The Drunken Werewolf

...Sorry

2009-04-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I've been ignoring the blogosphere for the past number of weeks.
Sadly I can't spend the time blogging that I'd like to, and instead am swamped with the blows of being a fourth year student. With the heaviest of big 'ol bound CAs finally done and dusted, EXAMS are now on the horizon, a mere three weeks away, so I'll be knuckling down like I've never knuckled before. Can't wait to return to you. See you on the other side my love. x Laurykins

image courtesy of weheartit.com

A Flood of inspiration

2009-03-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

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, Signal Art Gallery, and The Back Loft in Dublin.

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 Bray, south county Dublin. He also now runs a portraiture business with a website at http://www.portraiture.ie/ With such a rich multi-faceted backlog of work already under his belt, my bets are down that there will be many more great things to come of this artist in the future. Watch this space.

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

One for the road

2009-03-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

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 Fade Street, just off of Georges Street in Dublin city centre, owners Dave and Julie and were selling records to the public for the past 11 happy years, up until January this year. But this was not just a record store; it was a family of sorts. Road Records showed an unbelievable amount of support and compassion for local independent artists. These guys were firm believers in looking after our home-grown talent, and had so much to say for those striving musicians they had come to know over the years. The closing of Road Records will definitely be felt by some of the aspiring musicians in our domestic music market, not only in having lost one of the few places to stock independent records, but also in having lost a place for friends.

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 14^th 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 Dublin’s legacies.

Words by Laura McGlynn

Image courtesy of iLike.com

Supermarket 2.0

2009-03-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Video courtesy of Youtube.com

Bloodlust

2009-03-09T04:37:00.000-07:00

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 3^rd 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

Lack of air-play for our home-grown

2009-03-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

In Ireland, our national radio stations have a strange tendency to ignore playing quantities of Irish artists on the air. They fray away from giving air-time to Ireland’s up and coming home-grown artists and instead fill our airwaves with music from across shores like the UK and Unites States. Relations with the US have proved to be an area of great concern for air-play royalty collection agencies such as IMRO and MCPS.

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 Ireland’s home-grown artists. This is due to the Irish radio stations having a tendency to play more American or UK artists’ music on the air rather than local artists, and therefore the royalties being collected for these artists are going to the States and the UK, where these artists are based.

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 Ireland and the US, with proper policies. This is also particularly vital because Irish music has become so increasingly popular in the States.

Words by Laura McGlynn

Image courtesy of imro.ie

Just when we thought it couldn't get worse

2009-03-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

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 Ireland, the modern music industry exists almost in spite of the State rather than because of it. There is no logical framework in place to support this industry. Policy makers do not seem to understand the nature of this business and as such they show it little regard.

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

Interview with Eamonn Doyle

2009-03-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

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 Ireland. Recently I have got more ambitious with my plans for the label with more varied projects on the horizon.

How would you describe your label’s “brand”?

I think the perception of D1 in Ireland is quite different to our international profile. At home we have been associated with many elements of the music industry from the label, club promotion, our old record shop and also DEAF. I have also been quite outspoken over the years [although this has eased off in recent years]… so the reputation of the D1 has been tied up with many things and personalities. It's also been affected by the usual local industry politics and egos so it's difficult to define… I never set out to create a "brand" as such. Overseas I think people associate D1 with a particular style of deep techno. As the recent wave of "minimal" techno has swept across the world I think we're getting a lot more notice as we haven't really gone alone with the trends… and after 15 years I think we've been around long enough that people have started to attach a certain element of legacy to the D1 name.

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 Ireland…. I waited until D1 number 35 before I put my fist solo release on the label. I think I was just weary of "vanity publishing" … were people release / publish their own work, although it's very common now for artist run labels.

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 Ireland specifically for electronic music as the market is so small here. I don't really focus on sales here as only about 1% of our sales are in Ireland. We've gone some way towards gaining recognition for Irish electronic music abroad but that's pretty difficult to quantify.

As most people who have heard of D1 Recordings will know, you are also strongly involved with the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival. –How did this collaboration come about for you?

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 Temple Bar Music Centre at the time... and it's been a partnership between both of us since. We set up a separate company [D1 Productions] to run the festival.

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 Ireland. Music education in schools really needs to be developed… for a country with such a rich music culture there seems to be a serious shortfall in music education in general.

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

A gig worth losing a foot for

2009-03-08T15:01:00.001-07:00

WOLF PARADE @ VICAR ST. 29/11/08

The time had finally come, Wolf Parade had released their much anticipated 2^nd 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 Dublin’s finest venues, Vicar Street. I had been itching to see these guys since I first came accross them in 2005. Little did I know that the night wasn’t to go as smoothly for me as the show was to go for them.

I ran in the door, a little later than I had hoped, to my house in Dun Laoghaire -from which I was working out how long it would take me to race into town such as to be on time for claiming a spot in the front row... How long will it take me to make some sort of decency of a very bad-hair day... How long will it take me to slap on a bit of make-up. And to pack up my camera bag. And to get to the dart station, and to get the dart. And to get from the dart up to VicarStreet. I calculated frantically in my head as I hopped around my bedroom trying to put my socks on, and then it happened...

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 Pearse street to Thomas street with a short stop-off in Starbucks for a venti Chai Tea Latte to go, if you don’t mind.

I met my friend X at Christchurch cathedral as he wasn’t sure of the exact direction. I’ll omit his name for sake of preserving his dignity having spent the night with what must have looked like a peg-legged hobbling pirate.

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 Ireland, -a sure-fire way to win us over. Everybody knows that Americans love to pull out any sort of late great, great granddad’s brother’s mother’s second cousin from Ireland that they may have in order to relate themselves to us. It’s what they do. But maybe the fact that they were Canadian saved him in this part, as Dan’s dedication seemed thoroughly genuine and definitely inspiring. It added to a very good closing selection.

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! Canada's Music Authority

Wolf Parade on Myspace

Ch-ch-ch-changes in our electronic music scene

2009-02-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

In essence the Irish electronic music scene has only truly reared its head above waters within the past 15years. I’m not referring to electronic music in the same boat as the mindless throbbing blipping and buzzing of Ibiza style anthems to please the masses. But rather the talented and complex symphonies & mixes of skilful nerd masterminds… The Irish edition of an underground electronic scene.

In the 80’s, club culture was at a peak around the world, with genres like electro and techno taking the limelight. But Ireland was still a little bit in the dark ages. Although we had a handful of old haunts; our club scene wasn’t nearly as vibrant as that of Europe. The mid to late 1990’s ushered in a new wave of DJs taking a stand. Irish clubs were the place to be, and new ones were popping up almost weekly to cater for the demand. We were largely looking to our neighbours in Britain.

In 2008’s July edition of Slick-DJ magazine, Desy Balmer wrote; “the roots of Irish techno and electronica are found in seminal clubs back in the day and apart from a dozen or so adventurous DJs, desperate club owners and half a dozen record shops, Ireland’s dance music and electronica scene fumbled in the dark shadows of its UK neighbours for much of the 1990’s.”
Suddenly everyone wanted to be a DJ. The DJ was ‘god’. It reminds me a lot of the changes which came about in Manchester’s Hacienda nightclub. Suddenlybands were out, and DJs were in. And we were following suit.But it is these more recent years which I am more interested in, as it is now that Irish DJs are turning towards self production and the DIY approach.

The Irish electronic music scene seems at present a remarkably healthy and strong environment to work in. It is very clear to any bystander with interest in the Irish dance scene that DJs have been spending a lot of time in the studio lately. Labels such as D1, Quadraphonic, Influx, Scribble & Ultramack are living proof, & are paving the way forward for others. A lot of promoters, labels, producers and DJs are working together, and overall whilst everyone is competitive, it all seems very collaborative too.

Today technology is smaller and cheaper, and it’s certainly not impossible to get your hands on a cracked copy of Ableton software. The price of a decent laptop has also gone down. And such a package is a lot less costly and space-consuming than a set of turntables and a mixer.
A friend of mine used to store an ungodly amount of equipment in his spare room where he would spend hours upon hours playing around behind closed doors with records and samples and peddles etc, until he downsized to a tiny little ensemble. He got a better laptop with better storage, some snazzy software, and a digital set of USB decks. It’s becoming easier and easier for anyone who wants to start making their own beats in their own bedroom, to do so. We’re seeing a lot of good strong music emanating from musky bedroom studios all over Ireland also because of the cost efficiency.
Because “bedroom producers” don’t have to pay studio rental fees, they can spend as much time as they desire to work on their tracks at home, producing a very polished result. They are limited only by their own aspirations and talents.
One of few prominent Irish DJs to have made much of a mark abroad is DJ Johnny Moy, signed to Influx Records. He comments; “A couple of years ago, you wouldn’t have got this but people now want to produce their own tracks as well as DJ. It has become part and parcel of the whole vibe.”
It’s actually become a fashion statement of sorts to be in complete control, produce and mix your own tracks. Of course, as with anything, with increases in accessibility it’s likely that there will be a decrease in the control of quality.

D1 Recordings are producing tracks in vinyl & digital format. Their sales are mostly in physical (vinyl) format though, with current figures showing vinyl at 90% and online digital at 10%. There will always be issues of whether sound is more authentic coming from a vinyl on the decks than an MP3 from your laptop, and many DJs are still sticking to tradition. Or is it perhaps that they simply haven’t been “converted” yet. Most people would be of the opinion that there is a certain quality of sound lost to digital which is admired in vinyl format.
There is also a certain sense of nostalgia attached to purchasing a record, with the actual label fixed to it. Since 1901 labels have been fixed as a circular disc to the centre of the records. There isn’t the same substance in seeing a little printed logo on the back right hand corner of a CD case. In Brian Southall’s “The A-Z of Record Labels”, Chris Wright chairman of Chrysalis Group plc wrote the book’s Forward, commenting; “with artists demanding their own label names and designs it is a sad fact that record labels do not seem to be as important as they once were.”
As for dance labels, I think vinyl sales will never completely evaporate. There will always be a need and a desire for this format.

Strangely enough, as the quantity of small Irish labels is increasing, the quantity of record stores is decreasing. Just recently the infamous family-run Road Records shop regrettably closed its doors. This was an independent record store in Dublin city centre widely praised by musicians for their support.In response to a thread posted on the thumped.com forum, Dave from Road Records said; “I have always been optimistic that this city can sustain a couple of smaller indie shops but I no longer believe that to be true, again, I really hope I am wrong with this opinion but the way people go about buying their music these days does not instil me with too much confidence… Regardless of what I have thought over the years downloading has effected our business, probably more so the illegal side of things, file-sharing and the likes.”
With the current recession which our country is suffering from, we may see a few more of these small record stores and possibly small labels alike struggling, or also having to say their farewells. It has been forecasted that Irish independent labels may be forced into signing to major labels in order to survive.

It’s undeniable that the iTunes generation has most definitely taken over. Peer to peer sharing and digital downloads have made their major dent in the music industry on a global scale, and this hasn’t escaped our tiny little island of a mere 6 million. What’s worse is that, naturally, people will take something for free if they can get it, rather than paying a price. (As we have scene in the recent Radiohead online “pick your own price” scandal.) Most people would pin this avoidance on Apple’s price intransigence, which makes many consumers divert from the legal route of downloading music online.
If you had asked me 5 years ago if I had an interest in “techno music”, I would probably have said no. I’m not quite sure exactly how I found myself working in and rummaging through the Irish electronic music scene over the past couple of years, as I have always been and still am a devout indie / alternative music follower. With artists such as PJ Harvey, Siouxie and The Banshees, The Cranberries, Mazzy Star and The Jesus & Mary Chain resting amongst my all time favourites, how did I end up adrift in this alternate universe? It may have been because I thought I had come to know all that there was to know about all the contemporary Dublin bands, and seen all that there was to see, but that would be very naïve. It was a venture out of sheer curiosity more than anything I would assume. I am sure though, that it did have something to do with the way in which indie rock and electronica outfits are now beginning to merge. There is an amalgamation in the making here, or an alliance at least. Looking at acts such as Jape, Twin Kranes, Si Schroeder, Channel One, Super Extra Bonus Party; essentially these are all Irish electronica rock bands, doing really well for themselves today. Jape, (Richie Egan), in particular has come a long way since he started off from his bedroom somewhere in Crumlin, tied between the excitement of bolts and buttons, and the lure of more organic instruments. He went on to co-form the instrumental rock / ambient group The Redneck Manifesto, described by Hotpress magazine as the “omnipresent powerhouse within the DIY Irish music scene”. But even more interestingly, Egan later decided to fulfil a separate dream, and formed Jape. –A side project initially, he has become a Dublin local cult-like icon as an innovator in experimental digital music. It’s becoming increasingly popular for bands to mix these two breeds, having your staple bass, drums and electric guitars, and then on the other side of the stage your synthesisers, drum machines and laptops hooked up to all sorts of little gadgets.

What is also interesting is that although Leinster doesn’t have a real dance music radio station, these up-and-coming artists are still getting quite a hefty amount of airplay from other stations, primarily Phantom FM. But Phantom FM is known as Dublin’s number one indie rock station, so what does this tell us about how styles are merging. Looking at what used to be known as Dublin’s one dance music station, Spin 103.8, they have since lost their initial direction and decided to spew out a majority of chart topping hits.

So what makes Ireland’s electronic music scene in any way different from others I hear you say? .....Well, not a great lot. In many ways, we have copied the movements of those around us, primarily Europe But what we can boast about is how well we have done, in adopting these patterns over here. When asked what he thought made the Irish music industry distinctive, D1’s Eamonn Doyle responded; “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 industry circles”.
When I asked Richie Egan what he thought about Ireland in this respect, he said that he thought “the electronic music world in Ireland has become as good as any in the world in terms of the DJs and clubs, stuff like Nightflight and Shock and Bodytonic have shown that.. I still think we have a bit to go before we have world class producers but there are some."
It’s funny to think that with all of the great poets, musicians, authors, playwrights and actors which have emerged from Ireland over the years and the concentration of talent in our heritage, that no great Irish dance music producer or internationally recognized DJ has surfaced. It’s important to take into account the new younger generations who inhale technology and wash it down with a glass-full of whiz-kid for breakfast. Perhaps if we start training our children to press the right buttons now, Ireland could churn out some world class e-music producers for the future.

That seems to be what Karen Walshe & Eamonn Doyle had in mind when adding the DEAF Junior workshops to their festival programme….
As a part of the annual Dublin Electronic Arts Festival a weeklong “camp” of sorts is held for youths to get a hold of basic digital music production and filming. This workshop has been based from The Ark centre in Temple Bar. It has proved to be highly successful so far and the DEAF team hope soon to further such teachings and exciting exercises into the Irish education system. What the children produce is then shown as a part of the D1 Recordings showcase in MeetingHouse Square. Though not all of these children are guaranteed to become future music or film producers, stimulating this kind of creativity within the younger generations may well yield the odd one or two who do follow it as a career path. Who knows what types of talent in this field we will be turning out in years to come.In interview, Doyle stressed; “Music education in schools really needs to be developed for a country with such a rich music culture there seems to be a serious shortfall in music education in general.”

I think that most other countries would still be quite surprised that for such a small country, known abroad to have been a bit old fashioned and backward, we have such a thriving underground electronic scene today. Unfortunately, much of Irish major record labels have kept their interests to signing international acts and selling them to the Irish market, rather than hunting for home-grown talent. At present, Universal Ireland owns the biggest share of the Irish record industry, approximately 24%. In spite of all this, there is an increasing call for Irish electronic music worldwide, and I think that we have finally just built up the strongfoundations for cultivating real talent at home. Only recently have we beenproducing Irish records good enough to sell more of here to Irish consumers than abroad. Irish act Decal used to be a dynamic duo known as the godfathers of the improv experimental e-music scene. Decal’s Dennis says “now there are Irish records being made, which are good enough to sell exponentially more copies here than their foreign counterparts” …“It’s Irish people in actually-wanting-to-buy-Irish-music shocker!” This positive turnaround is a lot different to the situation which faced Decal in their earlier years when they expected their first releases to be eaten up by Irish audiences, but to no avail.
Top international DJ, DJ Marky; the brazil-born man named as the innovator of Drum n’ Bass, agreed to an interview with Execute Steve from Yournight.ie. In this interview he gushed that he had so much love for Ireland. He said that Ireland has some of the best crowds in the world, and that whenever his agent says thatthere’s a gig going in Ireland, he doesn’t care, he’s definitely doing it no matter what.

It seems to be a global running thread of understanding that the Irish make for a great audience, and have a lot of unsung talent yet to be seen overseas.
So what’s stopping us from realising all of these yet to be fulfilled ambitions of producing global DJ superstars and having a thriving underground dance scene akin to Berlin or Detroit?
A very important subject to take into account of late is the effect which the Irish Government has had on the music industry. The Irish electronic music and club scene has been hit very hard by the enactment of The Intoxicating Liquor Act in 2008. Due to the restrictive earlier club closing times, people are turning more towards staying in the pubs rather than continuing on to a nightclub for the later hours, as they used to. Now people simply aren’t seeing the point, because by the time they get to a nightclub it isn’t long before they have to leave again. Having probably spent an admission fee of anywhere between 5 and 15 euro, their night should only be starting. Club-goers used to be able to keep dancing till approximately 3:30 or 4 am, now only till 2:30 am at best. This is undoubtedly having its effect on the popularity of DJ club-nights and club attendance rates. Will nightclubs start opening their doors earlier to try and persuade the public to spend the entire night in the club, rather than splitting their night between a pub and club? Club owners can apply for time extensions to their closing hours but the enormous cost of this outweighs the benefit.

According to an article published in the Irish Times, Supt. Joe Gannon, of Dublin’s Pearse Street Garda Station, says that since the new Act came into place, he has experienced no decline in the amount of disorder on the streets. -The very reason it was enacted for. Music producer and spokesperson for the Give Us the Night lobby group, Sunil Sharpe, says “DJs, visual artists, dancers and promoters have all "felt the pinch" with many staff losing shifts, and DJs on reduced fees”, “Government is hindering the potential for a safer and more vibrant nightlife in Ireland, which would be in line with the nightlife in other major European cities”.
For many small independent dance labels, a lot of funding comes from club promotion, but with the fall of attendance these funds have lessened, making things more difficult.
Online blogger and Cork DJ Stevie G remarks “As a DJ, who would gladly play till 5am every Saturday night, I’ve always been frustrated when trying to explain to people at 2am why we have to stop playing music”.

The current financial recession is just the sardonic cherry on the top now for DJs and club owners, with people not even having enough money to go out for the night in the first instance.
As for the future of Ireland’s electronica / dance scene, it’s hard to predict exactly what way things will shift. I caught up with Trevor O’Shea, owner and founder of Dublin-based Bodytonic Music, and asked him what he thought was going to come of the next few years. Trev remarked; “it’s always hard to predict the future in this sub-sector, but I would imagine you'll see a power shift from big promoters and venue owners controlling everything, to promoters,producers and people with new ideas, and a lot of energy coming through. In a way, an extension of the last 3-5 years. I think new labels could struggle big time, it will be mainly down to producers to put their own music out and promote it themselves.”

In most cases people won’t witness much competition in this little market. I think that this is due to the small size and nature of this niche music following.Those involved would be of the opinion that “the more the merrier”, not seeing any neighbouring labels as competition. There again there aren’t many labels out there, still releasing on vinyl. Most are releasing on MP3 / digital labels now. This instantly puts these in a different category to vinyl labels.
When I talked to Andy Noonan from Yournight.ie, he held that “a lot of these labels work together for the very reason that they are a niche group. It’s a tight community, everybody knows everybody.”
For now this friendly collaborative manner and equality seems to be nourishing the Irish electronic arts rather than hindering, and it would be a shared hope that this is how it will continue.

Words by Laura McGlynn
DJ Craze image courtesy of Bodytonicmusic.com