MUNKY INTERVIEW

Words: Katie McCarthy

Niall Donnelly is an IADT EMCS alumni who is now the bassist for one of Ireland’s most promising funk metal bands, Munky. He is also the former head of the spoken word society, which is still active within the college. With their album Un, Deux, Trois, Cat being released at the start of April, I had the opportunity to talk with Niall about his time in IADT and what has happened since he left:

So, Niall, while at IADT did you have any musical aspirations?

Niall: [Laughs] Absolutely not! When I was in IADT I was very much more focused on spoken word poetry and mainly getting drunk. I got into music through Zac, we were… inebriated, and he played me a demo off his phone and asked ‘’hey dude want to be the bassist in my band?’’ I woke up on his couch the next day and thought ‘fuck I’ve to be the bassist in his band now.’ That’s how I joined the band, I kind of fell into it.

How was the band formed?

Niall: Pretty much that, the other members of the band were all in BIMM together (another college so we won’t fucking speak of it!). I’ve known Zac for years and I just showed up to a practise, met the other guys and they seemed fine. We just started practising together, the band gained speed and now we’re here!

Do you think your time at IADT helped you creatively?

Niall: Yes! Being in a creative atmosphere and being around loads of artsy people who are involved in artsy things or sometimes just being ‘wasters’ (laughs) really exposes you to that world and really makes you try new things. It has an atmosphere where trying new creative things is accepted so it makes you more comfortable in getting involved in those kinds of things yourself. Peer pressure, fun!

Do you all contribute to the lyrical compositon of the songs?

Niall: Well it’s pretty much Zac, the lead singer, coming to us with his ideas. He’ll basically come to us with lyrics which are generally pages and pages long and me and the rest of the band will help edit the stuff down with him. But yeah it depends, sometimes it’ll be all all four of us writing together, or sometimes Zac will just show up and be like this is the song and we’ll just work around that. Yeah so lyrically it’s mainly himself Zac but maybe a bit of me as well.

Do you have a favourite gig you’ve performed at so far?

Niall: Ah yeah but I don’t know what one! Two gigs last year stand out – we played upstairs in Whelan’s, and they were both sold out and both were class. The first night a lot of our mates were there, everyone singing along, singing back to us. I was like fuck yeah; it really was a ‘we are a band now’ kind of moment.

What has been the most challenging aspect of being in a band?

Niall: (Laughs) Paying rent! Trying to manage time and also financially manage living in Dublin. (The most challenging thing) is probably trying to balance having a job and at the same time finding the time and energy to put yourself into the band.

Are you guys represented by a label?

Niall: No, we are with MPRI artists who are a booking agency, so our mate Julian books loads of our gigs and gigs for other Irish artists. But other than that, it’s all funded by us – it’s the four of us, just the lads doing it ourselves, even when we make it look like someone else has done it (Laughs).

Do you prefer performing more political songs like ‘One in Five’ or more light hearted songs such as ‘Cuck Rock’?

Niall: Ah, probably light hearted! We’ve only played One in Five twice now and it’s my personal favourite song from the EP, but it’s a tough subject in a live scenario. We’ve played it in places that weren’t Dublin before the EP was finalised and people seemed to have no idea what the fuck we were doing. There’s a noticeable shift in the atmosphere in the room – people said afterwards that they enjoyed it, but I don’t think it created the best vibe while we were playing. So yeah definitely prefer lighthearted, people jumping around having the craic.

What inspires you most as a musician?

Niall: (Laughs) Feckin’ hell. Probably jamming with people who are your friends messing around, doing whatever. When you’re all just playing individual things and it all comes

together. The beginning stages of writing when everyone’s just jamming together having fun, getting into the flow of it. You all become in sync with each other, and then you just look at each other and say, “oh that was unreal what was that” It’s the pure love of it! Those moments help you through when you actually have to do work!

Do you have a personal favourite song - on the new album or in general?

Niall: I love all the songs! ‘One in Five’ is my personal dark horse on the new album and I also like Miscommunication; it’s a long one though. We had that one for so long, we’d been playing it for ages and finally got it recorded so very happy to get that out there. We have new material that’s sillier funk music which I love. There’s a song called ‘Bootsy Collins’ about the bassist for Parliament Funkadelic – just about how he’s a deadly dude. We also have a song about Marty Whelan, called Mary Whelan. So either of those two are up there with the serious stuff as well.

What inspired the name of the band?

Niall: Christ it’s such a bad, bad name. (Laughs) We were actually called something else, which I heavily vetoed. We were called Brother Nature, not a fan sorry lads. And then we were coming up to our first gig and literally until the day before we were still called Brother Nature, but we couldn’t let that happen. (Laughs) So then I’m not sure who said it but we’re kind of metal but funky, so Munky. It’s funky but with an M. We thought fuck it it’ll do for the first gig now three years later, it’s still funky with an M.

Do you guys have any gigs in the future that you’re looking forward to?

Niall: We have a tour coming up in June with the Meat Puppets who played with Nirvana back in the day. So that tour will be going around Ireland, the UK, around Europe and then back to the UK. One of the Dutch shows is already sold out so that’s going to be cool. Really looking forward to going back touring again, and with this tour around Europe like a real band!

Do you prefer touring, or do you prefer small, local gigs?

Niall: Well it is really different. Touring is a weird experience because after a couple days it all kind of blurs into one. It is great craic though, it’s like a holiday except you’re spending five to twelve hours a day sitting in a van with four smelly dudes in the baking summer heat! (Laughs) So yeah, it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world, and it can be a manic experience. Whereas playing gigs in Dublin, you can go home and shower afterwards, it’s definitely more sanitary! (Laughs)

Does the band have anything in the works for new music?

Niall: Yeah, we have a lot of new stuff coming. A new album is still a bit far away just because going to a recording studio is fucking expensive! We have enough material to be released to make up maybe three or four EPs, so whether we’re going to do those as EPs or individual songs has yet to be decided. We are going to release a lot of new music this year anyway.

Could you briefly describe your creative process?

Niall: (Laughs) Make sure the bass is plugged in! But mostly it would be that someone comes up with an idea for a song and we’ll add our own parts, or it can be more of an organic flow, where we’d just mess around and see what works. So, it can be natural or more structure… but I just make sure it’s all plugged in to be honest!

What was the inspiration behind the new album?

Niall: Well it includes some of our more serious songs. It just happened by chance that our heavier rock songs fit together on one EP and that they had a stronger lyrical message as well. As for one defining inspiration or message I’m not entirely sure.

What’s the inspiration behind the album art?

Niall: The cover was done by the amazing Barra Carlin (@Barra.Carlin.Designs). He’s great! Initially we were going to have a cat wearing a little jumper and the jumper was going to say ‘We can do better’ on it. So, if there was an overall message from the EP, it is that we can do better, specifically men.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Niall: (Dramatic pause) Is the pop bottle still tied to the tree in the orchard?

It is not unfortunately! Pop tree is dead.

Niall: Damn! They tried to kill pop tree before but it just kept coming back!

I was lucky enough to attend the launch for the new album, which was held in the Grand Social in early April, and I can say that unlike the pop tree in IADT, Munky will not be dismantled by the authoritative powers that be, and they will continue to bring their unique funk-rock sound across the country and soon throughout Europe. Excited to hear more from this aspiring group of lads.