District: GUIDE November 2018

Dublin

Soft Boy Records

November 2018 FREE 1

Anderson .Paak ‘Oxnard’ The new album out 16th November 2

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The Devlin Hotel x Roe & Co Irish Whiskey

This is Dublin October 2018

Issue One

A quarterly collaborative zine by The Devlin Hotel and Roe & Co Irish Whiskey.

Pick it up in The Devlin Hotel, 117-119 Ranelagh Road, D6.

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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.

You don’t have to be alone.

Find out more at www.belongto.org or call 01 670 6223

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Sometimes you have to ease yourself into winter, Softly.

Culture in Dublin has shifted, especially with music. The old gatekeepers have lost their keys and ringspun sounds have been drowned out. Cue, Soft Boy Records. For the cover story of this month’s GUIDE a crew, spearheaded by a Dublin artist called Kojaque and a Portlaoise maverick (and also artist) named Kean Kavanagh are in focus. Along with their label signees Wastefellow, Luka Palm, Henry Earnest and several others, Soft Boy are the poster children for modern Irish music.

Carla Jenkins sits down with them to get to root of the label-turned-family, featuring a shoot by Ellius Grace and George Voronov. ‘Ave it.

In other corners of this issue, we explore intimacy with artist and engineer Arthur Gouillart, female representation in club culture with Moxie, and we have the exclusive Irish interview with California rapper DUCKWRTH. Plus, the Dublin Feminist Film Festival and HALFTONE give us the low-down on their 2018 editions.

- Eric Davidson

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Editor // Eric Davidson

Deputy Editor // Hannah O’Connell

Operations Director // Craig Connolly

Creative Director // James McGuirk

Additional design // Annie Moriarty

Events Editor // Niamh Craven

Food & Drink Editor // Caitriona Devery

Editorial Assistant // Aoife Donnellan

Photography // George Voronov, Eamonn Doyle, Killian Broderick, Cameron McCool, Callum O'Riordan, Laura Rixon, Kasia Zacharko, Jimi Herrtage

Words // Carla Jenkins, Polly Dennison, Ryan Cullen, Karl Guest, Cóilí Collins

Advertising // Ricky Lahart ricky@districtmagazine.ie

Website // districtmagazine.ie

Issue 001-005 Creative Director // Johnny Brennan

Cover Photography // Ellius Grace

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10 / SG Lewis 14 / HALFTONE 20 / Emotion Capture 24 / Perfect day in Dublin 28 / Live guide 34 / Ailbhe Reddy 36 / Bugzy Malone 38 / Eamonn Doyle 42 / Dublin Feminist Film Festival 44 / DUCKWRTH 48 / Cloud Study 54 / Changing face of radio 58 / House & techno guide 62 / Dax J 66 / Objekt 68 / Moxie 72 / Soft Boy Records 80 / Coffee 86 / Cocktails 88 / Top 5 food & drink spots 90 / Irish artist spotlight: Sasha Sykes 8

Discover the most mind-altering books of the year.

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F

rom being a resident DJ at Liverpools’s Chibuku Club in 2014 to taking off on tour after a string of festival shows in 2018, it’s an understatement to say the last four years for Sam Lewis, aka SG Lewis, have been a rollercoaster.

The Reading native has linked up with talents from around the world such as Clairo, AlunaGeorge, and Bishop Nehru and after releasing ‘Dusk’ in April, the first of a threepart album, Lewis plans to put out ‘Dark’ and ’Dawn’ in the coming months to complete the trilogy. He’s also taking his captivating live set across the world on the ‘Dark’ tour.

After seeing Lewis live at Forbidden Fruit in June, I had the opportunity to catch up with him and talk about his mindset going into the next few months of touring and releasing more music.

You’ve been on tour for most of the year doing festivals and shows around the world, how has it been?

It was crazy because it was so different to any other festival season that I’ve done before in that we really focused on shows outside of England and the UK. We played a lot in Europe, we played in Asia and Australia which was a crazy experience. It was really amazing because when you start making music the last place you think about touring around is Asia and Australia. It was a nice moment to reflect on that and be like, ‘Oh shit, the music has travelled this far!’.

Do lengthy tours inspire motivate you to create?

or

I think playing the live shows, or if you’re DJing, they both inspire making different kinds of music. If you’re playing a bunch of live shows, you can almost consciously observe the pieces of the puzzle that are missing from the show... That part of you wants to make music that’s informed for the live environment. It can definitely change the music you’re making, that can be a positive thing or a negative thing. The travel is also a huge source of inspiration for me, I feel it in the different places you get to see.

How has the jump been from playing at your residency in London to going on tour?

Yeah, the thing is, even though a lot of people are hearing my music for the first time, I’ve been super lucky that it’s been a really gradual build. I’ve been given the last few years to grow into it. Before, I didn’t really play keys, and I only started playing keys as a result of touring. I was always primarily a guitarist, but all of a sudden I had all of these songs I programmed in piano and I didn’t know how to play, I was just using my ear. It was like reverse engineering at that point, teaching myself to play keys. I was lucky I had the time to acquire those skills and grow as a musician. It’s definitely something that takes time, when we started the live shows, I can openly say some of them shows were bad! We were lucky none of them were in front of thousands of people.

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Words: Ryan Cullen / Photography: Cameron McCool

You’ve collaborated with the likes of Clairo, AlunaGeorge, Bishop Nehru… How do you feel about working with artists on other tracks?

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Really, a lot of the time it all stems from being a fan. It’s really hard to collaborate with someone if I’m not already a fan of their music, because then you’re starting from two completely different zones. If I’m going in the studio with someone, there are things about their music that I’m already in love with; in order for a collaboration to be successful and work, it has to have elements of both artists involved in it.

You couldn’t take Clairo and put her on some heavy trap beat. With the Clairo track, it’s about listening to her music and taking parts I like and seeing what we can combine with my music and see what comes out.

The three-part album is a smart idea, it does make it easy to digest.

I think it’s strange in that even though it’s a three-part album, and considered one project, I wouldn’t really expect many people to sit down and listen to ‘Dusk’ all the way through to the end of ‘Dawn’. I think it’s a project that I want people to dive into based on their mood and based on the situation in which they’re listening to it. It’s together and separate.

I mean people are very welcome to listen to it through, I’d be very flattered, but I think the size of it and the way it’s programmed I’d kind of expect people to use different parts of the album based on how they’re feeling.

What can ‘Dark’?

we

expect

on

Who’s your dream collab?

My idol is Pharrell. Pharrell is like my god.

He’s my number one, he’s the dude I get weird about, I’m obsessed with him!

You’re currently one third deep into your latest project with ‘Dusk’, and you’ve got ‘Dark’ coming out soon. 18 tracks is a big undertaking, but you’ve managed to keep a consistent flow, how difficult was it to achieve that?

When I came up with the idea, I was trying to find a purpose for this debut record, and I started on a traditional album format. I just felt like I was making a bunch of songs with different artists and collaborators and it had no running theme. It just felt like beats and features and my heart wasn’t really in it.

So I came up with this idea in order to narrate it and I was like, ‘It would be really cool if it was in three parts’. So in order for me to feel like I could actually showcase each different part of the album and tick every box that I needed to tick, it needed to be the size that it is. I think the separate releases gives people time to digest each part separately and it gives me time to finish it. If I dropped an 18-track start-to-finish debut record, the truth is that not many artists have earned the attention span for that. If Drake dropped an 18-tracker, then everybody is going to listen to every track; if you’re a new artist, you’ve got a very short window of opportunity to convert someone. If your best track is track eight on an 18-tracker, then they may not ever hear it.

The energy is higher in terms of the music, aggressive is the wrong word, but there’s more intent. The sounds are more urgent and the atmosphere has a darker feel to it. There’s a hip hop collaboration on there which is the most aggressive thing I’ve made! There are also the club moments that I’ve had so far, I think I’ve always had influences from club music and stuff, but I’ve never really made tracks that I would expect to hear out and about in Printworks.

But there’s some stuff that definitely is the most club-inspired stuff I’ve done.

When did you realise producing and performing was going to be a career for you? Can you pinpoint a watershed moment or has it happened gradually?

I mean, I always knew I wanted to do it. I watched this documentary on MTV when I was younger and it had The Neptunes in the studio, and I loved music and it was all I wanted to do, but I was like, ‘Well, I’m not gonna be a singer or a front man in a band’.

I never wanted to be on stage which is quite funny because I’m now on stage, I always wanted to be a producer. Really, there was never a penny drop moment of like, ‘This is going to be my career’. I still consider myself lucky to be doing this, there’s never the assumption that I’m gonna wake up tomorrow and it’s still gonna be there. With a career like this you see so many people rise and fall that you just have to take it as it comes and be grateful that you can pay your rent with it.

Has your life done a 180 since you headed out on this tour?

I live a double life! When I’m home it couldn’t be more normal; I have the same friends, I do the same shit, I go to the pub and drink and go out… And then you go on tour. I almost feel like sometimes on stage I’m pretending to be someone I’m not. I almost feel like I’ve tricked people when you see them and you see fans, and I mean that in the best way possible. They’ve actually listened to the music and they’re not this friend of a friend, they’re someone that’s genuinely connected and it’s still crazy to me. I feel like it’s a double life!

Does making music help you to relieve stress?

Yeah. I have this twisted situation where it’s like if I don’t get to make music that I want to make... Or if I’m not making music that I’m feeling excited about, then I really find it hard to be happy. On a deeper level of fulfillment, it’s like I need that creative outlet and to be proud of what I’m making in order to feel happy.

What’s been your mindset heading out on this tour?

This is the first tour where I’m trying to execute the concept of the album in the show, so the show itself moves through ‘Dusk’ to ‘Dark’ to ‘Dawn’, it’s three different sections. It’s a bit of an experiment to be honest, it’s going to take some tuning. That’s my aim to create an immersive experience that really showcases the concept of the album, because I think it’s something that no ones really done before. So it’s an opportunity to really do something exciting and to give the fans and the people at the show an experience that they wouldn’t get from another concert.

SG Lewis plays The Academy Green Room on Wednesday December 5.

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HALFTONE E

ven for its size in square footage, The Library Project in Temple Bar is still one of Dublin city’s cultural behemoths.

It’s officially an artbook, photobook and high-end magazine store and library, but since opening in 2013 it has become far more than that. Through its exhibitions and launches it has transformed into an incubator for Irish artists, with a sharp focus on homegrown photography.

Some of the most exciting projects the city has seen in the last half a decade have either been exhibited on their walls or conceived over a beer or wine outside the store on a launch evening.

The next 12 months are going to be more important than ever, according to Ángel Luis González Fernández and Julia Gelezov.

14 ‘Medusa’ by Elaine Crowe

15 ‘Into the Sea’ by Gerry Blake

‘Microcosm’ by Staselė Jakunskaitė

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“For the last few years we’ve been really thinking about the gallery space for photography in the 21st century and what it should do,” says Ángel. “We have to look at modern ways at engaging with photography. We’re toying with the idea of a museum as a space to start from, because we know what museums do; they collect, exhibit and research. If I say the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ireland, everyone will have a picture of what that will look like, more or less. Which is interesting, because I don’t know what it will look like!

We want a place that’s about visual culture and critical thinking, which is what The Library Project is all about.”

Next July they’ll be opening up a Dublin city centre location for their ambitious idea.

While the whereabouts of the space is still underwraps, Ángel says they’ll be planning a series of symposiums, workshops, talks and possibly a publication.

“We’re heading towards a new model of what we’ve discovered we need for Ireland in terms of photography. We’ve spent four or five years trying to discover this, but sometimes it’s worth spending this length of time. This isn’t going to be dropped from the sky, it’s going to have to be developed from the ground, and we’re going to have to motivate a lot of people.”

So there’s a lot of work to be done, but it’s in capable and passionate hands. However, they’ve also got an immediate focus.

From November 1 their Temple Bar space will be transformed for their annual HALFTONE exhibition, which showcases the work of 70 contemporary artists of various disciplines at The Library Project.

An important aspect of the initiative is to have established and emerging artists exhibited alongside each other.

“When someone comes to see the works of a photographer, it means they’ll discover the work of a screenprinter. There’s an exchange, or at least an awareness of different ideas. All of these disciplines are quite compartmental and it’s nice to see artists thinking about their work in a different way. This exchange was crucial from the beginning.”

Another key part is affordability.

“The pieces go from €10 to thousands.

We think about our visitors as locals, but also there are a lot of tourists as well. They come here and discover local artists, and HALFTONE allows people to discover a lot of people in one spot. It also means anyone can afford an artwork, put it in their living room and be proud of it.”

Halftone runs in The Library Project from November 1-18.

17 ‘Green Circles’ by Brian Giles

FCPALESTINA.CO.UK 18

WWW.LATE2N.COM

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20 Words: Aoife Donnellan

‘E

motion Capture’ is avant-garde artist and engineer Arthur Gouillart’s new piece currently being exhibited as part of the Science Gallery’s exhibition INTIMACY exhibition.

The exhibition centres around what it means to be intimate, and the different ways in which we experience intimacy in unexpected places. The piece invites us as we “swipe, like, and explore the future of what getting close might look like: What is INTIMACY? Can it be quantified, optimised, or commodified”, in a world where empathy is in short supply.

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“A STARTING POINT FOR THE RESEARCH WAS MY OWN PERSONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT WHEN AND HOW EXACTLY TO TELL SOMEONE I 22 LOVE THEM, TRUTHFULLY.”

Where did the inspiration for Emotion Capture originate?

Have you always had an interest in the philosophy behind design?

I have always been fascinated by the holism of the design discipline, the deep research and iterative process it relies on. As an engineer I started to question the values of the industry and the production systems I was evolving in, which I found easier to challenge from a designer’s viewpoint.

I was first introduced to motion capture while developing interactive installations in Austria, at the Schmiede artist residency in Hallein. A starting point for the research was my own personal questions about when and how exactly to tell someone I love them, truthfully. Love is such a vast and vague concept, how can one be aware of it?

What does it mean to be in love? Is there a unique definition of it? This led me to explore and question the universal symbols seeking to encapsulate such a fluid concept, like the heart shape, and find a means for more personal representations. This might describe the way in which I am interested in the philosophy behind the design activity, insofar as design investigations push boundaries or raise fundamental questions. It always leads to philosophical, anthropological considerations, and more…

You’re a self-described metamodern artist; a movement with a manifesto centring around “a romantic reaction to our crisis-ridden moment”.

What moment of crisis do you feel you are responding to?

Today, the notion of the attention economy is important to consider, as shortened attention spans, saturation and distraction are quickly changing how we engage with, and understand love. To me, Emotion Capture is an answer to two joint phenomena. First the standardisation of the experience of discovering another when they are but one amongst thousands at the mercy of a fingertip. But also the change in the profundity of love, what were formerly grand narratives are now challenged by people and our culture seems to be less prone to engagement. We give, and are given, less time and space to investigate our feelings for someone.

You’ve said that representations of love between people is beyond “normative archaic symbols and impersonal designs”, why is an accurate tracking of movement more representative than abstract design?

Well, in my opinion, emotions are embedded everywhere around us - from allegorical sculptures to the design of the most mundane things! Objects made to induce emotions are very common. Love artefacts are a means for emotional projection, symbolising the couple and their feelings.

The tracking of the movement is connected

to a sensory memory as well as an emotional one. Your body moves in space, steered by feelings and loaded with sensory input.

You’ve never seen a kiss, you just felt it. But these combined memories make you relate to the object, and you relive the moment looking at the tracking, following the path again in your mind. Rather than allegorical design, this is a direct reference to the way you lived and expressed this feeling. They’re not quantifying the feelings, they’re just a unique path associated with the memory of an intimate moment.

Psychologist, Michal Kosinski, who is behind the original inspiration for what became Cambridge Analytica, says he has developed AI that can detect your sexuality and politics just by mapping a person’s face. This is a dangerous development in a world that still persecutes people for their sexuality and beliefs.

In a moment where personal data is money, do you think making material representations of emotions is the last step in commercialising personal information?

Worst case scenario- do you think that people will be judged and persecuted for their emotional output?

As it is right now, if you would wear these jewels on the street, no one would understand them. In fact, only you and your partner would. This secret retains the intimacy of the moment of the capture, and is an integral part of the project. It is a representation beyond social norms as even taboo can be captured and represented in this abstract form, to be freely worn in the open. The intimate memory is the key to the object. Nevertheless, there are many claims, hopes and fears around AI and how it can dissect, reduce and quantify us. I share some of them, and it is true that I wonder how the Emotion Capture creations would resist what’s now called the “algorithmic gaze”. An artificial intelligence could maybe decipher what these abstract shapes are. Beyond the dystopian narrative, there are clever ways to resist this new threat, like designing machine-learning algorithms to counter/hide you from the harmful ones. I am working on a project on this very topic.

Your self-described goal “is to practice design combining storytelling with a critical and meaningful creative process, to reach poetic and elegant solutions.” Have you learned anything from the love that you have observed and captured?

I have been impressed by the capacity of couples to remember their intimate moments in detail. From experience, I don’t relate! Personally, I feel less aware when my

body is moved by emotions. I think that this is an interesting dimension of the objectshow they help to remember a moment when we were less conscious, and I am planning to study this a bit further with the couples.

People can participate in an Emotion Capture themselves, do you think that by reducing emotional transactions to physical objects you have opened the gates for people to scrutinise their relationships in new ways that is centered around aesthetics? Our love isn’t as pretty as theirs, etc.

I always make sure of providing the 3D files generated by the audience during events to their owners for free. But when visiting couples for captures sessions and developing sculptures or jewellery I need to have some sort of commercial model.

I’m just a young practitioner after all.

Nevertheless, I focus on not being extractive, I haven’t been interested in making this mass-produced, and I draw no conclusions from the creations. For example, a lot of people recommended I track the evolution of love in a couple over time by the evolution of their kisses, which is completely opposite to the ethos of this project. All the more as comparisons are rather fruitless as each kiss tends to be unique even within the same couple. One cannot really measure love from the movement.

Do you feel a certain amount of artistic responsibility when it comes to your creation?

Do you feel obliged to tackle normative conceptions of intimacy and design?

I tend to not hide my own subjectivity in my work, because my work is not about striving for dry objectivity. But it is true that it comes with artistic responsibility. More than just wanting to disrupt norms, I wanted to reflect on a pressing question; the rapid shifting of a social phenomenon like intimacy and love.

What direction do you think your design practice will take?

I am very much a free spirit inspired by anything, and this is why I chose the path of design! But you can always expect me to question grand narratives. At the moment I am developing a system to protect from AI video surveillance, inspired by ancient protective symbols and artefacts. I am also building a workshop based on Ritual Design, trying to reconnect with ancestral rites to help us be more mindful of the ecological consequences of our everyday actions. Overall I’d really like my practice existing between artistic creations and interventions within the technological industries and I will keep moving in this direction INTIMACY runs in Science Gallery from October 19-February 24.

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PERFECT Euan Murphy

Designer & Musician @euancmurphy

Last place you ate?

Dublin Pizza Company on Aungier Street even though I live above a Boojum.

Last pub you went to?

Maybe Bernard Shaw. I don’t go to pubs often.

Favourite place to escape to?

Going for bike rides to Killiney and/or Howth!

Favourite place to go to in the sun?

Cycling anywhere is great in the sun! Phoenix Park is especially dope.

What’s one thing you see every day here?

I love that I get to see the Liffey every day. Especially as the sun is setting, I often stop and appreciate how beautiful it can be.

What would you like to see less of?

Cigarette butts and broken glass. Both suck. I want to go on a rant about them, but I’ll restrain myself.

Best memory of the city?

I’ve countless memories, but the day my girlfriend and I got our apartment in the city centre was great! It was Valentine’s Day! Best place for a Guinness?

Wild Duck in Temple Bar. It’s just opened up and it’s tight!

Southside seaside or Northside seaside?

Southside seaside all the way. But my girlfriend is from the Northside coast, so shouts to there too!

DAY

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26 Words & Photography: Ellius Grace

IN James McGuirk Designer @6th_realm

Last place you ate?

Bunsen.

Last pub you went to?

Mulligan’s.

Favourite place to escape to?

Mulligan’s.

Favourite place to go to in the sun?

Any beach anywhere. Or the grounds of Castletown House in Celbridge.

What’s one thing you see every day here?

Seagulls.

What would you like to see less of?

Homelessness.

Best memory of the city?

There are too many, especially from this summer. Drinking in the pub opposite Forbidden Fruit two years ago was also extremely good.

Best place for a Guinness?

Mulligan’s.

Southside seaside or Northside seaside?

Southside, definitely.

DUBLIN

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LIVE GUIDE

November 2018 TALIB KWELI

SIGRID

NATALIE PRASS

LEON BRIDGES

PHAROAH SANDERS QUARTET

RAYE

BLUE NIALL

NOYA RAO

LE BOOM

WARMDUSCHER

GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW

THE GIRL TALK

PSYCHOTIC REACTION

JAYKAE

OBIE TRICE

BLACK JAM

American hip hop artist Talib Kweli is known for his solo music, activism and his collaboration with Mos Def in the group Black Star.

For fans of: Mos Def, Q-Tip, J Dilla Monday November 5 Green Room at The Academy €22.50

American singer-songwriter Natalie Prass boasts politicised music, backed up with deep grooves showing sharp sensitivity for everyday struggles.

For fans of: Courtney Barnett, Julia Holter, Matthew White Tuesday November 6 The Workman’s Club €20

Sanders possesses a distinct sound and a flair for avant garde jazz, known mostly for his saxophone skill and Coltrane-style music.

For fans of: John Coltrane, Roy Ayers, Fela Kuti Wednesday November 7 National Concert Hall €30/€40

Dublin rapper Blue Niall launches his EP ‘Blue Summer’ along with friends Jill Staxx, Unit1 and District Magazine DJs in the intimate confines of The Shaw.

For fans of: Drake, A$AP Rocky, Kojaque Thursday November 8 The Bernard Shaw Free

This two-piece electro-pop outfit make music inspired by the dancefloor with their own unique indie twist. Support comes from AE Mak and Mix & Fairbanks For fans of: Le Galaxie, Clean Bandit, Rusangano Family Friday November 9 District 8 €17

Signed to Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder imprint, Georgia’s vocals and musicianship fit right in with the forward thinking soulful music released by the label.

For fans of: Thundercat, Erykah Badu, Nina Simone Friday November 9 The Sugar Club €20

Dublin’s first and only rock and roll club present local bands including Velcro 98, Overlockers, Collides and Bachram.

For fans of: Car Seat Headrest, Alabama Shakes, ICEAGE Saturday November 10 Fibber Magee’s Free

The American rapper brings the 15th anniversary tour of his album ‘Cheers’ to Dublin, with special guests.

For fans of: Nate Dogg, D12, Stat Quo Saturday November 10 The Bowery €21.50

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After catching Ireland’s attention at Longitude during the summer, Sigrid returns with her emotional and delicate ballads.

For fans of: Billie Eilish, Alma, Mahalia Monday November 5 Olympia Theatre €30

R&B artist Leon Bridges is bringing a narrativized music to Ireland on his UK and European tour, telling the story of a man risen from little opportunity to a world stage.

For fans of: Lianne La Havas, Michael Kiwanuka, Alabama Shakes Wednesday November 7 Olympia Theatre €31

South London based R&B singer RAYE’s talent and innovation has been noticed by Charli XCX, Olly Alexander and more after the release of her debut EP. For fans of: Dua Lipa, Jorja Smith, Charli XCX Thursday November 8 The Academy €20

Noya Rao bring some cutting edge sounds from The UK as a Leeds based electronic soul quartet.

For fans of: Portico Quartet, Jordan Rakei, GoGo Penguin Thursday November 8 Bello Bar €10

Featuring members of alternative bands The Fat White Family, Insecure Men, Childhood and Paranoid London, Warmduscher play a hybrid of post-punk music.

For fans of: Fat White Family, Joy Division, Paranoid London Friday November 9 The Workman’s Club €17

Oslo is a new event showcasing the future of Irish music by bringing you bands in club spaces until late. Joining them for their next edition is one of Ireland’s most hotly-tipped guitar outfits.

For fans of: Warpaint, HAIM, St. Vincent Friday November 9 The Workman’s Club Free

Known for firmly placing Birmingham’s grime scene on the map and as a member of the Birmingham group Invasion Alert, Jaykae brings his new show to Dublin.

For fans of: The Streets, Mayhem, Skepta Saturday November 10 The Academy €16

Fried Plantains Collective are back with their Black Jam party where you can expect anything from punk to African house music. Guests include Yemi MC and Felispeaks.

For fans of: Ho99o9, JPEGMAFIA, Death Grips Saturday November 10 Fibber Magee’s €10

JOEY DOSIK

COURTNEY BARNETT

SLAVES

KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS

DOWRY & PARTICIPANT

CUCO

SHAKEY GRAVES

ROY AYERS

THE BILL WITHERS EXPERIENCE

THE ACES

LA’s Joey Dosik champions his own guitar and piano arrangements with a voice reminiscent of 1970s soul.

For fans of: Vulfpeck, Theo Katzman, Tom Misch Sunday November 11 The Sugar Club €22

English punk rock duo are known for their garage influences, creating a whole new unique sound. Guests on the night are Amyl and the Sniffers and Lady Bird.

For fans of: Shame, IDLES, Sleaford Mods Tuesday November 13 The Academy €27

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and more, Dowry joins forces with songwriter Participant for a double headline show.

For fans of: Bell X1, Daughter, Saint Sister Thursday November 15 Bello Bar €10

The Austin musician has been playing his trade with Americana style music, but last year underwent an evolution of his sound.

For fans of: Nathaniel Rateliff, José Rodriguez, Shovels & Rope Friday November 16 Vicar Street €27

Soul singer Jesse John Heffernan and his band dedicate a night of live music to Bill Withers, with all the classic hits from the soul legend to be expected.

For fans of: Roy Ayers, Al Green, Marvin Gaye Friday November 16 The Underground €11.40

One of the century’s most unique voices returns to The Olympia’s stage.

Known for her witty, humorous music and electric performances with her full band.

For fans of: Ariel Pink, Wolf Alice, Angel Olsen Monday November 12 Olympia Theatre €33.50 American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist joins his band the Violators for his first Irish show in over two years. Expect plenty of indie and alternative rock.

For fans of: The War On Drugs, Courtney Barnett, Ariel Pink Wednesday November 14 Vicar Street €28

Multi-instrumentalist and bi-lingual artist Cuco combines lofi and abstract elements in his music and vocals to create a sound that resonates around the world.

For fans of: Boy Pablo, Mac DeMarco, Rex Orange County Friday November 16 Whelan’s €19

American funk, soul and jazz composer and a pioneer of jazz funk music Roy Ayers returns to Dublin again for a show with his band and special guest NC Grey.

For fans of: Fela Kuti, Erykah Badu, Bobby Hutcherson Friday November 16 The Sugar Club €27

The Aces leave Utah to tour Europe for the first time with their explosive popinspired debut album.

For fans of: Haim, Chvrches, No Doubt Saturday November 17 The Sound House €18

29 Drink Disaronno Responsibly

DON LETTS

HAILU MERGIA

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE

INTERPOL

PARIS MONSTER

ANTONIO SANCHEZ

DUCKWRTH

THE HEADHUNTERS

HONNE

SHAME

THE CORAL

THE MOTIVES

OMAR APOLLO

MAKAYA MCCRAVEN

GLASSHOUSE PERFORMING SUFJAN STEVENS

LAOISE

JMSN

BOY GEORGE & CULTURE CLUB

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA

NOTHING BUT THIEVES

The Dun Laoghaire Vinyl Festival wraps up with an intimate set by the legendary English DJ and videographer, famous for his work with The Clash.

For fans of: The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite, Leo Williams Sunday November 18 The Purty Kitchen €15

Florence Welch and her band tour their fourth studio album ‘High as Hopes’ showcasing their ever-evolving and completely unique sound.

For fans of: St. Vincent, Arcade Fire, Marina & The Diamonds Monday November 19 3 Arena €50.50

Paris Monster employ heavy elements of funk and soul between synth-pop and garage-influenced sounds.

For fans of: Josh Dion, Alabama Shakes, Salad Boys Monday November 19 The Workman’s Club €15

Boundary-pushing hip hop artist & designer DUCKWRTH kicks off the European leg of his The Falling Man tour with a date in the capital.

For fans of: Mick Jenkins, Earl Sweatshirt, Rejjie Snow Wednesday November 21 The Academy Green Room

British duo Honne combine soul with synths expressing the essence of duality in their music.

For fans of: Tom Misch, Mura Masa, SG Lewis Wednesday November 21 The Academy €20

The Liverpool band formed in the 90s and still retain the vintage rock sound that dominated that era of English music.

For fans of: The La’s, The Charlatans, The Courteeners, Thursday November 22 The Academy €28

The Indiana-based singer and songwriter is known for his falsetto voice and catchy bedroom pop.

For fans of: Boy Pablo, Phum Viphurit, The Weeknd Friday November 23 The Academy €18

Glasshouse spends an evening performing the music of American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens. Presented by Nialler9.

For fans of: Sufjan Stevens, Fleet Foxes, St. Vincent Friday November 23 The Douglas Hyde Gallery

Detroit singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist JMSM is known for his soulful R&B music tinged with electronica.

For fans of: Kaytranada, Mura Masa, Freddie Gibbs Saturday November 24 The Workman’s Club €16

After a performance at Forbidden Fruit, Unknown Mortal Orchestra are back to grace the stage of The Academy with their indie-funk catalogue.

For fans of: Tame Impala, Kurt Vile, Mac DeMarco Sunday November 25 The Academy €25

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Master accordionist, arranger and keyboardist originally from Ethiopia brings his AFTA label, blog and more to Ireland helping to spread fairly African music across the globe.

For fans of: Walias Band, Mulatu Astatke, ATA KAK Monday November 19 The Sugar Club €20

Hailing from Manhattan, Interpol encapsulate the post-punk sound of classic bands like Joy Division but put a contemporary indie twist on things.

For fans of: Joy Division, Bombay Bicycle Club, New Order Monday November 19 Olympia Theatre €52

One of the most sough after drummers on the planet, Sanchez bagged a Best Original Score Grammy for his work on ‘Birdman’.

For fans of: Nate Lang Makaya McCraven, Chris Potter Similar Sunday November 20 The Sugar Club €25

Formed in the 70s, The Headhunters have gone down in history as one of the most influential jazz fusion bands of all time, with the first ever jazz album to reach platinum.

For fans of: Herbie Hancock, George Clinton, The Crusaders Wednesday November 21 The Sugar Club €27

This London alternative rock five-piece have earned themselves a reputation as one of the most visceral bands on their circuit. On support duties are Irish bands The Murder Capital and Fontaines DC. For fans of: Fat White Family, Fuzz, Joey Purp Wednesday November 21 Tivoli Theatre €16

Alt-rock four-piece The Motives hail from Wexford and are known for their narrative performances, off-kilter time signatures and abstract work.

For fans of: Talking Heads, Pavement, Tom Tom Club Thursday November 22 Button Factory €12/15

A member of Chicago’s avant-garde scene, Makaya is known as a drummer and for his genre-bending jazz output.

For fans of: Marquis Hill, Mammal Hands, Bobby Broom Friday November 23 The Sugar Club €20

Laoise boasts upbeat synth productions and dreamy pop with original records, productions and releases.

For fans of: Sylk, AE Mak, Chvrches Saturday November 24 The Grand Social €14.50

Grammy award-winning band Culture Club and frontman Boy George return to Dublin with all of their favourite hits from their long-spanning discography.

For fans of: Spandau Ballet, Wham!, Duran Duran Sunday November 25 3 Arena €67

Alternative rock band Nothing But Thieves embark on their biggest headline tour to date joined by special guest Demob Happy.

For fans of: Royal Blood, Slaves, Foals Tuesday November 27 The Academy €25

SNEAKBO

MABEL

BLOSSOMS

MS. LAURYN HILL

CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS

NEALO

HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE

BUGZY MALONE

NILE RODGERS & CHIC

THE HOT HOUSE FLOWERS

SG LEWIS

LITTLE GREEN CARS

The Brixton rapper attracted the attention of big names like Drake at the start of his career, and now he’s planted his feet firmly in the hip hop community.

For fans of: Giggs, Stormzy, Yungen Wednesday November 28 The Academy €20

Mosaic indie pop band Blossoms combine a Britpop sound with 80s synth and more.

For fans of: Liam Gallagher, Fontaines DC, The Kooks Thursday November 29 Olympia Theatre €29

The distinct sound of Christine pairs flowery pop with minimalistic music and vocals. She uses her platform to push boundaries with gender.

For fans of: Lorde, AE Mak, Robyn Friday November 30 RDS €62

The Chicago ensemble will celebrate the release of their most recent album ‘The Book Of Sound’ on Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s imprint.

For fans of: Hot 8 Brass Band, Gorillaz, Mos Def Saturday December 1 National Concert Hall €30

The iconic producer, songwriter and musician, Nile Rodgers joins Chic for a performance of all their biggest hits.

For fans of: Sister Sledge, Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams Thursday December 1 RDS €66.50

Producer SG Lewis is known for weaving narratives across his danceorientated and emotive electronic music.

For fans of: Ray BLK, Mura Masa, Alunageorge Wednesday December 5 The Green Room Bar €23

Fresh off a support slot on Harry Styles’ tour Mabel returns to Dublin with her R&B and pop sounds.

For fans of: Kelela, Mahalia, Billie Eilish Wednesday November 28 The Academy €23

One of R&B’s most significant artists and activists brings her iconic ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ tour to Dublin, celebrating 20 years since it’s release.

For fans of: Erykah Badu, Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige Friday November 30 3 Arena €80

Dublin punk influenced rapper Nealo launches his record ‘October Year’ with Senu, Sick Nanley & Local Boy and comedian Tony Cantwell joining him on the night.

For fans of: Mac Miller, Kojaque, Denzel Curry Friday November 30 The Underground €7

Grime star Bugzy Malone brings his B. Inspired show to Ireland and beyond.

For fans of: Giggs, Stormzy, Skepta Thursday December 1 Olympia Theatre €22

Irish group The Hot House Flowers combine trad music with more contemporary styles of rock, soul and gospel.

For fans of: The Waterboys, Glen Hansard, Van Morrison Friday December 2 Olympia Theatre €33

The Dublin-based indie rock band are known for their emotive and chilling performances, particularly from material off their most recent album Ephemera.

For fans of: London Grammar, Palma Violets, Deap Vally Thursday December 6 Vicar Street €30

KOJAQUE

Dublin rapper Kojaque is quickly gaining attention on the Irish and international circuit with his honest lyrics and production style, and now he play his biggest headline show to-date.

For fans of: Tyler, The Creator, MF DOOM, Rejjie Snow Thursday December 6 The Academy Green Room €17.50

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Exhibitions of the month RUTHLESS: A DECADE OF LIVE MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY

A debut solo exhibition by Ruth Medjber showcasing the ‘live’ work of the renowned Irish photographer is running from Friday November 23 to Sunday December 2 at the Fumbally Exchange, Dame Lane. Ruth has covered some of the world’s greatest musicians and performances in Ireland over the past decade, with shots of artists like Jay Z, Grace Jones and LCD Soundsystem on display. Prints of her latest live shoot with Arcade Fire will be on sale, with all proceeds going to direct provision charities.

Friday November 23 - Sunday December 2 Fumbally Exchange Free

TO PREPARE A FACE

Eoghan O’Driscoll, artist and poet, exhibits a collection of his latest works for what will be his debut Dublin-based exhibition. The abstract and impressionist painter takes influence from mental health, creating vibrant and large scale works. The Book Of Cuckoo, a poetry book, will also be launched on the night alongside guest opening speaker Arnold Thomas Fanning.

Photography: Ruth Medjber

Friday November 9 - Thursday November 15 The Gallery at FramExperts, Ranelagh Free

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Words: Niamh Craven / Photography: Callum O’Riordan

AILBHE

REDDY

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A

ilbhe Reddy has had a strong year.

The Dublin based singer-songwriter, known for her deeply honest and emotional lyrics that stay with you long after listening, has played at almost every major Irish festival and is currently embarking on a tour of The UK. Homogenous indie music still has its place today, but Ailbhe is constantly setting herself apart, using her lyrics to battle stigmas and not holding back when it comes to showing her vulnerabilities and fears through lyricism and soulful music.

Her haunting voice arrests her audience and her minimalistic style immediately reels you in. With the simplicity of just a woman and her guitar, she’s somehow capable of making a whole room instantly shut up to let the rawness of the music resonate.

Since starting out, she’s evolved her sound, incorporating a full band, expanding the live set and bringing that set up to the upper echelons of music with a performance at Glastonbury. Ahead of an upcoming headline date at Whelan’s, a haven for rising alternative and indie artists, we caught up with the Dubliner.

people in general, and it’s even worse for creatives as they are often going down the road less travelled. With regards HWCH, the opportunities are there for you to take.

I did it in 2015 when I didn’t really have my act together and didn’t gain much traction.

However, in 2016 I had released an EP, had a tight band together and I went to all the industry meet and greets and benefitted massively. Through that I got to go to The Great Escape, and through that I signed my publishing deal, which was my most important career moment to date. First Music Contact in Ireland is an incredible support system that facilitates artists working together, as well as educating us all on how to navigate the industry.

You’ve mentioned in previous interviews that you’ve always written songs with the hope that people can relate to what you’re feeling.

Especially with the minimalistic nature of folk music, you’re giving yourself to your listeners and people who attend your shows in such honest and vulnerable ways. Do you find it tough being so open?

Which irish artists impressing you at moment?

I think most people are writing to be understood in some way. There’s something kind of exciting about being boldly honest and publicly saying things you couldn’t usually, just because you’ve hidden the message under a melody. I find it easy to be that open, eventually. When I first play a new song it’s scary, but by the time I’ve gigged a song 10 times it’s as much mine as anyone else’s. You kind of let go of the feelings a bit after every play.

Would you like to weigh in on the ‘Ireland doesn’t support it’s creatives, so they’re all leaving’ argument that we hear all too often these days?

Why do you think this is? Do festivals like Hard Working Class Heroes help combat it?

I think that criticism is levelled towards the lack of funding for modern music from the Department of Culture. It’s also a criticism that isn’t just from creatives, but plenty of young people in other fields too.

Rent is impossible in Dublin (yet we need to be in Dublin to avail of opportunities), creative spaces are few and far between.

There’s not a lot of support for young Irish

You’re quite open about having to juggle a job and music, this seems to be such a common problem for our country’s top musicians. How do you think this could be combatted?

More funding, which is something Angela Dorgan of First Music Contract has been fiercely fighting for. are the

I’m sure you’re more than aware of everyone I will name: Maria Kelly, LAOISE, Pillow Queens (I like to act like I’m their honorary fifth member), Bitch Falcon, Basciville, Rosa Nutty... I could name heaps!

You’re often praised for your clever lyricism. What spurs these lyrics on?

To me, lyrics are the most important part, I think melody can attract you to the song, but lyrics are what keep you listening. I spend a lot of time writing down lyrical ideas that often never make it into songs. I try keep note of anything that might be a good idea for a future melody. Generally I work off an idea I have first and write the music around that. I’m currently on a tour of the UK, so I’ve found myself writing a lot while I have downtime on trains. You need that distracted time for your mind to wander and write something worthwhile.

As you mention, you’ve been playing quite a lot around the UK, plus Ireland and you had a date in Canada. How have you found touring?

I actually like travelling alone, so parts of it can be really pleasant. I love taking trains around and listening to music. However, you can definitely go a bit stir crazy when you haven’t spoken to anyone in a full day.

I’m in the middle of 18 days touring in the UK while I write this, so that has been really interesting. Over the last 18 months I’ve played in Canada, the UK, France, Spain, Germany and Austria. It’s really amazing,

because you see places and meet people you usually wouldn’t because you’re offered a gig. So I really appreciate that aspect of it, although travelling can be exhausting too.

Does touring hamper or inspire creativity?

It kind of depends on how busy you are, if you have a lot of down time and a lot of time to think and process ideas you can be really productive and creative. But if when I’ve toured around Ireland and I’ve been driving from place to place I’ve never found it to be creatively stimulating, because I’ve constantly been engaged in the process of getting from A to B and soundchecking and then doing it all over again!

You mentioned before in an interview that the Irish music community is quite tightknit, and I can imagine that’s definitely true for the more intimate genres of indie and folk music. Have you been finding that overseas too?

It seems to be similar in different cities, that artists within communities band together and help each other out and tour together.

I suppose it’s essential as a DIY movement grows within the indie music sphere and artists move away from the traditional label structure in favour of self-releasing and promoting. It’s certainly important to be able to ask for advice and support from peers who are doing the same thing.

‘Attach to Memory’ has been noted as being really raw, stripped back and honest compared to your debut EP ‘Hollowed out Sea’.

Where did the decision come from to release a surprise EP, and to make it so honest and bearing?

I didn’t decide any of it for any particular reason, really! I had really meticulously planned my first EP and spent a year recording and fine tuning it with the wonderful Darragh Nolan (Asta Kalapa studios). I kind of started recording ‘Attach to Memory’ accidentally, I went in to record ‘Never Loved’, then went in and recorded ‘Disconnect’ with the band... Then I decided to make a four-track EP and released it with a single about three months later. It kind of just happened that way. I wouldn’t say it was any more honest or bare than my first EP, but I had recently gone through a break up that kind of gave me a bit of a shake, so I think that might have come across in the recordings!

Ailbhe Reddy plays Whelan’s on November 23.

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Words: Cóilí Collins

A

fter a meteoric rise to the public’s attention, Bugzy Malone has built an empire within the now effectively mainstream grime and UK hip hop scene. With the release of his 2018 project ‘B Inspired’, alongside consistent collaborations with urban clothing outfitter, Supply & Demand, Bugzy has unapologetically infiltrated the eyes and ears of popular culture, and is here to stay.

A line of giddy tracksuit-clad individuals ranging from teens to 30-somethings added another element of excitement to an already busy Henry Street. An eager busker dressed like he was on lunch from his job in the pharmacy was peculiarly rapping over classics like ‘I Spy’, ‘Gettin’ Jiggy With It’ and more, but as unique as he was, passers by were much more enthused with the growing crowd outside JD Sports.

There was a certain buzz in the air, so much so that when a middle-aged woman stopped, with her child in the pram, to ask who was inside, “Some rapper from England” wasn’t met with total surprise. In 2018, grime and UK hip hop has taken over, and one of the leading lights of its new wave has certainly capitalised on it.

A quick trek past a few eager attendees and down a somewhat eerily secretive path led to a room somewhere in the depths of JD’s stockroom. Finally, when the door opened and the man himself was sitting atop the counter, it didn’t take long to realise what all the hype was about.

When our conversation took place, Bugzy Malone had just come off the back of his third EP ‘King of the North’ and the title is more than fitting. Given his ascension to the top of the UK scene’s hierarchy, he hasn’t adhered to the London-centric vibe that the scene revolves around. Despite donning a noticeably weighted gold chain and a neatly diamond-encrusted watch, Bugzy’s mannerisms, which align with his music and his career moves up until now, are totally measured. With his trademark Manchester edge giving him a brashness to match any grime MC. By working with brands like JD Sports and Supply & Demand, similar to AJ Tracey launching the new Tottenham kit, it not only shows that grime and UK rap is at the forefront of underground music, but that the artists behind it are at the forefront of mainstream culture.

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I think it’s brilliant. It’s a really good thing. It shows that the UK thing is coming up fast, branching into big companies like this. It’s a really good time.

Even though the UK is really popping off, you come from Manchester, which may be relatively close to London, but is not necessarily similar in terms of culture and the infrastructure around music, especially with rap and grime.

How did you get through that barrier?

You see Conor McGregor in the UFC, he’s coming straight from Ireland into an American industry and he doesn’t care, he’s just there to represent. I think it’s the internet, it just means that everything you do is in people’s living rooms straight away, so it’s not just about an area anymore.

Conor got a shout-out on your last EP too.

Always man! We’re always supporting him, he’s a big inspiration.

The EP itself shows a progression from your last one, and the one before that.

You have plenty of vocal collaborations on it and different styles, how do you approach each one individually?

I feel like I’m just getting better naturally with time. The difference with each one is that I’m working on each one longer. It took me longer to make this one because it had to be right and it’s just better.

How do you approach making new music as the scene has grown alongside yourself as an artist?

There are definitely no throwaway tracks on a project, with mixtapes and stuff I might’ve put a track on there that now wouldn’t have necessarily made the cut, whereas now it’s a bit more accurate. You’ve got to make sure that when you do something that it’s right.

It’s somewhat symbolic that by the release of your third EP that Dot Rotten and P Money are in the midst of a beef, given that yours and Chip’s was the beginning of new era UK rap beefs.

The same as Conor McGregor coming into the UFC wearing suits and everyone started wearing suits. When somebody sees that something works and that something generates a lot of excitement, in the end people are going to have to jump on board.

Sometimes you get labelled as solely a grime MC, when plenty of your tracks have much more to them than your average grime track. Is it irritating to get pigeonholed like that?

Grime, that’s British rap, that’s British hip hop, that’s where it originated, that’s where all or most British urban acts emerge from, what I’m doing is trying to elaborate on the sound. I’m trying to take the sound to the next level, so I always keep the grime tempo, but it’s not necessarily the same kind of style. It’s a different vibe; it might be a happy track or a sad one. Grime’s quite aggressive.

Did you see yourself making store appearances abroad when you first started rapping?

I don’t know if I knew that I’d be in this position. I used to box before I did music and when I was boxing I knew that I wanted to be a world champion, so I just knew that anything I did put my mind to that I’d be able to take it all the way.

The fact that it’s materialising means that the other stuff that I’ve got in my head, that I think I can do, are possibilities, which means that if they happen, we’re only really at the beginning at this moment in time.

So a boxer’s mentality goes hand-in-hand with a grime artist’s?

It’s just discipline, it works for life doesn’t it?

Bugzy Malone plays The Olympia Theatre on December 1.

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38 Words: Eric Davidson / Photography: Eamonn Doyle

EAMONN DOYLE I

n 2014, the citizens of Dublin city were captured like never before. At The Ambassador end of O’Connell Street, just metres from the original birthplace of Eamonn Doyle’s D1 Recordings, a string of large photos of elderly people popped up. ‘i’ marked the return of Doyle as a photographer after a long break. The images of “solitary ‘Beckettian’ figures” were part of a publication, referred to by acclaimed photographer Martin Parr as “the best street photobook in a decade”, which kickstarted a trilogy of books by Doyle. ‘i’, ‘ON’ and ‘End’ captured the combined actions of the capital and its population as they played out in front of him. However with his latest effort, ‘K’, he’s focusing (or unfocusing) his lens on the Atlantic edge of Ireland, “to a landscape that, in places, appears out of time, a parallel world untouched by human presence”.

“Through the intense colour images of ‘K’, we follow a figure that shape-shifts as it travels across this landscape. Entirely veiled in cloth, the figure is spectral, changing in colour and materiality as it is pushed and pulled by gravity, wind, water and light. In places it appears almost gaseous, in others it is molten and then, at times, the weight of being earthbound becomes apparent.

“Accompanying these colour images, ‘K’ includes a number of dense black and white photographs that appear to describe some kind of seismic evidence. Printed on a number of pages in the book are stratified layers of hand-written letters from a mother to her dead son. Eamonn’s brother, Ciarán, died suddenly at age 33 in 1999. His mother, Kathryn, never managed to escape the grief

of such a time-reversed event, right up until her own death in 2017. In the letters, we can make out a word here and there, but the cumulative effect is their appearance as musical notation, a veil of sound waves, a phonetic score for lament.”

David Donohoe has also composed a “two-part piece for voice” that will accompany ‘K’. Working with a 1951 recording of an Irish Keen (derived from the Irish to cry, weep or wail), the recording will be included in the book in the form of a record.

“This layered and ever-changing composition forms an integral part of our experience of ‘K’, relating directly to it in both form and expression.”

With his Dublin-focused work, Doyle looks at how “the contemporary forces of the city and the movement of its people continually shape each other”. However, in ‘K’ it’s the search for the “primal, even primordial” that drove him.

“The cruelty of the speed of light is that we can only ever look back in time. The further we look out, the further back in time we see. But this does bring the past into the present as we attempt to understand, even though sometimes we just cannot. This is as true of a photograph taken on the streets of Dublin as it is of one taken of plasma clouds in distant galaxies. And we can only comprehend any of this by passing through the vibrations of time, like a song cast out to the cosmos.”

‘K’ launches on Friday November 23 at the Irish Georgian Society, City Assembly on South William Street, with the book, designed by Niall Sweeney, available at a 40 per cent discount on the night.

All images courtesy of the Michael Hoppen Gallery, London.

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41

Words: Eric Davidson / Photography: ‘The Seen and Unseen’

Dublin Feminist Film Festival F

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or the past five years, Dublin Feminist Film Festival [DFFF] has shone a light on women in film, celebrating female filmmakers, “hoping to inspire and empower others” to get involved in the craft.

Each year they select a theme, and for this edition it’s ‘REFRAME/REFOCUS’.

This means the festival will feature films not only directed by women, but also shot by female cinematographers.

“In emphasising the role of the cinematographer, we aim to expand the notion of who 'makes' a film and what 'Films by Women' means, while also raising questions about how, or whether, films shot by women feature a different or other gaze.”

But why cinematography?

“In 2018 something remarkable happened.

Rachel Morrison garnered an Academy Award nomination for cinematography for her work on the film ‘Mudbound’. At

first glance, this might not seem so out of the ordinary. Over the last four decades, women have regularly and increasingly been nominated for and won international awards for production roles that had previously been male-only domains. This was not the case with cinematography, however. Morrison was the first woman ever to be nominated for her work behind the camera in 90 years of Oscars! Awards aren’t everything of course, but historically speaking, cinematography has been the most difficult filmmaking role for women to break into.

“For the fifth Dublin Feminist Film Festival, we have decided to highlight the role of the female cinematographer. In coming to this decision, we thought about it from several different angles. Does a woman’s camera see differently? If much of what makes film so compelling is the visual, can a film be by its cinematographer as

much as its director? And institutionally and structurally speaking, why has the field of cinematography in particular been so reluctant to accept women into its ranks?”

As part of ‘REFRAME/REFOCUS’, DFFF featuring a talk by an esteemed academic on female cinematography, and a roundtable discussion with two Dublinbased female cinematographers.

“It’s important to celebrate the work of Rachel Morrison, and we heartily congratulate her on her achievement.

However, as we continue to reconsider the fantastic work that female cinematographers are doing around the world, we hope it will become increasingly clear that one nomination in 90 years simply isn’t good enough.” dublinfeministfilmfestival.com

Check out the highlights from the DFFF 2018 programme below.

Tuesday November 20 @ Generator, Smithfield 19:00 Free Talk: Dr Paula Quigley (TCD) Women and Cinematography 20:00 Free Event: Filmmakers Deirdre O’Toole & Eimear Ennis Graham in conversation Wednesday November 21 @ Screen 3, Light House Cinema SHORTS PROGRAMME 18:00 10 finalists for this year’s Shorts Award

‘Parklands’ 19:15 Director Kathryn Millard, DoP Mandy Walker, Australia, 1996 (51 mins) DFFF 2018 Shorts Award Winner Announcement 20:15 Presented by Filmmakers Megan K. Fox and Mia Mullarkey

‘XXY’ 19:45 Director Lucia Puenzo, Cinematographer Natasha Braier, Argentina 2007 (1hr 26mins) ‘Cameraperson’ 21:30 Director and Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson, US 2017 (1hr 42mins) dublinfeministfilmfestival.com

Thursday November 22 @ Screen 3, Light House Cinema

Irish Premiere: ‘The Seen and Unseen’ 18:00 Director Kamila Andini, Cinematographer Anggi Frisca, Indonesia 2017 (1hr 23mins)

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Words: Hannah O’Connell

DUCK

44

WRTH

G

rowing up, DUCKWRTH could be found skateboarding around Los Angeles listening to music.

At home it was gospel, on the street: hip hop, gangster rap and g-funk, and in high school he discovered punk. It was this musical education that formed his musical pallette and output. A sound he has carefully shaped over the last decade.

“I feel like at this moment when people research who I am, or research my music, they’re like, ‘Ok, this is amazing. This is tight’, and that’s because I spent so much time working on my craft. I guess everything happens in its right timing and you just go for the ride. You could blow up tomorrow and that’s cool. Or you could blow up in five years and that’s cool too.”

I wake DUCKWRTH up for our interview.

It’s 11am his time and he’s in the middle of The Falling Man Tour, set to play Rough Trade in Brooklyn that night. He’s a little sleepy at the start, but enthusiastically remembers that the tour sold out just the other day.

Speaking of blowing up, it feels like now is his time. He’s put out two solid releases this year and is about to embark on a string of European dates, most in cities he’s never been to before. Having patience is the biggest lesson he’s learned in his career to-date.

“Everything takes its time. Don’t force it. Work hard, work smart. If you want longevity, hop on for the ride and just take your time, because the people that do blow up overnight, they’re here today and gone tomorrow. They get so much success and so much love and attention, but then six months later you’re like, ‘Where the hell did they go?’. Blowing up overnight creates this false sense of success… But the people who take their time and really push for something different have fans for life and quality work.”

DUCKWRTH has been reaping the rewards of quality work in a big way recently. In addition to The Falling Man US

Tour getting a 14-date European leg, he now shares a label with Drake, Post Malone and Nicki Minaj. Republic Records took notice of him following the 2017 release of ‘an XTRA UUGLY Mixtape’.

“They’re supportive in the sense that they want you to prevail,” he tells me, but I wonder what impact a move to a large commercial label really has on an artist.

“Things changed because you have to think about how things are branded, what brands are a part of what I’m doing, scheduling, deadlines… But it’s fine because they give you funding that you may not have had access to. They have the bank of Republic where they’ll give you a lot of money to invest in what you’re creating.

As far as my creative goes, I wouldn’t say it’s changed too much. I still create in the same way, but there are more people that I have to deliver it to and more people that have to check it off, because Republic is a radio and commercial label. They have the whole perspective of what’s going to crossover to the masses.”

The Global, money-making labels are known to mould and shape an artist to suit their needs, however DUCKWRTH hasn’t experienced this treatment.

“I’m still explicit. Very explicit,” he laughs.

“They don’t make me censor myself, they’ll just say, ‘Give us a different version’.

They allow me to be very creative, surprisingly for a label… Say for example if I have Nike sweats on, that’s where it gets specific. That’s where the censorship happens.”

Republic sounds like a perfect fit for DUCKWRTH. Chatting to him I get the sense that he isn’t an artist who would allow his creativity to be stifled. He’s put out three albums in three years and standalone singles, along with illustrating the accompanying artwork and directing the visuals for each.

“I love performing. I love creating. I love being in the studio the most,” he says starting to sound much more awake.

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“Blowing up overnight creates this false sense of success…

But the people who take their time and really push for something different have fans for life and quality work.”

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Looking to probe deeper, I push to know the downsides of the job.

“I hate the demanding schedule it requires. The small work. The emails. I hate emails so much [laughs]!”

I might have started something.

“What else do I hate… Oh! I hate getting mixes back of music, because when you start with music and you start working on it, producing it, it sounds great.

Then you send it out to the mixer and it somehow comes back different to what you were imagining it to be. It’s kind of heart-wrenching.”

I begin to wonder if this interview is about to start some major beef between DUCKWRTH and his team?’, but he reassured me.

“No, it’s not even that. I love the mixers I work with and we’ve created some of the most amazing shit. It’s just sometimes the translation gets lost, how they hear it, what they think sounds good. It definitely works out in the end, but both you and the mixer have to get on and sometimes it can come back a little crazy. I hate writing notes and shit like that, so if I neglect to write certain notes they can go on their own creative path. It’s hard to be very specific and write notes! I can do the creative, but I hate doing paperwork.”

In 2015 DUCKWRTH put out a politicallycharged record titled ‘Nowhere’ with Cleveland producer The Kickdrums. He’s since launched his B.O.Y. [Being Only You] unisex t-shirt line which aims to blur the lines between genders. He tells me that “believing in something” is what’s most important to him.

“I want to be a catalyst for imagination and inspiration… I don’t want to give a person a whole fucking forest, a whole garden. I want to give them the option, which is the seed, and then they can go wherever they want to go. They can plant it, find whoever they want to be.

“I want to give people the inspiration to be brave, so they can do what they want to do, so they don’t have to fall in line with everybody else. If your parents say, ‘Work a 9 to 5’, or whatever, you can choose to do that. Or you can choose to go down your own path. A lot of people don’t know that’s an option.”

DUCKWRTH’s path saw him attend San Francisco’s Academy of Arts after school. He soon swapped his given name, Jared Lee, for his mother’s maiden name ‘Duckworth’ [no connection to the Kendrick Lamar ‘Duckworths’], but he explains there’s not much difference between who he is on and off the stage.

“DUCKWRTH is the brand name, the stage name, so when people hear ‘DUCKWRTH’ they expect what comes with it that. Being a cooler guy, or a performer who is super colourful and everything like that. With the numbers that I have through social networks and music you expect a certain type of celebrity, but I guess that’s the only separation. It’s quite literally me.

“If I tell a person, ‘Oh hey, I’m Jared’, they might not know who that is, but if I tell a person, ‘Hey, I’m DUCKWRTH’, they’re like ‘Oh my god, you’re DUCKWRTH’?’. It’s like ok, now I need to be this person.”

Before I let him go and grab a coffee, we briefly touch on new music. We’ve gotten two singles from the Californian this year in the form of ‘FALL BACK’ and ‘SOPRANO’ and he confirms that they are part of a larger audio and visual project.

“The singles were the taste test to say, ‘Ok so DUCKWRTH will be going in a different direction now’. I’m excited.

The project will eventually drop, but the emphasis at the moment is just pushing this overall concept.”

DUCKWRTH plays The Academy on November 21.

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48 Words: Aoife Donnellan

C

loud Study is part dance, part dream, part theatre, part athletics. This nebulous piece, choreographed by John Scott with specially commissioned music by Derry composer Ryan Vail, is comprised of two compelling dancers: Mufutau Yusuf, an Irishman, born in Nigeria, and Salma Ataya, a Palestinian contemporary dancer.

Over the 55-minute piece they attempt to run 1,000 kilometres in circles and lines through the space, chasing dreams, memories and home. Mufutau and Salma spoke with Aoife Donnellan about how dance expresses the inexpressible, and what ‘Cloud Study’ means in the current political climate; dance as a political act.

First things first, what inspired you to become a contemporary dancer?

Mufutau: I had many sources of inspiration, I guess the common denominator would be my desire to express my thoughts and imagination physically. I try not to limit my creativity to the studio, but anywhere that can nurture it, be it nature, public spaces, my living room. There is an underlying characteristic to my creative process, though each process itself can differ, depending on concept, inspiration, collaboration and more. I am easily influenced by my unbridled imagination and allow it to guide my creative process.

Salma: I actually started as a traditional dancer performing Dabkeh – a Palestinian folk dance. I knew that I wanted to move since I was young and I find dancing is a way to express myself and my case better than other ways, like talking for example. When contemporary dance came to Palestine, I was new to it, but it helped me more with expressing myself because it’s open and not limited as with traditional dance, which I suppose is similar to Irish dance in many ways. It has jumping and smiling all the time.

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Choreographer of the project, John Scott, describes Cloud Study as “a very human study of the idea of running while thinking about the backdrop of the awful things that are happening in the world”.

The concept that the clouds witness atrocity in the world passively is really important in Ireland right now as the housing crisis and global warming continue to be witnessed by people and politicians who don’t feel compelled into action. What inspired you to be a part of this piece of work in this city?

M: I guess I believe that in varying degrees we can all be held culpable for what is going on around us, and in some way each of us need to play our part in rectifying these ‘atrocities’. The purpose of this piece or of ‘running 1,000km’ is not to preach about our failings towards these issues, but to inspire a new level of humanity that can propel us to take action. Through myself and Salma’s own abstract recount of our own experience in relation to the social issues in Ireland and in our native countries, Nigeria and Palestine, I hope we can inspire people to have better dialogues which can lead to practical actions. The power for change is more in our hands than we think.

S: I think everyone can relate to Cloud Study in any case with the themes and ideas happening in the performance. Working with John is so inspiring because things and movement are not limited. You can be open as much as you can and the important thing is that you can be you. You don’t have to pretend or act, what is happening on stage is the real you and what you feel, or you do, it can be different from time to time in the performance. Cloud Study is an open piece that allows the audience to be part of it in anyway they feel. Everyone is running away from something, or to something, in the same time they are aware of what is happening in the world, but the running is continued all over the world.

What power does modern dance have in a political moment that is being labelled as ‘indescribable’? Do you think modern dance captures empathy where words fail?

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M: I believe modern dance, or dance in general, has an immense power to manifest these abstract thoughts and emotions that words fail to articulate. Our physical language has as much validity as our spoken language, even in social and political discourses, and should be reexamined as a practical tool in conveying our thoughts and viewpoints.

S: For me, as a Palestinian dancer, I find the dance I create is a way to fight and send my messages and my ideas through dance rather than ways that I am less confident in.

I see a lot of performers speaking about the case of Palestine and the situation there, and I feel people can understand what I am trying to convey through my art. Modern dance is so powerful especially because most of society is not able to listen anymore, they are sick of words. It’s another way to speak and everyone understands body language. It can be more powerful than the words.

Do you think the performance represents something bigger than the sum of its parts? Or are you just travelling from A to B? What does it mean for you both to chase “dreams, memories and home”?

M: In many ways the struggle represents something bigger, it’s also simply a struggle to get from the beginning to the end of the piece, from A to B. It is both political and metaphysical, and at the same time it isn’t. The simple act of chasing “dreams, memories and home” has political influences, if you look in light of the homeless crisis in Ireland, or the global refugee and immigration situation.

The current stance of politics has cast us out of our Eden and we are left to fend for ourselves, and the measures we take to fend for ourselves extend beyond politics.

The ‘marathon’ becomes very real.

Traveling 1,000km in a static space is quite a feat.

Spatially representing an enormous distance must be physically demanding. How have you been preparing mentally and physically for the performances?

M: From my own perspective, travelling 1,000km in this static space is really a metaphor for the feat in conveying the challenges when confronting these contemporary issues. In a way we all search for a collective utopia on this planet, and chasing this near impossible dream can feel like the marathon of your life. For me, this is what interests me most; conveying our perseverance in doing our part to make this utopia a reality. I think it’s incredibly poetic and touching. I hope to inspire even the smallest amount of humanity and to empower people to have a more concrete discourse in how we can solve these issues.

We are striving to reach the audience with this message and this is what drives our vigour and endurance.

S: I need to live the performance moment by moment; this is my way to prepare for it mentally. When I give myself and my body the space to feel or to live every moment and movement in the show then I can do it.

Of course we need a big warm up before the show to prepare for the physicality in it, but in the same time I will give myself the space to do what I feel in the moment, also to not forget to breath every second in.

Described as “part dance, part dream, part theatre, part athletics”, what does Cloud Study attempt to capture as a piece?

M: I believe Cloud Study tries to capture our search for humanity and empathy in our current plight and uses that to inspire further discourses in how to overcome these contemporary issues.

S: Cloud study is a mixture of dthings because it’s a real piece. We are not pretending we are speaking about ourselves and that’s what it made it real. So I am not just dancing, I am also dreaming and speaking and feeling. It’s different when you decide to do a dance theatre than when you decide to do a dance, but other things come with it. These things came honestly.

Attempting to represent such a journey in space gives people an understanding of time’s constant effect on the body, and the mind.

Do you think Cloud Study is an important piece for Irish audiences to witness currently, as a public that finds it hard to share personal struggles?

M: That’s very true, as the piece progresses, and the space is pulsating with energy, you feel the continuation and weight of time, especially in moments when the music disappears and you’re suddenly pulled back into the present moment or hear the panting and heaving of me and Salma.

As time elapses, and the exhaustion of myself and Salma becomes more apparent, the feeling of running, chasing, resisting, fleeing becomes more ingrained into the space and there is where I hope the audience can grasp the extent of our struggle, our longing and our perseverance. I hope that in this moment, they bring to mind their own struggle and feel empowered to want to share this with others, and in the conversation that ensues, we will realise that we are not alone in our struggle, emboldening our kinship in one another and working together towards making a better society for ourselves. Ireland, to me, has always been a proactive society, however with the rising bureaucracy we are sometimes left in the dark on certain issues and cannot see the steps we need to make towards rectifying these issues. We all search for a beacon in this dark and that is what I hope Cloud Study can provide.

Cloud Study runs at Smock Alley Theatre November 21-24.

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Gemma Dunleavy by George Voronov

District Issue 005: Roots available in Hen's Teeth, Library Project and Indigo & Cloth.

Buy online at districtmagazine.myshopify.com 52

13 Dame St Dublin 2 Refreshing Salads - Middle Eastern Mezze - Freshly Squeezed Juice

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54 Words: Polly Dennison / Photography: Killian Broderick

THE CHANGING FACE OF RADIO I

Pods, weblogs and an online-savvy listenership were what the Guardian said in 2004 would secure the ‘audible revolution’ that was the arrival of online radio to the mainstream. By that time there were already a good few stations, mostly in the US, who had seen the benefit, and early-millennium excitement, of being able to ‘broadcast out, and have the internet talk back to them’, as the article reported.

Commercial stations this side of the pond were later to the game, and by the time that article appeared, not even the BBC had embraced live streams, downloads, or podcasts, aside from one slightly sad and lonely Radio 4 page listing the last week’s programmes. Limited bandwidth and the joys of dial-up were the constraints facing most of us. However, those who did listen to digital radio or live streams were in small, but committed numbers.

Jump 14 years ahead, and digital and online radio are still staking their claim on the broadcast landscape. Radio is still popular, with up to 90 per cent of adults in both the UK and Ireland listening on a daily basis. Among the teenage market, three out of four listen to the radio, and of them, 60 per cent listen over the internet, via their phones, TV, or catch-up. Most major cities, and those on the up, now have a recognisable online radio station: from Subcity in Glasgow, Berlin Community Radio, and New York’s East Village Radio, to NTS in London, Amsterdam’s Red Light Radio and Dublin Digital Radio.

It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that online radio now has a solid listenership, especially among younger people. But there’s more to it than a simple case of millennials’ much-bemoaned alleged reliance on smartphones. It comes down, in many cases, to the types of music being played by online radio streams, in comparison to what analogue radio has to offer. Both Sean Finnan at Dublin Digital Radio (ddr.) and Orpheu de Jong at Red Light Radio in Amsterdam say one of the main reasons they each founded their stations was because traditional radio was simply not playing the music they wanted to hear.

Or giving air time to the artists they felt were deserving.

In Sean’s case, the idea for ddr. sprang on the way home from an electronic music

festival in the west of Ireland; he and a friend were driving home, and after searching the FM and AM options, found nothing similar to the music they’d just enjoyed at the festival. Frustrated by this lack of representation for talented Irish musicians, as well as the lack of good music they liked listening to, they decided to set up their own online stream.

For Orpheu at Red Light Radio, setting up an internationally successful online stream was almost accidental.

“It started really small, as just a temporary initiative to invite nice people to play on the radio and share some music, and over the years it’s grown and now it’s a station with a solid national and international following.”

To that end, a crew from Red Light Radio will broadcast live from Hen’s Teeth on Fade Street this month with a diverse line-up of some of Ireland’s most exciting electronic music talent in association with Smirnoff.

Introducing listeners to new or unknown artists is something which everyone I spoke with said was a key part of being a good DJ and radio station. But they also all criticised current attempts, or more accurately, the lack thereof, by analogue radio stations.

“We’re not anti-traditional or mainstream radio,” says Sean. “The point is, in one way, it’s really, really bad. It could be run way better… [Because] at the end of the day, they have access to everyone in the country, and we don’t.”

As their listenership has grown, ddr. has begun to embrace other types of music aside from electronic, to broaden their listeners’ musical horizons and audience base. Éna Brennan is one of the newer DJs at ddr., bringing a new kind of music with her. A classical violinist by trade, Éna’s show, All Things String, does exactly what it says on the tin, playing only music which features string instruments. Some pieces are, as you might expect, more classical, or traditional-Irish in genre, but others are more contemporary.

“It’s genre-unspecific, and about the interesting relationship between that music and the string instrument,” says Éna. “In one episode, I had a song by Maria Kelly which had a lovely string arrangement,

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and an original composition for quartet that was written by Bryce Dessner from The National.”

Eager to introduce people to new music, and guide them from one artist and sound to another, she curates a playlist linked only by instrument.

“It’s about looking at how there are lots of connections between them all, and what having string instruments add to their texture.”

Despite her knowledge of her field and instrument, Éna says she didn’t pitch the idea to any analogue stations, because she felt ddr. would be more receptive to the concept.

But why go digital? Why not go pirate, and tap into that ready-made audience of 83 per cent of Irish adults that own and listen to the radio? It’s illegal for a start, so if you don’t want to get into that kind of mess, it’s not a good option.

For ddr., their main reason was the expense involved.

“You need a lot of different equipment if you’re setting up a pirate radio station, which we would not have been able to afford at the time,” says Sean. “We’d no financial backing and to set up something like that would have been unrealistic.

An online radio station was a much cheaper alternative.”

Given this initial barrier, it’s easy to see why some online stations wait until they’ve built an audience and raised funds before making any moves towards FM licensing.

Another benefit for online radio stations, at least in Britain and Ireland, is that they are not subject to broadcasting regulations.

One such rule, which ddr. have previously gladly declared does not apply to them, is the idea of balance, where both sides of a debate must be fairly represented in discussions which are broadcast.

“Balance is such a load of bullshit. It doesn’t make sense,” says Sean. “Like for the abortion referendum, you get the most radical, extreme voices, that are alienated from the majority of Catholic people in Ireland, taken on as a representation of the wider Catholic view. I think we’re way more balanced than anyone else, at least we’re up front – our bias is on our sleeve.”

Beyond the constraints of regulations, because of the way online radio is usually financed, the restrictions which sometimes face traditional radio don’t apply to them.

Running adverts during programmes can sometimes mean AM/FM stations take fewer risks in terms of the music played. As a working musician in Ireland, Éna says the representation of the Irish scene on national radio is skewed.

“There’s an overall discussion to be had about the music industry in Dublin. A lot of the big acts that are on the radio aren’t the main representation of Irish music,” she says. “The Coronas, The Script, Kodaline, all those boy bands are very commercial and on the radio all the time. It’s a shame there aren’t more people in our national

radio that are putting out the music really made here.”

Orpheu at Red Light echoes this, and says the same applies in The Netherlands.

“A big part of the FM system is commercial – play music that appeals to more people so more people listen and you can play more ads… There should be more youth culture, more underground culture, more representation.”

But if online stations dislike ads and the culture that comes with them, how do streams keep going financially?

“It’s one big hustle,” says Orpheu. “Red Light mostly exists through things we do outside the station – collaborations with festivals, our own events, or partnerships with brands… And we sell merchandise.”

Red Light’s DJs do not have to structure shows around regular breaks, nor do they have to adhere to what sponsors want to hear played, as no advertising runs on the stream. ddr. do not run ads and are mostly funded by donations, subscriptions and events, an approach which Sean feels aligns with the core beliefs of the station.

“There are so many problems in the media at the moment,” says Sean. “You have the media being subservient to sponsorship, or being owned by a super wealthy owner…

The other way to have it, in my view, is to be funded by the people that use it.”

This, he argues, means they only feel answerable to the listeners and donors.

“These people, they have an investment in the direction we go. We interact with the subscribers a lot, ask them for different things, or give them free stuff. It’s feedback – it’s everyone’s platform.”

Operating a non-profit media organisation has its limitations though. The station is run entirely by volunteers, even the founders have regular ‘day jobs’, and DJs must pay a fee to run a show. In an industry where getting paid work can be difficult, Sean recognises that it would not be in-line with ddr.’s ethos to ask someone to work on a longer-term project, such as a radio documentary, or similar, for no pay.

“It’s great to try to be non-profit, to get enough subscriptions to cover people’s basic work. But that’s probably never going to happen.”

Without reliable funding, there will always be a cap on the type of programming a volunteer- and donation-run online station can do.

But in some cities, government funding is available for online radio. Liverpool’s online station, Melodic Distraction, receives funding from the local authority. They are based in a deprived neighbourhood, and because of the service they provide the community, the authority pays the station’s rent and supplies a small grant.

“There’s a recognition that they’re doing a good thing, that they need support to keep going,” says Sean. “I don’t see Dublin City Council even contemplating that idea, that we’re providing a good service to the local community.”

So, what does the future hold for radio and online streaming? Listenership of analogue radio remains high, and some British newspapers have even dubbed this ‘the golden age of radio’, because, as a medium, it’s managed to preserve its place in most homes. Younger listeners are turning to online streams in greater numbers than their parents or grandparents, so it probably will follow that more stations will go online in some form or other. Industry analysts believe that radio’s future is not binary, analogue vs digital, but instead lies in embracing multiple platforms, including online and television streams, podcasting and traditional analogue radio. And just as pirate stations sprang to fill a gap in the market when analogue was the only option, so too will online streams now.

Red Light Radio will broadcast live from Hen’s Teeth on November 30.

“Balance is such a load of bullshit.

It doesn’t make sense. Like for the abortion referendum, you get the most radical, extreme voices, that are alienated from the majority of Catholic people in Ireland, taken on as a representation of the wider Catholic view. I think we’re way more balanced than anyone else, at least we’re up front – our bias is on our sleeve.”

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HOUSE + TECHNO GUIDE

November 2018

FRAWL

BICEP

ANSOME

HENRIK SCHWARZ

ELLEN ALLIEN

SKEE MASK

PALMS TRAX

MALL GRAB

The Midnight Disco are back in the Wiley Fox, and this time present the Limerick based DJ and producer Frawl joined by resident DJs. For fans of: Hunee, Jayda G, Henrik Schwarz Thursday November 8 The Wiley Fox €8

Inspired by a raw and urban UK techno sound, Ansome is known for eerie, boisterous and uncompromising music. Odious and Eavan will support.

For fans of: 747, Rustal, Dax J Friday November 9 39/40 €11

The German DJ, musician and creative honed her skills in her hometown of Berlin and has risen from there to play across the globe to great acclaim.

For fans of: Modeselektor, Rebekah, Moderat Friday November 9 The Button Factory €13.50

The Berlin-based house DJ focuses mainly on a Detroit sound, but his sets include an eclectic mix of house, disco and afro-house.

For fans of: X-Coast, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Leon Vynehall Saturday November 10 Wigwam €20

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One of Northern Ireland’s biggest musical exports, Bicep’s sounds range from haunting melodies to jacking house tracks.

For fans of: Holly Lester, Hammer, 808 State Friday November 9 Olympia Theatre €35

The German deep house and classical producer is known for his eclectic approach to selecting and producing. Support comes from Pattern DJs. For fans of: Axel Boman, Dennis Ferrer, Little Louie Vega Friday November 9 Opium Club €17

Munich’s Skee Mask has been noted as a breakthrough artist this year with his shows being compared to Aphex Twin and Special Request.

For fans of: DJ Sports, DJ Central, Paul Woolford Friday November 9 Wigwam €13.50

House star Mall Grab stops off in Dublin twice as part of his Looking For Trouble tour with his evolved, heavier sound.

For fans of: Denis Sulta, Moxie, DJ Seinfeld Monday November 5 / Saturday November 10 Button Factory / District 8 €23

PATRICE BAUMEL

TEA PARTY

DJ SOC NIGHT

DEADMAU5

JAX JONES

FADI MOHEM

ADRYIANO

MAX COOPER

ELROW

SHANTI CELESTE

MR SCRUFF

DAX J

MOXIE

EROL ALKAN

MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE

PETE TONG

BARAC

OBJEKT

Amsterdam-based deep house DJ and producer and former resident of the legendary Trouw club returns to Dublin.

For fans of: Max Cooper, Hefner, Ejecamox Saturday November 10 Button Factory €17

Maynooth University, DIT and NCAD are joining their DJ society forces for a collaborative night pushing creativity with intervarsity B2B sets. Ron Elliot of Shed Sessions will close the night.

For fans of: Boots & Kats, Peggy Gou, Patrick Topping Wednesday November 14 Wigwam €10

International DJ and producer Jax Jones brings his 5Alive tour to Dublin packed with his biggest hits.

For fans of: Duke Dumont, Booka Shade, Sigala November 14 The Academy €25

Wiseguys are bringing over Adryiano, a electronic music sensation known for his house-infused grooves and down to earth online presence.

For fans of: Demuja, Baltra, Palms Trax Friday November 16 39/40 €10/15

Elrow have added another Dublin date for their Sambodromo do Brasil event which will see District 8 transformed into a carnival-style party.

For fans of: Tony Varga, De La Swing, Idris Elba Saturday November 17 District 8 €50

English record producer and DJ Mr Scruff returns to Dublin for a five-hour set comprising of jazz, electro, house, techno and everything in between, joined

by MC Kwasi.

For fans of: Bonobo, Nightmares on Wax, Palms Trax Sunday November 18 Pygmalion €12

NTS and BBC Radio 1 resident Moxie brings her touring club night On Loop to Dublin with Boiler Room MC and DJ Tasker set to join her.

For fans of: Joy Orbison, Addison Groove, Peach Friday November 23 Wigwam €11.09

A unique ensemble comprised of just one man who specialises in feel good retro house and disco music. Joining him on the night is Subject resident Sage.

For fans of: Floating Points, Hunee, Joy Orbison Saturday November 24 District 8 €22

Romanian DJ and producer Barac makes his Irish debut with his evolved melodic house and techno. Support comes from Aaron Nolan and Josh Green.

For fans of: Baby Ford, Kettenkarussell, Jeremy Underground Saturday November 24 Pygmalion €11

Tea Party returns with a live band show and DJ sets from Cork trio Happyalone.

For fans of: Massive Attack, Nightmares on Wax, Detroit Swindle Tuesday November 13 Wigwam €10

Deadmau5 and his progressive house tracks and selections are making a long-awaited return to Dublin.

For fans of: Skrillex, Eric Prydz, Armin van Buuren Thursday November 15 District 8 €30

Two Dublin collectives join forces to bring over Fadi Mohem from Berlin after he impressed with his extended sets at a secret Berlin bunker at this year’s Electric Picnic.

For fans of: FJAAK, Or:la, Lory D Thursday November 15 Wigwam

Celebrating the launch of his third studio album made in solitary in Scotland, the techno producer is known for his narrative music and visual performances.

For fans of: Lane 8, Nils Frahm, Jon Hopkins Friday November 16 Button Factory €17 For the second act of Discotekken’s winter series, Shanti Celeste will grace Wigwam’s basement with upbeat house joined by Fio and Jio of Pear, and Papa Lou. For fans of: Eclair Fifi, Peach, Moxie Saturday November 17 Wigwam €14

Techno & Cans and District 8 have teamed up to bring over Dax J. Someone constantly striving to push the boundaries of techno and electronic music.

For fans of: Ansome, Slam, Rebekah Friday November 23 District 8 €20

DJ, producer and remixer Erol Alkan returns to Dublin with ‘To The Rhythm’, an all night long set exploring his record collection of offbeat strains in house, techno, disco and electro.

For fans of: Daniel Avery, Justice, Boys Noize Saturday November 24 Wigwam €14

BBC Radio 1’s prestigious dance presenter Pete Tong brings his show to Dublin, a union of dance tracks performed by an orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley with guest singers.

For fans of: Chemical Brothers, Booka Shade, Carl Cox Saturday November 24 3 Arena €66

Diverse selector and forward-thinking producer Objekt makes his return to Dublin to play an intimate show with Nightcap.

For fans of: Happa, Blawan, Joy Orbison Saturday November 24 Tengu

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DIMITRI FROM PARIS

When it comes to disco, Dimitri from Paris has a reputation for some of the best selections around. Support comes from Marco Giannini and Reeta.

For fans of: Joey Negro, Frankie Knuckles, Felix Da Housecat Friday November 30 District 8 €20

GUY J

Tel Aviv’s Guy J returns to Dublin as one of Melodic Collective’s deep house favourites. Support on the night from Ste Flynn and Gavin Rochford.

For fans of: John Digweed, Jamie Jones, Moodymann Friday November 30 Tengu €15

BOXIA

Boxia produces atmospheric techno soundscapes and powerful electronic music that have led him to release on labels as prestigious as Drumcode.

For fans of: Ben Klock, Dax J, I Hate Models Friday November 30 39/40 €16.81

LEON VYNEHALL

Known for his downtempo deep house productions, Leon returns to Dublin for an all night long set.

For fans of: Hunee, Axel Boman, Joy Orbison Saturday December 1 Wigwam €13.50

SKREAM

English producer and DJ Skream brings his Open to Close tour to Dublin in an effort to bring club nights back to the basics.

For fans of: Eats Everything, Jasper James, Toddla T Friday December 7th District 8 €20

TERRENCE PARKER

Inbhir Events are bringing over Detroit house producer and DJ Terrence Parker, joined by fellow Motor City artist Merachka for a live set.

For fans of: Motor City Drum Ensemble, Marshall Jefferson, Kerri Chandler Saturday December 8 Wigwam €12/€15

DENIS SULTA

The Glaswegian DJ and producer has been one of dance music’s best success stories, spreading upbeat house to the masses. Joining him for his first Dublin date is Eclair Fifi, and for the second DABJ. For fans of: Mall Grab, Jasper James, Eclair Fifi Friday December 7/Saturday December 8 District 8 & Button Factory €30

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62 Words: Cóilí Collins / Photography: Laura Rixon

‘U

nderground’, in terms of music, has and always will be a contentious term; we don’t know exactly what it means but we know what it doesn’t. House has always sat at the top of the underground food chain, with techno being the erratic middle child not willing to comply with the new norms of dance music. It didn’t want to be accessible, it didn’t want to be nice and it never wanted to be on Instagram.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Dax J emerged as an unassuming enigma. While he has most definitely stayed true to the roots of the harsh genre, the UK native has carefully welded the strict confines of the sound into his own weapon, all the while capturing the attention of a crowd that used to primarily listen to the upbeat musings of house music.

Sure, his blue steel glare and ever-present fur jacket carry elements of star quality, but his overpoweringly humble personality shines through, having been developed over a lifetime of varied experiences. We look at his combination of kicks, hi hats and everything else as a simple procedure, however, it has taken a world of influence to get there including a very serious public slip up along the way.

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Every Dax J track up until now has displayed an unrivalled, microcosmic approach to techno, with his album acting as a prologue-like deconstruction of his existing work, as if he has displayed the blueprint of his master plan right in front of us.

“I thought about it a lot, in terms of how to present it”, Dax tells me. “I’ve been travelling a lot so I’ve been listening to more albums and there were certain aspects that I really liked. Before, when I made ‘Shades of Black’, I wasn’t listening to any albums, with this one I had a lot more influence in the music I was listening to, that helped me to come up with a format that I enjoyed. If you present it as an album then people will give it the time of day and listen to it. They won’t just treat it like an EP. It’s a good opportunity to showcase all my influences, to showcase a deeper and more advanced production, in terms of the way I was creating the music.”

Dax’s biggest, and probably only, criticism to date has been that despite his attention to detail, his techno sounds almost too formulaic, something he definitely kept in mind while producing the eclectic collection he served up on his latest outing ‘Offending Public Morality’.

“I’ve gone a lot deeper on this than I ever have before, in order to catch the listener and make them think, ‘Ah, I’d never heard this from Dax before’, I wanted to do something completely fresh.

“I think my first album was a lot more dance floor-orientated, which was right at that time to do in terms of where I was in my career. I think that if I had done a ‘listening’ album back then that it wouldn’t have really got the time. Now, I’m in a position where I can create more of a listening album and people will actually listen to it.

Even the dance floor tracks, there’s a lot of interesting arrangements and a lot of the tracks really move around, they’re not just DJ tools.”

The LP sums up the influencing factors that have helped grow Dax into the behemoth he is today, however his development as an artist was quickly hastened by his maturation as human being.

His run-in with the harsh, religious laws of Tunisia landed him with a one year prison sentence in the country after he played their adhan, or call to prayer, in a DJ set: a move solely vested in creating a unique atmosphere at a festival in the country. Although well intentioned, the DJ faced a challenging period after, which inspired the politicallyfuelled themes that run throughout the unforgiving fast-paced tracks that make up the new album.

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“I’ve always been attracted to this darker, moodier vibe. With everything that happened last year it kind of put me in that frame of mind, it was the perfect emotion to create that sort of darkness.”

While techno has stood out as a voiceless and faceless genre for the most part, many of its founding fathers’ motives were rooted in unrest and political revolt. This is something that has carried on today and not only with Dax’s LP but with close collaborator Perc too, who took veiled jabs at the worldwide political system on last year’s ‘Bitter Music’.

“My album is very politically-influenced and that’s partly influenced by everything I went through last year. I was in the centre of this political, bias media storm, I felt the effects of that first hand and I needed a way to channel that emotion and all of those experiences. The best way for me to do that was through my music. I don’t really like to get political on Twitter or online, I like to talk through my music. I had a lot of feelings and thoughts about all that stuff that happened last year but there’s no point talking about it, the best way to do it was to let my music do the talking.”

The title, ‘Offending Public Morality’, may seem like a poke at his religious detractors but the message spreads much further than particular religious alignments. The accompanying videos depict scenes of prostitution, corruption and discrimination, as do the skits and vocal samples that make their way in between some of the tracks.

“It’s not really sending out a message, it’s just a documentation of everything I went through and the way I felt then and the way I feel now about the current climate and certain issues that people try to brush under the carpet, but in reality they’re still there.

Things like drug addiction, prostitution, manipulation of the media for people’s own gain.

“The media blatantly report bias things to push their own narrative and I realised that because I went through it. I always knew it existed and I really noticed it then, so I’ve just tried to send that message out through the music.”

Dax has done his fair share of groundwork in terms of releases via his label Monnom Black and others, but an Essential Mix and Boiler Room were two milestones he had yet to reach. Having now completed both, not only did those landmark moments bookmark the launch of his new album, they silenced the tiny fraction of doubters that had existed up until then.

The support for music is also apparent with his stringent backing of Dublin-based Tommy Holohan, a resident of the Techno

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& Cans collective that first brought Dax to Ireland. After videos surfaced of Dax playing the Dubliner’s tracks, he went as far as touting him as a one to watch in his cover interview with DJ Mag. “He sent me some tracks recently and they’re great, I’ve played a few of them at big parties. I can see good things for Tommy, he’s a good DJ, I’ve played with him a few times, I think he’s going to do really well. He’s got a good crew around him, the Techno & Cans crew are great, I get on with them.”

“It’s quite funny, I did an interview with Four Four Magazine and they asked me what it’d been like having Ben Klock and Dave Clarke play my tracks in their Essential Mixes. I said it was nice and I’m looking forward to the day when I do my own Essential Mix, kind of speaking it into existence and two years later I’ve done my own Essential Mix. I remember seeing a couple of comments saying, ‘Dax J couldn’t do an Essential Mix!’, I was going to post it on their comments the last day but I decided not to [laughs].”

Despite being the poster boy for underground techno, his sound was shaped through an unlikely summertime trip to the ultimate location for big room techno; Ibiza.

His well-publicised switch from jungle and drum ‘n’ bass to techno is arguably the defining moment in Dax J’s career. Usually a stop on the White Isle spells the end for a techno producer’s underground credibility, but for the Englishman it proved quite the opposite.

“I went to Ibiza in 2007. At the time, I’d just finished my three year degree in music technology. I had been a junglist/drum ‘n’ bass head for about six or seven years before that, but I started falling out of love with the music. There was a lot of trouble in raves; it was very moody, people getting robbed and all that. I didn’t know anything else. It was normal. I wanted to see what it was like on the other side. I’d heard of Ibiza, but I’d never been there. Once I finished uni I thought I’d spend the summer there and see what it’s all about, I was thinking that it must be good.

“I didn’t know anything about house and techno, I saw Hed Candi and I thought that must be house music.

I went to HMV and I bought like four or five Hed Candi compilations, each one had about 30 tracks on it and I went to Ibiza saying, ‘Yeah, I’m a DJ’. I managed to get a job with that, which was pretty unbelievable.

“After about three or four weeks I was trying to convince myself that it was alright but I couldn’t lie to myself anymore.

I thought, ‘This music is crap and I’m not feeling it’. I was ready to go home. My mate

told me not to go home and to wait for the clubs to open. I was just in the West End. I decided to wait and I went to Space’s opening party and once I walked in I was like, ‘Wow, I get it now’. From that moment on I got drawn into the music. I started researching the music and the DJs. By the end of that summer, I had a record bag full of old 90s and 00s techno!”

A stomping track like ‘Wir Leben Für Die Nacht’ doesn’t exactly conjure up images of Ibiza. With that being said, the party aspect of island tangentially makes for the perfect birthing ground for Dax’s mix of UK intensity with a European polish. One would assume the same atmosphere that drove him away from jungle would exist on the sweaty dance floors of the techno raves he soundtracks on a regular basis, but the producer is quick to point out that the same element of mischief isn’t present at his gigs.

“I personally hadn’t noticed that. I went to a few raves in London before I left for Berlin and there was this new, tech house, shuffling sound. I noticed that had started getting a little bit moody, nothing like the jungle and drum ‘n’ bass raves I used to go to, but it was a different vibe.

“Everyone wears sunglasses in the warehouse and everyone’s got fake Louis Vuitton bags, I remember there was one of those parties downstairs where I had my studio and I went down there with my mate and I was like, ‘What the fuck is this?’. Everyone was shuffling for England, going mental! It’s this Hot Creations thing...

It’s nothing compared to what I used to go to.

“All those raves were pretty moody. You’d see some dodgy things. There’d always be a fight; you’d always see someone being dragged out. There was always chaos.

When I went to my first techno party I was thinking, ‘Wow this is actually really nice’.”

Dax J’s nostalgia is apparent at this stage and acts as a smooth finale to a rare, indepth analysis of his past and present.

While his hindsight is definitely 20/20, his forward-thinking mentality is what has placed him to the front of the pack and it’s what has kept Dax there throughout one of the most taxing periods any artist, on any stage, is likely to go through. A DJ falling into obscurity following a moment of controversy is a phenomenon that we’ll likely never see the end of, but a DJ bouncing back to perhaps the most fruitful period of their career, as Dax has, is as unique a rebirth as we’re likely to ever witness.

Dax J plays District 8 on November

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Words: Karl Guest / Photography: Kasia Zacharko

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t’s not unusual to hear an artist described as ‘genre bending’ or ‘genre transcending’ these days.

More often than not, musical tastes are diverse and hardly ever fixed. This is no different for Objekt, but very few artists have matched his ability to put his own branded sound or style on every genre he dabbles with.

Born in Tokyo and living between several European cities during his youth, Objekt first released his music into the world in 2011, and since then he’s gone on to produce a serious output of club-based releases. Attention to detail and knowledge regarding arrangement, producing and sound design has enabled Objekt to turn conventional dance music on its head across all of its interwoven subgenres, enriching them with semiotics and conceptuality to make the listen that bit more captivating.

Because of this, Objekt has earned himself a spot as one of the most indemand DJs of this generation and you can usually find him year after year playing at some of the world’s largest and most revered havens for dance music, including Tresor, Dekmantel Festival and more. With what’s often deemed as unclassifiable music, Objekt usually leads with techno but you can find the ever-evolving musical personality playing anything from trance to deep house and beyond.

It was actually from spending a couple of years experiencing basically nothing else that led me to burn out a bit on straightforward techno, which I was never particularly good at producing, and experiment with dubstep instead, which is what led to me releasing my first record in 2011.

What kind of impact did growing up in Belgium and the UK have on the music you were listening to?

God no. If anything I wanted to make sure I followed it with such a weird record that the Ibiza crowd would assume I’d gone off the deep end for good.

Belgium, basically none – we moved there when I was 5 and left by the time I was 11.

But I lived in the UK from the ages of 11 to 22, obviously a pretty formative period, during which I spent most of my teenage years playing in guitar bands [as a drummer and occasional bass player] before getting into dance music when I went to university. I learned a lot about music from the friends I made at the time and whether I would have made the same personal connections at an international school in Brussels, I’m not sure.

Your new album ‘Cocoon Crush’ is due out November 9 on PAN, your first LP since ‘Flatland’ back in 2014. How has your production process changed in that time?

How did that change when you made the move to Berlin?

What kind of musical influences infiltrate the new album?

Berlin is incredibly techno-focused, even more so in 2009 when I moved there. My appetite for techno as a wideeyed 22-year-old was nearly insatiable.

To be honest, less and less. I guess the Bee Mask album from 2012 is actually a pretty significant reference point, along with Scorn, Second Woman and a few other

things I picked up over the last four years, but increasingly I’m just letting my music write itself. That’s obviously not to say that I no longer have musical influences, but these days I’m more about trying to capture moods and sound scenes than trying to draw from specific musical forebears.

When/how did you first come into contact with the Hessle Audio crew?

Could you tell us a bit about the concept behind it or what inspired you to write the tracks?

Ben [UFO] was one of the first known DJs to play that first record, before it was even released. I met the others at one of their gigs in Berlin not long after and became friends.

There’s no concept, but it’s quite a personal record for me, I wrote it over a four year period in which quite a lot of stuff happened and this is reflected in the moods of the album.

‘Theme From Q’ was voted Track of The Year 2017 by MixMag. What sort of impact has that record had on your career over the last two years?

You have a reputation as one of the most versatile DJs on the circuit, with your sets often spanning across techno, electro, dub, acid, bass music and much more. Have you always played that way or is that a style you’ve picked up over the years?

To be honest, I didn’t even realise how far it had gone. Maybe I get a few more big festival offers now, but my favourite gigs to play are the small, intimate ones and those are the same as ever.

Have you felt pressure as a producer to follow on from the success of ‘Theme From Q’?

I’ve always had a fairly irreverent attitude towards genre within my DJ sets, but for sure my collection has diversified over time just by virtue of having had more years in the game. I’ve got a relatively fast and technical style of mixing which I guess developed naturally as a means of being able to play a wider range of music without losing musical momentum.

Objekt plays Dublin on November 24.

My process itself hasn’t changed all that much, but these days I’m experimenting with a more open and spacious sound – less like being inside a machine, more like a summer night in a rainforest on another planet.

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art of the NTS community and family since day one, Moxie is a Londoner who has dedicated her life to finding fresh music and showcasing new artists. Her show and label have acted as a platform for up-and-coming producers for quite some time and with that she’s brought her ‘On Loop’ club night tour around the globe. Her last stop off in Dublin was at a pre-referendum night with Room For Rebellion, a political party campaigning for reproductive rights through events in London, Dublin and Belfast, and now she’s set to return at the end of November for a show at Wigwam. It’s a venue she’s particularly interested in as a result of its vast significance to Irish dance music.

“I’m super excited to bring On Loop to Wigwam, I actually went to visit the venue when I was last in Dublin and I know all about the history of Twisted Pepper.”

Genuinely interested in club culture and its historical implications, Moxie takes her involvement with it to another level. A show, label, tour, club nights, activism and more, she’s acknowledging the multidimensional and cyclical process of music and club culture. There’s an undeniable love for music and club culture demonstrated via her radio career, DJing and label. So where did it all start?

“I started collecting records when I was 14, so almost 18 years ago now. Over time the DJing turned from a hobby into a career.

Same goes for NTS, it was all very casual when Femi [Adeyemi] approached me. The station, back then, was built from his mates and people from around the community and again, over time, it’s morphed into what it is.

It’s really quite incredible to see what it’s become and the people it reaches around the world. Also watching the careers of other DJs who started around the same time as me such as Debonair, it’s what makes the station so special.”

Discovering distinct artists in what’s become a saturated industry is a talent in itself. With On Loop, Moxie releases for artists, brings them on tour with her and showcases them on her NTS show. With an impressive roster of releases, and associations with some of the world’s most progressive dance music artists, Moxie is as much a nurturer of talent as she is talented herself. Moxie also keeps gender balance and LGBTQ+ representation at the core of her work through subtle, selfinitiated actions. She’s on a perpetual mission to be proactive and practical about equitable representation on the dancefloor and behind the decks.

Globally recognised artists like Shanti Celeste and Nabihah Iqbal are just two artists who have released with her ‘On Loop’ label. Moxie is at the forefront of forward thinking global dance music. Her creative endeavours shine a light on new and unique artists and she has had the pleasure of bringing her touring club night

to Glastonbury Festival, ADE and more; always inviting plenty of esteemed guests to join her. Acts like Or:la, Leon Vynehall, Bambounou, Saoirse, Peach, Avalon Emerson have shared the decks with her, and now she’s inviting the renowned host of Boiler Room, Tasker, to join her for the Dublin edition of the tour. I wondered what we could expect from the upcoming Irish date and how she turned her compilation series into an internationally touring club night.

“The label was born as a way to support new talent via my radio show and it all kicked off with the compilation series ‘Moxie Presents’, from there it’s turned into a party and an official label. I’m always seeking to find new talent as I want On Loop to evolve, but I’d also like to possibly look to do some reissues at some point, as there are some things I’ve found that would be a great fit for On Loop. The party side of things is a whole other matter, we spend a lot of time thinking about who to book, trying to keep the balance of new talent, but also paying homage to the DJs who have been doing this for years and need the credit where it’s due. It can be a fickle industry and I try to use my platforms as much as I can to bring new and old people through.

Community is so important to me, without it there’s no backbone to what you do.”

Moxie holds the title of having one of the longest standing shows on NTS. Also home to shows like The Outer Limits, hosted by Jeff Mills, and Tasker’s show 88 Transition, Moxie has become an important member of the NTS gang. Her residency on BBC Radio 1 in London followed a similar ethos of finding and fostering new music and artists. Radio has been significant in Moxie’s career, so I wondered if she would encourage others to follow suit and if she thinks residencies in all of their forms, live or on-air, are important for artists.

“I’ve been with them right from the beginning and as my career has grown, so has the station. They’ve been amazing and really supported me over the years, but I think it’s fair to say I also put a lot of time into planning my shows, especially digging for music and also taking the time to look for guests new and old. Generally speaking though, I think residences are a really great thing, especially for club culture. If you’re an up and coming DJ there’s no better experience than having somewhere you play regularly, as it forces you to search for new music.”

Moxie, as a born and bred Londoner, can confidently say that she’s experienced much of what goes on in clubland in her hometown. The city is seeing an excess of impersonal, commercial-scale events paired with a lack of community based small club nights. Back in Dublin, these community-focused nights are exactly what give the city its club scene reputation.

I ask her to weigh in.

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Words: Niamh Craven / Photography: Jimi Herrtage

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“London will always have a vibrant music scene as there are so many different pockets of communities here.

It’s frustrating there aren’t enough smaller scale clubs to host those DIY parties where you don’t have to worry about ‘selling a certain number of tickets’, and you can just put on a fun night with your mates. Although from what I hear there are a lot of underground parties happening in South London, especially around Peckham. When I was younger those were the types of parties I went to in East London, illegal raves, where they were crossing the line of danger, but that also added to the experience. PreShoreditch, when you could host a small rave in the basement of a clothing store on Brick Lane. Times are different now and you have to be inventive if you want to do something different. It’s all about having that space to experiment and make mistakes, what’s born from that is creativity and the unexpected.”

The ‘Moxie Presents’ compilation series has become a reliable source of new music over the years, and sifting through music for her compilations, club nights, labels and radio must be a tiresome process. I wondered how Moxie keeps a clear and direct head when curating.

“I always have a list on the go of people I want to get in touch with, mostly artists I’ve been supporting on the show. There are usually a few key people that I start with and then once they’re locked down I work around that and look at what else the compilation benefits from musically.

I usually work on them for the best part of nine months, but it’s so worth it when it all comes together. I also have a rule that with each compilation there must be one more female identified producer than the last, until that happens the compilations aren’t finished.”

Moxie brings her On Loop tour to Dublin this November, as part of Distortion’s winter series which features a line up including artists like Baba Stiltz, Skee Mask and more. It’s Moxie’s first time bringing this show to Dublin, so I wanted to find out what we can expect from it.

“The thing I like about Ireland is the ‘no bullshit’ attitude, and always keeping the energy high. It’s the first time we’re inviting Nic Tasker to the party, which I’m really excited about as I’ve been a fan of his Whities label for some time now. At the moment I’m quite enjoying playing faster, but always keeping it groovy, but then again it always depends on the vibe of the night, so we’ll see...

I’ll definitely be playing new tracks from the compilation though.”

Moxie’s career in music is rooted in her teenage years, with countless internships, placements and initiatives taken to make sure that her passion and hard work manifested into a career of music. She offered advice to anyone struggling to keep their head above water in the music industry, keeping in mind London’s reputation of being ‘The Big, Bad City’ for someone pursuing a passion in.

“This year has definitely been testing, but I’ve also had a really amazing time, touring the world and creating memories with friends. Your health always has to come first and as much as partying can be fun, it has its limits and it’s always about knowing when to call it a night. I eat really healthy and drinks tons of water each day, although I wish I had more time for exercise, that’s definitely something I need to change in my life. I always believe everything and anything is there for anyone, you just have to really want it and work hard, plus believe in yourself, which isn’t always the easiest thing.”

Moxie plays Wigwam on November 23.

“Community iS sO iMporTaNt tO me, without it thErE’s no backbone tO whAt You DO.”

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Lending an ear is Lending a hand Talking about our problems is proven to have a positive impact on how we feel.

Little things can make a big difference

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n the quickest of returns to Leaving Cert English, it was in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ that Harper Lee wrote the immortal phrase, “You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family”.

So far, in my experience, it has been Ireland and its people who have challenged every pre-conceived notion I had about art and life. The number of artists per square mile; the potential of art and the ability to make it without large sums of money; its all-encompassing transcendence of space and time to really make people feel, to make people think that everything you once knew was, somehow, just wrong.

It’s a funny thing to think, but I wonder what Harper Lee would make of Soft Boy Records. Would she change her mind about her once-solid belief that you cannot choose your family?

Because in every conversation I’ve had with the Soft boys and girls about Soft Boy Records, it was the prospect of family aspect that came up again and again. Whether it was the co-founders Kean Kavanagh and Kevin ‘Kojaque’ Smith, both musicians, producers and artists in their own right; or Luka Palm, the Dublin-based rapper on a star-studded trajectory recently signed to the label, who opened for slowthai in London and played the Fred Perry show this year; or Ellen Kirk, visual curator, the talent behind that soft sheen of sweetie coloured, baby-faced reels projected on stage that make every Kojaque show feel that bit more… Something, exciting, immersive, it was family that we spoke about, again and again.

While Luka describes the label as a “family of nice and funny men”, Kean divulges a bit deeper into the imprint’s familial essence.

“I think whenever we decide we’re going to take someone on or put out a project, it’s not something we jump into straight away. We want to meet people and see if we gel with them first. It feels familial because all the artists overlap… There are interconnections everywhere.”

The mutuality of experience and learning brings the artists together, it seems, and this in turn influences the immersive experience that comes through at every Soft Boy gig.

“It’s everyone bringing the skills that they have and sharing them around,” Kean continues. “Which just helps to elevate people’s individual projects. I think that for whatever reason, the people who end up on the label have been me and Kev’s people.

They’re really funny and good people to hang out with… It feels really tight and wholesome.”

Like two glorified fathers who lovingly raise and care for a mighty brood [Luka Palm tells me that they’re like “my two step-dads”, and even though “half the time they want to kill me, I make them laugh so they love it”], Kean and Kevin have built the label from its faux-beginnings in 2015 to a serious, game-changing outfit changing the peaks and troughs of Ireland’s musical landscape.

Soft Boy Records was a label born from a sheer love of all music created by the hands of two men who have, for years, allowed it to dominate their minds.

“I was listening to a new album every day, devouring everything that I could find,” says Kean. “Through that I was getting into labels, putting out music where I could see the connections between the artists, creating that kind of vibe. I just thought that was a really cool thing.”

The love of music was there, but where was the real beginnings of Soft Boy. Kevin gave me the origin story.

“It was 2015, Kean had this idea for a while that he wanted to start a music label, and we both wanted to put out some tunes. I don’t think he really had an idea as to what it would be,” he admits.

Has that changed, I have to ask? Do the boys know now, what it was to start a label, and how big a task it would be? Kevin continues.

“A record label seems like this fancy idea.

I mean, people asked how it works, but neither of us knew. All we knew was that we had this music to put out, and we were passionate. Both of us were just so super passionate about music.”

It’s a beautiful way of describing the genesis of a home.

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Kean hops back in, “I thought that I’d love to start a label, so I just messaged Kevin on Facebook and was like, ‘I have this idea we could start a label, and it would be like a faux-label…’. A veneer from which we could do business with promoters or venues or bloggers… Just to put music out that way.”

Kevin drops a nugget of advice to anyone starting out.

“Get yourself an email address… It looks more professional and legitimate than it would if you were emailing from your college email. We started it to trick people into thinking that we were a legitimate outfit.

We just kept plucking away, and somehow people still believe us.”

I think Kevin’s tone of incredulity at Soft Boy’s success is almost misplaced- of course we believe them. It’s quite incredible, really, to see two men driven by a passion for music build something like Soft Boy Records, which is now an entirely legitimate outfit.

The label is home to nine resident artists and boasts a handful of collaborations, past and future tour dates, a portfolio of videos, artistic campaigns, merchandise and a large cult following that stretches to Dublin and beyond. I stand among the crowds of folk who believe that Soft Boy is more than just a label, it’s evidence that work, passion, ambitions and love can be enough, and that strong friendships and the effervescent talent of young artists in Ireland can make a difference. That, for me, is what bleeds through the music, the artwork, the events.

Of course, a homegrown feel is matched with a homegrown budget. Rather than allowing themselves to be hampered by the lack of money [although, I’m sure the soft boys would welcome any funding that could head their way, because what small business owner wouldn’t?], there is a certain freedom that has been allowed with working their way from bedroom productions and into legitimate studios.

Collaborations are sought with artists whose work Kean and Kevin respect; the guys in the label are free to produce and curate their own sound. Kevin is not scared to share with me, “I think in terms of how we brand ourselves is fairly transparent, we don’t have money”. So without financial gain, what is left?

“The stuff that we put out will be working with people that we get on with or respect,” Kevin says. “We feel that they deserve a good platform, and that their work deserves to be rolled out to the highest standard it possibly can. The artists that we work with tend to be self-sufficient artists who have their own vision, know what their sound is.

We can’t offer them the world, but we work close with any artist that we have.”

I didn’t realise how much Soft Boy’s genesis parallels the genesis of Kevin and Kean as musicians, producers, and label-heads. Maybe I should have- they are the original soft boys. Kevin tells me that they put it to their artists when initially approaching them, “Listen, we’re all in this together. We’re not trying to steal your money or anything, we’re just putting you to a larger audience”. There is an understanding in these meetings that this is a shared learning experience, which I feel results in quite a beautiful sense of honesty

and vulnerability in just admitting that they want to learn from the artists they sign, as much as they want to help them.

“We hear something and we’re like, ‘That’s amazing, how did they do that?’, usually, it’s out of respect and curiosity. Sometimes were like, ‘Hey, can we help you out, and can you show me how you did that?’. It’s a symbiotic relationship. We’re all just progressing together, helping one another out.”

An unaviodable question I have for the pair behind Soft Boy Records is - where are the girls at? For such a progressive and important piquant of the Irish music scene, it’s at odds to not have some female voices on the bill. I’m reassured that the gender divide is not a preference of the label.

“It’s something that we’re looking into,” says Kevin. “We’ve put the call out once or twice.”

And was there a response? Did it fall to the ether?

“In three years of being a record label we’ve had two submissions from women…

They didn’t fit the label, unfortunately, and we didn’t want to get into the realm of tokenism. We’re on the hunt for women to fit the label.”

In terms of Soft Boy their hesitancy to fit any women on the bill just to squash some claims is respectable, and they seem as aware of it as anyone else.

“It’s an all-male roster called Soft Boy, you know what I mean? It’s not the best from a marketing standpoint, in terms of the gender divide... It’s something we’re expanding into in 2018 and 2019.”

It’s not about reluctance to fit women in, or diluting a style. It’s about careful curation.

I asked Ellen Kirk, Soft Boy’s visual curator, how she felt as the only woman attached to the label [and a non-musical member at that].

“I’ve never felt different to the rest of them, I suppose,” she tells me. “I think it’s just systemic in the industry at the moment. There aren’t as many women putting themselves forward, which is really unfortunate. It’s quite saddening, but it’s not on the girls, it’s on the labels. I suppose labels bigger than Soft Boy and promoters should make women visible to make people think it’s a viable career option, and to put themselves out there.

“Girls, put your music out there. Boys, look for it and if you’re in a position to, promote it. It would be nice to work with women. But, in saying that, there are loads of brilliant women coming through in Ireland as well, which I’m very happy to see. I think it is changing. And you have things like Gash Collective and GRL crew…”

It’s quite unique in this day and age that a label needs to fit an artist as much as an artist needs to fit a label, and selfsufficiency seems key to any woman or man planning on submitting work to the soft boys. To Kean, this is how the roster is fit with individual artists making sounds true to form.

“That’s what I love about the other artists on Soft Boy… They’re more than just singers or rappers, they’re musicians, they have their own sounds. I couldn’t encourage more the idea of hearing more artists making their own music.”

“IT’S AN EMBRACE OF BEING SOFT… I GUESS, WITH GREAT VULNERABILITY COMES GREAT ART, SO THERE’S TRUTH IN THAT AND INSIGHT THAT YOU WON’T GET IF YOU’RE ALL STIFF AND HARD.”

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Soft Boy Records is indicative of a new way of producing and releasing music.

We’re in an era of the ‘bedroom musician’talented people plugging along at making music in their bedrooms. There are no frills or laces; no fancy instruments or recording equipment. What do the Soft Boy heads think about this?

“I think the [studio] used to almost be a benchmark for making it,” says Kevin. “You would have an artist who would think, ‘Okay, I’m in a big studio and therefore I’m going to be successful. I’ve made it now’. I think that’s been demystified a bit. People are disillusioned with it.”

“The music that’s coming out of bedrooms now, with the technology that we have access to, in terms of fidelity, sounds as good, if not better, than some of the stuff that’s going onto mainstream radio or big studios… We always say that we produce in Studio Portlaoise, and Studio Portlaoise is a state of mind, it’s wherever you open up your laptop on a given day.”

We might see this form of production as new, but in reality, the methods of creative productivity have only gone in circles rather than redefining themselves. I regaled this concept to Kevin through an anecdote about James Joyce, who famously wrote a section of ‘Sirens’ from Ulysses whilst leaning on the back of his case in the middle of a hotel lobby.

Maybe Studio Portlaoise isn’t that far away from that? Perhaps we can compare this to Henry Earnest’s initial recording of ‘Caught Between the Moon and Dublin City’, recorded on a free trial of Fruity Loops, which meant that he couldn’t save and later edit any of the tracks, but had to learn to live with the final product.

“That’s a really interesting thing… It’s all about how a band would traditionally record a song with one take,” Kevin says. “You go in on the day, you make it, and we can’t change it after that. That’s what happened, and I just thought that was amazing.”

When I was explaining my theory of the ‘bedroom musician’ to Kean, it all aligned.

One of the most wonderful things about Soft Boy Records is that it’s an antidote to the loneliness that comes hand in hand with this style of music production. Just as a family does, the label provides a home for these artists to come together and create, learn, hang out. It leaves room for the artists to be alone, but not lonely. And with the allmale roster as it currently stands, of course we should celebrate this: everyone is well aware of the statistics of rising issues in male mental health in Ireland. Without reading too much into it, Soft Boy Records has created a space for extremely talented young men to come together and just be. It’s turning the everything on its head – even down to the name.

“It was part of a joke, between me and Kev,” remembers Kean. “We would call each other soft boy or soft child.”

“Traditionally, to be called soft was akin to be called sissy,” admits Kevin. “The kind of music I was looking to make and I was into…

So much of it is made through a veneer of hyper masculinity.”

Okay. With that in mind: what does it mean to be a Soft Boy? “It means that I’m going to insult myself before you insult me. It takes away from that. It’s an embrace of being soft… I guess, with great vulnerability comes great art, so there’s truth in that and insight that you won’t get if you’re all stiff and hard.”

Soft Boy Records is changing the musical landscape of Ireland: not simply just the spheres of Irish hip hop, or jazz, or R&B – but the landscape of Irish music in its entirety. All the artists are from Ireland, and the label is based in Dublin. Kojaque raps in a Dub accent and the artist’s portfolios namecheck places and spaces within Ireland. Does Soft Boy wear a national character?

“It’s an Irish label,” answers Kevin. “We’d love to expand, we’re always looking for new artists… Ireland has always been this crazy bedrock of talent. But the issue is that there isn’t really an infrastructure for music that we’ve seen. We have our own identity and way of doing things. I think we’ve kept it very much who we are.”

“For me, there is so much good music that’s happening here that to focus our energy on something from another country just wouldn’t make sense for me,” says Kean.

“That someone in Ireland who has talent is getting neglected, and that’s what I wanted to avoid. I think that what we’re doing is a really good thing for Irish music and culture here in Ireland, a way to support people locally and I think that Irish musicians and producers and singers deserve as much a shot as anyone else does.”

Soft Boy Records is doing something.

It’s moving a static landscape, leaving a mark, bringing people together. It’s making a version of history, just for a quick while.

You can see it in the crowds at the shows, the people wearing sold-out merch, or even just the parties where people are bopping, laughing, drinking, being happy. I moved to Dublin just over a year ago, having heard little whispers about Soft Boy. It defined my time there, my social life, my work, what I was listening to every day. It’s something that I think back on almost daily now, having left. The label is creating treasured memories of treasured times.

“We’ve seen the influence that we’ve had from live shows which is amazing,” says Kevin. “I think that comes from having the right perspective on what we wanna do, and that’s just putting great music out, and putting on great events. It’s like a cream rises to the top thing, chipping away at what is good. If you do that and work very hard then eventually people will catch on.”

Kean is a bit more apprehensive about Soft Boy’s influence. Or, perhaps, apprehensive isn’t the right word: it’s just a bit difficult to watch the view from the window and keep an eye on the road at the same time.

“It’s hard to see stuff like that happening in the present moment. In five years we might look back and think, ‘Oh shit… we’ve done something really interesting. Something that we can be proud of’. We’re just doing what feels natural to us. Going full steam ahead with our visions and ambitions.”

Kojaque plays The Academy on December 5.

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COFFEE TIME

Words: Caitriona Devery

W

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hen you ask people what they think of speciality coffee the trope of the ‘coffee-drinking hipster’ often comes up. There’s a cliché that coffee is taken way too seriously by some people. McDonald’s got in on the piss-taking recently with their flat white ad. However, while there may be some truth to the stereotypes, it’s worth digging a little deeper. Dublin, and Ireland generally, has embraced the so-called ‘third wave’ (or even ‘fourth wave’) of speciality coffee with enthusiasm, and some people do take coffee extremely seriously. But without people like this we would never have had the flat white, and those pre-flat white days were dark, dark, excessively milky days.

The practice of drinking coffee in Europe was introduced through Turkey and North Africa. In the 17th century people moved from ale-drinking in taverns to sober coffee drinking. Before that everyone was basically drunk most of the time. Cafés were a new type of public space that encouraged productivity and commerce. Coffee became a highly-prized commodity in a rapidly globalising world, traded and consumed in huge quantities by an expanding and increasingly regimented workforce.

Capitalism was born of coffee and gave us coffee.

Coffee and café culture are now incredibly globalised phenomena. The American coffee shop was reproduced all over the world via Starbucks as it globally expanded in the 1990s, creating a generic brand of café which spawned imitators all around the world. Although it’s cool to diss Starbucks, it and its ilk were crucial to the development of the coffee literacy that current speciality cafés depend on. This ‘third wave’ of coffee is the stage beyond Starbucks, an indiefication of these earlier chain cafes.

Third wave coffee emphasises a better consumer experience, uses high-quality Arabica beans, improves the blending and roasting processes, and develops signature flavours that are more subtle or weirder than the standard commodity coffee of yore.

Aesthetically these third wave independent cafés share a similar look around the world; often featuring exposed brick or concrete, long rough-hewn tables, a post-industrial chic. These are comfortable global signifiers that help you find good coffee and WIFI no matter where you are. But the new coffee shop is just a template, and in Dublin it has been personalised in unique and local ways.

You can get some super casual, imaginative Irish food in cafés in the city to go with your single origin espresso.

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Craig Walsh of Dublin coffee maestros 3fE, based at a number of locations around the city, agrees with the sense that there’s been a coffee boom in Dublin in the last four or five years, saying “the level at which the industry here is operating has upped its game”. 3fE was started by Colin Harman who learned his trade from another coffee don, Karl Purdy (Coffee Angel). They were one of the first to push high-end speciality coffee in Ireland. 3fE source their own beans and import and roast their own coffee from El Salvador, Bolivia, Guatemala, Kenya, Ethiopia and Thailand. They do eight or nine different types of coffee at any given time.

Craig says the number of roasters has increased hugely in recent years, “there are probably 90 to 100 working in Ireland at the moment”. Many cafés have their own preferred house roast, but to showcase their interest in serious coffee many have started doing ‘guest’ roasts. Craig says that Australia and the US have been hugely influential on the coffee culture in Ireland.

“The third wave fundamentally upped the game in terms of machines and process and experience and the fourth wave is really a kind of intensification of that.”

Sustainability and ethical production values are also key to the next stage, the fourth wave, making sure that the producer gets a fair deal and the environment is looked after.

Craig thinks there has been a move away from pub culture, ”people are going for a coffee instead of a pint”. The coffee they do has a reputation of having an unusual flavour profile. For example, their natural Ethiopian coffee is fruity, funky and almost fermented in flavour. Craig says it is so piquant that some customers thought that the milk in their lattes was gone off. 3fE staff are accommodating though; if something is not to your tastes, they’ll offer a replacement.

Craig says you can’t be too serious, “we don’t want people to feel uncomfortable and we encourage customers to ask questions. When it comes to coffee he says, no question is stupid”.

Another key player in the Dublin coffee scene is husband and wife-run café Proper Order, on Arran Quay. The duo are Niall and Aliona Wynn and, like 3fE, they have won many barista and coffee awards, most recently Aliona won the 2018 Irish Brewers Cup. Niall started out his working life as a teacher, but quickly detoured into coffee and this is their first shop. Proper Order is a multi-roaster coffee shop, their house coffee is from Square Mile but they get in

one guest roaster per month. They also have a barista training school.

Niall tells me that Italy is no longer the place to look to for great coffee, even though for many people there’s an instant association. He says, “Italy actually has low grade coffee, made very strong. It was a poor country after World War I so their trade is based on commodity coffee”. Like Craig, he references the US and Australia for coffee aspirations, in particular in their café they look at some of the speciality coffee chains in the US like Go Get Em Tiger and Ceremony. I asked him if he thinks what he thinks of the Dublin scene compared to elsewhere. He says, “Dublin’s coffee market can be a little conservative. There is room for those who want to take it to the next level”.

It’s easy to think coffee obsessives go overboard with their attention to the little details. It’s same with pretty much all food, drink and even fashion trends; the people doing it to the nth degree are into it in ways that a lot of us don’t have the time, or inclination, for. But we all benefit from their commitment. Even if you don’t know your cappuccino from your cold brew you can be thankful for those people who do. They ensure you can get a perfect cup of the good stuff, with more variety and higher quality, much more easily than even five or six years ago.

There are a lot of great places in the city for coffee, here are just a few…

Coffee Angel, A number of locations around the city The story of Coffee Angel is a dramatic one. Set up Karl Purdy, who is credited with bringing café culture to Ireland via Belfast, he made a fortune and then subsequently lost it all before starting Coffee Angel on very humble terms. A true coffee obsessive, Coffee Angel is beloved of many city workers. Like 3fE many of Dublin’s baristas have passed through its ranks, and Karl Purdy has been hugely influential. They use a few different blends but the emphasis is on a consistently good cup of coffee across all its locations. coffeeangel.com

Storyboard, Islandbridge Storyboard are super for both food and coffee, they do their own pickles and ferments and use fresh ingredients. For coffee they use 3fE beans, a house blend, and also a single origin which at the moment is a super fruity Ethiopian washed coffee.

It’s best as a filter coffee but also pretty amazing as a simple espresso. I spoke to Jamie who said how much his customers appreciate quality now, “we know what a good coffee is supposed to taste like now and if we don’t get it, we go somewhere else.

Storyboard is a bit outside of the hustle and bustle of the city, so we have to keep quality consistently good to keep people coming back”. storyboardcoffee.com

Network, Aungier Street Network is a bright and breezy, and for a good, strong coffee, it’s consistently great.

Owner Oliver Cruise tells me that they use beans from Workshop, a roastery based in London. Their beans come from a variety of regions depending on the time of the season in each region. They are proud to be the only stockist of this roastery in the Republic of Ireland. Oliver is positive about the coffee scene in Dublin which he thinks is “full of very creative and talented individuals”. networkcafe.ie

Two Boys Brew, North Circular Road Two Boys brew have a stellar reputation for coffee, and serious a brunch menu. Their roasters are Simon and Ben of Root & Branch up in Belfast, who are strong players in the coffee roasting scenes both up north and in Dublin. Each week they have two coffees on bar from them, one for espresso-based drinks and the other for filter. They also do a guest roast each month, for instance this month it’s a coffee from China. One of the two boys, Taurean Coughlan, tells me “pubs were once the meeting place for people, cafés are now becoming that for younger generations.” twoboysbrew.ie

Shoe Lane, Tara Street Shoe Lane work with a roaster called Full Circle who roast single origin, specialty coffee for their café. Shoe Lane value freshness and sustainability and say that

their beans “have been ethically sourced with a focus on the sustainability of the producer’s livelihood, as well as that of the environment in which the coffee is grown”.

Jane at Shoe Lane tells me this is key to speciality coffee as it “offers farmers a much higher price that is not affected by the globally-traded coffee commodities, helping to ensure a more secure standard of living for the coffee farmers”. shoelanecoffee.ie

Legit Coffee, Meath Street Damien at Legit is as excited as I am excited am about the coffee scene in Dublin which he says is “booming with new places opening every other week and an array of amazing coffee roasters”. Irish Aeropress Champion Marcin Kotwicki works for them, and he will be will be representing Ireland in November at the World Aeropress championship in Australia. They use Baobab coffee roasters, “we have a Natural Brazilian Ipe Rose on espresso at the moment that we love. Full and flavour with Caramel and cacao notes and a washed Kenyan on our Filter that is fruity and delicious”. legitcoffeeco.com Nick’s Coffee, Ranelagh A firm favourite on the Southside, Nick’s little hut beside Supervalu in Ranelagh is constantly busy, and it’s no wonder. The coffee is a super-smooth, easy drinking mix, and the prices are reasonable. It’s a great spot to sit in the sun and do a bit of Ranelagh people-watching. Nick’s use their own blend, a sweet espresso roasted every Monday. They also are super sound and do free hot drinks for over 65s and €1 hot drinks for people who work in emergency services. @NicksCoffeeCo

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Jameson Black Barrel at 37

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Jameson Black Barrel at 37

Words & Photography: Craig Connolly

Top Tipple: 001

Top Tipple: 001

You might think of 37 as that busy late night spot on Dawson Street that all the social influencers clogging up your timeline hang out in, but it also makes for a very welcoming place to whet the whistle during the afternoon.

Especially if you’re going to be navigating that neck of the woods while doing the Christmas shopping over the coming weeks.

With the weather taking a considerably colder turn over the last couple of weeks I was craving a winter warmer and there’s nothing better than a neat Jameson. On this occasion I wanted to try something different from the traditional Jamey and was recommended the Black Barrel edition by the knowledgeable barman that greeted me.

My initial reaction with any premium spirit is that it would be out of my price range, but this came in at under E7 which was a pleasant surprise for a 40% abv twice-charred whiskey.

I’m not here to talk about the taste profiles and what it’s like on the nose, I’m here to tell you about bloody good drinks, and this most certainly falls into the bracket of a bloody good drink and at a bloody good price!

If drinking straight whiskey isn’t your thing pair it with one of 37’s ginger ales and a muddled lime.

37dawsonstreet.ie

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Words: Caitriona Devery

9 COCKTAIL SPOTS TO TRY IN DUBLIN THIS MONTH

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C

ocktails, like much in life, can be functional or frivolous, potent and direct. Like a whiskey-laced Old Fashioned, or all glitz like a Flaming Zombie, or a flirty frozen Strawberry Daiquiri. Whether you embrace the canon of classic cocktails, go for sweet and fruity confections, or like the more serious botanical flavours, there are plenty of treats on the streets of Dublin these days.

Every cocktail has its place. Sometimes all you need is something hard-hitting like a Sazerac. Or something sweet and rich, like an Espresso Martini. For a hangover, my friend Hugo Byrne, who has worked in the Dublin Bar Academy, recommends a Sea Breeze, which he maintains is “perfect for a roll over”. He says either that, a White Russian or Bloody Mary. Hugo also attests that you shouldn’t botherwith vodka in Bloody Marys, always ask for tequila or gin.

Ingredient-wise, growing taste for unusual flavours means spirits like Mezcal (Tequila’s hotter, smokier, older sister) and top-grade Poitín (like Dave Mulligan’s Bán brand) are helping bartenders create unique combinations. Vinegar-fruit-sugar infusions and shrubs add a sherbert-y tang.

And if you’re wary of egg white, don’t be. It doesn’t taste of egg and adds a creamy froth to cocktails like a Gin Fizz or a Sour.

Here’s our idiot’s guide to boozing your way around the city. In no particular order…

Yamamori Tengu

The Yarn

Capitol

Great Strand Street

Lower Liffey Street

Aungier Street

Attached to a Japanese restaurant, like the sister Izakaya on George Street, as you’d expect the cocktails here are luxurious, delicate and many include sake. The bar is dark and atmospheric with a range of lovely light Japanese beers. I recommend the tangy-sour Nama Lychee (if we’re calling cocktails after the National Asset Management Agency, does that mean the boom is back?).

The Yarn do pizza and booze. Very well.

They are strong on slightly savoury, herbal ingredients like tarragon and orange bitters.

The choice is curated and carefully done.

Their gin, vermouth and Campari Negroni is sharp and strong. If your tooth is sweet try the passion fruit, pineapple, rum, vanilla vodka and whites options. Pop!

You probably won’t find cheaper cocktails in Dublin than this buzzing bar. Capitol do Happy Hour on Thursdays and Fridays and it’s always heaving, with lots of uncomplicated, sweet and fruity flavoured drinks. This is the perfect place for prepayday Porn Star Martinis, and their fruity Mojitos will get the minty party started.

yamamori.ie

Delahunt

Drop Dead Twice Francis Street

theyarnpizza.com

Lower Camden Street

capitol.ie

Drury Buildings Drury Street

This is a novel concept in Dublin, a BYO cocktail bar. You book in for a sitting and bring your own naggin or shoulder of booze.

The bartender leads guests through options before mixing up drinks. Vodka could lead to a White Chocolate Espresso Martini, and a popular outlet for gin is the Raspberry and Balsamic Martini.

Entering the Delahunt cocktail bar (upstairs to the main restaurant) is like finding platform 9¾ in ‘Harry Potter’. It’s a super stylish, mid-century modernist drawingroom with a bay window looking out to the mayhem below. Cocktails by bar manager Martin Holec are intelligent, creative and unusual. Try the Little Bird with tequila, Aperol, Yellow Chartreuse and marmalade flavours.

dropdeadtwice.com

delahunt.ie

Hang Dai

Zozimus

Lower Camden Street

Anne’s Lane

Hang Dai always did boozy brilliance downstairs in the restaurant-come-late bar but now they’ve opened up their super luxe Gold Bar with a smoking terrace upstairs, so it’s going to be even more A. Bar manager Gill Boyle knows her stuff and confidently plays with adult flavours like smoky mezcal, marzipan-scented amaro and the finest vermouth.

Zozimus is a busy spot just off Grafton Street with a team of bar dynamos powering through large orders of attractive and appealing cocktails. They have a large menu with the usual suspects and a curious selection of their own inventions.

Their Marshmallow Ramos contains their own pink marshmallow infused Ketel One vodka with Baileys and white chocolate tastes.

Stylish bar with a great derelict(e) “could be New York” smoking garden out the back. Serious cocktails with classic and signature options which are strong on herbal and aromatic flavours. Friendly bar staff. The Salt Caramel Martini comes highly recommended. drurybuildings.com

Peruke & Periwig Dawson Street Decadent Victorian-feel three-storey establishment, perfect for lounging and eating. Gets a mixed crowd and can feel a little contrived, but their cocktail menu is thoughtful and fun: themed into music genres like pop, soul, blues, rock ’n’ roll and so on. Lots of sweet and rich, creamy options. Try the Pretty Fly for a Mai Tai for the name alone. peruke.ie

hangdaichinese.com zozimusbar.ie

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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.

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BURGERS Bujo Sandymount bujo.ie Bunsen Wexford St., St. Anne St., Essex St. East & Ranelagh bunsen.ie Jo’Burger Smithfield & Castle Market joburger.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 El Grito Merchant’s Arch Picado Mexican Pantry Richmond St. picadomexican.com Taco Taco Leeson St. Tacotacodublin.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 Seafood Café Temple Bar klaw.ie Matt The Thresher Pembroke St. Lower mattthethresher.ie Oyster Bar at the Shelbourne St. Stephen’s Green shelbournedining.ie The Bull & Castle Lord Edward St. fxbuckley.ie

Storyboard Islandbridge storyboardcoffee.com 3fe Lower Grand Canal Quay 3fe.com The Fumbally Fumbally Lane thefumbally.ie

ICE CREAM Murphy’s Wicklow St. murphysicecream.ie Scoop Aungier St. & Ranelagh scoopgelato.ie

Plus 55 Bakery Bolton Street plus55bakery.ie Wigwam Middle Abbey Street wigwamdublin.com Café Mineiro Crown Alley Real Brasil Capel Street realbrasilfoods.com

PIZZA

Storm in a Teacup Skerries

Coke Lane Pizza Lucky’s, Meath Street and Frank Ryan’s, Smithfield @cokelanepizza

Gino’s Grafton St., Henry St. & South Great Georges St. ginosgelato.com

Big Blue Bus The Bernard Shaw, South Richmond Street thebernardshaw.com

Sun Bear Gelato Dawson St.

Dublin Pizza Co Aungier Street dublinpizzacompany.ie

COCKTAILS Drop Dead Twice Francis Street dropdeadtwice.com Delahunt Lower Camden Street delahunt.ie

The Yarn Liffey Street Lower theyarnpizza.com Sano Exchange Street Upper sano.pizza

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 Hilan Capel St. Mak Ranelagh mak.ie Lee Kee Parnell St.

JAPANESE Yamamori Tengu Great Strand St. yamamori.ie Michie Sushi Ranelagh michiesushi.com The Ramen Bar South William St. theramenbar.ie

FERMENTING

Musashi Capel St. musashidublin.com

Fia Rathgar Road fia.ie

Ukiyo Exchequer St. ukiyobar.com

Meet Me in the Morning Pleasants St. mmim.ie

BRAZILIAN

10 PUBS YOU’LL FIND US IN ON A FRIDAY Hacienda Bar Arran St. East Anseo Camden St. The Long Hall George’s St. The Gravediggers Glasnevin Frank Ryan’s Queen’s St. Jack Nealon’s Capel St. Grogan’s South William St. Neary’s Chatham St. P Macs Lower Stephen St. The Bernard Shaw South Richmond St.

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Irish Artist Spotlight:

SASHA SYKES S

asha Sykes is a Resinista, producing work from her growing studio in Rathmines. At the vanguard of contemporary applied art, design and furniture, her handmade pieces in resin and plastics frequently involve - counter-intuitively perhaps - a clear-eyed focus on the rural and cultural world around us and are currently on show at the prestigious HomoFaber show in Venice.

Recent work includes the Caliology series with found birds’ nests encapsulated in resin blocks, a rural Irish take on Shiro Kuramata’s Miss Blanche chair and a floral and copper reception desk for the renovated Richmond Building on North Brunswick Street. The studio has designed and produced a series of bookends based on cocktails for thegarnered.com.

Sykes is increasingly working on a monumental scale - a 45-panel Eileen Gray-style brick screen with seaweeds foraged from the west coast exhibiting at PAD London and a 2.5m tall resin, ivy and brambles fireplace acquired by the National Museum last year.

The studio hosts a weekly speakeasy on Thursday nights - in the smallest cocktail bar in Dublin 6 - where creatives can congregate for drinks with her home made tinctures. sashasykes.com

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slowthai by Ellius Grace

District Issue 005: Roots available in Hen's Teeth, Library Project and Indigo & Cloth.

Buy online at districtmagazine.myshopify.com 92

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