have a connection; you want to go back. You’re sitting two hours with them, you’re going to tell them, ‘I had a shit day at work’, or, ‘My ma is pissing me off’... It’s a form of counselling. You get a connection with them. @otistat
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NATALYA O’FLAHERTY Words: Hannah O’Connell / Photography: George Voronov
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n Natalya O’Flaherty’s short career she’s graced the stages of The National Concert Hall, Electric Picnic and The Late Late Show captivating audiences nationwide and further afield with her hypnotising brand of spoken word. She was commissioned by RTÉ to write a piece to commemorate the centenary of the female vote in Ireland, she took part in the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Dáil’s first sitting by reading the Democratic Programme at the Mansion House and in February she made her UK debut performing her poetry at the London Irish Centre.
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Across an entire career these accomplishments would make any artist proud, however the Dublin native has squeezed it all in to the very beginning of hers. There is a sense that Natalya has been steadily building towards ‘something’, and this April her vision will be realised when the young poet hosts her debut headline show ‘More Than Words’ in The Sugar Club on April 14. We caught up with Natalya to chat about being a part of Word Up Collective, drawing inspiration from the number 13 bus and what to expect from the forthcoming evening of music and poetry.
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YOU’ TO TRADITIONAL POETRY…”
DON’T LIKE WHAT I DO.
THEY THINK IT’S A ‘FUCK
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“A LOT OF PEOPLE
Your first headline show is happening this April. What does that mean to you? It’s absolutely ridiculous. I’ve had my name on things before and that was weird in itself, but my face being on posters… It’s really weird. I’m really happy to have the opportunity. What can people expect from the show? How many pieces will you be performing? I have about an hour in total of performance that will slot in between the other acts. Marcus Woods is my main support act. He’s a brilliant DJ and then the Tebi Rex boys. Also Jake [Hurley] and Nick [Stanley] from Burner Records, they’re going to do a DJ set. It’s going to be really upbeat and lively. Not what you expect from a poetry show. There are some really good visual artists working with us and a soundscape artist as well. Do you feel like your vision for the event has come to life? I love just me and my voice, doing my poetry the way I have done, but I feel this has elevated it to the next level in so many ways. I think it will be a more immersive experience for the audience. I hope it’s going to be something completely new and different. Is a connection between spoken word and music something that’s important to you? Definitely. There’s not one without the other. Lyrics are just another form of spoken word and rap lyrics are really close to what I do myself. I think if I did what I do with a beat under it then it would probably be considered rap. I just have no rhythm, so I don’t do that! I like different sounds. That’s what I’m all about. That’s why I do spoken word in the particular way that I do because it’s all about how things sound. How the words fit together. I think when you have an ambient piece of music behind something like that it carries it along really nicely. What came first for you, spoken word or poetry? It was a mixture of things. The first time I started properly writing spoken word poetry I was in transition year and we had to write a play. Certain plays were being produced and put on by the other students, but I just copped out. I decided to just write a really long poem, and that’s what I did. It actually got turned into an amateur video that we made together and that was the first spoken word piece that I did. I had written smaller poems and stuff for years, for as long as I could write, but that’s what turned it for me. Were you supported in school? It was only towards the end of sixth year that it started to come out that I was doing all of this stuff. I kept it separate from my school life because I didn’t have a great time in school. I had wonderful teachers, there was no one who wouldn’t give you their 100 per cent backing. I just have a bad relationship with formal education. It doesn’t suit me. What’s your process for writing a piece?
I always write when I’m on the bus. If I hear someone say something and it sticks in my head I write it down and that could form two more lines, or the whole poem! The poem I did for The Late Late Show [‘Brass Tax’] I wrote that in about 20 minutes, but there are other poems I’m still working on that I started years ago. It’s different for every piece, which is the fun of it. Is there someone in your life who’s inspiring your work? Are there other artists that you’re looking to? Or are you drawing influence from elsewhere? I love everyone on the scene. Everyone on the spoken word scene is an inspiration. Everyone is so different and that’s what I love about it, but most of my intrigue comes from what I see. A lot of what I do is saying what I see. I tell stories whether that’s about Ireland as a whole, or personal relationships that I have or people in my life have. My inspiration comes from normal people. I try to write about normal people doing normal things because it’s the most relatable, to me anyway. I will occasionally write something abstract, but my mind is more tuned in to people and the relationships between people. That’s what humanities and literature and the arts are all about. It’s about people and our understanding of what it is to be a person. I understand that and I understand things by writing about them. How does it feel to stand on stage and perform poems that are so personal? When I’m on stage I’m a different person. My friends will tell you that, anyone who knows me… It’s like I’m possessed. I get lifted up and it’s not even the fact that people are there. There could be two people there or hundreds of thousands of people there, but I can just slip away. It’s like I’m not there anymore, it’s just the poem or the story I’m telling. And I never get nervous either. I have really personal poems about my family and myself, but I can separate myself from my art. I’m exposing myself and making myself really vulnerable and open to criticism and people not liking me. A lot of people don’t like what I do. They think it’s a ‘fuck you’ to traditional poetry, but making myself vulnerable is where it gets really exciting. It feels like I’m on a roller coaster. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than on stage. In day to day life I’m kind of quiet, I do my own thing. I wouldn’t really put myself out there… But being on stage is where I’m supposed to be. It’s not a case of needing the limelight. It’s just where I’m comfortable, telling people my stories. You’ve been with Word Up Collective since 2018. What has the experience been like and how have they supported you? Word Up is literally a family. It’s a business, but it doesn’t feel like one. Annette and Phil [managers] look after me as if I’m one of their own, so do all the boys and the other girls in the collective. I’ve never known a community like it. There’s only a couple of us doing spoken word, but I don’t feel like the odd one out because I’m not doing music. They’re all so supportive. They’re always at my gigs, I’m
at their gigs and it’s nice to know people who are putting themselves out there creatively and taking risks like I am. I don’t have a job, poetry is my job. Do you learn from each other even though you’re all doing such different things? Completely. I’m always talking to the lads from Tebi Rex about creative things, but then I’ll get tips about my taxes. Or tips about what to do when you’re not getting paid by a booker. If I didn’t have Word Up I just wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. I wouldn’t have a clue. I don’t know how to chase up payments, I didn’t even know what an invoice was! Little things like that, you wouldn’t realise how much they’d hold you back. You made your UK debut at the London Irish Centre in February. How did that go? It was my first time out of the country, never mind in London doing a gig. I had never left Ireland up until the two days I went for that show. I have never been on an aeroplane. I can’t say poetry never took me anywhere! It got me off this tiny island and over to the big bad world of London. It was absolutely brilliant. The crowd was lovely, because it was in the London Irish centre it was all expats. I have a line in one of my poems. It was about my cousin who lives in England and basically I say the words ‘proddy fiend.’ Halfway through saying it I went absolutely red in the face because [I thought] I’d just angered my audience. I forgot where I was! I was in London calling people ‘proddy fiends.’ I finished that poem and said, ‘Oh my god. I am so sorry, I forgot where I was’, but everyone let out a mad cheer! The crowd was absolutely lovely, the crowd was gorgeous. It was a women’s only thing, for Saint Bridget’s Day… I can’t wait to go back and do more stuff all over the UK. That’s the thing about Ireland, you have to go and come back to get any sort of major recognition. People don’t really support Irish creatives as much as they do creatives who have gone to London and made a name for themselves. It’s a damn shame, but it will be interesting to see how it goes – staying in Ireland and doing it that way. What else is coming up for you in 2019? As far as summer goes I’ll be doing the festival circuit, which is always fun. It’s absolutely ridiculous that I just stand up and say poetry and get into all these crazy festivals. It’s absolutely brilliant. So, festivals, gigs and then mostly just relaxing because the build up to this headline show has been so intense. I go to work everyday, but I don’t go anywhere. I’m working all the time making sure I know all my pieces off my heart and making sure all the support acts are good. I have amazing support from Annette and Phil doing all the tricky things, but it is so intense. For the most part I want to relax and get back to writing and get back to being a creative for being a creative’s sake. Natalya O’Flaherty brings ‘More Than Words’ to The Sugar Club on Sunday April 14. 63
Irish Artist Spotlight:
PIGSY C
iarán McCoy is Pigsy. As Ciarán, he works as a partner in renowned architectural practice ODKM in Dublin City centre. As Pigsy, he releases himself from the disciplined nature of architecture to create free flowing expressionist art. Pigsy paints in an attempt to assuage internal conflicts; his canvas being the battleground and the media. He uses the tools of resolution and understanding. His media include acrylics, spray paint, chalk and anything else that feels right in the moment. Most figures that he creates in his work are of himself and this self portraiture sets him up as both the protagonist on canvas, but also the antagonist as the creator and puppet master of the piece. Although claiming to be agnostic, there is a strong religious undercurrent to a lot of his work, with angels, crosses and crowns of thorns featuring in many of his pieces. This may be as a result of the strict Catholic schooling of his youth. AJAMESxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx His technique normally involves a free flowing start to each piece as he sets the scene for the broader context of the work, followed by a slower, drawn out finish as he immerses himself into the painting and endeavours to elicit an answer to the conundrums that he faces and to dig himself out of the holes he creates for himself in his mind. McCoy’s work frequently deals in dichotomies: loneliness and the need to be alone, fame and the need for privacy, straying from the norm and the need to fit in etc. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx In his latest tranche of work, he explores the existence of extraordinary people, their psyche, the effect that they have on society at large and vice versa. McCoy has held solo shows in the urban art gallery The KEMP Gallery, had a hugely successful recent exhibitionin Dublin. In the coming months he will show in both the UK and USA. Look out for the documentary ‘Pigsy’, directed by film-maker Mike Andrews, doing the rounds at film festivals in Britain and Ireland this year. ciaranmccoy.com
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June 29th
Navan Racecourse Co. Meath
Higher Vision Festival
www.highervision.ie highervisionfestival 66
highervisionfestival
ACTS ANNOUNCED SO FAR:
J E FF
ALA N
NI
CO L E
DA
M O U DA B E R
K K i N
FI T Z PA T RI C K
June 29th
M I L LS
V E
C L AR K E
SOL AR D O
BR
AM E &
H A MO
RO UT E 94
S UN I L
SH A R P E
KA R E
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PLUS MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED.
Navan Racecourse Co. Meath
K E T TA M A
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CLUB GUIDE
April 2019 AIROD & JAMIE BEHAN
SUNIL SHARPE
KRYSTAL KLEAR & GERD JANSON
HORSE MEAT DISCO
For fans of: Remco Beekwilder, stranger, Dax J Friday April 5 Index €12
For fans of: Skream, MCDE, Peggy Gou Friday April 5 Wigwam €20
For fans of: I Hate Models, Tommy Holohan, Cleric Friday April 5 Opium Club €12
For fans of: Joey Negro, The Black Madonna, Peggy Gou Saturday April 6 Wigwam €14
DUSKY
For fans of: Disclosure, Bicep, Blonde Saturday April 6 Index €20
LSDXOXO
For fans of: Sega Bodega, Shygirl, Lone Thursday April 11 Wigwam €12
KRYSTAL KLEAR & ALEX OLSON For fans of: Skream, MCDE, Peggy Gou Friday April 12 Wigwam €20
DSNT
For fans of: Dax J, I Hate Models, Clouds Friday April 12 Index €15
ZERO T
For fans of: Calibre, Noisia, Marcus Intalex Saturday April 13 Wigwam €11
TINI
KRYSTAL KLEAR & SPECIAL REQUEST
PURPLE DISCO MACHINE
BORAI & DENHAM AUDIO
For fans of: Ricardo Villalobos, Marcel Dettman, Âme Saturday April 13 Pygmalion €15
For fans of: Sonny Fodera, Patrick Topping, Solardo Friday April 19 Opium Club €20
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For fans of: Skream, MCDE, Peggy Gou Friday April 19 Wigwam €20
For fans of: Peach, DJ Seinfeld, HAAi Saturday April 20 Wigwam Basement €10
FEHDAH (DJ)
For fans of: Kojaque, Rusangano Family, The Internet Saturday April 20 Wigwam FREE
FOUNDATION
For fans of: Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, The Upsetters, Congo Natty Saturday April 20 Index €10
COURTESY
For fans of: Call Super, Avalon Emerson, Anthony Naples Sunday April 21 Pygmalion €15
PHIL HARTNOLL
For fans of: Orbital, New Order, Leftfield Sunday April 21 Yamamori Tengu €20
DUBLIN DIGITAL RADIO For fans of: r.kitt, ELLLL, Joni Thursday April 25 The Big Romance FREE
KRYSTAL KLEAR & JOB JOBSE For fans of: Skream, MCDE, Peggy Gou Friday April 26 Wigwam €20
CHRIS LIEBING
For fans of: Dave Clarke, Ben Sims, Adam Beyer Friday April 26 Index €18
CLUB COMFORT
For fans of: Air Max ’97, Nabihah Iqbal, Baliboc TBA Friday April 26
EATS EVERYTHING
For fans of: Denis Sulta, Carl Cox, Seth Troxler Friday May 3 Index €20
DIMITRI FROM PARIS
For fans of: Krystal Klear, Todd Terje, Chic Saturday May 4 Button Factory €25
LEFTFIELD & HAMMER
For fans of: Underworld, Bicep, Groove Armada Sunday May 5 Index €15
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Words: Eric Davidson / Photography: Joshua Gordon
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“I was hanging out with some of the best DJs in the world, drink, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll... And I definitely developed a huge ego which I wasn’t entitled to.” 72
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k, I’ll admit it right off the mark, it doesn’t get much more cliché than ‘coming of age’ when it comes to interviewing an artist. Especially one like Krystal Klear, aka Dec Lennon, who while celebrating his 30th birthday last year by playing a set with Jackmaster and Skream was also toasting a decade as a career musician. Your early 20’s are a minefield of existential dread, imposter syndrome and bad decisions, but couple those issues with a burgeoning career as an international DJ and producer and you’ve got a neutron (sorry) bomb of emotions. “I regret a lot of the moments I had in my early career, because I overshadowed them with thoughts about needing to this or that, or needing to get better at this or that… But when Benji B broke me on BBC Radio One and I was sitting in my apartment in Manchester listening to it, I just remember the feeling of unbelievable excitement.” In his hometown of Dublin he was gaining quite a bit of traction, but when Benji played Dec’s 2010 single ‘Tried For Your Love’ on his radio show for 13 weeks straight suddenly the UK took notice too. He signed to All City Records in 2011 and would go on to release on Running Back, UTTU, Madtech and Eglo. He was even inducted into the 2012 Red Bull Music Academy where he’d further sharpen his tools. It was a lot to take in, even for a “dramatically ambitious” artist like Dec, and things began to unravel ever so slightly. “I became a professional music producer very young, and it’s tough financially for anyone in this game when things aren’t going right. There was a good two or three year period when I was releasing music because I was pressured to by my manager, to make money, to get gigs, to stay relevant. I wish I had either refined the work I had released, or not allowed it to get contaminated by the people who released it. I released a record called ‘Addiction’ and when it was written I was super proud of it, then the label I released it with just fucked it. They destroyed it. They did a shite video, the artwork and everything else was all horrendous. Especially with disco music, if you make it ironic it’s going to come off cheesy. “I wish things like that were handled better. If records back then had of been released on DFA, or Running Back, or Permanent Vacation, or any labels like that they would have been much better records, even though the
music was the same. Also, my management was poor at the time, I was under pressure and you just want to stay in the mix by doing shows. I remember back then it was a case of, ‘Every four months you should be releasing a record’. If I think about that concept now it’s fucking mental. ‘Neutron Dance’ was a record that spawned out of me being sick and tired of having to comply with some ideology of having to get music out there. Once I got rid of that, it allowed me to create music that was more directly from my soul. Music that describes me best as an artist, as a human being.” Dec wasn’t happy with the roll-out of ‘Addiction’, but it certainly did keep him “in the mix”. Krystal Klear was booked to play major festivals on the back of that track, and he toured the world playing in top clubs from Berlin to Ibiza, as well as having residencies at Hoya Hoya, Manchester and Fabric, London. Eventually he landed in his now second home of New York City, where he wrote his most lauded piece of work to-date, ‘Neutron Dance’. Released on Running Back Records, a label belonging to close friend Gerd Janson, the track will likely be considered a dance classic in years to come. When you hear the synth line it feels like you’ve known it forever, and it was described by Resident Advisor as possibly being 2018’s answer to Todd Terje’s ‘Inspector Norse’. He was acutely aware that the catchy track had bags of potential, but more importantly for Dec, it’s a benchmark of the artist he’s strived to become. “I’ve always been quite confident, at least in my ability, either in the studio or behind a set of turntables. I think what that track did was solidify what I am about as an artist and gave me that confidence. It’s using music to describe what I’m about. I think artists struggle for the longest time to find that platform to say, ‘This is who I am’. That’s one of the biggest internal struggles, and that’s especially prevalent at the minute with the swamp that is the internet. Everyone has an opinion, which they’re entitled to, but everyone is subject to information at an inhuman rate. “[‘Neutron Dance’] has given people a platform where they can now define what I do once and for all. There was the disco thing, then there was the house thing, it’s always been difficult for people to understand the variety of what I’m about.” 73
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This is also the reason why we’re still waiting on a full-length debut album. While his patience is admirable, he must have felt the pressure to create an LP. “When I started making music, labels, management, all that, were all regarding me as an album artist. I suppose it’s because I’m quite prolific in the studio, I get a lot done. Their perspective was that I would make an album of all sorts of genres. But I’ve always said that I’d never write an album until I knew I was 100 per cent ready. Until there’s a defined idea behind what I want to do, musically. I don’t think I ever reached that point. “I’ve seen so many artists, and maybe it’s down to poor management, or a little bit of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, but they just release an album because they think, ‘Oh, I’ve done three EPs, now it’s time for an album’. I just don’t believe in that. I believe an album should be an extremely defined and personal exposé of the artist you are.” The poster for Dec’s 30th birthday knees-up in the recently demolished District 8 read, ‘The 20’s are a memory, the 30’s are a revelry’, but it seems he’s revelling in his own maturity more than anything right now. “My life experiences over the last two years have been so dense in comparison to anything else I’ve experienced in my life. It’s opened my mind to things and places I was ignorant to for the longest time. Those things definitely play a part in what I’m doing. But anyone who knows me knows I’m a silly bastard and I spend 90 per cent of the time taking the piss out of everything around me. But when it does come down to the things that I have a real passion for I’m quite a deep guy. It can become quite overwhelming, but it’s great to harness that maturity, as opposed to when you’re younger and your emotions get the better of you and you can’t really harness those emotions in the right way.” Dec has found a way to counterbalance this newfound creative maturity with being a total piss-taker on social media. It’s quite clear that electronic music can be stuffy and serious, especially in an age when big room DJs are treated like rock stars. While Dec’s videos of fizzing Berocca and annoyed friends might seem like a subversion of how a DJ should act on social media, he admits it’s actually a little deeper than that. “If I was to be brutally honest, it’s a bit more of an insecurity, really. I’m not secure enough to do ‘cool guy’ on Instagram. I tried it for a while, being one of these Gesaffelstein-type characters where you just post a black square and the internet is supposed to drop their underwear. I just don’t have that level of security. I have a personality, whether you like it or dislike it that’s obviously up to you, but you respect the people you meet if they get the most genuine version
of yourself. I’m not lying to you, I’m not going to give you some dramatically altered version. And don’t get me wrong, I like posting a fucking moody picture more than anyone… I’m a single man in a world full of beautiful people! We all live in a dopamine-fuelled world! I’m not here acting the martyr. But at the same time if you pay attention to my social media I don’t give a shit, because once you start doing that, you’re fucked. You’re in the matrix of overthinking the whole thing.” It’s difficult to rein in an inflated ego when everything is going your way, especially when you walk out in front of hundreds of people every week clapping, screaming and smiling at you. Dec says he hasn’t been immune to overconfidence becoming an issue. “In my industry you can hit that point where you start to think your shit doesn’t stink. You become ‘Captain Fuckin’ Cool Guy’ and your ego goes through the roof. It happened to me, it has happened to many of my peers, it’s happening to some of my peers who are on the road right now. They were gentlemen a year ago and now all of a sudden they’re arseholes, but people in our industry know, ‘Oh, they’re just going through their dickhead phase and hopefully they come out alive’. I burned a lot of bridges at a point in my career because I was suddenly getting paid a lot of money to be a travelling DJ. I was hanging out with some of the best DJs in the world, drink, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll... And I definitely developed a huge ego which I wasn’t entitled to. You have to hit rock bottom to realise that stuff is prevalent and dangerous. Ego is worse than any drug. It can destroy everything you built in the space of one comment or incident. “Where I stand now is that I’m a guy who’s a lot more mature and I’ve shook off any ego I had. At the end of the day, I make music and if you like it that’s great. I DJ, if you like it that’s great. I want people to listen to what I do, but I’m not a brain surgeon, I wasn’t picking up bins this morning and I’m not wearing a nurse’s uniform. I’m not doing dramatically noble work that deserves unbelievable credit. I’m in a very privileged position doing something that I love, but there are people doing proper work in this world, sacrificing time with their family to help others and make a difference and I’m not doing that. So that’s what I constantly remind myself when my ego bounces a little out of check.” Maturity, losing the ego, being humble, all while creating the best music of his life. Admit it, everyone loves a coming of age story. Krystal Klear plays Wigwam with Gerd Janson on April 5, Alex Olson on April 12, Special Request on April 19 and Job Jobse on April 26 as part of his Labour of Love series. He also plays Red Bull Free Gaff on April 19.
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Words: Eric Davidson / Photography: Kirstin Campbell
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t may have taken 10 years, but Irish electronic music fans now realise that they have an artist with real international potential on their hands with Quinton Campbell. Since the late 00’s the Dublin man stayed on course, kept his head down, didn’t get sucked into trends and the result of this work ethic is an artist on the cusp of becoming this island’s next breakout DJ and producer. This rise has been bolstered by winning AVA Festival and Conference’s emerging producer prize, playing a memorable Boiler Room set and getting co-signs from compatriots Bicep. All of this would lead many to develop an inflated ego, with a singular aim of trying to expand their brand even more. Instead Quinton has used his ever-growing platform to discuss important issues and create a community of positivity around him. We had a frank discussion with him about the attention span of the everyday music fan today and mental health issues in the creative industries.
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Thanks for taking the time to do this, I think the last time I interviewed you was at Higher Vision 2017. How have things changed for you in terms of career since then? A lot has happened.
sion. Years later I realised it’s the freedom that comes with being able to create and combine multiple sounds and textures, you just don’t have that with any one instrument. Unless it’s a synthesiser [laughs].
Thanks for having me! Yeah it’s been great, I think at that stage I’d just released my first EP - since then I’ve put out another two records, and am currently working on the next one. I’ve been lucky enough to do lots of deadly shows here in Ireland, abroad in the UK and around Europe. This year is already filling up with loads more cool parties and festivals so buzzing to see what’s next.
Did you bring any creative mindset over from the live music world into electronic music?
I was at your Boiler Room set in Belfast last year and I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so much at a DJ set. It must be tough to tread the line between being technically so good at DJing, picking the right tunes, and also keeping it lighthearted? Ah, nice one! Music should always be something that makes you feel good, that’s the whole point. It’s that feeling when a tune comes on and you make eye contact with your mates and just lose it. That’s what DJing should be about, creating those moments… A DJ who can play the right record at the right time will always be better than a DJ who is technically superior but plays boring shit. That’s the art form, the rest is just icing. When you played ‘Luvless’ during that set, was it nice to get such a good reaction? Did it give you confidence that it would do well on release? Physicals sold out pretty quickly! I wasn’t actually going to play it at all, I don’t necessarily always play my own tracks out, more so edits of tracks that I love but need a little something for the dance floor. ‘Luvless’ is kind of in-between the two - the M1 piano riff is sampled, and the additional programming and arrangement are original. But yeah, it was great to see it go down so well. Lobster Theremin emailed me a few days after it went on pre-order and said all copies had sold out, I genuinely thought they’d got it wrong. I’ve read that in a past life you played guitar. What made you table playing in bands and move into electronic music? I was in my teens and had discovered 90’s hard house, stuff like 12 Inch Thumpers and Shock Records. I remember thinking that the energy was through the roof. I knew I had to get into it but didn’t know where to start. I was thinking, ‘Right so you can play a guitar, or a kit of drums, but how is this music played?’, That was the initial obses-
I probably did subconsciously, most music follows a certain formula and genres don’t tend to discriminate. It’s either good music or bad music, doesn’t matter if it’s a live orchestra or snare patterns on a drum machine. If it moves you that’s what matters. A lot of people see you winning AVA’s emerging producer prize in 2016 as something of a beginning, but you’ve been DJing for a decade, if not more. How has the landscape of club culture in Ireland changed since then? In many ways the biggest change is that it has grown massively. Club culture wasn’t really as cool or popular as it is now, it was definitely more of a niche thing. Obviously this growth is a good thing and it’s great to see such a buzz around dance music, but it’s important that things don’t become diluted or the focus starts to shift away from quality. I read an interesting quote from you, “It’s far too easy to bask in small wins”. Is that a reason why so many promising artists, especially in club music, fail? There seems to be a lot of fast rises and even faster falls. Yeah, it’s mad. I think your reasons for getting into it have to be right, but I would say the main reason for these flash in the pan type successes we see is the current landscape and social culture. It’s sad that a lot of people now have a very short attention span and trends are flipping quicker than ever. It’s actually really shit. How are you supposed to sit and be immersed in a whole body of work like an album when you’re conditioned to just be constantly scrolling down or swiping left? You were lauded for your honesty in a post online last May regarding your mental health. It was so honest, it seemed to have taken people aback. What was your thinking when you decided to post that? For me, music and mental wellbeing are intrinsically linked - both have a profound impact on emotion. I wouldn’t feel I was being honest putting out and playing music if I didn’t touch on my own experiences with mental health. Also I’m very much aware that a whole lot of people in this game, and in
general, have had or have been affected by similar experiences. And that’s ok, it comes with the territory. You can’t appreciate the highs if you have never felt the lows. If things are shit now, they can get better. You can make it better. You’re in control. Stay grateful and focus on the positive things in life. There is so much beauty in the world and although it may not seem like it sometimes, it’s there...” That’s just an excerpt, but it was such a well written post. What was the feedback like? Were there many people who said it helped them? I did get a lot of messages after that one, people reaching out and sharing their own experiences. Which is great, if not sad to learn how many people do struggle. But that’s what it’s all about, creating conversation normalises these issues. Stigma around mental health is the fucking last thing we need and I’d love to think we’re past that at this stage. You are open about the therapies you explored that helped you through those particularly dark times, but do you have any advice for anyone with dark thoughts? Sometimes it can be as simple as getting outside for a walk. Mindfulness is also a very powerful tool, it teaches you to bring it back to the here and now when things seem out of control. Saying that, it may not be for everyone - I’m reluctant to give hard and fast advice because I’ve no qualifications, I can only really talk about what’s helped me. And exercise and mediation definitely did, and continue to do so. Why do you think mental health problems are so prevalent in the electronic music industry? Wherever there is self expression and creativity there will be self doubt and criticism, unfortunately they’re two sides of the same coin. Being aware of this and not being too hard on yourself is important. What proactive steps can DJs and people involved in club culture make to be more healthy in the mind? Cultivate compassion, for yourself and for others. Do your own thing and try not to compare yourself to anyone else. Support your peers and just be sound. Soundness makes the world go ‘round.
Quinton Campbell plays Red Bull Free Gaff on April 19.
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District Magazine & International Literature Festival Dublin present:
Nealo (Live) Leo Miyagee (Live) Dena Anuk$a (Live) Amshwa (Spoken Word) Sea High (Spoken Word) + some surprise guests
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We love bees. The honeybee is the single most important pollinator of food crops in our ecosystem. Bees have been having a really rough time over the last few decades. Their numbers are falling rapidly due to loss of habitat and intensive agriculture. It’s a lot more than just your honey at breakfast that’s at stake - every ingredient in every meal depends on bees. They are a critical link in food security for us all. Let’s try and give them back as much habitat as we can! There are lots of easy things we can all do to help. See for yourself at www.pollinators.ie Tang Café - 9a Abbey Street Lwr + 23c Dawson Street www.tang.ie
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Words: Caitriona Devery
Photography: George Voronov
MAKING SPACE
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L
uncheonette is the food outlet every education institution should have. It’s the National College of Art & Design’s on-site canteen that offers nourishment of many kinds to its student customers, but is also open to anyone in the neighbourhood who fancies a plateful of the good stuff for breakfast or lunch. In sync with college schedules, it opens 8:30am to 3:45pm Monday to Friday, and closes for the summer holidays. If you can find a spot in your schedule, it’s definitely worth a trip to Dublin 8. The food and the interior in Luncheonette are thoughtful and considered, but in a low-key kind of way. It’s an environment that is quietly curated, to use that slightly tired word, but in the original sense of ‘taking care’. Attention to detail manifests in many aspects, from the food to the interior to the clothes worn in the kitchen. I met with Jennie Moran, who has run Luncheonette for the last five years. It all happened rather accidentally. She graduated in sculpture from NCAD in 2005 and was working full time as an artist with a socially-engaged style of practice. A few years later, the canteen in NCAD closed with no new tenant identified. Through a series of serendipitous steps, Jennie, who had never owned a food business, ended up with the keys to the restaurant and permission to run it. She had that summer to get the space into shape, figure out her menu, and get her team in place. Looking back, the seeds were there within her artistic practice. She had a studio in
Temple Bar, but the way of working wasn’t making her happy. “I was finding as many ways as possible to get out of the studio and out of the gallery,” she admits. “I kind of hated those aspects of an art practice. I had beautiful spaces to work, with gorgeous people, but I hated being that irrelevant.” She had been using aspects of hospitality in her own work, often in public spaces. For instance, one project with friends saw them install a DJ playing a slow set on the night bus to Dun Laoghaire. Other projects were on traffic islands, in prisons and hospitals. She was trying to bring “an extra layer on to these spaces, to make them feel different”. “They were places that I felt could do with a bit of an intervention, where you might be feeling vulnerable,” Jennie told me. Much of this work a i m e d t o ma ke people “feel less alone, or less peculiar in the city”. “I really loved the idea of making something that people needed or would miss if it wasn’t there. I used the infrastructures of hospitality, like light and heat. I made concrete furniture with elements in them, that warmed up, imagining benches where people might have to sleep that very discreetly warmed up from the inside.” Food was also becoming part of her practice, almost as a decoy to get people to pass time together unselfconsciously. She had her kitchen at home checked by the health inspector so she could use food more for different projects. It was around this time
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when the NCAD canteen shut down. Without any grand plan, Jennie started making soup at home and brought it to the college every Wednesday. She sold it for €3. “I just kept doing that. I ended up with the keys of the canteen.” She’s grateful to NCAD for the trust and for the ongoing support of her and students. “It was such a leap of faith on their part. The arrangement we have allows me to subsidise the menu, which I don’t think happens in other colleges. They are not charging me rent or utilities.” It’s an intriguing space that Jennie and the art college have made the most of. Inside it’s dim but has lights made from teacups and mugs dangling delicately above rough-hewn wooden benches. Jennie moved everything from her studio and designed the interior herself. There’s a strong sense aesthetically and relationally of communality and conviviality making it a unique hub for students, but also the public. “At lunch it’s staff, students and people from outside,” Jennie says. “We’re quite busy with neighbours at lunch. Quite a lot of regu-
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lars, they’re very sweet. I very consciously kept signage and branding very low-key. I think people sometimes think they’re not meant to be here, although they are totally welcome. I kind of want it to feel like you’re coming into someone’s house.” The walls and desks are kept clean and neat. It lacks the busy jumble of posters and notices that often feature in student spaces “I try to keep visual information on the low. There are no screens in here. I think when there’s a screen in a place you just look at it. It’s exhausting.” But it’s not a place of strict rules. People are free to do what they like in here – they work, go on their phone, have naps, chats, staff meetings. It definitely feels like a refuge from visual overstimulation. The menu changes every day and it’s guided by principles of nourishment and care. “When you go to eat, there’s usually different ways you’re looking to be satisfied. Sometimes you need restoration, where you need something almost clean, that makes you feel like you’ve reset yourself. That might be a grain pot, other days it could be a soup or stew or hotpot. Sometimes you need consolation or steadying. Sometimes people are very vulnerable or tired. Everybody has a lot going on at that age. I think there’s lots of comfort needed as well.” When I was in, there was dillisk soda bread with a seven minute egg, and porridge with cream and roasted hazelnuts for breakfast. For lunch, there was a red pepper and tomato soup for lunch “with orzo pasta and herb smush”, a sandwich with brie on walnut ciabatta. A consolatory grain pot with artichoke and fennel, and a ham (“cooked in Marion’s horse’s haylage”) and cheese sandwich. It’s all very affordable, mostly vegetarian or vegan and catering to lots of different needs. It’s fresh and wholesome with a lot of love. The dark chocolate and pink peppercorn biscuits had a spicy tingle and a slight saltiness that was delicious.
The menu archive of Luncheonette is a piece of history in itself. They have dishes that the kitchen returns to again and again, many from students. Their most popular dish that often reappears is a beetroot burger. It came from a sculpture student called Aoibhinn O’Dea One day they heard someone talking about the pink peppercorns in the biscuits and asking “is there something wrong with a sausage sandwich?”. So they made a sausage sandwich. But in general Jennie says people are open, “Sometimes we have things on the menu that people have to look up on their phone, but they have it anyway”. The creative input of the students and staff of NCAD to Luncheonette is close to Jennie’s heart. The aprons they wear in the kitchen are smocks designed by student Lucy Bowen. “They’re very beaut i f u l ly de s i g n e d , but also functional. They’re based on the disposable gown that you get when you have a smear test, or an ultrasound. It’s like a beautiful kimono. Collaborations have become part of the place. I would love that to grow.” Luncheonette does outside catering work and Jennie also gets involved in other projects in the summer. Last year she worked on Róise Goan’s Foyle Punt, a travelling sitespecific piece about boat builders that went all around Donegal and Sligo. She smoked salmon over bog oak but also acted. She helped with a Dublin City Council project the year before called ‘Around the Table’ which was about food customs in Dublin. “We tried to capture information that might otherwise disappear. We kept encountering this idea that you’d never go hungry in Dublin, and we were trying to wonder what’s that like now, can you still say that? We talked a lot to Brother Kevin in the Capuchin centre. They’re making more and more food, because they have to.” Luncheonette is an uncommon thing: a third level educational foodspace that looks after the needs of its students, both emotionally
and physically. Even if you’re not a student, you’re welcome to enjoy the benefits, at student prices. You can pretend you’re doing that art degree you always wished you had signed up to. For Jennie it’s the chance to do the type of art she always wanted to, but in the most inconspicuous way. “I love the idea that my creative practice now employs other people and I love the fact that it’s not shouting that it’s an art project.” @hiluncheonette
“I think people sometimes think they’re not meant to be here, although they are totally welcome.”
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SLICE OF HEAVEN W
hen I was living in Edinburgh some years ago, one of the culinary novelties I discovered was the deep fried pizza. Washed down post-pub with an Irn-Bru, it was a gross piece of lecherous fast food that you always regretted the next morning. The chippies there used deep pan pizza with scant toppings so the cheesy disk of dough remained intact. The same kind of deep pan base also made up the pizza of my student years but that one was frozen, from Goodfellas. In the case of both of these pies the ratio of base to topping leaned too far in favour of leaden carbohydrate. But those belly-aching frozen pizza days are over. Now it’s wood-fired this and Neapolitan that. We are spoilt for choice in Dublin in Dublin in 2019. Pizza is up there with burritos and burgers as the captial’s casual food of choice. Many people have red line pizza toppings. One man’s pineapple is another person’s barbecue sauce. Personally I think chicken, sweetcorn and any kind of fruit have no place on a pizza, and if you disagree, you’re wrong. The ‘original’ pizza style is the one that’s found favour in Dublin of late, the Southern Italian Neapolitan style thin base pizza that’s cooked at a super high heat (500°C) in woodfired pizza ovens. The dough is made from flour, yeast, water and salt. Traditionally only San Marzano tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella are put on top, plus a limited range of toppings. This is the type of pie that purists obsess over.
Words: Caitriona Devery
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When pizza first came to the US with Italian immigrants it evolved and adapted, as foods do. The New York-style pizza has a slightly thicker base, apparently so you can eat it on the go more easily. Chicago founded the deep dish. The history of pizza is one of tradition and invention, stasis and change. Food writer Ed Levine from Serious East says pizza became popular in the early 20th century on the US East Coast because pizzerias were the perfect place for the new Italian American communities to socialise. Pizza got picked up by chain restaurants in the US and is now one the more famous foods in the world. I know this because it has its own emoji. Pizza eventually made its way in ever-evolving forms back across the Atlantic to us, and here are some places you get a slice of the action in Dublin.
Sano - Exchange Street Upper The floor in Sano’s is covered in flour, which makes it feel like some kind of sawdust strewn, real deal pizza workshop. They do soft, chewy, properly heat-blasted sourdough thin base pizza, baked in 500°C Neapolitan wood-burning ovens and topped with a simple range of top notch Italian ingredients. There’s no messing and everything on this short menu is thought-out and executed well. Salami lovers will be happy as they have fennel salami, ‘Nduja and spicy salami. There are gluten free and vegan options. Thumbs up to the drinks menu too; 5 Lamps and Dowd’s Lane cider, and for soft drinkers those posh San Pellegrino fizzies, or fruity crack juice as I like to call it.
‘Nduja spicy Calabrian salami, Toons Bridge mozzarella, Cashel blue and Coolea mature cheeses. It’s insanely tastey and their vibe is cool. They do a regular special, and their vegan option is good, said my vegan friend.
Paulie’s Pizza - Grand Canal Street Upper Paulie’s pizza is where you go to treat yourself to a good-old sit down pizza fest. It’s off Bath Avenue in Dublin 4 and has a casually frenetic feel, it’s always busy. The pizzas are mostly wood-fired Neapolitan-style, but they have a section of New York inspired pies on the menu too. It’s been around for a while and always gets great reviews. Plus they have lots of other antipasti, pasta and risotto options if one of your group doesn’t like pizza (???). Try the Siciliano with capers, olives and anchovies.
Coke Lane Pizza - Lucky’s, Meath Street and Frank Ryan’s, Smithfield Coke Lane is the pizza-baby of David Holmes and started in a windy lane in Smithfield out the back of Frank Ryan’s pub. Holmes cosied up to new kid on Meath Street, Lucky’s bar, and now has a swish pizza oven in their lovely backyard too. The menu is short but sweet, offering crisp, light-dough Neapolitan style pizzas with super toppings like the Scarface that includes spicy salami, chillies and chilli-honey. They do one with finocchiona too which is an addictive fennel salami. They also have two vegan options including one with cashew ricotta.
DiFontaine’s - Parliament Street Inspired by the New York slice, DiFontaine’s is a Dublin institution. It’s always jammed late nights at the weekend with crowds of happy, hungry drinkers looking for an affordable bite. The owners had lived in New York and missed the pizza culture when they returned so decided to start it up over here. These are substantial, cheesy, topping-filled, triangles of goodness and just what you need at the end of a night out or if you’re in a hurry somewhere. You can buy whole pizzas or just a slice, or three. They serve lots of American-style toppings like pepperoni, sausage and spicy beef and a vegan one with a blend of vegan mozzarella and parmesan shreds with homemade cashew ricotta.
Big Blue Bus - The Bernard Shaw, South Richmond Street Is there a Dubliner who hasn’t had a pizza from the Shaw? It’s a bit of an institution. When “one pint” turns to 14 and when a packet of Tayto hasn’t managed to stave off the starvation, a pizza from the Blue Bus is the only solution. Expect thin based, flavoursome pizza with interesting topping combinations and some strong options for vegetarians and vegans. Try Pick the Pear, a fruity pie with pear, gorgonzola, walnuts and parma ham. And while you chew ponder the blue elephant in the room… How did they get the bus in there?! Dublin Pizza Co - Aungier Street There are always pizza loiterers hanging outside this hole in the wall on Aungier Street. I’d been meaning to try it for ages and now I get what the fuss is about. Aside from the hypnotic effect of watching the chefs in clockwork action making and baking the pizzas, they taste divine. The menu is fairly short and it’s the Neapolitan style woodfired malarkey. The toppings are yum. I had the Lucifero which came with chillies,
but also push the boat out with unusual combinations like black pudding, smoked mozzarella (scamorza) and egg. There’s one with jerk pineapple on that might make me reconsider my ‘no fruit’ rule.
Honourable mentions: Forno 500° for authenticity, Pi for the new kids on the block, Ray’s for when you fall out of the pub and Manifesto for when you’re on the Southside.
The Yarn - Liffey Street Lower Run by the same people as Woollen Mills, who know how to do stuff, Yarn’s tagline is ‘Pizza + Booze’ and they do a roaring trade in interesting quick and casual eats. Their pizza is closest to New York style, they say, as they reckoned the Neapolitan market was saturated and they liked the pick-up-able base of the New Yorker. Their non-pizza stuff is amazing too, wooded pig salami and Toons Bridge burrata. They do the classic pizzas,
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Dublin restaurant of the month:
RAMEN KITCHEN, STONEYBATTER z
A
big bowl of ramen is one of the greatest pleasures known to woman. Ramen Kitchen is another feather in the Batter’s cap. It’s a smallish, tight little ship up Manor Street that’s been jammed since it opened last month. They have six different ramen options; two pork (miso or tonkotsu), spicy kimchi beef, teriyaki salmon, chicken and vegetarian. Broth is fundamental to successful ramen so I went for the litmus test, the tonkotsu which was satisfying to the eyes and to taste. The broth was temperate, rich, umami-salty and multi-layered. The noodles had bite, the pickled egg halves (the best bit) were silky and had a melting golden yolk, tiny bits of crispy onions, crunchy green beans, slivers of delicious pork. Garnished with spring onion, sesame seeds, and seaweed it was also a very beautiful dish served with sculpted wooden spoons and heavy ceramic bowls that are made for picking up and drinking out of (everyone does that). The menu has lots of excellent starter options like seven spice calamari, yakitori, gyoza, and crispy yasai (vegetable) tempura. There are also bao which my friend said were excellent; tender pork belly in a soft dough bun with sweet hoisin and spring onion. Other options include donburi dishes like chicken or pork katsu, bento boxes and lots of different sushi and sashimi options. I tried some salmon hosomaki, they were beautifully presented on a long ceramic plate, perfect little bites, although I prefer a more nose curling level of wasabi heat. There’s an extensive wine list and a nice selection of Asian beers such as Kirin. A great addition to the Dublin ramen family. @KitchenRamen
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e h t f 5o bes t & d o o f drink spots
Lists aren’t just for clickbait, they’re actually pretty practical sometimes. If you’re new to Dublin use these selections as a guide to the places you should hit up. We add new ideas to this index every month. 90
BURGERS Bujo Sandymount bujo.ie Bunsen Wexford St., St. Anne St., Essex St. East & Ranelagh bunsen.ie Wowburger Wellington Quay, Wexford St., Parnell St., Wicklow St. & Ranelagh Wowburger.ie Generator Hostel Smithfield Generatorhostels.com
MEXICAN Masa Lower Stephen St. masadublin.com 777 Georges St. 777.ie Picado Mexican Pantry Richmond St. picadomexican.com
SEAFOOD Fish Shop Smithfield fish-shop.ie Rosa Madre Temple Bar rosamadre.ie Bastible South Circular Road bastible.com Klaw Temple Bar klaw.ie Catch-22 Clarendon St. catch-22.ie
OYSTERS East Café Bar/King Sitric Howth kingsitric.ie
Storyboard Islandbridge storyboardcoffee.com
Musashi Capel St. musashidublin.com
3fe Lower Grand Canal Quay 3fe.com
Ukiyo Exchequer St. ukiyobar.com
The Fumbally Fumbally Lane thefumbally.ie
BRAZILIAN
ICE CREAM
Plus 55 Bakery Bolton Street plus55bakery.ie
Murphy’s Wicklow St. murphysicecream.ie
Wigwam Middle Abbey Street wigwamdublin.com
Scoop Aungier St. & Ranelagh scoopgelato.ie
Café Mineiro Crown Alley
Storm in a Teacup Skerries Gino’s Grafton St., Henry St. & South Great Georges St. ginosgelato.com Sun Bear Gelato Dawson St.
COCKTAILS Drop Dead Twice Francis Street dropdeadtwice.com Delahunt Lower Camden Street delahunt.ie Drury Buildings Drury Street drurybuildings.com Peruke & Periwig Dawson Street peruke.ie The Liquor Rooms Wellington Quay theliquorrooms.com
CHINESE Lee’s Charming Noodles Parnell St. Hang Dai Camden St hangdaichinese.com
Real Brasil Capel Street realbrasilfoods.com
PIZZA Coke Lane Pizza Lucky’s, Meath Street and The Glimmerman, Stoneybatter @cokelanepizza Big Blue Bus The Bernard Shaw, South Richmond Street thebernardshaw.com Dublin Pizza Co Aungier Street dublinpizzacompany.ie The Yarn Liffey Street Lower theyarnpizza.com Sano Exchange Street Upper sano.pizza
COFFEE Coffee Angel A number of locations around the city coffeeangel.com Network Aungier Street networkcafe.ie Two Boys Brew North Circular Road twoboysbrew.ie
Seafood Café Temple Bar klaw.ie
Hilan Capel St.
Shoe Lane Tara Street shoelanecoffee.ie
Matt The Thresher Pembroke St. Lower mattthethresher.ie
Mak Ranelagh mak.ie
Nick’s Coffee Ranelagh @NicksCoffeeCo
Oyster Bar at the Shelbourne St. Stephen’s Green shelbournedining.ie
Lee Kee Parnell St.
VIETNAMESE
JAPANESE
Pho Viet Parnell Street phoviet.ie
The Bull & Castle Lord Edward St. fxbuckley.ie
FERMENTING Fia Rathgar Road fia.ie Meet Me in the Morning Pleasants St. mmim.ie
Yamamori Tengu Great Strand St. yamamori.ie Michie Sushi Ranelagh michiesushi.com The Ramen Bar South William St. theramenbar.ie
Pang Kevin Street lovepang.ie Jolin’s Vietnamese Coffee House Portobello Bun Cha Moore Street buncha.ie
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Growing up LGBTI+ isn’t all rainbows. BeLonG To Youth Services is here to support young people.
We run youth groups nationwide, and offer support, information, and free counselling for LGBTI+ young people between 14 and 23 years.
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You don’t have to be alone. Find out more at www.belongto.org or call 01 670 6223
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PROBLEMS FEEL SMALLER WHEN YOU SHARE THEM Talking about your problems is proven to have a positive impact on how you feel.
Little things can make a big difference
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RED BULL MUSIC
FREE GAFF
PRESEN TS
APRIL 19-21 DUBLIN
KRYSTAL KLEAR LE BOOM BOOTS & KATS JYELLOWL Æ MAK QUINTON CAMPBELL J COLLERAN (DJ SET) & MORE
TICKETS & INFO 94 WWW.REDBULL.IE/FREEGAFF
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