District: GUIDE January 2019 by District Magazine

Dublin

D Double E January 2019 FREE 1

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JUNE 29TH 2019

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What better way to end a dry January than a sweaty grime rave with one of the genre’s most prolific and respected artists? For this month’s cover story we met D Double E to discuss his latest album and his impact on British culture, ahead of his debut Irish performance at the beginning of February. Thomas Chatt also styled and shot the East Londoner for the feature. Elsewhere in this issue, Caitriona Devery explores all things plant-based for Veganuary, Coili Collins catches up with forward-thinking techno artist Pariah and we profile District 8 as it enters its final month before going to that big nightclub in the sky. D8 will follow Hangar and most recently The Wright Venue, all in the space of seven months. In 1982, ‘Blade Runner’ predicted replicants and flying cars. Instead it’s 2019 and the fucking kids are running out of places to dance. - Eric Davidson

Editor // Eric Davidson

Deputy Editor // Hannah Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell

Operations Director // Craig Connolly

Creative Director // James McGuirk

Culture Editor // Aoife Donnellan

Food & Drink Editor // Caitriona Devery

Sub Editor // Carla Jenkins

Photography // George Voronov, Ellius Grace, Mark William Logan, Lilja BirgisdĂłttir, Sequoia Ziff, Kasia Zacharko, Juliana Scodeler, Daniel Rrell

Words // Coili Collins, Rosie Gogan-Keogh, Eoghan Barra

Advertising // Ricky Lahart / ricky@districtmagazine.ie

Website // districtmagazine.ie

Issue 001-005 Creative Director // Johnny Brennan

Cover Photography // Thomas Chatt

10 / D Double E 22 / Perfect day in Dublin 26 / Lectus 30 / Live guide 34 / Ailbhe Ní Bhriain 38 / Blindboy 42 / Jon Burgerman 46 / Gyða Valtýsdóttir 50 / Walk for me 54 / Skin Deep: Lee Brown 58 / Irish artist spotlight: Jessie Hopkins 62 / Club guide 66 / Hothouse Label 68 / RIP District 8 74 / Nightmares on Wax 78 / Pariah 82 / Veganuary 84 / Cheap eats 88 / Top 5 food & drink spots

Art & Lifestyle Store Prints | Books | Magazines | Homewares

tty a m Matty Matheson Book Signing 18.01.19 See hensteethsore.com for all info

13 Fade Street, Dublin 2 Âˇ +1 531-3036 hensteethstore.com Âˇ @hensteethstore

10 Words: Cóilí Collins / Photography & Styling: Thomas Chatt

e’ve heard the freestyles, we know the ad libs and we’d recognise that flat top anywhere, but do we know the real D Double E? For years the MC has been at the top of the grime game. Openly praised by his peers, Skepta has gone as far as to say that he’s the greatest MC of all time. He has been a mainstay on Rinse FM, along with a host of other pirate and legitimate radio stations, and lays claim to one of the most distinctive voices and flows in grime. With all that taken into account, it has still taken us the guts of 20 years to discover D Double E the artist, rather than the bar spitter. Grime has ebbed and flowed since its infancy, emerging from tower block broadcasts and ending up on festival main stages, and even as far as Berghain. Many of its founding fathers and subsequent stars have taken their sounds far beyond 138bpm instrumentals. While some have crept closer to the mainstream and others going far left of field, D Double E has stayed the grime course for better or for worse. He’s now had the chance to show us a side of himself and his sound that we rarely heard in those radio freestyles and feature verses. In ‘Jackuum’, his debut album, we’ve been presented with a 20-track collection that blends his rapid rhythm with an array of beats that conjure up everything from sweaty raves to barbershop conversations. “It’s something no one knows about me; no one knows what my sound is, no one knows what I really like. I know what I prefer. I know the difference between dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass and house music, and that’s not me. When you hear me on a dubstep track, it’s not really me. “When I link up with people it’s not about me. Normally it’s never about me. If I’m doing a tune with Chipmunk, Skepta, Wiley or Footsie, it’s never about me. [Jackuum] is me telling them, ‘This is what I want to be on’. Cutting out all that ‘maybe, maybe’ and being like, ‘This is what I want, I’m 100’. I want to be certain, this is how every who’s respected rolls.” Since the announcement of ‘Jackuum’ we’ve been treated to the charismatic side of Double we’ve come to know through his rhymes. There’s always been a tongue in cheek aspect to the Londoner, with the rollout process of the album putting him on full display, not just at the end of an eightbar. “Some people might want to go online, pull down their pants, show their arse and do something mad and all of a sudden everyone’s talking about them,” he pauses for an instant, trying not to laugh at what he’s just said. “I don’t really do no tricks. I’m a funny guy myself so I rely on my natural humour and that’s why I did my ‘love advice’ video. I’ve got my way to get to people, I’m not trying to be a bare comedian as such. I don’t want to always have to MC. I’m more than an MC and that’s what I’m pushing right now; I’m pushing my DJ skills, speaking skills, but it’s only part of the campaign. When I go to

North America [on tour] I might go on radio and speak and freestyle, but this is just to create awareness. All the MCing I’m doing right now is just because it’s the season to be about.” His somewhat analytical approach to maximising his reach is surprising, but looking at the results it’s hard to argue. He’s on the cusp of said tour across the pond, as well as earning features across a multitude of underground publications, as well as the BBC and The Guardian. All the while being about as active as he’s ever been on radio, stopping by Rinse FM not only as an MC, but for a rare DJ set too. “I’m running a campaign so my job is to be in as many places as possible. Before this, I wasn’t up for popping up on radio and everywhere, but for awareness for ‘Jackuum’ I like to be everywhere, that’s stage one. “BBC from the beginning has been there, in hand with pirate stations, until pirate kind of faded. For me, it’s more about other things. It’s never so far-fetched that people talk bad about you, so to have people talking good, that’s good. I just like when things are more ‘in your face’.” Despite possessing one of the most distinguished and pointed voices in the UK, the MC is measured in his discussion, outlining in detail what he considers success, with a clarity that transcends even the weakest phone connection. “When things happen, I want to feel the vibe,” he pauses briefly for emphasis. “I don’t want to just hear it, I want to feel it. When I put out a song, I know it’s doing well when I step out of my house and the first thing I hear is someone telling me, ‘Bro, I love that song’. Everyone’s just aware of it. I’m proud of all achievements together.” The positivity in his tone is as clear as the fast-paced punchlines littered throughout ‘Jackuum’. Despite working within such an intense and often moody genre, Double has always been the one to bring out the smiles at the rave. He pairs that same intensity with a lighthearted undertone, something he continues to do as he discusses the freedom he had in putting together his latest project. “It’s a good time to be independent and I’ve grabbed it by the horns, it’s a nice situation. I’m just happy that I can do what I want to do. There are other situations where I’ve noticed that people aren’t doing what they want to do; even down to this photoshoot today. When I looked at the clothes that they had for me, I was thinking, ‘Rah, this isn’t for me, some of this isn’t me, I don’t wear these shoes or this coat’, and that’s because I’m me. If I wore that outfit I wouldn’t feel like me. If you’re in control of your vision it could be sicker.” Without being asked, he continues on about his style and clothing and somehow swings it back to music, as only he could. “No one’s wearing what I wear. I might wear a bright yellow suit… When I’m in the shop I will pick that suit and people will pass it, but when I put it on that’s when people

“It’s something no one knows about me; no one knows what my sound is, no one knows what I really like.”

realise it’s sick. I know what’s looking sick before it’s looking sick. “There’s mild looking sick and then there’s bright sick and I’m cool with that mild, I can look suave. I am very experimental. I know what I’m on, we need to know what we’re on. “I feel like the world today doesn’t know what they’re on, like it’s your job to follow. Like it’s not your job to come up with a new genre of music like we came up with dubstep, funky house, garage and all these genres. It’s not even a UK thing now. For me, Afrobeats is not UK-based in terms of the UK core that you hear and you feel here. When I hear it I feel like I’m in the Caribbean. It’s just a little cycle that we’re going through at the moment; I respect it and I respect everything people are doing, but you can’t give me a new look unless I’ve certi’d it.” The sound of the UK is one that’s forever changing, but the current move toward to more Caribbeanflavoured tracks is a step away from the more raw, rave-built sounds of the past. Having had such a heavy hand in the foundation of grime, and having MC’d to plenty of the genres that came before it, Double has earned the right to analyse the scene that sits in front of him. Many people are lamenting once again that grime is dead, however, ‘Jackuum’ showcases an old dog that’s biting harder than it ever did before. “The scene loved it. Some people are not loving grime right now. I think it’s a sick time for grime, and I think people want to hear it. You can put something in and it’s got all the different flavours and it’s 100 pure and colourful. It’s not dark. Some of the tracks give it some nice colours. I wanted to make it something so you don’t have to be into grime to like it.” Grime can be jarring to those alien to the sound and culture, but Double’s newfound openness to a newer and perhaps more visiually creative

generation, which before many would have brushed aside, has allowed his music to reach new heights all the while drawing on the same foundations as those who have before him. “There are a lot of people listening to music who are searching for the new style. It’s good to search and everyone needs to be themselves, but not everyone is being themselves because everyone is kind of looking similar. Now, I have to respect the maddest guy where one side of his jeans are shorts and the other side is long and then he’s got on some pink shoes... I have to respect him because no one’s doing what he does and he’s a don. I had to start respecting it, at first I thought, ‘Rah, this guy is different...’, now when I see people doing their own thing, I think, ‘This guy could be creative; he could be in a sick job doing some creative work’. I have to respect that, not the guy that looks like everyone else.” Signing off on that eccentric note, it’s clear that Double is drained after another long day of media obligations. He talks of an upcoming Idris Elba film that himself and Footsie may be working on a track for. He has to watch it when he gets home in order to get a sense of what track to cook up for it. Having spent so long working to this moment, hearing such a unique and important figure like D Double E clearly content in his output was an uplifting sign for a genre that can often be consumed in its negativity. The real D Double E lies just as much on radio rips from the noughties as he does in strangely constructed clothing comparisons to his music. Even though it took 20 years and 20 tracks for the real D Double to finally emerge, it was worth the wait. D Double E plays The Sugar Club on February 8.

TRIPLE DISTILLED. DOUBLE CHARRED. WHY? TASTE, THATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S WHY.

Artwork Final size = (H)1800mm x (W)1200mm Artwork set at 50% of final size=(H)900mm x (W)600mm Live area = (H)850mm x (W)550mm Generated at: Tue Oct 23 17:28:58 2018

22 Words & Photography: Ellius Grace

PERFECT

Jessie de Boe Designer @jessiedeboe

Last place you ate? Umi Falafel - by myself. Last pub you went to? Huckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on Camden Street. Favourite place to escape to? The Lighthouse Cinema. Favourite place to go to in the sun? To the sea. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one thing you see every day here? All types of art. What would you like to see less of? Homelessness. Best memory of the city? Lying in the sun by the old whiskey stills in NCAD. Best place for a Guinness? Thomas Street. Southside seaside or Northside seaside? Southside, baby.

DAY 23

Faolán Carey Photographer @faolancares

Last place you ate? Ukiyo (veggie bento). Last pub you went to? L’Gueuleton. Favourite place to escape to? If we are talking central Dublin, deffo Iveagh Gardens. Favourite place to go to in the sun? Got to be my mam’s garden, she does a wonderful job keeping it looking tip top. What’s one thing you see every day here? Good people. What would you like to see less of? The housing crisis. Best memory of the city? I have some very fond memories of St. Patrick’s Day when I was a kid but more recently, the referendums. Best place for a Guinness? The Gravediggers. Southside seaside or Northside seaside? Love the 40ft, but the best swim I’ve ever had was at the hole in the wall so gonna have to say Northside.

DUBLIN 25

Words: Aoife Donnellan / Photography: Sarah Diviney

ART’s gallery space in an old fire station is one of the artistic cornerstones of Rathmines. Known for its experimental approach to culture, the artist studios and gallery space invites audiences to engage with the contemporary Irish art scene. We caught up with Deirdre Morrissey, the curator of their newest exhibition, ‘Lectus’, to talk about the work. Deirdre has been a contemporary curator for the last 10 years and Lectus presents a selection of sculptural forms, video work and live performance. The work deals with a host of themes including personal trauma, natural beauty, and politics. Emerging artists Emma McKeagney, Sarah Diviney and Èanna Heavey have been chosen to be the contributors to this powerful collection. Lectus aims to showcase emerging artists working with experimental forms, what inspired you to get involved? The exhibition Lectus is an award that MART offer in partnership with Fire Station Artists Studios and CIT Crawford College of Art & Design, where we select artists from the Crawford Fine Art graduate exhibition and the Fire Station’s Sculpture Bursary Award. We pick artists who are recent graduates and whose work we like and feel fits in with MART’s curatorial objective - generally this is artwork which is quite experimental in nature. This is the third year we have run this exhibition award. This exhibition takes on a number of different forms - sculpture, video, and live performance, how do these pieces work together in space? All of the artists work with moving image/ video work in some form, so that would be one common element, but each of them have different primary artistic practices. For example Sarah Diviney’s work is mainly performance, Emma McKeagney’s is predominantly sculptural and Èanna Heavey concentrates on video. How the artwork will work together in the space will come down to curating it in a way that the artworks compliment each other and figuring out how the visitor will encounter each artwork as they move through the gallery.

Emma McKeagney’s work deals with “the materiality of natural and designed forms”. Do you think themes that tread the line between natural and man-made are particularly important in this day and age? Emma’s work is intriguing. Her sculptural pieces often take their starting point from natural forms, so her investigation of natural processes plays a part in her physical creation of a piece of art. She likes to investigate the role of materials in art, technology and design and how the interaction of humans and technology changes between the inception of a design idea and the use of a tool or object. We live in a digital age where automation is part of our daily lives. I think many artists are investigating processes using science and technology to create new work, where human intervention has played only a small part in the development of a finished piece. There are lots of interesting ways to investigate the lines between natural and man-made practices. Sarah Diviney and Èanna Heavey’s work confronts political Irish issues; do you feel a curatorial responsibility to select work that brings to light failures in Irish society? Èanna’s video piece is quite complex, but certainly references a particular type of sex education that was common in Irish schools in the 1990’s, which was very Catholic and ridiculous. I remember it well! The link I am making between the two is that Sarah Diviney’s art piece comes from her thought process around the history of the church’s treatment of, and institutionalisation of, Irish women, particularity pregnant, unmarried women. Many of whose fate was sealed due to the complete lack of sex education available in society at that time. I wouldn’t say I feel a personal curatorial responsibility, but myself, and our curators, Ciara and Matt, would have strong views on social inequality and welcome opportunities to highlight those issues through the artists we work with.

MART’s mission statement is to facilitate the showing of contemporary art in an affordable space for artists in the city. How important is it that contemporary art is facilitated in this way? We feel that it is important to give contemporary artists a space to exhibit artwork that is not necessarily that commercial or ‘sellable’. We apply for funding for our exhibition programme so that we can pay artists and cover the costs of putting on an exhibition, and that way the artists can push the boundaries with their work and use the exhibition to showcase new and often experimental ideas. Why is MART such an important part of the Rathmines community? What is Dublin’s art scene missing? Having a gallery that opens out directly onto Rathmines high street is great because footfall is usually high. We get visitors who may not usually go into an art gallery, a lot of people just wander in to have a look and then might get chatting to our staff about the artwork. The fire station dates back to the 1800s and was a working fire station until the 1980s. It was derelict for about 20 years until MART took over the lease, and I think we’ve contributed massively to the overall vibrancy of Rathmines. Apart from rejuvenating a previously disused building it is also down to the volume of people we bring to the area through our exhibitions, events and of course the creatives working here. Unfortunately, the high rents in Dublin are pushing a lot of artist-ed organisations out of their premises. 10 years ago Dublin was thriving with small studio spaces and galleries mostly set up by art graduates and run on a voluntary basis. Many of these spaces have since closed due to the unaffordable rents and short leases, which is a real shame as they were a hub for so many emerging artists to meet, exhibit and develop professionally. Lectus exhibits in MART, January 10 February 14.

“WE FEEL THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO GIVE CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS A SPACE TO EXHIBIT ARTWORK THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY THAT COMMERCIAL OR ‘SELLABLE’.”

LIVE GUIDE

January 2019

MIRIAM AÏDA

DAVID KEENAN

THE BIG GIG

THE COMO MAMAS

YEARS & YEARS

MARC REBILLET

Dublin Bowie Festival and Improvised Music Company join forces to present a special evening of Bowie’s music performed live by Sweden’s best-known jazz singer, Miriam Aïda. For fans of: David Bowie, Kamasi Washington, Yussef Kamaal Thursday January 10 The Sugar Club €12

Mental health festival First Fortnight host an evening of music featuring Mango x MathMan, Molly Sterling, Paddy Hanna and Brave Giant. For fans of: Kojaque, Ailbhe Reddy, Le Boom Saturday January 12 Tramline €12

Years & Years are a British synth-pop band, founded in London. The band consists of Olly Alexander, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen. For fans of: Jess Glynne, MØ, MNEK Tuesday January 22 Olympia Theatre €30

David Keenan is an Irish singer-songwriter who blends blues, folk, indie and poetry to create a truly unique sound. For fans of: David Kitt, Saint Sister, Junior Brother Saturday January 12 Whelan’s €22.90

Gospel trio from Como, Mississippi, who got their name due to their participation in Como Now, a compilation of field recordings from 2006 curated by Daptone Records’ Michael Reilly. For fans of: Lee Fields, Charles Bradley, Candi Staton Friday January 18 The Sugar Club €20

When trying to describe the funky energy of Marc’s performance some say, ‘Think of Reggie Watts, but on bath salts’. He brings his hilarious and captivating live show to Dublin for the first time. For fans of: Reggie Watts, Rubberbandits, Tim Minchin Wednesday January 23 Tivoli Theatre €18

LOAH & SIVE

STEFAN MURPHY

LIL MOSEY

DAVID KITT & INNI-K

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

BEN HOWARD

POOLSIDE

RADIE PEAT

BASTILLE

HOBO JOHNSON

As part of the Dublin TradFest, the beautiful surroundings of The Pepper Canister Church will play host to a double header featuring two of Ireland’s most talented artists. For fans of: Wyvern Lingo, Maria Kelly, David Kitt Wednesday January 23 The Pepper Canister Church €16

When Mosey released ‘Pull Up‘ less than 12 months ago he was catapulted to success. The video hit 50,000 views in its first week and now it’s clocking close to 20 million. Every video since has racked up millions of views and he’s garnered more than a cult following. For fans of: YBN Nahmir, Sheck Wes, Yung Pinch Thursday January 24 The Academy €25

Atlantic Records’ Death Cab for Cutie released their ninth studio album ‘Thank You for Today’ in August and will tour the record. For fans of: Modest Mouse, The Shins, Bright Eyes Thursday January 24 Olympia Theatre €33-€42

Poolside began as a recording project in a converted Los Angeles backyard pool house in early 2011, producing sunny tracks of subaquatic indie dance music in this makeshift recording studio. For fans of: LCD Soundsystem, Todd Terje, Soulwax Saturday January 26 Button Factory €15

Bastille bring their intimate run of shows to Dublin giving fans the opportunity to hear new material ahead of the release of their hugely anticipated third album out late Spring 2019. For fans of: Metronomy, London Grammar, Elbow Sunday January 27 Olympia Theatre €44-€55

Stefan Murphy is a Dublin born artist currently living and working out of Atlanta in the US. Having previously made music with The Mighty Stef and as Count Vaseline, he brings his first ‘Stefan Murphy’ tour to Dublin. For fans of: The Mighty Stef, Fontaines DC, David Kitt Thursday January 24 Whelan’s Upstairs €12-€14

Another show for the TradFest brings a double headliner of the multi-talented David Kitt and the spine-tingling vocals of Inni-K together. For fans of: Lankum, Saint Sister, Lisa Hannigan Thursday January 24 The Workman’s Club €20

Benjamin John Howard is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He plays one of his biggest Irish shows yet this January. For fans of: James Vincent McMorrow, Hozier, Bon Iver Friday January 25 3Arena €45-€50

Radie Peat is a singer and multi-instrumentalist from Dublin whose work centres largely around traditional and folk music from Ireland and the English speaking world. For fans of: Lisa Hannigan, Loah, Katie Kim Sunday January 27 The Pepper Canister Church €13

Frank Lopes Jr., known professionally as Hobo Johnson, is an American vocalist and frontman of Hobo Johnson and the LoveMakers. For fans of: Joji, Matt Champion, Gus Dapperton Monday January 28 Vicar Street €23

OZZY OSBOURNE & JUDAS PRIEST

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Ozzy Osbourne brings his tour to Dublin with very special guests. For fans of: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Metallica Wednesday January 30 3Arena €59

HAYLEY KIYOKO

International pop-star, Hayley Kiyoko is stopping off in Dublin on her massive 19-date tour that takes her all across Europe. For fans of: Mitski, Billie Eilish, Halsey Wednesday January 30 Olympia Theatre €23-€30

ROSIE CARNEY

Rosie Carney is a young singer/songwriter originally from Hampshire, currently based in Donegal. She headlines The Grand Social with Aiken Promotions. For fans of: Fenne Lily, Soak, Kean Kavanagh Wednesday January 30 The Grand Social €13-14.50

TECH N9NE

Street Smarts, Stylistic Murder and Voodoo Lounge are coming together to finally bring the Kansas City rapper, actor and producer to Ireland for the first time. For fans of: MF DOOM, Hopsin, Immortal Technique Thursday January 31 Voodoo Lounge €27.90

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

Public Service Broadcasting is the corduroy-clad brainchild of London-based J. Willgoose, Esq. who, along with his drumming companion, Wrigglesworth, is on a quest to inform, educate and entertain audiences around the globe. For fans of: Django Django, John Grant, Everything Everything Thursday January 31 Olympia Theatre €31.50

TEARS FOR FEARS

The iconic Tears for Fears bring their huge ‘Rule The World’ tour to Ireland with very special guest Alison Moyet in tow. For fans of: Human League, Simple Minds, ABC Thursday January 31 3Arena €65

GYDA VALTYSDOTTIR

Since her work with mum has taken a back seat, Valtysdottir has toured with the likes of Jónsi (Sigur Ros) and Damien Rice, before turning back to her own performances including a selection of reworked classical pieces and her own compositions. For fans of: JFDR, Sinead O’Connor, Sigur Ros Friday February 1 Dublin Unitarian Church €18.50

D DOUBLE E

D Double E is the emcee’s MC. Among his peers and grime fans he comfortably sits as one of the top three selected mic controllers of all time. For fans of: JME, Skepta, Jammer Friday February 8 The Sugar Club €12

Exhibition of the month FOLLÁIN Folláin is a platform for artists of any format to share their work. “Whether it be film making, painting, sculpting or songwriting the opportunity to show work is not always readily available,” the organisers explain. “And almost always costs an arm and a leg when you do get the chance.” Their aim is to provide a space where the only thing artists have to worry about is their art. The event is BYOB and features Salvatore of Lucan, Matthew Stickland, Molly Carbery, Gavin Connell, Julia Deladiennée, Anthony O’Connor, Bob Gallagher, Hugh Cannon, Siofra Quinn Gates, Robbie Stickland, Ciara Tully, Nash Paints, Baliboc, Myles Manley, Angular Hank and Henry Earnest. Saturday January 12 Jaja Studios €7-€10

Words: Aoife Donnellan / Photography: XXXXXXX

Inscriptions o

of an Immense Your work deals with themes like loss, legacy and cultural understanding; what motivates you as an artist? I’m interested in little moments of destabilisation or interruption; when the way we expect to see something suddenly shifts a little. As a kid, I used to spend a lot of time imagining the room I was in as upsidedown or back-to-front, trying to get to the point where I could no longer remember which version was the real or right one - a kind of rabbit/duck moment. Locations like the British museum [which I reference in my new film] interest me because of the way in which they themselves influence or define how we see things, in terms of cultural and historical narratives. Constructing an altered version of a place like this, as I do in ‘Inscriptions of an Immense Theatre’, is a way of thinking about the construct that also underlies the ‘right way up’ version.

Theatre

ilbhe Ní Bhriain is an Irish artist best known for her use of video montage. Through her creation of video installations which combine film, CGI and sound, she invites viewers to immerse themselves in her altered landscapes. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has received a number of awards and grants for her work. Her newest project, ‘Inscriptions of an Immense Theatre’, is a video piece that combines a number of unique locations, themes and images. As she draws inspiration from early museological texts, the work explores the construct of cultural and historical representation. I chatted with Ailbhe about what inspires her work, her future, and the Irish art scene.

‘Inscriptions of an Immense Theatre’ is a video work and in previous exhibitions you have used photography to a similar end. Why do you favour altered images as a medium for your work? I’m trying to surprise the images I’m working with into a new series of connections or possibilities – sometimes using laborious processes like CGI and other times using very loose digital collage. Often the images I’m working with will be quite loaded with associations or prescribed meaning – classical statuary for instance or archetypal Irish landscapes - so this process of altering is a way of disrupting and questioning our ready made relationship to certain kinds of representation. You mentioned CGI; a lot of your work is a mixture of real and doctored. Do you think the boundary between real and unreal is an important one to traverse in the 21st century? I think the boundary between the real and the unreal is so much a part of the magic trick of art. That slippage between real and illusory space, surface and depth, fact and fiction is just fundamental to all image-making. Questions around truth and manipulation on a wider cultural level obviously have a real resonance at the moment and for me CGI is a really useful tool to work with. But I think the concern with this boundary is age-old - as are the politics of representation. This is what makes these things interesting to me. You describe the piece as an attempt at “a theatre of aftermath” with pieces inspired from museum artefacts, debris and landscape - representational categories have broken down so how do you think we represent self/personal identity in the aftermath? I’m not trying to propose a way - I’m more interested in the uncertainty. I think the idea of an ‘authentic’ form of representation is a kind of contradiction, as there’s something essentially constructed in every attempt at representation. Harking back to a glorious and imaginary past is clearly a model that is being tested in various places at the moment - but not a happy one.

You are a widely acclaimed Irish contemporary artist and have received a number of awards for your work. What is it like an Irish visual artist in 2019? Awards from The Arts Council have meant everything for my work over the last number of years. Through their most recent support I’ve been working with cinematographer Feargal Ward, actress Eileen Walsh, Dublin and Belfast-based post-production house Enter Yes and composer Susan Stenger, so it’s been 18 months of working really closely with seriously talented people. These relationships make Ireland feel like a really exciting place to be right now. Your work is always intermedial; whether through collage, live music accompaniment or improvisation. How important is the unexpected in your work? Do you find working with a mixture of media more accurately represents a fractured, multi-faceted existence? A lot of what I do, because it revolves around animation and VFX, demands a crazy kind of precision and attention to detail. So the unexpected is the opposite of what I’m after for the major part of production. I do bookend this extended controlfreak phase with deliberate openness. I begin researching a new piece with a fairly unburdened curiosity - it’s a case of ‘what happens if this sits next to this?’, shuffling the possible relationships between things, places and texts the way you might move furniture around a room. Likewise when exhibiting, it’s really important to me to avoid being overly directive. My work is about taking content that is initially quite set or didactic within itself, and reconstituting it as something more odd and unstable. Working with musicians and incorporating live improvisation has been a way of emphasising this fluid element, continuing a kind of collage or layering process within an exhibition. I want someone coming to my show to understand it without being able to explain it. It’s more a short story than a treatise. ‘Inscriptions of an Immense Theatre’ runs in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios until February 2.

Words: Hannah Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell / Photography: Mark William Logan

BLINDBOY

t’s been a busy year for Blindboy Boatclub. He arrived in our ears back in October 2017 with the tale of Erskine Fogarty and his beloved American fridge freezer, giving the nation its first podcast hug and a taste of what was to come in his debut book of short stories ‘The Gospel According to Blindboy’. Listeners to the weekly podcast have since been treated to regular updates on the whereabouts of a Limerick based otter, learned about art history and the psychology of creativity and have been coached in how to better identify and understand mental health issues among a varying and unpredictable array of other topics. The one common theme running under all of the apparent absurdity is that Blindboy speaks the truth. Whether it’s his truth or one you share, there is no denying his ability to articulate what the majority of us are thinking or feeling on a subject. If you’re following The Blindboy Podcast, you’ll know that he barely has a minute between projects these days - so we were gratefully to catch up with him. “I’m currently horsing into the process,” Blindboy tells me about his forthcoming second collection of short stories. “My approach to writing is one that’s focused on fun and experimentation. I go into the page with no expectations and pure explore the gammy depths of my head, like a waking dream. Its creative flow. Then I edit the results of those sessions with a more critical and measured inquiry. It’s a small bit tougher this time around, because the response to the last book is colouring my judgment. “Ideally, an artist who knows what they’re doing shouldn’t really be taking too much public opinion on board. The positive feedback can be just as damaging to the process as the negative because you feel you should write what people want to read. You can’t be doing that. I can only write what I’d like to read, and if others enjoy it then fair play to them. A lot of my energy is spent expelling any expectations or judgement from the process. ’Twas easier first time round when no one expected nothing.” As most will know, Blindboy began his public career as one half of The Rubberbandits alongside his Spar bagwearing associate, Mr. Chrome. Over the past 18 years the pair have been involved in

their fair share of gas cunt antics, Blindboy’s favourite of which was during their show at Electric Picnic 2008, “where we dressed a lad up as a giant lump of hash and had a guard chase him around the stage, while Gerry Adams sawed Eamon De Valera in half in the background”. Ignoring for a moment the lightning wit and piss yourself hilarity that is The Rubberbandits’ unique satirical output, they’re probably best-known to the general public for wearing plastic bags on their heads: Blindboy’s bag of choice a red and white number from JC’s Supermarket in Swords. Speaking in a clip from the podcast now living on the group’s YouTube account he explained that he made the decision to wear a bag for privacy. “I can go to Aldi, I can go to Tesco. I can go into Tesco and buy a load of toilet roll. No one knows who the fuck I am, no one cares who I am… Neither of us are interested in fame or notoriety of any description. It’s something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.” At his last live podcast show in The Sugar Club (the location for his upcoming string of live podcast recordings), Blindboy sat on the stage, plastic on head, all eyes in the sold out venue on him, listening to his every word, afterwards people waiting outside to meet him, talk to him and have copies of their books signed. Then once the show is wrapped up he can simply head backstage, pull off the bag, the red hat, and disappear into the crowd unnoticed. I asked him how he felt about living a double life. “Absolutely brilliant; fame and notoriety get very tiring, very quickly. I know what it feels like to be on the front page of every newspaper, it’s a surreal feeling that is toxic for the head. There’s great value and humility in being a regular person. I’d hate it if in my day-to-day life, people treated me in accordance with my notoriety. I like real, human interactions where people are nice to me because I’ve earned it from them. I know famous people who have weird lives, where they can no longer enjoy regular anonymous living. “Over the years, Blindboy has become a bit closer to who I really am,” he continued. “I just need the bag to avoid the bullshit and cringeyness that goes with being recognised in Ireland. I can choose to wear my notoriety and then take it off when I want to chill out. I’m very lucky in that respect. I wouldn’t trade it.”

When it comes to his past dealings with depression and anxiety, Blindboy is an open book. His compassion for people and determination to share the tools that he’s been given to care for his mental health are undeniable. A Tweet from a follower he shared read, “Had a great chat with my doc this morning, who told me he has seen a lot of young men coming into him over the last few weeks to talk #mentalhealth. A lot said it was due to the @Rubberbandits podcast”. As someone who has studied psychotherapy and come through a difficult time, does Mr. Boatclub feel a responsibility to talk about and educate people on certain topics? “When it comes to men and mental health, I do get a feeling of being duty bound. I’m a person who has overcome some pretty bad mental health issues and I did this through active changes in my thinking processes and lifestyle. I’ve a huge platform, so I absolutely want to share that with whoever needs it and will listen, especially in a society where the mental health conversation wasn’t part of our education or culture growing up.” In 2015 Blindboy received a masters from Limerick Institute of Technology in Social Practice and the Creative Environment which he described as perfectly suited to artists whose gallery is the internet and social media. It’s common knowledge that social media can have a negative impact on a person’s mental healthso as a prolific user of the internet, I was curious to know if he ever felt the platforms were taking their toll on him. “I used to, but I’ve become skilled over the years when it comes to knowing when to step away. There’s great value in choosing not to type a shitty comment, or get involved in an argument online. Those little negative interactions throughout the day can be very stressful, so I actively avoid negativity online. I get great solace from videos of cats or pictures of otters.” The Blindboy Podcast comes to The Sugar Club, January 31, February 1, 2 & 3.

“WHEN IT COMES TO MEN AND MENTAL HEALTH, I DO GET A FEELING OF BEING DUTY BOUND. I’M A PERSON WHO HAS OVERCOME SOME PRETTY BAD MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AND I DID THIS THROUGH ACTIVE CHANGES IN MY THINKING PROCESSES AND LIFESTYLE.”

JON BURGERMAN Words: Rosie Gogan-Keogh / Doodles: Jon Burgerman

he prolific Nottingham-born, Brooklyn-based artist has turned doodling into a full-time career of international renown. One that has seen his Instagram stories appear on the walls of the Tate Modern, his murals adorning New York noodle houses and his signature colourful characters go out to bat for brands like Nike, Sony and the BBC. More recently he’s focused on a series of children’s books and has a brand new print on the walls of our very own Hen’s Teeth on Fade Street. We caught up with him to chat about his latest work, the American voting system and seeing faces in everything.

You’ve become a leading figure in what could be called the doodle art movement. When on the journey did you figure out this was your style? Was there a specific moment? I never really meant it in that way, but there’s something in it now about doodling being a style. When I used to refer to myself as ‘the Doodler’, it was a self-deprecating term. I just wanted to get away from having to talk about my work in highbrough pompous ways, especially when my carerer first started to take off a little bit and people would say, “what is this?’. The first part how would you describe your work? What is this? What kind of style is this? I didn’t really want to have to sort of engage with that kind of question so I would say, ‘Oh, it’s just doodles. I’m just doodling’, which is true as well in the sort of process that I take to create my work is improvised and often unplanned. So it has that kind of nature of doodling of starting this thing and not quite sure what it’s going to be and not worrying about too much about where it will end up and seeing what will happen. How I create is sort of intuitive, but over the years as people have found my work and I’ve had it taught in schools, people have really latched onto the term - doodling. But it’s become its own, it’s become a thing, and now I get messages from people saying, ‘I’m a doodler, it’s just like you’. I’ve become a victim of my own sort of gag really, I get talked about as being a doodler. So I’ve kind of embraced it. You published your first picture book last year. How does working on a book like that differ to the other things that you’ve done? It was a lot of fun making it, definitely. I really like the opportunity to take my ideas and my work and put them in a space I’ve not explored before. So working on a picture book... Working on any sort of new format, there are all these new rules and things you have to take into consideration that you perhaps weren’t aware of beforehand.

So there was a definite learning curve, even though I have three picture books published, I still feel I’m learning how to make them. Conventions of the form, a narrative structure, building up to a punchline, all those kind of things don’t really work in the same way on a flat image or on an animation or on a goofy little video. Something that can be repeatedly read over and over and it’s not going to drive parents crazy. Then you’ve got the whole design aspect, the playing around with image and text, the placement of those things, the size of those things, and how you’re directing the narrative through those. There are lots of moving parts to consider in picture books. They probably seem quite simplistic things on the surface for a lot of people, but actually like I said it’s a real learning curve. Even though I had an idea and the structure of the story planned out, there’s still a lot tweaking and nuance to everything.

A reality these days of being an artist is working with brands as well, and you’ve worked with some of the biggest in the world. How do you manage and maintain a creative control of that process? Well, the brands want to be partnered with cool stuff, though sometimes you can be a bit selective about these things. I try and only do stuff that is interesting to me or is really well paid, one or the other, or a benefit if it’s both. But no, seriously I try and only do stuff that I actually like, and I think it makes sense for my work. I’m quite protective over how I use and show my work. That doesn’t mean they’re only for really high-end things or anything like that, it just means it has to make sense for the work and not diminish what it is that I’m trying to do with it. The longer I’ve done this the better I’ve gotten, and just try and make sure it’s beneficial to the work and not get too overwhelmed over all that you’re working with a big brand. As it’s good to get your work out there with those things, so there is a benefit if you work with a company and they’re going to get your work into a global audience, which is another reason why it’s good to make sure that the work’s being shown in a good way. You have been somewhat of a master or an innovator of Instagram stories and social media in general, which is sometimes like a death knell for artists and productivity. How have you managed that? What is it about social media that has allowed you to be creative? What I like about it is the connection that you can have with people far away or next door to you that you’d never meet. In some regards it opens the door for that

communication, those connections, and puts it on a kind of level playing field, it’s open to anyone that can have access to these things, and most of us do have that access. It means if you’ve got things to share you can put it out there. Not everyone will see it, but it might find some sort of audience. I’ve really tried to use instagram as a space for creativity and play as it’s a tool that didn’t exist five years ago. I think, ‘What can I do in this space that I can’t do anywhere else? What can I show, or play with? How can I connect with people? What can I make that is unique to these spaces?’ And things like Instagram they have drawing tools on there. Your phone probably already can take photos and videos and draw, you can add music. So wow, you’ve got this whole studio in your pocket. As a kid I would have killed for something like that. I always wanted a video camera. I never had one as a child so that would have been a dream come true.. And now I have one, and we kind of forget that these are real miracles of technology, and they’re so small and they work quickly. I’ve tried to treat it as it’s just another tool for making stuff, and not get too sucked into just thumb scrolling and wasting time. Inevitably that does happen, and I’ve recently enforced screen time which is a little setting on the iOS. The problem with that is if I do some work on Instagram, say make a video that takes about half an hour, I’m eating up half the time of the hour I’ve allowed myself. So sometimes I have to break those rules which I’m a little bit naughty about. But the good thing is I’m aware of the amount of time I’m on there. It’s certainly taken my work to places I’ve never been to, and allowed people I’ve never met to see my work and have an understanding of who I am and what I do. And that is really great. And that’s been really great. It’s a shame that more people don’t think of these things as creative tools. I don’t post…there, I only try and show stuff that i think would be interesting for an audience rather than ‘look how great I am’ or ‘look what a wonderful life i’m having’ or anything like that. People feel it’s a space to show the best version of you and whatnot. And I think that perpetuates a lot of jealousy and dissatisfaction amongst people, so I’m really trying hard not to add anything more to that.

One of the wonderful things that you do with Instagram is personify all these random objects. Do you constantly see faces wherever you go, and do you think that using social media for that kind of artistic expression can eventually hamper creativity? That has been a little bit of a problem for me, because I really believe if you want to be creative then the more creative you are the more creative you’ll be. It can really snowball, and you can train yourself to see things and hear things. If you’re a musician and you’re on the lookout for the latest cool beat or something, you might hear rhythms and sounds where other people just wouldn’t pay attention. So on the other hand you’re looking for faces and characters and then animated objects, you start tuning into this and that, and then you can’t turn it off. There have definitely been times where everywhere you look you see a little face staring back at you. I think that can be a little scary: it’s not good when you’re drunk. I never try and force it. I do all these online things that I’ve been doing as long as they’re fun and interesting and I still feel I’m discovering something about them. As soon as I feel I’m just repeating a formula I get bored, so naturally I move onto something else. So by putting faces and eyeballs on objects to turn them into things is great, great fun. I don’t know how much further I can push that, and I think people get the idea, and I see a lot of people doing similar things, so maybe it’s time for me to find some other new creative outlet or another thing to play around with, because I like that that ground’s being covered. Tell us about the Love print that you’ve released with Hen’s Teeth. What’s the story behind it? It started off with the placard that said vote. I put it online as a sort of, ‘Hey, everyone in America. I can’t vote, but you guys can, and let’s maybe just vote, just take an interest in politics and get out there and exercise your right to vote, especially for those that can’t do it, because they’re immigrants and stuff.’ It is just a bunch of characters, different people, hopefully different. A good representation of different shapes and sizes of characters. And then I thought it was quite a nice image and people responded really well to it. So I was just looking at it and I was like, ‘What other four little words could I put on there that would be a good thing, a good message?’. And I thought, ‘Love’? You only need to change a letter or two for ‘Vote’ to turn into ‘Love’. Reminding people to love is as good a message as reminding people to vote, and so I changed it to that. I do feel that a lot of the protests we’ve seen in the last few years in the US have the underlying message of loving others; that we should be more accepting and understanding of each other and all our messages. Really, that comes down to love.

When you moved to New York you said you were entering into the second chapter or your second career. Are you still in that second career or are you going to move on to the third one... I think I am still in the second chapter, but I’m definitely thinking about how I can move it on a little bit. Making the picture books is definitely part of that, going more into storytelling. I still feel a bit of a novice in that world, so I need to get better at that. I’ve been here about eight years, so I reckon if you ask me in two more years time maybe I’ll have segued into the third and final act. That’s how stories go, right? You can have a fourth act if you want. I can have a fourth act, a sequel maybe. But yeah, I’m always trying to do different stuff, whilst maintaining all the things I’m already doing, So we’ll see how well that works. It’s definitely exciting for me and it keeps things interesting for me. Well, I look forward to seeing whatever you come up with for that, the third act and fourth act. I think three acts then I’m out. ‘Love’ a print by Jon Burgerman is available from Hen’s Teeth, 13 Fade Street, Dublin 2 or hensteethstore.com

Facebook & Instagram - @framedublin

Frame opened its doors in August 2017 at 53 South William Street. We produce bespoke framing for all projects and work with leading contemporary artists and designers, while also boasting the creative quarterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most delicious coffee. Our South William Street location hosts regular exhibitions and showcases some of Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brightest and best emerging artists and designers. Drop by our store at 53 South William Street for a Framing consultation on your next project or to try one of our tasty coffees. You should also follow our instagram for any upcoming events and news.

Words: Hannah O’Connell / Photography: Lilja Birgisdóttir

Gyða Valtýs

sdóttir

eykjavík’s Gyða Valtýsdóttir cofounded experimental pop ensemble múm in 1997 when she was just a teen. Along with Gyða’s twin sister Kristín Anna, the band comprised of Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason. She spent a decade with the group before setting out on her own in the mid2000’s. Gyða has since created music for films, installations, dance performances as well as working on a series of solo and collaborative projects including 2017’s ‘Epicycle’ which was released via Shahzad Ismaily’s figureight imprint. On February 1 one of Dublin’s most forward-thinking collectives, Homebeat, invite Gyða to perform in the beautiful surroundings of Dublin’s Unitarian Church. She’ll be accompanied by Julian Sartorius and the aforementioned Shahzad Ismaily, a show Gyða says tends to be “a kind of holy, intense, but Hen’s Teeth on Fade Street. journey that threads together souls of dead geniuses and brings them into a new vibration again”.

How do you describe the music you create? A density of energy, light and darkness, shaping waves of molecules that move hairs in a spiral cochlea which transform it to nerve impulses which can go into you and through you if you resonate with it. Why did you choose the cello as your main instrument and what have you learned about music from studying it so deeply, completing a master’s degree as both a classical and free-improvisational cellist? It’s a mystery why I chose the cello... I can’t sit on the floor with it, I can’t take it on a hike, I wasn’t able to dance around until I stubbornly learned to play with it hanging on me. But I’m glad it chose me. Learning to play an instrument is a privilege, especially if you find a great teacher. Then it is like tuning yourself, facing yourself and learning how to meet challenges and overcome limitations. It’s fascinating. With the wrong teacher, classical education can create a self-destructive, perfectionistic ego. Going back to your 2017 record ‘Epicycle’, the music on which spans two thousand years and includes a version of ‘Seikilos Epitaph’, the oldest surviving complete musical composition, why did you decide to include ancient music on that album? Well, music that falls into the “classical” genre is basically notated music, Harry Partch has a totally unique musical universe that I think has much more in common with Moondog, or weird-folk music than Schubert or Schumann. So ‘Epicycle’ is actually a collection of “written” music rather than classical. I was curious to find out, what would be the oldest written music and found ‘Seikilos Epitaph’. How did you go about arranging your version of ‘Seikilos Epitaph’? I met up with guitarist Hilmar Jensson and we improvised on the melody for two hours. I chose one of the improvisations and sang a little more on it through my computer speakers and then sent it to Michael York who added the duduk and bagpipes. So it was a collaboration between the three of us.

Why do you believe human beings have such a primal connection to music? We are made up of vibrations and we like to be put into motions, we are constantly looking for resonance and music does that most easily. Your latest album ‘Evolution’, which came out in October 2018, was released under the new moniker GYDA. Why the name change? I have few different projects going on and a bunch of collaborations, so I thought that for my solo project I’ll use the simple version of my first name only. It’s said that you recorded the album in two, 10-day sessions with a one day break in between. How did that process work for you? It worked great for me. I’ve learned to connect to the seasons in me and adapt to the fact that I’m in constant motion. I wanted to make a record that was as close to me in time as possible, instead of recording old songs. I wanted to go into the studio without knowing what I would be doing and follow more instant inspirations. In such process you have to stay in a flow and feel which stream to take each time. There is no space for doubt. I might work differently on the next one, spend a long time trying things out and changing them. Who knows, as long as I’m having fun with it. How has your work evolved on the new record? It’s hard for me to say. I think evolution isn’t a linear thing, it’s constant spirals that go up or down depending on your perception. Do you ever miss working in a band and how would you compare your time with múm to your solo career? I love collaborations, but I do not miss being in a band. I’m too polyamorous for a band. Gyða Valtýsdóttir performs in Dublin Unitarian Church on February 1.

Words: Eric Davidson / Photography: Juliana Scodeler

t Dublin Fringe Festival 2017, in the intimate surroundings of Bewley’s Café Theatre, Kate Stanley Brennan debuted ‘WALK FOR ME’. It was her first outing as a theatre writer, but the multidisciplinary artist had been involved in the world of acting for many years. Under the pseudonym MissKate, the Dubliner also wrote and performed music, but put that part of her creative life on hold when theatre took over. There was always a longing to return to music, which was key reason ‘WALK FOR ME’ was born. The production follows Mary Jane from Dublin who goes down the rabbit hole of New York’s underground club scene while on a J1. She becomes embroiled in a world of sex, drugs and music and meets some less than savoury characters along the way. We caught up with Kate to discuss the play and working with multiple members of her family (including regular District designer Johnny Brennan, aka Bobofunk). You mentioned before that the character and story became more removed from yourself as you wrote it. Did that give you more freedom? Yeah, for sure. If I had written ‘WALK FOR ME’ as a purely autobiographical piece I would have been confined by fear of exposure and potentially less forthcoming. It is still a deeply personal story, framed by my own experiences, but I’ve drawn on other life stories I’ve collected along the way in order to make this relatable to lots of people - particularly young girls, although it’s definitely a story that’s important for boys to see too. How different is preparing as an actor for a play like ‘The Plough And The Stars’ in comparison to this? Quite different! Only in that with ‘Plough’ I just had to concentrate on my character Nora and going on each night and inhibiting her. You are also confident in the genius that is Sean O’Casey. With ‘WALK FOR ME’, however, it’s my own thing, so naturally I am on the eternal hamster wheel of emotions ranging from supreme confidence to crippling self-loathing. I’m also wearing several hats, so there’s a lot more to think and worry about - the writing, performance, design and production. Luckily, I have the fab Cian O’Brien in Project Arts Centre doing that part for me this time around. I have an incredible team that I wouldn’t have been able to do without: my sister Sarah directing, brother Johnny designing projections and doing some of the tracks, Adam Fogarty (MathMan) producing the music and Handsome Paddy on the turntables. I feel truly blessed to have all these amazing creative people around me.

Are there similarities in preparation? Well, when it comes to performance time I try to block out all the other stuff and approach my prep for the the show the same as I would any other play I do. I don’t really have a rigorous preparation routine, I’ve done all that in rehearsal. I very much rely on my instincts. I just go on stage and try to be truthful in whatever role I play. I believe no matter what you do, regardless of what style of music or role your playing, or whatever your doing, as long as it comes from a place of truth it will be successful and people will engage with it. Audiences are perceptive and if they get a bang of bullshit, you’re fucked. You’ve lost them. Your roles are at either end of Irish history; with ‘Plough’ being the birth of Modern Ireland, and ‘WALK FOR ME’ being a thoroughly modern portrayal of contemporary sexuality. Is it nice as a performer to be involved in such diverse roles? Of course, that’s what I love about what I do. I’ve always loved change and reinventing myself in my own life, so it makes sense that I went into a profession where I get to transform all the time. But I’ll always try to find something in the character I play that I can relate to. There’s always a little bit of me in each one. It’s interesting to see similarities in a lot of the female characters though, even in something so different to ‘WALK FOR ME’ as ‘Plough’. The “sex” scene with Nora and Jack is so superbly observed and could have been written today. People don’t change, just the world around them. You’ve said before that ‘WALK FOR ME’ is “a story of self discovery; of finding self worth, finding your voice in the world and realising what’s really important in life”, is that something you resonate with working in the creative industries? Have you found the answer to this? Working in the creative world is a journey with many hills and valleys. An addiction, at times an affliction, but ultimately, if you’re lucky, incredibly rewarding. You are so vulnerable and exposed when you put your own stuff out there to be judged by the masses, and so you are constantly analysing yourself and others who inspire you to try and find your own true authentic voice. Which can take time, it’s not easy! I’m still trying to find my voice with songwriting and singing. I’ve never been 100 percent happy with anything I’ve released so far and that’s what I’m striving for - to create something that I truly love. And if other people like it, that’s a bonus, but even if they hate it I won’t care ‘cause I’ll know that I love it. Hopefully I’ll get there someday!

I think I’ll be discovering things about myself ‘til the day I die, but I definitely have found the answer to what’s important in life, and for me that’s family and friends. Everything else is secondary. You mentioned that you’ll be rekindling the collaborative relationships with MathMan and Bobofunk? I wouldn’t work anyone else on this project. I met MathMan back when The Animators were still going and I was gigging with my band. I wanted to work with him back then. He sent me a load of tracks and I just fell in love with his production style and knew he was going to be big and do great things. I wrote a load of songs and wanted to make an EP, but theatre swept me away out of Ireland and it never happened. Which was probably for the best as now we have finally done this EP that we are releasing in January, a soundtrack to ‘WALK FOR ME’. Both of our styles have probably matured. He just gets better and better each year and has such a wide range of influences and styles, I knew he would be perfect for this show. Which is probably mad to him ‘cause he intended a lot of these tracks for an MC to rap over! But some of it is so atmospheric and dark that it completely suits a theatrical format, and then other tracks are absolute bangers! So as you can imagine I was over the moon when he agreed to do it. He also hooked me up with Diffusion Lab where I recorded, mixed and mastered the EP and I’m buzzin’ with the result. Marcin in there is a magician! And as for Bobofunk, he’s been my ultimate since the day he was born! [Laughs] He’ll kill me for saying that. But in all seriousness he and I have very similar music taste, so I knew he would be perfect to do the NY underground house and runway tracks as he would get the scene I’m talking about. It has a very specific sound. On top of that, he’s designing the slickest projections to accompany the songs that are a huge step up from the last show. As you guys in District know, he’s an awesome graphic designer, but the technology he’s using now for motion graphics is much more sophisticated and the space upstairs in Project Arts Centre is perfect to showcase his visual feast. How does your approach to songwriting change when your working with artists like that? It varies. Some tracks are already made and I will pick ones I like and write melodies and lyrics over them, and some the other way ‘round. I’ll send him an idea and he will create a track around it. It’s also different

to making music with someone normally, because this is for a theatre show so the songs are a bit more dramatic. Which is fun ‘cause you can kind of go a bit ‘guilty pleasure’ on them. But that being said, I wanted to make sure all the songs in the show were as close to MissKate tunes as possible and not “musical numbers”. That hopefully is what makes the show different, it’s a cross between a play and a gig. You’ve a background in music and even spent a year exploring NYC’s club scene. What did you learn from your time there and how does the NY club scene differ to Dublin’s? New York was where I discovered I could write a song. I always loved music, but never imagined I’d be good enough to write anything, and when I got to NYC and got sucked into the fantastical world of the underground gay scene I felt free to express myself, without any judgment. Nobody gave a shit about what you wore, who you fucked or what you did. They just congratulated you for doing your thing and being different. There was also the added freedom of nobody knowing my history or anything about me or my family of actors. There was no pressure to behave in a certain way. I got an education in all things house music and so I started singing and writing house lyrics. Then I came back a year later to audition for a big theatre show and I was back in theatre land, which I love also, but all the fear of judgment came back and it took me seven years before I made my debut single. I never stopped writing songs all those seven years though, so I have a bank of material now. It just took me a while to get here, but I did it eventually! As you mention, Bobofunk just so happens to be your brother and your sister Sarah directed the first production. What’s it like working with a sibling so closely on a project? [Laughs] Aside from a few sibling meltdowns born out of over-familiarity, I adored working with both of them and there’s no way I could have done what I’ve done without them on board, they’ve gone above and beyond. My other sister Holly has done the poster, so literally all of us pitched in. I feel extremely lucky to have such talented sibs, and we’re all mates which makes it even better. Hopefully we still will be when it’s all finished! ‘WALK FOR ME’ runs in Project Arts Centre from January 16-26.

Words & Photography: Ellius Grace

SKIN DEEP:

lee

brown

t seems I’ve wanted tattoos all of my life. As a school child I would extend my doodles onto my hands and arms. I would have near-poisonous amounts of ballpoint ink in the form of reminders, patterns and designs centred mainly on the back of my hands and fingers. As I grew older my fascination with tattoo culture grew too and I found myself photographing tattoos and tattoo artists whenever I got the chance. I have always been enthralled by decoration of the skin. Throughout my life, I have struggled with eczema. An unpredictable irritation of the skin, and one that was uncontrollable in years past. I started getting tattoos, as a way to regain control over my skin. Finally, I was able to dictate what went where, what I decided to adorn myself with, who did it, and when. Tattoos are a part of pop culture today. No longer existing on the fringes of society, preventing you from getting a job and guaranteeing looks in the street. We’ve all got one and Instagram is filled with more artists and inspiration than ever before. Throughout this series I’ll be attempting to cut through the noise and highlight some of the best tattooers in Dublin. Each month I’ll feature a new artist. They’ll tattoo me while I interview them and take photos hoping to get to the bottom of each person’s character. Up next Lee Brown of Live Fast Tattoo.

Have you always wanted to tattoo? It always intrigued me, yeah. I was more into playing music in bands and trying to make beats until I finally went for it. I always drew and have been getting tattooed since 1999, when i was 14. I think deep down I knew I’d go for it at some stage. Tell me a bit about your early influences. What and who were you looking at? My grandfather has a ship tattooed on his arm, so I always would look at it and try to understand it. The house we lived in down in Wexford town had a shed out the back garden, he would spend hours in there making model ships and would give them to friends and family. Now that he’s older he draws ships constantly. He’s definitely my biggest influence. I had an uncle who sadly passed away when he was only 23, I was seven at the time. But he was very artistic and was also a big influence on me. When I started tattooing, I was looking at everything really, all styles. Bob Tyrrell, Paul Booth, Mike Chambers, Tim Hendricks, and I remember being blown away by Billy Hay from Scotland. I was definitely into, and still do like, colour work. I had just finished college and got into Albrecht Durer, but I didn’t know I would take tattooing into a woodcut tattoo direction. What is your view of Dublin as a city for tattooing? It’s a city full of people from lots of other cities, bringing their creativeness to one small place. Which I think is great. Full of flavour from everywhere. I keep hearing how styles come in and out so I’m trying to be open to everything and I’m interested to see how things might change over the next few years. What are your thoughts on tattoo oversaturation? Over-saturation doesn’t sound like a good thing. ‘Over’ anything means more than necessary. So I’m guessing it’s not a good thing? I really try to not get involved with anything negative, and I hear people complaining about how many artists or bad artists are out there. So what! Get on with it and focus on yourself. The energy it takes to be negative is something I’m trying to direct elsewhere. Other than that, ‘over-saturation in tattooing’ or ‘overly saturated’ is something we say when skin is overworked which is also not a great thing [laughs]!

Tattooing is now in the mainstream, and the internet, Instagram specifically, has made the artform much more prevalent. Would you consider this a positive or a negative development? Good and bad I think. I’d imagine there’s no right or wrong here, but it definitely has its pros and cons. I get a lot of work through Instagram. But in saying that, I got wrapped up in analysing myself with the numbers of followers and likes and comparing myself to others, which can ruin your whole day if you

don’t get a lot of attention for something you’ve created, but it’s a great lesson to learn to not be like that. I remember reading somewhere to never compare yourself to anyone because you have no idea how they got to where they are. Once I applied that mentality it was a lot easier. Another thing is people see so many tattoos scrolling through their phone, which is a small screen. They spend a few seconds looking at a tattoo, then scroll on. So I think that’s why small simple black designs have become very popular. Someone who doesn’t tattoo is going to scroll by a simple line drawing and be able to appreciate it and process it within those few seconds. Compared to a full back piece on a small screen it’s hard to take it all in and appreciate it fully. What’s your best tattoo story? To be honest, I’ve nothing super crazy. I’ve definitely had some funny things happen, like people actually thinking they can move their tattoo after I’ve done it. But I used to work in a shop near a prison and we would get lads about to go in, just out, people on day-release and also the guards would come in and get tattoos. I definitely grew a thick skin working with them all and hearing their stories from inside. For me the best stories are told to me but this one time an American guy came into the studio the morning after Paddy’s Day. He was so hungover he collapsed in the bathroom and he wasn’t even getting tattooed. We could just hear him snoring from outside. We had to get the fire brigade in to get him out of the toilet! Does Dublin provide much inspiration for your art? Yeah, recently more than ever. I think working in the city centre the last four years has had a big influence, even being there has a certain magic about it. I went to the WB Yeats museum years ago and was blown away with how much mysticism was ingrained in our heritage. As well as having some of the best writers in history we also have a very spiritual, mystic side that I try to pull creativity from. I do write a lot as well and I’m actually seeing the power of word as a purer form of expression lately. Do you feel a bond with someone after you tattoo them? Yeah, there’s always a bond. Whether it’s a small shamrock or a large piece. It’s a connection, whether we like it or not. @lee_brown__

Irish Artist Spotlight:

JESSIE HOPKINS J

essie Hopkins is a Dublin-based Visual Artist from Clondalkin. She’s exhibited her work at home and abroad, appeared in multiple Irish publications, her imagery can be spotted infiltrating the Dublin music scene, most recently to visually represent Dublin-based producer ARBU’s latest EP release ‘Glow’, and is currently studying for her MFA in NCAD. Jessie’s work is inspired by the dysphoria of Dublin life, dreams and internal struggle, however it’s hard to pin down a particular reasoning as she works for the process not the outcome. “I work intuitively and never really like to plan ahead. I have some favoured go-to materials in my studio, my camera, and a lot of black paint. I love stark and graphic imagery, I reckon that comes from my love of traditional printmaking. I rarely use paintbrushes or other tools. I started working in this way because I couldn’t afford brushes or inks, but it’s become a minimalist way I love to work. I use my body to create images and now it’s really important for me to physically engage fully in what I’m making. I love to make an absolute mess, get lost in the studio play, find a flow and see what comes out of that. The process is what’s important to me, once I enjoy the journey where I end up doesn’t really matter. I don’t get hung up on perfect outcomes. “Coming from where I do, art as a career wasn’t something that seemed possible and a lot of days are still a struggle, but being a contributor to Ireland’s creative culture is so fucking special, I wouldn’t change it for the world. We are a unique product of our environment, I’m proud to think my work reflects that.” @jhopkinsprints

JUNE 29TH 2019

HIGHERVISION.IE

CLUB GUIDE

January 2019

PARIAH

DJ STINGRAY

2MANYDJS

ROUTE 94

Pariah is the pseudonym of young London based producer Arthur Cayzer, whose series of releases on legendary Belgian label R&S established him as one of the most exciting talents to emerge from the UK. For fans of: Blawan, Objekt, Djrum Friday January 11 Wigwam €7/€12

Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, aka Soulwax, return to Dublin under their 2ManyDjs moniker. For fans of: Tiga, Digitalism, Simian Mobile Disco Saturday January 12 District 8 €16-€28

WILLOW

With multiple deep, rolling releases on the Workshop Records label as well as performing regularly alongside the likes of Ben UFO and Call Super, you can be sure Willow is an artist you will not want to miss. For fans of: Overmono, Call Super, Ben UFO Saturday January 19 Wigwam €5

The London deep house and tech house star returns to the city for one for one of District 8’s final nights. For fans of: Duke Dumont, Gorgon City, Patrick Topping Friday January 18 District 8 €16-€22

SAM PAGANINI

Veteran Italian techno DJ and producer returns to Ireland after putting in a memorable shift at Higher Vision over summer. For fans of: Alan Fitzpatrick, Joseph Capriati, Sven Vath Saturday January 19 District 8 €20

TOAST

Paul Fisher, known by the stage name FISHER, is an Australian music producer and DJ, well-known for his track ‘Losing It’. For fans of: MK, Hannah Wants, Route 94 Wednesday January 23 District 8 €18-€30

Much-loved student night Toast are hosting one of their biggest ever shows in January with Harrison BDP, Jordan, Adult Store, George Feely and Karl Guest on controls. For fans of: Boots & Kats, KETTAMA, Baltra Thursday January 24 District 8 €12-€14

TRIKK

NIGHTMARES ON WAX

FISHER

Trikk was praised as a young talent and embraced by many as a new star to watch. After releasing on labels such Innervisions, ManMakeMusic and Lossless and dropping remixes on Hotflush Recordings, Pets Recordings and more, nothing was left to prove. For fans of: Nathan Fake, Patrice Baumel, Guy J Saturday January 26 Yamamori Tengu €12

Subject welcomes back the Detroit electro, techno, house stalwart to Dublint. A champion of fast tempos, inventive beat patterns and a master at creating futuristic sounds. Get your ski-masks ready. For fans of: Drexciya, Underground Resistance, Umwelt Friday January 18 Index €10/€12

The Leeds DJ and producer brings his vast catalogue of releases (primarily on Warp Records) to Dublin for a DJ set. For fans of: Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, Mr Scruff Friday February 1 Pygmalion €6-€16

YOUNG MARCO

The Dekmantel/Rush Hour maestro is coming back to town and he’s playing all night long. For fans of: Hunee, MCDE, Octo Octa Saturday February 2 Wigwam €12

GRACE

Grace is a queer techno night providing a safe and free space for LGBTQ+ people to be themselves without judgement. They work with LGBTQ+, female and marginalised artists as much as possible. For fans of: Stephanie Sykes, Randomer, Ansome Friday February 1 39/40

SETAOC MASS

After rattling cages with the Techno & Cans crew in Hangar (RIP), Setaoc Mass returns to Dublin for another round of techno with Jish on support. For fans of: Parallx, Yan Cook, Amotik Friday February 1 Index

SNOWBOMBING LAUNCH

Melé, Fouk, Mix & Fairbanks will help launch Austrian festival Snowbombing in Dublin in association with Bedlam. For fans of: Bicep, Skream, Denis Sulta Saturday February 2 Button Factory €11-€16

HANNAH WANTS

The superstar selector is touring the UK and Ireland playing more intimate venues than usual, bringing her big room sound back to the underground. For fans of: Patrick Topping, Jamie Jones, Infinity Ink Saturday February 2 Index €25

66 Words: Eric Davidson

ver the last year or so a group of music heads from very different corners of underground dance music have been coming together for a party series that has focused on fun and freedom. Consisting of Jus Damien, Dave Kerr, Reveller, plus members of PrYmary Colours and H&G Creations, everything from industrial techno through to upbeat house is represented. Now, Hothouse Collective is evolving. We caught up with Jus Damien, who also co-founded and runs Momentum, a series with a focus on the moodier side of club music, for a quick chat to see what the plans for Hothouse are in 2019. Hothouse sstarted off as a series of parties. What made you go down the label route? After a year of monthly parties we were having so much fun that we decided to take it that step further and try and capture the good times and put it back out in our own way. What has the atmosphere been like at the Hothouse parties? The atmosphere has been crazy. We have had H&G Creations on board dressing the events and creating a fun space for us to add the soundtrack to.

last summer. H&G Creations were invited over to take part in the HOY monthly party and the Hothouse Collective provided the music. Giving us inspiration for the first release. The imprint is lead by yourself, Dave Kerr from Mindset Musik and Daz from PrYmary Colours. It’s an eclectic crew of people with lots of very different influences. How did you all come together? Myself and Daz were involved in the Hothouse parties from the start and have Reveller as our resident DJ, with a monthly guest invited to keep it fresh. We had a guest spot available for New York and asked Dave to get on board as he fits into the energy of the collective. We felt we could all offer something different, so we started the label. The launch will be in association with H&G Creations. What have their role been in the formation of Hothouse Label? H&G Creations have been running parties for a few years and I’ve been lucky enough to be the resident DJ. After one of their events we just got chatting and they wanted to get involved with the creative direction. Sinead [Bailey Kelly] created the label design and they are on board as creative directors.

What was the ethos at the beginning? Have you been able to achieve what you wanted to with the parties? We didn’t really have a specific ethos at the start. We just loved hanging out together and decided to run a free fun night.

What are the plans after the launch and after HHL001? We have the launch at the end of January and we will be putting out records on a regular basis. We also have a couple of international bookings for the Hothouse party next year in the pipeline and a few more in Ireland.

HHL001 is called ‘House Of Love’. Can you tell me a little about that? ‘House Of Love’ came about after our performances at House Of Yes in Brooklyn

Hothouse Label launches January 25 in The Bernard Shaw.

DISTRICT 8

Words: Craig Connolly & Eric Davidson / Photography: Daniel Rrell

lubs in Dublin have always been fleeting. Like the brightest stars, they illuminate brilliantly and burn out just as quickly, leaving a generation of ravers with particularly hazy memories and often life-long friendships. The Tivoli Theatre opened its doors in December 1934, 80 years before Martin Smyth, Fernando Tomรกs and a team of ambitious club promoters took the reins of the storied venue. While the location has seen many changes over the years (it became a full-time cinema in the 1930s, before closing for two decades and eventually re-opening as a music venue in 1987), it has welcomed to its stage musical legends such as The Cranberries, Oasis, Blur, Suede, The Beastie Boys and The XX. For a veritable army of house and techno enthusiasts, the Francis Street venue has been a second home. Just like fellow lost-legends Sides, the Olympic Ballroom The Temple of Sound, The Kitchen, Redbox, Tripod, and right up to The Lost Society, The Twisted Pepper and Hanger, District 8 will be ingrained in the consciousness of thousands of young Irish clubbers. These will be the halcyon days, the nights referenced in years to come when old acquaintances bump into eachSo

“FOR THE YOUNGER GENERATION IT WOULD BE THEIR REDBOX MOMENT.”

where do we start on such a big project? When was it, 2013? Martin: Yeah, New Year’s Eve. It wouldn’t have been called District 8 then, but we had Solomon booked for a warehouse party and it turned out we didn’t have a warehouse! We needed to get a venue, so we were introduced to the manager at the time, it was a bit ad-hoc, a bit last minute, but it worked and we left there thinking it was a good space. It would have been Paddy’s Day the next year when we did something else again, and I don’t think that was District 8 yet either. Then we did Dublin City Block Party, which is still one of my favourite gigs, Daphni, Kerri Chandler and DJ Harvey. We walked away from that and knew we were going to do something there. We were like, ‘Let’s book five to ten shows and see how it goes’, and I think the second show we did was with Brian and Johnny [Bedlam], it was their second birthday with Ejeca and Huxley. The queue was down to Thomas Street. Now it’s like 80 shows a year. The official launch party was with Rødhåd? Martin: Yeah, in August 2014. That was the first one as District 8. So when did the booking period start? Martin: We had an idea for the look and the feel and what we wanted it to be. We did have a bit of a purist vision, like, ‘We want it to be Dublin’s answer to Berghain’. That’s where we started off, and quickly realised you might get five or six shows a year if you were sticking to that, and we wanted to do more shows. So we opened up the booking policy, and changed gears quite quickly from there. We wanted it to be a space that facilitated dance music as a whole, across the board. I think personally I was happy, my roots are in techno and from that perspective we’ve entertained as many people as we possibly can throughout the year. Was it a scary process to try and get people to travel to Meath Street/Thomas Street area [From the city centre]. Were there any niggling doubts that this might not work? Martin: Definitely, definitely. A lot of people told us it wasn’t going to work.

And when do you think it clicked? Martin: The big thing for me early on was that you saw an act in Dublin doing 300/400 people, and then they were doing like 1,000 people in District 8. I do think there is a bit of an x-factor when you’re up there, one that even I can’t put my finger on. We get so many advance sales, our walk up is very small. People just have their minds made up that it’s where they are going for the night. We used to rock into town, to Kennedy’s or to the Twisted Pepper or the Button Factory, maybe it’s changed a bit in that sense. That people have their minds made up already. In Dublin over the last five years people are going to clubs because they want to see this person who is rolling into town. Whereas before it was, like you said, ‘We’re going into town’ or ‘We’re going to the Pepper’, because you knew something was going to be on. Martin: For a while I’ve been saying it. That middle ground has evaporated and it is now so act-driven. That’s us saying that too! We operate the most act-driven venue in the city. It is ridiculously act-driven, the whole scene at the moment. It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for four or five years, how do you get people to a venue that is not based on a substantial act? Some people are great at doing that, but we just feel that booking acts is what worked, you know? Since the launch it was Hidden Agenda, Surge, Emergence, Subject, Bedlam… Did that make things easier, or did you ever get the sense that there could’ve been too many cooks? Or did it alleviate any stress when you thought there might have been too many gigs for one collective? Martin: [Laughs] You can never have too many gigs. This December/January proves it. Martin: It made that easier in the sense that you had an in-house team working the calendar day-in, day-out. Sometimes there are five or six guys trying to decide on things, but as time went on we all found more specific roles. Especially when you don’t own the venue, you have an obligation to put as many shows in there as possible.

Fernando: I remember calling agents and them saying, ‘Because of the past, because of the Tivoli, we don’t want to send our acts there’, so we had to prove every weekend that we could do something really cool with that venue.

It’s an indictment on Dublin that places like Hanger and District 8 are being turned into hotels, or apartments, but they get to keep a graffitied wall and a theatre to keep the ‘culture’. How did you find out about it closing? Did you know about this in the long-term and was there always an end date? Martin: There was never a date, but we knew about it for a while, even a couple of years. There was the first round of planning, we knew well in advance of that and it still could’ve dragged out longer than it did. We were about 90 per cent sure it was more than likely going to be the end of 2018, start of 2019. Then I think in September it was confirmed, but it was one of those things like, ‘Right, at least we can make a plan, I know what’s happening’. And the timing of it was good. I think with so many big events on next year, from a promoter’s point of view, it’s going to be difficult next year. Fernando: With so many festivals in Ireland right now it’s getting harder to book big acts week-in, week-out. When it does finally close its doors, are there any particular highlights from the space for you? You’ve put on gigs in Tripod, you’ve been to the Redbox you’ve been to the other venues, where do you think it stands up against those places? Martin: Oh, I think it would be mixed. Yeah, if I was to be really realistic about it, I think it would be mixed. Maybe for one generation… For the younger generation it would be their Redbox moment. It’s a hustle and bustle place: you go in, you see the act, there are no real frills about it, which I like and is fine by me, but it doesn’t really suit some people. It’s kind of hard to answer from the inside. I’ve never come in the front door, I’ve never bought a ticket, never gone past the bouncers, never gone to the bar when it’s busy, never been to the toilets when it’s busy. I don’t know what the overall experience is like. I know what it’s like from the stage and the atmosphere is absolutely electric. People go away and they seem to have a great time and they come back again. So me being 19 in Redbox, trying to compare that to District 8. I think the older clubbers around Dublin who go a handful of times a year, I hope they have a smashing time and they were the same people who went to Redbox… But they probably won’t remember District 8 in the same way as the Redbox. But hopefully that younger generation will. And when it comes time, when you’ve done that last gig, are you going to sit back and reflect on what you’ve achieved? Fernando: [Laughs] I don’t think we have much time for that because we are already thinking what’s going to be the next District 8. I’m working on it right now actually.

And I’m sure you’ll tell us a little bit more when you can. Fernando: First to know. You both came from very humble beginnings in terms of putting on gigs. I think people can lose sight of the fact that you were putting on pop-up stuff, maybe like 10 years ago, maybe not 10… Fernando: Longer! What advice would you give to younger promoters coming through? Martin: I’ve been asked that so many times and I honest to god, hand on heart, wish I knew because I think it’s a really important part of the scene and I think things being so act-driven has definitely played a part… I don’t know where to start. What do you think the biggest change in electronic music/clubbling has been since District 8 opened? Martin: I don’t know, maybe the one day events. I just think the appetite for big acts is phenomenal really. Fernando: One of the things that I can see is the appetite for electronic music. It wasn’t there before in this capacity. Before there was some R&B or even pop clubs, but now all the kids, they seem to like electronic music. They know all the DJs and even the tracks. Before it wasn’t like that. It was interesting in Mixmag’s top 50 tracks, there were four Irish tunes in the top 15. There was KETTAMA, Brame & Hamo, Krystal Klear and Bicep. So do you think that it’s not just that the appetite is bigger, but the acts are there to reflect it, you’re looking up to locals? Martin: Oh definitely, I think we’re at a really crucial time for all that. For me that is one of the exciting things about 2019, because over the course of last year it’s really sprung up, so what happens with that over the course of this year? How do you nurture these Irish acts? A lot of them traditionally when they got to a certain level probably had to start looking abroad. I think that’s going to be interesting in 2019. Massive congratulations on the last four years. We’re very much looking forward to what you have up your sleeves. Anything to say to the D8 faithful, signing off? Martin: Thank you to everyone. It would not have been what it was if people were not into it and if people didn’t come and lose their shit and wave their phones in the air, did whatever they wanted and kept themselves safe and sound and had a good time and went home and came back. It was always important for us. District 8 marks its closure in January with FJAAK, 2manydjs, Sam Paganini, Route 94, FISHER, Harrison BDP & Ejeca.

“WE DID HAVE A BIT OF A PURIST VISION, LIKE, ‘WE WANT IT TO BE DUBLIN’S ANSWER TO BERGHAIN’.

THAT’S WHERE WE STARTED OFF, AND QUICKLY REALISED YOU MIGHT GET FIVE OR SIX SHOWS A YEAR IF YOU WERE STICKING TO THAT, AND WE WANTED TO DO MORE SHOWS.”

74 Words: Cóilí Collins / Photography: Sequoia Ziff

t’s been almost thirty years since Nightmares on Wax’s debut studio release, ‘A World of Science’. Over the last three decades he has gone on to shape a career that is as polished as it is varied. With sounds deeply rooted in the trip hop scene, which emerged via himself and other legendary UK acts like Massive Attack, each of his seven studio albums have managed to explore various facets of that genre while incorporating soul, hip hop and a multitude of other sounds under the one, down-tempo, umbrella. Another hefty schedule was accompanying his upcoming ‘Shape the Future’ tour. As we’re organising this interview, George Evelyn (The name he grew up with in Leeds) has gone from Toronto to London (his flight was delayed by five hours), and then on to Germany. When we’re finished talking on the phone, the call history reads ‘Spain’ under his number. That’s four countries in the space of four days, with a small break and then a full blown world tour in the year ahead of him. For someone knocking on the door of their third decade in the game, it’s an admirably hectic schedule. Yet when the dial tone ceases and his West Yorkshire accent greets me, an air of calm is present and it’s clear that this isn’t just a tour or an album: it’s a case of spreading the message that we can all shape the future together.

“I’m always making music, I never say ‘Right I’m making an album’. Once things become coherent, there’s a body of work coming together. This album was heavily influenced by a lot of my travels, a lot of my journeys inwardly and outwardly. Different cultures, different societies and seeing the same problems. “Waking up to the idea that something needs to change, we’re trying to fix something with the same system that broke the same thing. Whether that’s politically or religiously, that brought the awareness to my mind; what’s my relationship to my reality? My relationship to my experiences? How do I respond to them? It made me realise that I had a choice and that took it to another place… Isn’t this all about relationships? “I’m pretty sure we don’t need a leader, history shows us that they don’t do what they say they’re going to do. I think it’s really up to us as individuals. How do we start? We start by working on ourselves and our relationships with ourselves. We move that to relationships that are close to us, people we love and then to our community, then our relationship to the world and how we see the world. A lot of us walk around in the world as we’re told how it is, not as how we’re experiencing it. A lot of those questions are posed on the record, it’s important to have that conversation. “With all this turmoil and all the stuff that’s going on, it’s a massive opportunity to shape the future.”

After being on such a long physical and mental journey, it’s interesting to see what the man himself makes of the world around us. Given that it’s then shaped by our interactions with each other, how does he see our current state of communication and interaction? “There’s a state of amnesia going on. There’s nobody to blame. In order for things to exist, they need to be allowed to in the first place. The news has made people zombified and helpless when none of that is true. “It’s there to control people, to keep people in a sort of aversion. I’m not here to preach this idea, it’s to pose the question so we can have a conversation. “Even for them [the readers of District Magazine], what’s your relationship to the reality you’re living in? How you relate to things affects everything! You decide whether things have meaning, whether they bother you, you’re constantly making decisions over time. Maybe we should start posing the question. Maybe we should start posing the question: maybe there’s a different way of living? If we start posing that question then we have a massive opportunity to start shaping the future. “We have gotten to a stage where we’re just sitting around and complaining about everything, but we’re not doing anything! What does complaining about things do? It just promotes the idea. My expression of that is coming out on this album.

“Imagine if we gave a bunch of children the opportunity to express how they see the future, bearing in mind that none of these children know about politics, know about religion. Can you imagine what they’d say? It would be optimistic, it would be forwardthinking! It says a lot about where we are, and we’re supposed to be adults? “I’m not telling anyone anything. I just want to share my experiences and see where that conversation goes. If we all have the opportunity to see a brighter future and we were all wanting a brighter future, do we even realise what a massive shift that would be on a global level?” Mass negativity in the media and politics has definitely shifted into gear over the past couple of years, as has the public’s adoration for musicians and people of note. Being one of those individuals, George highlights the importance of people like him fighting against a current of skepticism. “Someone can come up to you and say your music helped me when I was in a coma for six months or when I lost somebody or when I was studying. I could be making music in my bubble, but my music affects people, and once you release it, it becomes something on its own. How people process it is up to them, but once it’s out, it’s out. “I know what I want in life, I want peace, love and happiness and I want it for everyone else too. I have an opportunity to make people feel good and to share some awareness. As I’m having internal conversations and realisations, do I keep them to myself? No! I share them and that’s what’s good about music. “Especially at a time like now where they are censoring the internet. It’s happening with Twitter, it’s happening with Facebook. You can pick out any so-called political scandal that’s going on and you’ll struggle to find it in the newsfeed, unless you’re going into alternative media and doing your research. That stuff is only there if you’re looking for it. “Music seems to be the only platform that’s not being censored. I recognise that I have the ability to be able to do something with my music and I’m going to do that. My music is coming from my heart now for the first time in my life and I want it to come from my heart. Whatever it does to people, I’ll be responsible for that.” Trip hop and down-tempo has always had its own solid awareness of its sound and the ever-changing world around it. ‘Change is the only constant’ was a particularly striking line from George’s album and it also seems to serve as a motto for the genre which has always had its place, but has constantly adapted to the tumultuous world around it. “An album is a reflection of where you’re at. I can go back through my albums and remember what was happening then when I made them. That’s why I have said that this album is a reflection of the journey. It’s like I’m reporting back to base. What does the resistance of change do? It creates stress.

“The more you try to control, the less control you have. The more you let go, the more balance you have. I’m not saying this as if I know everything, I don’t know jack shit, I’m just finding out. “There are times when you might be grumpy and you don’t know why you feel grumpy. Maybe it’s down to the chemicals in your body at that time; your sugar levels are low, you didn’t get enough sleep last night, you need more water, maybe it’s just that? We want to personalise everything as if there’s some drama going on and then we repeat that drama and then it affects the people you’re with.” ‘Shape the Future’ features a litany of contributing artists, who all serve to diversify an already well-developed sound. It was tricky to pinpoint whether this was the direct result of a four-year gap between albums, accompanied by a mountain of travel, or just the respect someone like Nightmares on Wax commands in the music world at large. “We could go through it song-by-song and each has their own story as to how they were manifested. Some of them were over a period of years, even before the last album, some of them were made in the moment during a day. None of it was like ‘we need this, we need that’. I really wanted a female presence on the album, I think it’s really important to have that energy there. That might be the closest thing on the album in terms of contriving something.” Despite the conversation spinning around the album and the storied career in music that the UK native has had, it all comes back to improving ourselves as people, an impressively pertinent characteristic in someone with ‘nothing to prove’ as such. “Somebody could be doing your head in at work. Sit for a minute on your own and envision an alternate reality where you’re relating differently to that person. Take control of it for yourself. You know the answer, you’re just not aware that there’s another option. You’ve never actually told that individual how their actions affect you. The reality will change right in front of you because you’ve gotten rid of the resistance. “Listen to that inner voice and have that conversation, maybe the answers you’re looking for are inside you.” Despite aiming his conversation towards the wider audience, there was a tangible sense of meaning behind each nugget of wisdom George was offering up through the phone. As we go back and forth over a few more issues regarding the state of hip hop and how impressed he is with previous District interviewee Allan Kingdom (who features on the album), we’ve both said our bits and it’s time to hit the big red button on the cracked screen in front of me. Just as my thumb makes contact, the speaker emits one last parting note from the Leeds man gone international. “Thanks for the support and don’t forget how great you are.” Nightmares on Wax plays Pygmalion on February 1.

Words: Cóilí Collins / Photography: Kasia Zacharko

K music’s roots have always been rather distinguishable. The extended tree of drum ‘n’ bass, jungle, dubstep, garage, grime, rave and more have always been easy to reference as beginnings. Since the end of the noughties, however, electronic music emanating from UK shores has ebbed and flowed a lot more indistinctly. This has made the job of labelling the sounds a lot harder than ever before. For many, Pariah epitomises that hardto-tie-down UK sound. Having emerged around the same time as Hessle Audio came to prominence, terms like ‘postdubstep’ were flying around, but that always seemed like a conceitedly lazy way of describing the Aberdeen native’s truly weird sound. Blending at times what seemed like a Berlin-like rigidity with the wobbliest basslines and noises that screamed ‘UK’, Pariah’s sound has never been pre or post anything despite its firm place in UK music’s chronology. With ‘Here From Where We Are’, his first release in over six years, he takes us down another rabbit hole; a nine-track, drumless album that explores various textures, strings and synths. About as unquantifiable as they come, Pariah has quietly demanded his own space within electronic music, not before or after anything else.

Yourself and Blawan were interviewed a few years back where you both expressed your distaste for the term ‘post-dubstep’. Your music is particularly tricky to slap a label on, has that always been intentional? I think that genre descriptions and labels can be helpful, but I think quite often people get a bit carried away. I’ve seen it in the past with certain genres that there’s an obsession for a new thing to happen and a group of producers or musicians all get lumped in together and suddenly there’s a scene even though there might not be an actual grassroots scene. I think then there’s this pressure for that certain group of people to start to deliver on that hype and that’s when I think it starts to become unhelpful. What led you to making an ambient album, which is slightly more easily labelled than your previous work? That was the biggest thing I was worried about when the record was finished, I was like. ‘Shit this is just going to be called an ambient album!’. Proper ambient music to me is from Brian Eno’s original definition; ‘As easy to listen to as it is to ignore’. If you’re not setting out to do that, having your record labelled ambient is a bit

cutting. I actually think that ambient as a description is the thing that frustrates me the most because it’s such a lazy term to slap on such a huge range of music. I knew it was coming, I tried as hard as possible when I was talking about it not to use that word. Partly it was born out of frustration. As a result of me and Jamie [Blawan] doing the Karenn stuff, it left me quite unsure as to what to do and I was writing a lot of music that I wasn’t happy with. I was writing for other people rather than for me, which I don’t think is a particularly honest way of writing music. I was really frustrated to the point where I felt like I was going to pack it all in. I thought, hang on a minute let’s just start out again on a clean slate. Is that why you released on Houndstooth rather than R&S like you had in the past? Yes and no. Basically there were some changes at R&S around the time I released the last record, where the person that was there when I first released with them, and Jamie too, he left the label and that for me made sense to draw a line under doing stuff with them at that point. I didn’t have an idea of what label I’d do it on when I was writing the album. When it

was nearly finished I thought putting it out on a label like Houndstooth, which doesn’t have a clearly identifiable sound. They have a relatively wide range of music, but they still have some affiliation with club music, obviously being tied to Fabric. It would only make sense for me to release on a label where it would reach people who already know my music and perhaps people who didn’t before. If I went completely the other way and released on a label with no affiliations to dance music then people who already knew my music wouldn’t hear the record. I guess it was a calculated decision, but I’ve known Rob Booth who runs Houndstooth for years. 2018 was a good year for more avant garde albums from more clubby producers. Do you think you benefitted from that? This year has been really good for albums, but I personally would’ve preferred if it was ready to be released last year. The record was 99 per cent done last July [2017]. I started it in January 2016, but I worked with some mixing engineers to do the final mix, which took a long time as it was done remotely. One of the things I was really conscious of was how ‘ambient’ is kind of in vogue at the moment and I didn’t want to get caught up in all of that. The kind of music that the record has is stuff that I’ve always been making. It’s stuff that I’ve always been writing and wanting to write. With that being said, would the positive reactions to Djrum, Skee Mask and Objekt’s extended releases not prompt more people to listen to more ‘out there’ albums like your own? It’s just the worry of falling into ‘techno producer makes ambient album’. I spent a long time getting the track list for the record right. There’s quite a lot of tracks that didn’t make it on, in fact there might have been some better tracks that didn’t make it on, but my whole thing was that it works as an album from start to finish. I guess that I felt that I had something to prove if I was going to do this. Has releasing a drum-less album affected your DJ sets at all, or is still the same Pariah we’ve gotten to know over the years?

I think it’s fine. I made the conscious decision not to do a live show for it. I always do a live show with Jamie [Blawan] and I think I get as much as I could get from live performances that I do out of Karenn. For me, I felt I wouldn’t get as much out of it if I did this record live. I did one sort of presentation of the album at a festival in Germany, so it was nice to hear the music in a different setting. I’ve made it clear that if you book me I’m still a club DJ. I separate myself as a producer and as a DJ, I think at this time people are so open to hearing new sounds that I don’t think it limits you [making an ‘out there’ record], it obviously helps if you’re writing club smashers. I’ve been

around for almost eight years and I guess there’s a proportion of people who know what I do, what I play and what I do with Jamie. I’ve certainly never had anyone heckling me for not playing ambient music. I have had people heckling me for not playing hard enough and that pisses me off so much. I think everyone’s experienced the ‘play harder’ man standing at the front of one of their sets at some point. How did you find the rollout process of the album? You’re not the most active on social media and it had been six years since any music of yours was released. I, after many years of resisting, got an Instagram account [pariah_uk]. We live in today’s world, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I don’t mind doing all the album rollout stuff and it hasn’t changed a huge amount since when I last did a bigger release either. The speed of which things turn over is a lot quicker. You’ve got a two or three-week window to grab people’s attention. I think if you’re in a position where there’s a lot of hype around you then I think that’s when it becomes scary. If you’re someone like me who’s just coasting along and doing bits and bobs here and there, there’s not as much pressure. Whereas if it’s someone who makes something huge, the pressure is on them to deliver with the follow up with something equally massive. I can see that being really frustrating and it’s happened to a couple of friends of mine. You’ve moved to Amsterdam, but how important was it living in London when you were coming up? There seems to be a sort of togetherness among producers and DJs there that exists almost nowhere else. If you look at London, it’s the birthplace for a lot of styles of UK dance music. Not all of it, but a lot. There may be about 2,000 techno producers in Berlin, but there’s no scene. There’s no group of people sharing music, as far as I know, I must add as a disclaimer. It doesn’t seem to have a grassroots thing whereas when you look at Bristol, which is sort of the second city for dance music in the UK, and what’s happening with the Timedance crew, these are people that have been around and been active and taken their time to develop themselves as producers and as DJs. I think it pays off when you have actual scenes and infrastructure in place which support them. It can just be like one club space. With dubstep you had Velvet Rooms and Plastic People. Really just two venues and a group of like-minded people sharing ideas. It’s weird that it doesn’t happen in more places. I think Berlin is the shining beacon where they talk about the scene, a place where people are massively into techno, but I don’t feel a sense of actual community where there are people trying to help everyone else out. Pariah plays Wigwam on January 11.

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82 Words: Catriona Devery / Photography: George Voronov

“A

re you trying the vegan menu as well?” I ask the lad in skinny jeans at the counter beside me in McGuinness’ chipper on Camden Street. They offer Dublin’s first vegan chipper menu, providing vegans with an equivalent to the deep-fried goodness that meat eaters take for granted. “Ah no…” He says. “I’m having the non-vegan chips.” We laugh. But McGuinness’ menu has proven a hit for vegans in the city. If you thought going completely animal-free meant doses of abstemious lentils and whole grains, you might be surprised at what’s going down in the plantbased scene lately. January is a popular time to reflect on life choices and resolve to change at least 80 per cent of them. Meat eating is one thing to consider. There are many reasons people turn to a vegan diet; ethical opposition to use of animals for human consumption perhaps the most common. Increasing awareness of the environmental consequences of meat and dairy farming and evidence that a vegan diet can be one of the healthiest are other reasons. For many people it’s a combination of all three. Given the climate impact of the meat and dairy industry, the government’s plans to grow the agri-food sector is totally at odds with meeting our climate change targets. Ireland are currently ranked worst in Europe. The dairy sector in Ireland seem spooked by consumer trends, trotting out ads attacking “hipsters” while banking on the appeal of Irish cow milk formula to Chinese babies. A recent Dairy Council ad sees a supercilious child hector a young woman called Lauren about the fakery of nut milk versus “real” milk. The innocent face of the ‘ONLY COW’S MILK IS NORMAL’ hegemony, the child is there to teach Lauren the inherent moral corruption of nut milk. It’s creepy, controlling and transparently manipulative.

There is certainly an increasing mainstreaming of veganism. Veganuary is a movement that encourages people to “try vegan for January and throughout the rest of the year”. It has been gaining strength since it started around six years ago. Last January around 60,000 people around the world took the pledge. It’s estimated that around 2 per cent of Irish people are vegan. If you’re thinking of giving it a go, Veganuary offer explanations of the benefits, myth-busting and recipes. If you do, you won’t be stuck for choice these days in Dublin. Vegan food in the city now manifests in a diversity of forms. As the reasons for going plant-based have expanded, and it’s become a more mainstream choice. There’s a need to feed all kinds of hungers, from hungover to healthy. There’s been a real boom lately in casual and vegan junk food options like street and takeaway food. I spoke to couple Rachel and Éilish from Feashty at the Belfry food truck in Stoneybatter. They specialise in ‘crafty vegan kebabs’. Rachel was in art college in Crawford and Éilish in Galway before they got into food. They met on Tinder and have been together over three years. Éilish says they got into veganism initially for health reasons. They watched a lot Dr Greger and Happy Pear videos. Eventually the reasons became more ethical and environmental. The idea for the stall came from a trip to Berlin and an introduction to soya-based protein vegan kebabs. Rachel thought, “These are unreal”, and they decided to start making and selling them at home. When they both decided to turn to veganism they encountered some scepticism. “It’s funny,” Éilish says. “Rachel’s parents are both farmers and my dad is a farmer. Rachel says it was harder to come out to her mam and dad as being vegan as coming out as being gay.” She thinks times are changing, but she hates the antagonism that sometimes comes up. “It’s kind of daunting for people. But it has changed. I think it’s mostly positive, but I think on the internet it can be very divisive. I hate this war going on at the moment between meat eaters and vegans.” They started Feashty at the Green Door Market in February last year and are now in a pop-up phase (they were at the Dublin Flea and the Belfry in December and they’ve done festivals including Electric Picnic). They are currently searching for a more permanent home, which is tough in the current survival of the fittest property environment. Éilish says, “It would be good to have even to have a monthly or a weekly popup. I just hate all the handling. I find it a bit stressful.”

Their kebabs are serious hunger-busters. The marinated soya protein is flavoursome and densely textured, with loads of crunchy salad, pickled cabbage and a delicious garlic mayonnaise type sauce. They also do a jackfruit option; it is a fruit popular in South and Southeast Asia which when unripe is savoury. The texture can be a bit like pulled pork and it is good at taking on spices and flavours, making it a great filling. The kebabs could never be accused of being insubstantial, Rachel jokes that they are “filthy”. They also do falafel wraps, and sautéed baby potatoes as a side. Another popular spot on the vegan food map of Dublin is Umi Falafel. Although not fully vegan (the menu is 90 per cent vegan as there is some dairy on the menu), it’s popular for quick and cheap food on the go. They started in Dublin and are based on Dame Street, in Rathmines, and the most recent shop in George’s Street Arcade, as well as Cork and Belfast. The business started in 2013, born of an obsession with Middle Eastern food, particularly Lebanese and Palestinian. It’s more casual and fastfood-vibey than other Middle Eastern restaurants in the city, and the falafels are the top notch. Middle Eastern flavours are particularly satisfying, and everything here is really fresh. George from Umi tells me that their most popular dish is the Palestinian falafel which comes with loads of extras hummus, tomato, cucumber pickles, fried aubergine, flat parsley and chilli and tahini sauce. He says the ‘Create Your Own’ option is also popular. Their salads are also on point; Moroccan quinoa plate, fattoush with cucumber, parsley and toasted bread, the tabbouleh bulgur wheat with tomato, mint, cucumber, and little extras like stuffed vine leaves, baba ganoush. George explains the cuisine and it appeal to non-meat eaters, “In the Middle East meat can be expensive, so people eat less of it. There is more imagination in the vegetable-based dishes. We use a lot of seeds, chickpeas, lentils, bulgur, couscous. People think Arabic food is spicy, but it’s not. It’s mild but well-seasoned with mint, pepper, cumin, paprika, lemon juice and olive oil. Our food is the closest you’ll get to traditional Lebanese or Palestinian falafel in Dublin”. @feashty @umifalafel

So if you’re thinking about Veganuary, but aren’t quite ready for full on clean-eating, here are some spots to hit up for some fastfood vegan hits. McGuinness

Camden Street The wall inside says of vegans “we get hungry too” and if you’re craving burgers and deepfried delights, there’s lots here to satisfy. Burgers made from black beans, chickpeas, a Philly cheesesteak sandwich made with satisfying seitan, pizzas made with cashew nut cheese, and the most surprisingly delicious, vegan battered sausages. They also do all the favourites like garlic cheese chips. Times have really changed. In a good way. mcguinnesstakeaway.ie

Vish Shop

Dorset Street Vish Shop is a vegan fish and chip shop, selling ‘vish’ made from cassava and wild Irish seaweed, in original or smokey flavour, served with aioli, pickled samphire or kimchi. The menu is brief, but interesting; also featuring battered carrot dogs and cauliflower ‘wings’ with barbecue and sriracha sauce. They were at the Bernard Shaw Eatyard for a while, but now have a permanent home, close to innovative chef and owner Mark Senn’s other restaurant Veginity. @vish.shop

Vurgerface

Stoneybatter Another vegan fast-food wanderer looking for a home, in December Vurgerface were in Dice Bar in Smithfield, but they are in the Belfry in Stoneybatter and in the New Year and are lining up something more permanent. They do a Hot Chick with sweet potato and chickpea on a charcoal bun, the Magic Mushie is a battered portobello mushroom on a matcha bun, and the Classic John is a beetroot and chickpea patty. Inventive and colourful food for your mouth. @vurgerface

Di Fontaine’s

Parliment Street This place does all kinds of New York-style pizza, but their vegan menu is top. Choose a whole vegan pizza, a calzone or an individual slice with any of their vegan toppings and you too can feel like you’re having a taste of the Big Apple. Which is nice because apples are also vegan. Great for a late-night boozy snack on the way home. difontainespizzeria.ie

Beast Eatery

Parliment Street Beast Eatery opened at the tail end of 2018 in Dublin 8, and is brought to us by the couple behind vegan meat alternative producers, Moodley Manor. With a menu that includes harissa fries, onion rings with garlic dip and the ‘monster burger’, owners Aisling Mooney and Gavyn Pedley want this to be Dublin’s premiere spot for hungover vegans. @beasteatery

Words: Caitriona Devery

CHEAP EATS

appy January! Have you spent all your money on Baileys and hot ports over the festive season? Are you feeling extreme remorse for what you said to Auntie Mary? Maybe you overdid it on the cheeseboard and now you’re feeling a gouty tingling in your toes. Now it’s grey and cold and you have €30 to last you until the end of the month. But don’t worry, here are some spots to get some grub in the city that won’t kill your credit. Not all of these are very healthy, but January is hard enough.

Oriental Emporium

El Grito

This is one of my favourite spots for a cheap bite in town, especially when hungover and feeling sorry for myself. Bypass the chicken feet and the tripe at the butcher counter and make a beeline to the hot food section. You can get a big box of assorted spicy and savoury dishes for €7, with rice: dishes like traditional spicy Sichuan mapo tofu and braised pork. Best of all are the snacks, there are pillowy bao-style dumplings and Chinese beef pancakes for less than €2. There’s a (pretty basic) sit down space too.

This is incredible Mexican street food in Temple Bar’s Merchant Arch - really fresh, tasty and full of zingy Latin flavours. Initially it might look fairly similar, but compared to high street burritos this is another level of taste. Burritos, quesadillas, tacos, tortas and some other corn-based receptacles play host to spiced, marinated and generally well-treated meats plus handmade salsas of various spiciness, guacamole and the usuals. Not great for vegetarians but you can eat well for around €8.

Upper Abbey Street

orientalemporium.ie

Govinda’s

Middle Abbey Street & Aungier Street Govinda’s is a Dublin institution, with three restaurants in town, with one premises connected to the Hari Krishna Temple. It’s far from fine dining, but it is filling. There are always loads of people queuing up for the Govinda’s special (€6.95 regular or €10.45 large), a huge plate of Indian-style vegetarian curries served with basmati rice. They do giant veggie burgers for around a tenner and a range of rotating stodge specials like moussaka, tagliatelle and vegetarian shepherd’s pie. govindas.ie

Ray’s Pizza Temple Bar

New York-style pizza in the city centre. Thin crust, lush pizza sauce and loads of topping choice for your buck. You can get a classic 12” pepperoni for €7.50, but if you have trouble making decisions, you can get slices with different flavours. €10 will get you three slices, or thereabouts. There’s a little sit down space and it’s open late. Prices go up later in the night, but you’ve no money so you won’t be out anyway.

Mongolian Barbeque, Temple Bar

Weirdly, although Temple Bar is renowned for being extortionate, there are quite a few places here that give good value for money. Mongolian Barbeque is really popularas well as tasty and filling. A lunchtime one-time trip to the buffet will set you back €6.90. You choose from a selection of meats or seasonal vegetables which get cooked in front of you with your choice of herbs, spices and sauces. mongolianbbq.ie

Temple Bar

Lemon Crepe & Coffee Co South William Street

Cosy day spot for a coffee and something savoury (or sweet). They do a range of filled omelettes that hover around the €7 to €8 mark. The spinach, cheddar and garlic mushroom Veg Power Plus crepe is good value as is the classic ‘Complete’, Normandy-style with ham, cheese and egg for €6.95. They also do Mexican-style crepes, a whole host of sandwiches, and you can get an Americano for €2. lemonco.com

Plus 55 Bakery

Parnell Street & Bolton Street You can eat really well in Plus 55 for less than a tenner, including a drink. It’s a Brazilian bakery with a hot food counter. They do a daily special of Brazilian classics like chicken or beef parmigiana – Italianstyle breaded meat topped with cheese and tomato and served with rice and fries. They also do the Brazilian cut of rump steak, picanha. Saturday is black bean stew, feijoada. Specials are just under €8. plus55bakery.ie

Yum Thai,

Duke Street For just over €5 you’ll get a big box of noodles, stir-fry or fried rice Thai dishes. The green curry and red curry in particular are perfect January cold-mood-food and come with rice. There’s a choice of chicken, beef, pork, duck, and tofu. Massaman if you need some potatoes: it’s really rich and warming.

Blazing Salads, Drury Street

Genuinely healthy and great for vegans and vegetarians, Blazing Salads do loads of crunchy, delicious salad by weight plus soup and daily specials like hotpots, curries and casseroles. Their grain of the week is a great idea featuring regular rotations of millet, barley and quinoa to keep your B vitamins buzzing. You will definitely be full for under €10. blazingsalads.com

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. 88

BURGERS Bujo Sandymount bujo.ie

Meet Me in the Morning Pleasants St. mmim.ie Storyboard Islandbridge storyboardcoffee.com

Bunsen Wexford St., St. Anne St., Essex St. East & Ranelagh bunsen.ie

3fe Lower Grand Canal Quay 3fe.com

Jo’Burger Smithfield & Castle Market joburger.ie

The Fumbally Fumbally Lane thefumbally.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

FERMENTING Fia Rathgar Road fia.ie

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

Ukiyo Exchequer St. ukiyobar.com

BRAZILIAN 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

COFFEE

Drury Buildings Drury Street drurybuildings.com

Coffee Angel, A number of locations around the city coffeeangel.com

Peruke & Periwig Dawson Street peruke.ie

Network, Aungier Street networkcafe.ie

The Liquor Rooms Wellington Quay theliquorrooms.com

Two Boys Brew, North Circular Road twoboysbrew.ie

CHINESE

Shoe Lane, Tara Street shoelanecoffee.ie

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

Nick’s Coffee, Ranelagh @NicksCoffeeCo

VIETNAMESE Pho Viet Parnell Street phoviet.ie Pang Kevin Street lovepang.ie Jolin’s Vietnamese Coffee House Portobello Vietnom Stoneybatter vietnom.ie Bun Cha Moore Street buncha.ie

The Ramen Bar South William St. theramenbar.ie Musashi Capel St. musashidublin.com

Dublin restaurant of the month:

GERTRUDE 3

fE’s latest offspring is Gertrude, which opened on Pearse Street in December. Head chef Holly Dalton says the goal for the menu is “insanely delicious comfort food” with some experiments. So there are lots of things that will make you go, ‘Mmmm’, but also some that will make you go, ‘oh!’. The menu is informally structured so you can have full meals or just snacks. “No rules,” Holly says. Apart from war on an overused green ingredient, of which she states emphatically, “Over my dead body will there be avocados.” There is a focus on great wines and, naturally as it’s 3fE, properly done coffee. The inspiration for Gertrude is accessibility both in the menu and in the general vibe; open all day for café business, but transitioning into a wine bar buzz in the evening. Modern, affable Irish food all day long. Put me down for some bacon and cabbage dumplings. 3fe.com

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WINTER 18 /19

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Dublinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest quarterly food & drink guide. A District Magazine cut.

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