I want to take a moment to tell you about an artist who has been exciting me so much over the past few years and whose work should be spread for everyone to enjoy, sharing is caring. So here’s to sharing my guilty pleasure with you; watch your step as you fall through the rabbit hole and welcome to the bizarre and wonderful world of Damien Flood’s artwork.
Flood graduated from IADT Dun Laoghaire in, (the college where I am still studying in my final year), but he has left us a few years passed now. Flood studied painting for four years in IADT before graduating with his degree in Fine Art in 2003 and continuing to produce numerous pieces of work. It was in these post-graduate years when I came to know Damien through a friend of my housemate where I used to live. He also agreed to submit a poster design proposal for a comedy film festival which I was putting on back in 2007. (Unfortunately conflicts of taste resulted in another design being chosen for the posters) Regardless, it was a true honour to have him produce a design specifically for something which I was involved in.
Since then he has gone on to do a Masters in Fine Art at NCAD and is exhibiting in galleries such as The White Room,
His works are mostly oil on canvas paintings and a lot of them beautiful feature female portraiture, mainly those from his 2006 collections. His tour de force abstract depictions of the human form, are often somewhat contorted into strange postures or having bizarre and almost vulgar facial expressions. But it is this vulgarity to some of his earlier paintings which I often find strangely irresistible, and clearly other people are also seeing this beauty in the Dali-esque brashness to his work. His art has been gradually changing in tone throughout the years, with his earlier works illustrating darker more malevolent themes compared to his more light-hearted recent works, some of which portray organic forms and plant-life. Back in 2007 he was creating a graphic novel / comic book called “Knocked up Nikki”; a humorous illustration of tales from the life of a perturbed girl living in the seaside town of
To see some more on this artist visit:
http://www.contemporaryirishpainting.com/html/home%20page.htm
http://www.contemporaryirishpainting.com/strange/temp.htm
http://www.whiteroom.ie/damien-flood
Words by Laura McGlynn
Images of Damien Flood artwork taken from the above websites
As mentioned in a previous post, the Road Records store recently closed its doors at last after struggling for a long time to keep their heads above water in financial situations. Based in a humble little shop on
What is important to note is that Road Records struggled for a long time before finally having to say no, we really can’t do this anymore. As such they incurred a lot of debts in their last months.
Next Saturday the 14th March there will be a benefit gig on in Andrew’s Lane to celebrate the selflessness and fighting support which Road Records showed over the years and particularly in their final days. Please come along and show your appreciation for their admirable unyielding encouragement.
Acts on the night include; Jape, The Jimmy Cake, Si Schroeder, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, and Road Record DJs and tickets are priced at €20 each, available from Tower Records, www.tickets.ie & WAV box office 1890 200 078. It’s not a huge donation to sacrifice considering their losses. This should be a great night of music and also a very nostalgic heart-felt goodbye to one of
Words by Laura McGlynn
Image courtesy of iLike.com
I've been doing studies lately on all of the new Web 2.0 tools like Twitter, Delicious, social networking sites and blogging etc for a project I'm doing in my New Media Technologies class.
Anyway, whilst I was browsing around the interweb for inspiration the other day, I found this really funny amateur video on youtube [from the crowd at wishood.com] of what supermarkets would be like if they turned 2.0, haha. It's hilarious and totally nerd-worthy, have a look.
For whatever reason, I feel the need to include something in this blog about Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series which has swept the world by storm. It’s astonishing to think that one woman who had a dream one night could turn that dream into a multi-million seller book deal. I’m currently half way through the third of the four books, Eclipse. So far it is possibly my favourite but I have heard that the final instalment; Breaking Dawn, is the pivotal cherry on the top.
But don’t get me wrong, these books although they are quite captivating are by no means literary works of art, far from it…Firstly, Meyer’s style of writing is enjoyable because it is so flippin’ easy to sail through it. These books may be quite heavy but they most certainly are not a heavy read. This is something I can appreciate as somebody who has a very low attention span. Secondly, could somebody get that woman a spell-check? Seriously. Little things like doubled words really pick holes in my involvement in the story (e.g. Edward was was sitting there as as he usually does). Three pages forward I’ll still be thinking about that annoying “was was” mistake. And there are lots more of these tiny flaws throughout. Also, what is it with her fascination with the word “chagrin”? Don’t lie, you noticed it too.
But fear not for I am only one voice and clearly I am outnumbered. A cult-like following has been established with numerous fan-sites and symposiums popping up all over the globe. It feels as though every single female hormonal teenager has been drugged into an Edward Cullen daze phase. I’m going to call them Edward…ians. What will happen to the boys who want to ask these Edwardian chicks out on dates and stuff, they will never be good enough for them, they will never be Edward Cullen. The stakes have been raised and it aint looking pretty for the young male population. Unless they happen to be stunning albino athlete kids whose parents couldn’t afford to pay for braces, they’re pretty much screwed.
I don’t feel like having made it onto the third book within three weeks was any sort of accomplishment. A friend of mine who introduced me to the Twilight dimension had already read the entire series and done a loop up as far as the 3rd book again on her second round, before I had finished the first. I won’t mention her name for sake of privacy (you know who you are) but well having spent days straight doing nothing but eating sleeping, reading and barely breathing, she got locked into this stuff so bad that she is now on a self-chosen Twilight rehabilitation programme. She has also given up any sort of general Twilight internet surfing and Twilight cast stalking for the 4 weeks of lent, and doing well, so far. It’s a nice break for the rest of us too, not having to endure her frantic and lengthy daily updates on the whereabouts of Rob Pattinson or whether or not Solomon Trimble is going to be cast as Sam in the coming films, or how much flights are to get to their next filming location and become a movie extra. God love her. Just imagine for a moment though, that this is just one person, there are a gazillion million other buzzing little Edwardians throughout the world perched on the edge of their seats as we speak, eagerly anticipating the next Twilight related outlet... their next fix.
It’s a bit like social smoking for me; I’m dancing on enemy lines. Any second now I could get sucked in too. But no such luck yet. Phew! I guess I won’t need to be tattooing the Cullen family crest onto my back any day soon. I’ll let you know if Breaking Dawn breaks me.
Words by Laura McGlynn
Image courtesy of fanpop.com
In
This is definitely an area which could benefit from some government consideration and intervention. IMRO has an average turnover of €38 million, but according to chair Keith Donald; 88% of fees collected go abroad with the rest being issued to
Donald states; “We collect for Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, just the same as the American societies collect for Christy Moore and Eleanor McEvoy,”… “One of our difficulties with the American collection societies is that under legislation brought in years ago, money from the corner store – the mom and pop store – isn’t collected. Unfortunately these stores kept getting bigger until they became supermarkets. So if you go into a Wal-Mart in the States and you hear music – nobody is collecting. Similarly they don’t collect from PBS television or from cinemas or pubs.”
It is pertinent in my opinion that the Irish Government should look into this as a case for concern and make the situation more equitable between
Words by Laura McGlynn
Image courtesy of imro.ie
Government support for the Irish music industry has always been a sore subject. That's no secret. Traditional music tends to be valued far more than Irish rock music or rock musicians in this country. Other areas of the arts are favoured by the State, and far more support is shown for them by the Arts Council and Government.
In
Years ago bands would be given the time to develop and blossom after their first few not-so-successful albums until they found their feet and started producing great albums. Nowadays there is no time or money for development like this.Irish contemporary musicians need to stay smart and think on their feet - the Irish music industry in particular is an unpredictable environment, partly because of this lack of support and stability.
Festivals, on the other hand, are a phenomenon which have done quite well out of Government funding strategies over the past few years. This would probably be partly because their success is more tangible than that of other events, with massive attendance rates.The Arts Council remain firm believers that arts events such as music festivals are something which should be nurtured despite the fall in the economy. They believe that especially during such harsh times as these, the arts are vitally necessary to the nation and should not be thought of as a luxury.
This year’s Arts Council budget is €75.7 million but the council say that they are not entirely happy with the allocation of funds planned out. In July last year the Arts Council granted over 900,000 to individual artists, including musicians. I fear this year they will not be capable of showing the same encouragement. Maurice Foley, Deputy Chair of the Arts Council says; “The inevitable cuts will jeopardise much of this investment. The public can expect fewer festivals, fewer exhibitions, less theatre and less music.”
Dunn dunn dunnnn
Words by Laura McGlynn
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with the owner, director and founder of Dublin dance / electronica label D1 Records; Eamonn Doyle. I've worked with Eamonn before during and in the run-up to the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival, DEAF. Here's an interview I conducted with him back in January of this year. He was a pleasure, as always.
Firstly; how would you sum up your overall driving mission for D1 Records in one sentence?
D1 was initially set up as a platform for Irish electronic producers, such as myself.
Over the years however as the label's profile has grown overseas we have attracted many International artists to the roster. There was no particular agenda when we started other than to get a quality label set up in
How would you describe your label’s “brand”?
I think the perception of D1 in
You originally were involved in co-forming the indie label Dead Elvis. Have you yourself always been a fan of DIY digital e-music or how/when did this love affair begin?
I just enjoy running a label and putting out music. It's been DIY out of necessity more than anything else... I'd probably be just as happy [or maybe a lot happier] if I was running a much larger or major label ... the only important thing for me is that I have independent control of what goes out. It's frustrating at times not having the means to really take things further. It would also be good to be able to release a lot more music than we currently do. I'm not a fan really of Digital / or e formats… but that's mainly because I really enjoy the physicality of the vinyl product. Digital / online sales are great in their own way…and also inevitable so I have embraced them… but it's a very different feeling to putting out a physical product.
What do you look for in an artist & how do you find the talent?
I've never actively gone out and looked for artists for the label. We started with one artist back in 1995 and since then I've pretty much just been releasing music by people I've met along the way. The two main criteria for me are 1: Do I like the music, and 2: Do I like the person. I'm only really into releasing music by people I like personally. There's so many artists and music out there, so the label pretty much reflects my own musical tastes and the kind of people I get on with. I've never really made any direct profits from record sales so if I'm not going to make money I'd prefer to do it with people I like!
Have you found that some of the artists on your label, when you first came across them, were already quite polished with a mature & distinctive sound or do you tend to look for more of a diamond in the rough?
Well, musically I just have to be into it personally. And I generally tend to release music that I would play myself when DJing. Within that, most of the artists who release on D1 now have their own distinctive sound. Because of software production techniques now, most artists sound pretty polished anyway which isn't necessarily a good thing always!!
With respect to the quantity of submissions you receive at D1, do you consider yourselves to be quite selective when it comes to signing artists?
Yes very.... it's so easy for people to submit music to labels these days, they just send an email with links to tracks, so to be honest I very rarely listen to any of them. I know there is a lot of great music out there but I prefer to release music by people I have already come into some kind of personal contact with.
In what ways do you strive to promote a fan-base for your signed artists?
I just do a basic promo mail-out for each release to a very select list of DJs…its really up to the artist after that to promote themselves. The vast majority of potential earnings in electronic music [and increasingly other genres] is in live performance and DJing. The records mostly act as a calling card for the artist to go on and play live.
What I find quite interesting is that you yourself are on the label as a DJ.
Many bands and artists these days appear to be following this route of just starting up their own label to avoid the hassle faced by signing to somebody else’s larger label. -At the time, was it easier for you to start up this label than signing to another label for promoting yourself as an individual?
I didn't really start producing electronic music until after I set up D1. It's certainly nice to have my own label now to release my music on but I was kind of slow to release my own music at first on the label. My first solo releases were on other labels from outside of
Would you say that there was a “calling out” as such in the Irish music industry or a hole in the market, for somebody to shine a light on the electronic music scene around the time that you started up D1 Recordings? -And present?
I don't really think there's a hole in the market here in
As most people who have heard of D1 Recordings will know, you are also strongly involved with the
Well… I just decided it would be a good idea to try and run a festival about eight years ago… it's as simple as that really. I got Karen Walshe on board [she was working in
Obviously as a group of electronic music DJs this makes you very different as an Irish-based record label from an Irish rock/indie/alternative label for example. Do you find that being in a respectively smaller specialised niche that you face any particular difficulties?
We're not really a collective of DJs as such, though I can understand why that would be though. There have been a lot of DJs associated with the label over the years... especially through the club….anyway… As far as being in a specialised niche goes that's always been the way. Even within electronic music in general we specialise in an even smaller sub genre. If we were trying to reach a more mainstream audience then I think things would be more difficult than a few years ago when dance music was crossing over a lot more into the charts [daft punk / chemical brothers / the prodigy] etc…Now guitar based music has had a major comeback so we're even more niche than we started.
In what ways does your label control / have to be careful with press coverage?
I don't really have any press strategy. When I started the label I used to send promos around to all the electronic press and radio but realised shortly after that good or bad reviews didn't seem to affect or sales. We've no promotion budget at all which you need if you want to really increase sales significantly. When I get asked to do interviews I usually just take the opportunity to explain what we're about.
As a musical style which, not so much relies on, but makes use of modern technology, what impacts have you found changes in technology have had on the label?
There have been huge changes with music production software so there's a lot more music out there as there are a lot more people with access to equipment. That been said we can still only release a certain amount of records each year so it hasn't really had that much effect on the label.
Changes in format technology [digital / laptop DJing / Serato etc] as well as free downloading has impacted on sales in a negative way especially as we primarily release on vinyl… there's not so many new DJs as using vinyl and they seem to be file-sharing quiet a bit, so it remains to be seen what way things pan out in general with music sales.
How does the level of physical sales compare with the level of digital sales for D1 Recordings?
At the moment our sales are about 90% vinyl 10% digital online sales.
There are a few other dance / techno Dublin-based labels around at the moment, such as Bodytonic’s Scribble Records for example, who do you consider to be your competition in this market?
I don't really consider any of the other Irish labels to be competition. The more labels the better as far as I'm concerned. I'm not sure how many of the other Irish labels are still releasing on vinyl...there are so many digital / mp3 labels now, it's become almost too easy to put music out there that there's definitely an issue with quality control.. I kind of see those labels as being in a different category to Vinyl labels.
What do you think makes the Irish music industry distinctive?
I'm not really sure that it is distinctive in any particular way, not that I'm aware of anyway. Although we're very active within what we do ourselves, we've always pretty much kept out of the loop of the industry circles so it's not really something I think about a lot or focus on.
What do you think that the Irish Government could do to help your type of record label?
The best thing they could do is sort out the licensing laws. Trying to promote club music in a country where there is still actually no such thing as a club licence for venues is almost impossible. Many labels around the world manage to fund their business from club promotion; we managed to do this for the first ten years of D1but things have just got too difficult now.
What do you think the Irish Government could do to help the Irish music industry as a whole?
They could continue their tax breaks for Artists living in
Who is the most exciting artist / act that you have ever gotten to work with, and why?
I've worked with quiet a few exciting artists over the years. Recently we've been working with four of the world's best acoustic musicians for a project myself and Dave Donohoe are working on called STRING MACHINE., they are Wu Fei from China, Donal Lunny from Ireland, Lisle Ellis from Canada and Pierre Bensusan from France... It’s been really exciting and a huge honour to collaborate with them.
Lastly but far from least; what is your vision for the future of D1 Recordings?
Even though D1 has been going for about 15 years in some ways I feel like it's just getting started!! I plan on releasing a lot more regularly over the next few years and involve the label in more varied projects such at the one I just mentioned.
Image courtesy of D1 Records
Official D1 Records website here
WOLF PARADE @ VICAR ST. 29/11/08
The time had finally come, Wolf Parade had released their much anticipated 2nd album under Sub-Pop records, aptly named after their Montreal-based recording studio, “At Mt. Zoomer”, and touring had begun worldwide. It’s hard to believe that with only two album releases under their belts, this band have come to taste such success. I guess they are one of the few talented contemporary indie bands out there who do actually dedicate more of their time to making amazing music than to experimenting with new hair-dos and Buddy Holly glasses.
Tonight they were set for one of
I ran in the door, a little later than I had hoped, to my house in
I can almost visualise it now in slow motion, and the deranged look that must have graced my face at the moment of impact. Down went the right leg, down went the right foot, down went the right set of toes, down, down, down. Straight down at full force against the edge of my much-loved “boudoir” style metal bed frame.
Even the numbing sensation followed by the acute pain in my foot didn’t stop me from continuing to get ready at rapid speed. It was only as I made my way downhill towards the dart station that I noticed the pain in my toes was still there, and was subsequently for the rest of the night. Nevertheless I struggled on and miraculously made the walk from
I met my friend X at
As we arrived on the scene and wiggled our way up to the Box Office through the foggy smokers’ huddle formation on the door, I picked up my ticket and we headed inside. The irony lays in the fact that after all the rush; we had somehow made it in an hour earlier than the stated “doors opening” time printed on the tickets. [This reminds me I should really replace the batteries in my wristwatch- Any day now.]Perfect time for some small talk and a bevvie at the bar.
So after an hour of counting just how many skinny-jeaned check-shirted boys and girls there were in the room, the intercom announced that doors into the auditorium were now opening. We finished the dregs and we got that previously anticipated front-row spot without too much of a fight. And thus the waiting game continues. Not that I was complaining! I knew that it was going to be well worth the wait.
As per usual I wasn’t sure of who was to be the supporting act for the night, and so exited stage right towards the merchandise stall to ask some handsome (check-shirted) gentleman behind said stall. “Um it’s Giveamanakick” he responded, with a smug smirk on his face. “And tonight it’s going to be an ACOUSTIC set!” he added.
I got the impression from his tone that this group / individual don’t usually venture into acoustic territory. I knew the name well from listings and such, and distinctively remember hearing of them playing at this year’s Electric Picnic. I replied with an enthusiastic “Oh excellent!” and an “I’ve been meaning to catch them for a while now” and happily returned to base. Ten minutes later that handsome gentleman walked on stage with his comrade and introduced themselves of course as GiveAManAKick. They launched into an impressively abrasive thrash rock / indie acoustic / absolute madness set, which could only ever have come about by having put two limerick boys on stage with a few drums, a guitar, and a gas mask. When the two had finished wreaking havoc they exited leaving the crowd in a state of silent amazement, mixed with confusion and a dash of violation. It was the perfect sorbet starter to warm up the crowd for the main act [please excuse the paradox].
A group of fans centre-front were loudly chanting and clapping their hands; a spectacle to make the interval pass all the more swiftly. And no sooner had the roadies walked off but the band walked on. They were greeted with a very passionate surge of screams from a roaring sea of those who were to be their audience for the night. I wondered to myself if the Irish had just given a more stirring reception than any of the other destinations ticked off their tour list so far.
Having admitted that they were short one member of the band, Hadji or no Hadji they launched into their opening song You are a Runner. Looking back I notice that they opened and closed the set with songs from their first album, sandwiching some of their new songs from the second album. I was very pleased to see that they weren’t there just to showcase the new songs as priority. Their first album “Appologies to the Queen Mary” still remains my favourite of the two, and I consider it to be one of the best records released over the past decade. A bearded man, the band’s “spiritual advisor” as they addressed him, came on stage at some point to hand them some beers and gave keyboardist Spencer a bag of coloured bouncy balls. This seemed to come of some surprise to him, but there was of course no hesitation in throwing each of the balls one by one into the cheering crowds.
After the first three songs things appeared to die down a little, it was as if the band were getting tired already and vital signs flat-lined for a moment. I probably wouldn’t have noticed as much only that I was losing a frequency of good photo opportunities and lowered my lens. The crowd seemed to lose that “connection” with the music. One might easily forget that they were at a LIVE gig and not just listening to the album at home on their stereo. It’s no secret that the bands 3-song encore was the height of the performance. This is where they really reeled us back in again. Perhaps they went off stage and before re-entering had an epiphany of some sort. Perhaps some prior last-minute quarrel was mended and hugs were had. In any case they came back revitalised and ready to rock the cherry on the top. Finishing with eardrum shattering renditions of songs such as I’ll Believe in Anything and Fancy Claps, a 12 minute long version of Kissing the Beehive and a moving This Heart’s On Fire dedicated by guitarist Dan Boekner to his late mother. Dan added “I know that’s not very rock ‘n roll” and that his mother was actually from
I made it into A&E for an x-ray the following morning; got bandaged up and sent on my way. Nothing to write home about though and certainly nothing to miss a gig like that for, as far as I’m concerned.
A great night was had by all I think, and I was very satisfied to now be able to confirm that one of my favourite bands in the world sounded just as good if not better performing live as they do in the recording studio. My Wolf Parade experience lives on to tell its tale.
Words by Laura McGlynn
Image courtesy of Exclaim!
Wolf Parade on Myspace
