District: GUIDE February 2019 by District Magazine

Dublin

Gus Dapperton

February 2019 FREE

THE DEBUT ALBUM

OUT FEBRUARY 8TH FEATURING DOING IT AND PSYCH OUT ! 2

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ƫ ƫ ƫ ƫ ƫ ƫ

ƫ ƫ Čƫ ƫāĈ ƫħƫ ƫĺĂĀƫ ċƫ ƫ

Admission Free www.museum.ie National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7 Sunday & Monday 1pm - 5pm Tuesday – Saturday 10am - 5pm

IRELAND’S LARGEST

CRAFT BREWS FESTIVAL 14-16 MARCH 2019, THE CONVENTION CENTRE DUBLIN 4

Buy your tickets now at alltechbrews.ie/tickets

EL SILENCIO FFF @el_silencio_fff

June 29th

Navan Racecourse Co. Meath

Higher Vision Festival

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ACTS ANNOUNCED SO FAR:

June 29th

J E FF

M I L LS NI

K K i N

CO L E

M O U DA B E R

K E T TA M A

SOL AR D O

KA R E

V E

C L AR K E

PLUS MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED.

Navan Racecourse Co. Meath

Ireland has never had an infrastructure for alternative artists to prosper. In spite of this, the country is more musically and artistically diverse than ever. However, this has happened by artists employing a thoroughly ‘DIY’ way of working. This month’s cover story features Gus Dapperton, a singer-songwriter who is living proof that doing it yourself can work. Coming from a sparsely-populated, albeit beautiful, town in New York State, Gus had to travel to the Big Apple at weekends and form his own connections. After viral success in 2015/16, he’s since proved himself to be one of the names leading this charge in the world of odd-ball pop. In the interview we discussed the idea of manifesting fantasies into realities, featuring a shoot by Ireland-born, New York-based photographer Elsa Brightling. Elsewhere in this issue, Hannah O’Connell catches up with East London hip hop artist Jay Prince, Eoghan Barra spends a day with two members of London-based, Irish group Blackﬁsh Collective, and Aoife Donnellan gets a fascinating insight into the mind of renowned photographer Wolfgang Tillmans as his exhibition in IMMA enters its ﬁnal month. - Eric Davidson 6

Editor // Eric Davidson

Deputy Editor // Hannah O’Connell

Operations Director // Craig Connolly

Creative Director // James McGuirk

Culture Editor // Aoife Donnellan

Food & Drink Editor // Caitriona Devery

Sub Editor // Carla Jenkins

Photography // Wolfgang Tillmans, George Voronov, Ellius Grace, Eoghan Barra, Agustín Farías, Florence To, Mae Ly Lim

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

Advertising // Ricky Lahart / ricky@districtmagazine.ie

Website // districtmagazine.ie

Issue 001-005 Creative Director // Johnny Brennan

Cover Photography // Elsa Brightling

10 / Gus Dapperton 20 / Perfect Day in Dublin 24 / Blackﬁsh Collective 28 / Aesynth 32 / Live Guide 36 / Jay Prince 40 / Bad Bridget 44 / Sleaford Mods 46 / José Mendez 50 / Wolfgang Tillmans 56 / Skin Deep: Captain Agne 60 / Irish artist spotlight: Ross Carvill 64 / Club Guide 68 / Or:la 72 / House & techno collectives to watch 74 / Clouds 80 / Chinese New Year 84 / Burritos 87 / Restaurant of the Month 88 / Top 5

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Gus Dapperton Words: Eric Davidson / Photography: Elsa Brightling

t takes a special person to manifest small town dreams into reality. But with New York City just under two hours away from his home in Warwick, on the bus, Gus Dapperton had an escape route. Every weekend he’d pack a small bag and set off for the city. He was able to integrate into the Big Apple’s vast creative scene, becoming part of a tight community where he honed his sound and expressed himself in a totally free way. A liberty that is perhaps unavailable to those with similar fantasies of artistic escape in more remote areas of the USA.

Gus began drip feeding tracks online in 2015, first up releasing the addictive ‘Moodna, Once With Grace’ which set the tone for a musical direction that enticed a generation of fans who were brought up on SoundCloud. His tracks soon went viral, with ‘I’m Just Snacking’ and 2017’s ‘Prune, You Talk Funny’ racking up millions of listens and views. Fast forward to 2018 and ‘Of Lacking Spectacle’, a track which Gus recorded the demo for on his phone, was featured on the wildly popular Netflix series ‘13 Reasons Why’. He then shared a video for ‘World Class Cinema’, directed by his longtime

collaborator Matthew Dillon Cohen complete with what’s become his signature dancing style. As he sets off on his biggest European tour to date, with sold out shows all over the continent, people are now finished talking about Gus’s haircut, clothes, earrings and eyeshadow. They’re now realising that we’ve got a genuine alternative pop superstar on our hands and his His visions and ambitions are turning into a reality. We caught up with him for a shoot in New York City and a subsequent video call interview to discuss the idea of fantasy and growing up in Warwick.

In a lot of your music videos you’ve got headphones on, or in ‘World Class Cinema’ it’s set in a daydream. In these videos you’re enjoying the music you’re making, as opposed to performing it. Is that representative of anything? Do you make music firstly for yourself? I definitely make music for myself, in the respect that it’s the only artform that I am fully embedded into. I think I make music for emotional release and I make music so I can let my feelings out in a healthy way. I definitely like to say that my music is representative of dreams and fantasy, because in general everyone lives in the dimension within their own mind and I would like to imagine that inside my head is a place of acceptance and openmindedness. So in those videos we try to create a world that I would exist in. That idea of fantasy and surrealism always reappears in your music and visuals too. Do you dream and fantasise vividly? Does that have an impact on your creative process? Honestly, it doesn’t that much. Dreams don’t affect it that much, I don’t dream that vividly. It’s more about my imagination and how it affects my creative flow, that’s what I mean when I say ‘dream world’. How do you go about manifesting those imaginations into reality? It’s taking what’s inside of you and all that you’ve learned over the years and using it as a whole to create original things. So instead of looking for influences and references that are around you to create something, instead it’s straight from inside of you. From what you already know… What you subconsciously already know. Just trying to make the truest interpretation of what you hear inside your head. Has that process changed over the past few years as things have gone well for you? Yeah, in general the more I’ve made music, and the more I’ve been able to interpret my art sonically and visually, I’ve gotten more used to doing it. Now if I hear something inside my head I can sit down and make something exactly how I want to make it. As opposed to in the past, I used to have to try and find it.

I wanted to talk to you about your hometown. In terms of New York state, Warwick is pretty close to NYC. Was that a benefit for you growing up? Having a small town feeling, but knowing this hub of creativity was relatively close by? I think that growing up there was definitely one of the biggest factors that makes me who I am. I grew up in a rural town that was super isolated. Although it was only an hour and a half from New York City, it felt like it was in the Midwest. No one really got out, everyone did the same thing, copied each other, mimicked each other’s lives, and I thought that was so harmful. I wanted to get out of there and do my own thing. Everyone from Warwick looked at the town like it was the whole world. I’d take the bus to the city every weekend. That idea drove me even harder, because I was going to the city and meeting people, creating opportunities for myself, so it was definitely beneficial being as far away as I was, but also as close as I was. Was the duality of beautiful surroundings and small town mentalities challenging growing up? On the one hand it looks like such an inspiring place to be because it’s such a picturesque part of the world… It wasn’t too much and it wasn’t too little, I think it was the perfect balance, to be honest. I definitely got a lot of inspiration from my hometown, it’s such a scenic and beautiful place. But I think the motivation, drive and passion to get out of there was because I was close to the city. 13

“Nowadays I just do me and don’t let it affect me, but I used to be heavily affected by other people’s opinions.”

You mentioned before that your music and style inspirations derive from when you were a toddler and the influences you had growing up. What is it about that childlike way of thinking that inspires you? Was it a somewhat untainted wonder? That’s exactly what it was. Just a pure fascination. Not being surrounded by evil, knowing that pure learning and pure fascination is supported as opposed to when I got older and I got judged. You’re not judged as a kid. Everything derives from that very naive sense that I’m not going to be judged and I can conquer the world and do what I want how I want to do it. Speaking of being judged, now that the media has had their initial buzz around your fashion sense and artistic vision, do you feel writers and critics are now focusing more on your music? Have the questions about wearing make-up and ‘women’s’ clothes ceased a little? In the music scene it’s starting to die down a little bit and people are just like, ‘Gus can do his thing, whatever’. But there are some people who just don’t get it and will ask me weird questions… That’s the thing though, when I was in Warwick and I was in this weird funk it was very tough for me to be myself. I still did it because I didn’t give a fuck, but I definitely let people affect my feelings. Nowadays I just do me and don’t let it affect me, but I used to be heavily affected by other people’s opinions. How did you make that change?

What was the initial reason you wanted to go to school in Philadelphia?

I went to New York a lot, I lived there over the summer, I’d sublet from people’s apartments. Then I started studying in Philadelphia because it was the best music school that I got into, it just so happened. I didn’t have a great experience in school, I never liked school. I think the best time in Philly was when I actually dropped out of school and lived with a couple of friends in this big warehouse apartment for a year. I got to make music whenever I wanted and I think that was a more beneficial time for me.

It was literally the flip of a switch. I was going through a really dark time in my life and it was probably the most depressing moment in my life. Something sparked in my head and I said, ‘Fuck it. From here on out we’re doing it all out, 100 per cent of the time, putting in the work and don’t stop until the work is done’. I was coming out of a really rough time and I had a big opportunity to… For example, you could be at a really level place with yourself, where you’re really just content with your life, but then you can be a person who has really happy moments and then really depressing moments. Really happy, then really depressed, those are more influential then being gradually content. I think I was so deep down that I had a big opportunity to go right up. Gus Dapperton plays Button Factory on March 4 & 5.

PERFECT

George Voronov Photographer @georgevoronov

Last place you ate? El Grito Taqueria, Temple Bar. Best Mexican street food in Dublin. Last pub you went to? J. O’Connell’s on South Richmond Street. Cosy as all heck, lovely Guinn. Favourite place to escape to? Relatively recent discovery, but Glenmalure in Wicklow. Specifically, a three-step recovery program that consists of a hike in the mountains, followed by a sauna in the Bosca Beatha [with dips in the river], capped off with a pint and a meal in the Glenmalure Lodge. Favourite place to go to in the sun? Up to Wicklow with a gang of mates and an inflatable canoe. What’s one thing you see every day here? Probably Ellius Grace. What would you like to see less of? €500 per month rents for bunk beds in hallways. Best memory of the city? Dancing at the last Telephones party. 20 degrees outside, surrounded by friends who had just moved back to Dublin after having emigrated a few years previously. Perfection. Best place for a Guinness? The Glimmerman in Stoneybatter, it’s everything a pub should be and more. Southside seaside or Northside seaside? I’m very definitely biased because I live in Dun Laoghaire so it has to be Southside for me. Watching the summer sun set on top of all the boulders behind Bullock Harbour is top notch.

DAY

Words & Photography: Ellius Grace

Naoise Fitzgerald Musician @nnic.official

Last place you ate? Sisu Izakaya. Last pub you went to? The Jar. Favourite place to escape to? Ticknock. Favourite place to go to in the sun? Herbert Park. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one thing you see every day here? Churches. What would you like to see less of? Churches. Best memory of the city? Snow week in December 2010. Best place for a Guinness? Not a Guinness drinker but The Blue Light does a good G&T! Southside seaside or Northside seaside? Southside for a swim but Howth/Northside for a seaside walk.

DUBLIN 23

AESYNTH Words: Aoife Donnellan

esynth is a one of a kind. Curated and founded by artist/synesthete Jane Mackay, and musician Siobhán Doyle, Aesynth is a four-day festival of events celebrating the power of synaesthesia through music, visual art, panel discussions and film. Mackay’s compelling visual realisations of string quartet works by Mendelssohn and Britten will be exhibited throughout the weekend, which will be performed live by chamber music ensemble, The Lir String Quartet. This festival’s debut sets out to expand musical, artistic, and scientific concepts of art consumption. Witnessing the internal understanding of music through visual art acts as a reminder of the variety of individual experience. Jane, first things first, would you be able to explain synaesthesia and what it means for your creative process? Jane: Sure, synaesthesia is a neurological trait or condition that results in the joining or merging of senses that aren’t normally connected. The stimulation of one sense causes an involuntary reaction in one or more of the other senses. There are many types of synaesthesia; for example coloured hearing, when a sound creates a colour, shape, texture or movement in the mind’s eye; or word-taste synaesthesia; when the sound of a word will give a strong taste of an unrelated substance. My creative process is largely based around the images I see when listening to music. I am a trained classical musician but have painted all genres of music over the years. I find that listening to music gives me an infinite stream of intriguing and energising images which provide me with more painterly subjects than I could ever need in a lifetime.

Do other aspects of life interact with your senses differently or is it confined to music? Jane: Yes, I have other interactions. I have always experienced coloured images for all sounds, for example, voices, animal noises, aircraft and traffic. I also have always had consistent colours for words, numbers, names and days of the week. I have experienced colour when in severe pain; an episode of sciatica was a deep purple. Also ‘positional’ synaesthesia— colours for different body positions; stretched out is a strong yellow; curled up is a mix of dark purples, reds, pinks and mauves. Sudden, loud noises give me pins and needles round my mouth or in the small of my back, often associated with a greyish, blue-tinted mauve colour. The link between music and visual art is what interests you most, what is it that drew you to choose to create visual representations of aural sensations? When did you start to paint? Jane: I started to paint as far back as I can remember. I have memories of scribbling a ‘cracker’ design aged about three years, and winning a painting competition aged six years. I clearly remember, though don’t know where the notion came from, that creating a picture had to be ‘out of my head’. As a child, I felt that it was in some way cheating to represent what was out there in the world, in front of me. I had to draw or paint what was in my inner visual world, and so painting words, poetry mainly, and music was the obvious thing to do. It didn’t occur to me not to paint them.

Mendelssohn Quartet no.3 in D major, op.44, no.1 Presto con brio (bar 300 – top A) Medium: watercolour and acrylic. Dimensions (hxw): 384 x 505mm

Mendelssohn Quartet no.3 in D major, op.44, no.1 Molto allegro vivace (bars 139â&#x20AC;&#x201C;165) Medium: watercolour and acrylic. Dimensions (hxw): 370 x 274mm

Mendelssohn Quartet no.3 in D major, op.44, no.1 Presto con brio (bars 289â&#x20AC;&#x201C;end) Medium: watercolour. Dimensions (hxw): 268 x 377mm

Why Mendelssohn and Britten? Jane: I have made a specialism of my Britten paintings—an interest first sparked off by having sung many of his choral works at school. I find his music strongly visual, captivating and poignant. I have painted several hundred pictures of Britten’s music, but feel I have only just scraped the surface of the works of this musical genius. In contrast, I have painted very little Mendelssohn in the past, but have much enjoyed exploring his multi-layered D-major string quartet— one of the works to be performed at Aesynth. Siobhán: Mendelssohn was the quartet’s choice. I wanted something that would provide a stark contrast to the Britten, both from a musical perspective and so that audiences could see a the wide scope of Jane’s responses to different types of music. Many of the Britten paintings are full of blues and golds, with pastel shades or grey charcoals. The opening of the Mendelssohn is a burst of uplifting, joyful energy and Jane’s painting of this is an explosion of oranges, yellows, blues, pinks. It’s fascinating. Britten String Quartet No.3 Op.94 IV Burlesque: Quasi ‘Trio’ (bars 68–97) Medium: watercolour and acrylic. Dimensions (hxw): 230 x 170mm

What inspired you both to create an interdisciplinary festival, and why is it important? Siobhán: My initial interest in setting up an interdisciplinary event came from my first discovery of the condition synaesthesia about five years ago. I was so fascinated with the idea that people could see music; it seemed to add another mesmerising dimension to a medium that I already loved so much and I was so jealous! Finding ways to present classical music in new ways is important to me and this phenomenon seemed like a perfect way to combine different art forms that would appeal to people across a broad range of interests of music, art and science. I came across Jane through a YouTube video of a collaboration she had taken part in with the Philharmonia Orchestra. When I got in touch with her it was clear that with our combined passions and interests there was the potential create something ambitious.

Britten String Quartet No.3 Op.94 V Recitative and Passacaglia (bars 81-104) Medium: watercolour, charcoal and pencil. Dimensions (hxw): 350 x 500mm

Art has never been so multidisciplinary; do you see the erosion of traditional categories as a positive development? Jane: Yes, the ‘merging’ of the arts can only be a positive development, in my view. As an artist, one is constantly exploring new ideas, and pushing at traditional boundaries and concepts. The creative life is a continuous journey to strange places with unexpected discoveries.

Siobhán: Absolutely, it’s wonderful to have opportunities to explore beyond the boundaries of specific art-forms. Sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in a bubble when you’re working in highly-specialised fields of art, but there can be so much to learn from different disciplines and other creative minds. What was the biggest challenge for you during the creation of this creative endeavour? Siobhán: Having to split my brain between the artistic vision and the multitude of practicalities that are involved in setting up a festival can be difficult. I have a full schedule as a travelling freelance musician, so time management is important. And of course, funding! It’s a challenge to get new artistic projects off the ground. Being a synesthete, do you feel a responsibility to represent neurodiversity in the artistic community? Jane: I don’t think I see my primary role as representing neurodiversity in the artistic community. I am more than happy if, by painting what I hear, I start a dialogue about synaesthesia and I am always pleased to discuss the condition with anyone who is interested. Having said this, I strongly feel that a painting should stand on its own as a work of art, whatever the source of the original inspiration. My synaesthesia is a tool or adjunct to my art, not the other way round. The incorporation of live music and academic panel discussions at the festival results in an interesting collusion of both scientific and creative discussions between artists, scientists and audience. What do you hope people take away from Aesynth? Jane: My hopes are that our visitors and audiences have a great time; that Aesynth is a gathering of friends and acquaintances, a sharing of ideas, a chance to hear worldclass music, a plethora of stimulating discussions and a consumption of many cups of tea, coffee and glasses of wine! It may be that during this festival some folk will discover that they are, in fact, synaesthetes. We hope that the festival will be interactive rather than didactic. It is certain that we, as co-curators, will gain more insights than we impart. Siobhán: I am so excited to have many different groups of people come together to share in this interdisciplinary experience. It would be wonderful to provide new artistic experiences for people and I hope that this festival can be an opportunity for the contributors and the audiences alike to share ideas and gain insights and inspiration from one another. Aesynth runs from February 7-10 at the Inspire Galerie. Dublin.

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LIVE GUIDE

February 2019

SHABAZZ PALACES

SLEAFORD MODS

HOMEBOY SANDMAN & EDAN

BEHEMOTH

WHITE DENIM

JOE ARMON JONES

JESS LEEN

MAGGIE ROGERS

POST MALONE

ENNIO MORRICONE

The experimental hip hop pairing of Ishmael Butler aka Palaceer Lazaro and Tendai ‘Baba’ Maraire will land in Dublin during the European leg of the Get Downs tour. For fans of: Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Clams Casino Friday February 8 The Sugar Club €20

First collaborating back in 2016, the North American artists paired up again for the playful, hip hop full length ‘Humble Pi’ last year. Now they’re taking it on tour. For fans of: Aesop Rock, Open Mike Eagle, Jonwayne Saturday February 9 The Sugar Club €20

With a new musical outlook and two years on from their comeback album, White Denim return to the Whelan’s main room with support from LYLO. For fans of: Ty Segall, Kurt Vile, Deerhunter Sunday February 10 Whelan’s €23.85

‘BOYS’ is the first single to be released ahead of the upcoming debut EP for Rora Bolt. A 90s-influenced Irish songwriter going back to her pop roots. For fans of: Lisa Hannigan, Molly Sterling, Ailbhe Reddy Thursday February 14 Smock Alley Theatre €10

One of the biggest artists in not only hip hop, but music right now is coming back to Ireland after drawing thousands at Longitude over summer. For fans of: Drake, Migos, Lil Uzi Vert Thursday February 14 3Arena

Another duo playing the capital this month, Sleaford Mods will bring their politically-charged punk to The Academy main room prior to the release of their fifth album ‘Eton Alive’ coming out on February 22. For fans of: Shame, Fontaines D.C., Slaves Friday February 8 The Academy €24.47

Polish black metal group Behemoth will stop in Vicar Street as part of their European tour. Support comes from At The Gates and Wolves in the Throne Room. For fans of: Vader, Emperor, Immortal Sunday February 10 Vicar Street €41.65

Joe’s debut album, ‘Starting Today’, came out in May 2018 and marked the vibrant young jazz scene in London at the moment. The excellent Five to Two are on support. For fans of: Tenderlonious, Kamasi Washington, Oscar Jerome Wednesday February 13 The Sugar Club €15

The Maryland singer-songwriter and producer rose to fame aftera video of Pharrell Williams listening to her song ‘Alaska’ went viral went viral, and she’s gone on to prove the N.E.R.D. man was right to praise her work. For fans of: Mallrat, Biig Piig, Pharell Thursday February 14 The Academy €24.47

Ennio Morricone will conduct his film music live in Dublin this February. The concert is part of his ‘60 YEARS OF MUSIC’ world tour and will include Dulce Pontes as a guest singer. For fans of: Hans Zimmer, Jean Michel Jarre, John Carpenter Friday February 15 3Arena €86-€178.85

BODEGA

New York art-pop five-piece Bodega will bring their much-hyped live show to the intimate surroundings of Whelan’s this month. For fans of: Shame, Girl Band, Priests Saturday February 16 Whelan’s €18.22

JUST MUSTARD

Following some highly regarded sets at Other Voices, Hard Working Class Heroes and two nationwide tours in 2018, Just Mustard play The Workmans Club with guests Tribal Dance. For fans of: Fontaines D.C., Murder Capital, IDLES Saturday February 16 The Workman’s Club €10

NENEH CHERRY

Neneh Cherry’s new record ‘Broken Politics’ was her first release since 2015’s ‘He, She, Me’ and now she’s taking it on tour. For fans of: Yves Tumor, Anohni, FKA Twigs Saturday February 16 The Academy

GOGO PENGUIN

Manchester-based leftfield piano trio GoGo Penguin play their biggest Irish show to date on the storied stage of the National Concert Hall. For fans of: Mammal Hands, Portico, Yussef Kamaal Saturday February 16 National Concert Hall €30

JUNGLE

The London modern soul collective are heading back to Ireland for a headline show on a tour that’s been running since early last year. For fans of: Hot Chip, Caribou, Django Django Monday February 18 Olympia Theatre €31.20

HIPPO CAMPUS

Hippo Campus released two new tracks for Spotify, following the band’s critically acclaimed second album ‘Bambi’ and now they’re headed for The Academy main room. For fans of: Vinyl Theatre, COIN, flor Tuesday February 19 The Academy €18.22

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KNEECAP

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DAVID DUCHOVNY

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MASSIVE ATTACK

FREDO

STEELY DAN & STEVE WINWOOD

The bilingual, West-Belfast trio will stop off in Dublin during their first Irish tour this month. Expect flows in English and as Gaeilge. For fans of: Jafaris, Kojaque, Mango X MathMan Wednesday February 20 The Workman’s Club €10

X Files star David Duchovny is bringing his band to Dublin for a headline show this month. Yeah, seriously. For fans of: Alien Ant Farm, 30 Seconds to Mars, Moon Boots Wednesday February 20 The Academy €31.24

The band return to ireland following the release of their acclaimed third album ‘Love Is Dead’ and on the back of a huge run of summer festival performances across the world. For fans of: HAIM, Purity Ring, Grimes Thursday February 21 Olympia Theatre

One of the biggest names in alternative hip hop at the moment returns for his second sold out Dublin show in the space of two years. For fans of: GoldLink, Mick Jenkins, BROCKHAMPTON Friday February 22 The Academy €27.95

The Dublin based band bring a combination of hip hop, R&B, funk, jazz styles to create a uniquely provocative sound. For fans of: The Internet, KAYTRANADA, Anderson .Paak Saturday February 23 Wigwam

London rapper Fredo had a UK number-one single in ‘Funky Friday’ last year with fellow MC Dave. He’s fast becoming one of the most talked about names in UK urban music. For fans of: AJ Tracey, Jaykae, Belly Squad Monday February 25 Olympia Theatre

Eafa’s music borders on experimental indie, with a hint of electronic. She uses her vocals to create a cacophony of sound with a multitude of layers and synth patterns. For fans of: AE Mak, Rosa Nutty, Ailbhe Reddy Thursday February 21 Smock Alley Theatre €10

The Grammy-nominated New Orleans brass band are firm favourites in Ireland. Their bombastic sound is infectious. For fans of: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Portico, Darondo Wednesday February 20 Button Factory €22.90

US rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer from Watts, California has worked with some of the biggest names in the game. For fans of: Freddie Gibbs, Pusha T, ScHoolboy Q Friday February 22 Button Factory

Lowli is Roisin Lowry, a Dublin-based composer/songwriter originally from Galway who began writing music under the moniker in 2016. For fans of: Daughter, Fiona Apple, Lisa Hannigan Saturday February 23 Bello Bar €10

Legendary British group Massive Attack formed in 1988 in Bristol. The duo consists of Robert “3D” Del Naja, Grant “Daddy G” Marshall. For fans of: Underworld, Tricky, Nightmares on Wax Sunday February 24 3Arena €121 - €151

The iconic Steely Dan will be joined on stage by Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee Steve Winwood. For fans of: The Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Peter Frampton Thursday February 28 3Arena €92.15 - €330

€22.90 - €26.90

THE COMET IS COMING

POST PUNK PODGE & THE TECHNOHIPPIES

TANK AND THE BANGAS

BAS

KAMASI WASHINGTON

GUS DAPPERTON

London-based band who incorporate elements of jazz, electronica, funk and psychedelic rock. For fans of: Kamaal Williams, GoGo Penguin, Mammal Hands Friday March 1 The Sugar Club €20

The American group based in New Orleans, Louisiana who won the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest will make their way to The Sugar Club this March. For fans of: Hiatus Kaiyote, Big Freedia, OSHUN Saturday March 2 The Sugar Club €25

American saxophonist, composer, producer and bandleader changing perceptions of jazz in 2019. For fans of: Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Yussef Kamaal Sunday March 3 Olympia Theatre €41 - €48

Post Punk Podge is “a figment of punk and An Post’s imagination a singer/ rapper/musician from Limerick”. For fans of: Happyalone., Girl Band, Acid Granny Friday March 1 Whelan’s Free

Abbas Hamad, better known by his stage name Bas, is a Sudanese-American rapper from Queens, New York. For fans of: J. Cole, EARTHGANG, Saba Sunday March 3 The Academy €23.95

After finding viral success on SoundCloud, Gus Dapperton has become one of indie/alt-pop’s posterboys. For fans of: Mac DeMarco, King Krule, Cuco Monday March 4 Button Factory €20.83

Exhibition of the month ‘77 MILLION PAINTINGS’ BY BRIAN ENO Eno rose to fame in the early 1970s receiving international prominence as a founding member of Roxy Music. He’s now a musician, producer, thinker, activist and visual artist. His most recent project was born from his continuous exploration into light as an artist’s medium and the aesthetic possibilities of generative software. This ever-changing, large-scale music and light installation evolves slowly around the audience, who can relate to it as a conventional painting while being aware that the same combination of images will never be seen again. ‘77 Million Paintings’ is what Brian Eno calls ‘generative art’. “One of the things which strongly draws me to generative art is the idea that the thing is so big, in that there are so many variations, that not even the artist can see all the possibilities. “Since my first experiments with light and sound in the late 1960’s, I’ve never ceased to be fascinated by the amazingly intricate, complex and unpredictable results produced by simple deterministic systems. Out of simplicity, complexity arises. That is for me the most incredible idea of evolution theory and of cybernetics. John Cage once said, ‘The function of art is to imitate nature in her manner of operation” and that has been an objective for me throughout my working life’.” ‘77 Million Paintings’ is running in the RHA Gallery until February 24. Admission is free with a €5 suggested donation.

Words: Hannah Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell

ay Prince is in the studio. He’s listening to music and playing guitar, possibly working on something new. He spends a lot of his time there, chilling out and just seeing what happens. It’s the eve of the release of his ‘Wonder’ EP, the follow up to 2018’s ‘Cherish’, and he just wants to relax. He spends so much time working and creating that when a release date comes around he likes to take it in and enjoy the moment. It’s a relief that the day has finally arrived and he won’t be spending it checking social media or streaming numbers. Prince is just ready, with quiet confidence, for ‘Wonder’ to be out in the world. “If people enjoy it, it’s all that matters. If it touches people in a way then I guess I’ve done what I needed to do,” he tells me over the phone in his soft London accent. We got the lead single ‘BEAMLIGHT’, a Sango produced trap tune with one of Prince’s most impressive flows to date, in early January and it gave fans a taste of what was to come; an evolution in the sound of Jay Prince. But he doesn’t think like that, he doesn’t believe he has a particular sound, preferring to just see what happens naturally when he starts a new project. “I’ll never know what that means, if I’m honest. I don’t know what having a sound means. “If you’re just true to yourself I feel like that comes across in art and music. If you’re just being yourself, because everyone is so different, even trying to be like someone else would not be the same. I feel like I’m always working on growing as a person, and that’s where my sound comes from. I don’t know if there’s a name for that, I don’t even know if I do have a sound, but if I do then it definitely comes from me just growing.” Personal growth is a recurring topic during our phone call. Prince comes across selfassured, but his confidence never spills over into cockiness. You would allow it though, considering he has support slots for Chance the Rapper, Jay Electronica and Mick Jenkins under his belt. Yet, he draws his inspiration from how he’s feeling in the moment when he sits down to create.

“I feel like I’ve changed as a person by just growing every day and being able to express myself differently. I feel like, compared with any other project I’ve done in the past, with this one I’ve been confident in working with sounds that really gravitated towards me and I haven’t been afraid to do it. It comes from a place of fearlessness, you know?” That fearlessness, he tells me, is born from a combination of working on himself every day and “just doing it”. Prince got into music in his early teens, but it wasn’t through hip hop or grime, as you might assume from his East London heritage. He described his younger self as very musical and always surrounded by instruments. He played piano and guitar, and still does, and while he grew up around grime as a kid, he didn’t go down that route with his output. However, he acknowledges the impact it had. “I respect it, heavy. It’s a foundation for sure.” Despite my presumptions, he told me he never felt pressure to sound a certain way when he was coming up in the UK. “If I had problems I don’t think I’d be where I am now. I haven’t faced any issues. I just don’t believe in one way. There’re many ways to make music, many sounds and many approaches and it doesn’t have to be one genre. I never felt like I had any issues or pressures or to sound a certain way. That’s always been my approach in general to this and I feel like it’s probably helped me be who I am. I like to just to do things my way [laughs]!” Perhaps that attitude led to Prince’s eclectic fan base. A group who are loyal to the core and span from Seoul to Manchester and from Shanghai to LA, meaning Prince never had to officially ‘break America’. “It just happened, man. It just resonated. People from the states just resonated with the music. I don’t know how to really explain that. I don’t really know how people receive music, I just know by the response.”

Before you put it down to the subtle work of a record label giant, he’s still independent and no, it really doesn’t faze him. “I’m just independent, man. I’m just making music! “All of that stuff, it’s not really a priority right now. I feel like the main thing for me is to be able to make my art. That’s all I really care about, if I’m honest. Everything else is just not my interest right now.” What allows Prince that laid-back attitude towards being signed is his team. He surrounds himself with the right people who help him, as he puts it, “tremendously.” “It’s not always easy to be heard in a time when everyone is putting out so much music. I don’t feel like it makes too much of big difference [having the backing of a label or not]. I just feel like it’s the people who you surround yourself with, on your team, the people who are willing to really take your side. I feel like that’s what it comes down to, signed or not signed.” We spoke about the evolving music industry and touched on that popular discussion point: is the album format now redundant? Prince has gone down the multiple EP route with two nine-track releases ‘Cherish’ in 2018 and his first, 2015’s ‘BeFor Our Time’ and two eighttrack releases ‘Beautiful Mercy’ in 2015 and ‘Smile Good’ the following year. His longest project to-date is ‘Late Summer’, an 11-track mixtape which dropped in June 2017. Having this year shared ‘Wonder’, while he’s releasing relatively prolifically, competing with other artist’s outputs is not a priority. “Because I’ve been making music for quite a while now I feel like I have listeners who really support me, genuine people. I don’t feel like I’m trying to shout out loud so everyone can hear me. That’s not really my thing, simply because I have my foundation and at the end of the day I can write for the people who support me and whoever wants to listen to my music who hasn’t heard it before that’s just great!

“This goes back to having the right team around you, who do what they need to do to have your music heard. I don’t feel like that’s something I need to focus all my energy on. I’m an artist, man. I just like to make art, if I’m very honest. Everything else is just a bonus.” Prince’s art spans beyond rap. He takes photos, and although he’s never used his work for a record cover, his understanding helps him in his approach with the photographers and directors he shoots with. He sings, which is something we hear more of on ‘Wonder’, and he produces. He has production credits on the majority of his tracks and a big element of production for him is sampling. “Sampling is a whole other world man,” he tells me enthusiastically. “I feel like with samples, the beauty in it is the discovery. If you have a vinyl and you listen to a song you just don’t know what you’re going to find, and I feel like that’s the best thing about trying to sample. You just never know what you’re going to hear. Especially if you’re hearing a song for the first time. You could be looking for one sound, but it could be the thing that you weren’t looking for that takes your attention.” It’s nearly time for Prince to hang up. To get back to the studio where he’ll while away the hours hanging out and working on music until the release of ‘Wonder’, but first he confesses the highlight of his career so far. Expecting some mention of Chance the Rapper, I was wrong. “I definitely would say, and I know it sounds cliché, but about to go on this tour, man. I haven’t really done my own tour for quite a while, so just to take in how things have come to this point and being able to do a tour off the back of wanting to have done one years ago, how things have progressed over time... “It might not be a big deal for some, but this is a big deal for me, having this tour coming up. This EP. It’s a just a bit surreal right now.” Jay Prince plays The Academy 2 on February 27.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It comes from a place of fearlessness,

you know?â&#x20AC;?

bad br Words: Hannah Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell

ridget 41

What were you working on before the Bad Bridget project? Elaine: I was working on 19th century Irish female criminals at home, exploring the types of crimes that they committed and the punishment that they experienced. I had just published a monograph on infanticide, ‘A most diabolical deed: infanticide and Irish society, 1850-1900’, and had been intrigued by the stories of those women who had emigrated after serving time or who had been released from court without punishment on the condition that they left Ireland. I wanted to know what had happened to them and realised the wealth of available material in North America on Irish women’s experiences.

Leanne McCormick

‘B

ad Bridget’ is a term coined by Dr. Elaine Farrell and Dr. Leanne McCormick and refers to criminally deviant Irish women in North America between 1838 and 1918. Yes, it’s specific. Both Elaine and Leanne were researching Irish women’s experience in the states; Boston and New York respectively, when they decided to combine their learnings and tackle a topic on which there had been very little work done up to that point. They proposed their idea to Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK, and having added Toronto as a third focus city, because “it attracted more Irish Protestant migrants than our two US cities and we wanted to investigate any potential differences in Protestant women’s experiences”, they were successfully granted funding. What resulted was a fascinating threeyear study, through which lost stories of female Irish immigrants were uncovered, all of whom had a criminal background. Some were merely ‘sexually immoral’, some were deemed ‘bad mothers’, while others’ crimes ranged from drunkenness all the way to murder. This February Elaine and Leanne will bring some of their Bad Bridget stories to life during a talk at EPIC: The Irish Emmigration Museum. We caught up with both of them for a conversation about what we can expect from the live event.

Leanne: I was working on aspects of female sexuality in Northern Ireland in the 20th century, which included family planning and abortion as well as prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases [‘Regulating sexuality: women in twentieth-century Northern Ireland’]. Like Elaine, I had become interested in migration and how women who had been involved in what might have been considered deviant behaviour fared when they migrated abroad. I had begun working on a project looking at the charity provided for Irish women in New York and was amazed by the numbers of women who needed institutional assistance after emigrating. Much of the scholarship focuses on how migrants achieved the ‘American Dream’. Why the 1918?

specific

dates,

1838

We begin in 1838 at the point at which workhouses were introduced in Ireland and chose to finish our research at the end of the First World War. This date range lets us see changes over time and the impact that significant events, in Ireland and in North America, had on the migrant experience. There are significant changes across that period, both in terms of the numbers migrating, which peak during the 1840s and 1850s and attitudes towards the Irish. By 1918, migrants from many other countries had moved to North America in large numbers and discriminatory attitudes had largely shifted away from the Irish. How do you begin a piece of work like this together?? Where’s the starting point?

We started at the archives in Boston, New York and Toronto. We trawled through thousands of boxes and institutional registers to find our Bad Bridgets! Once we had collected all of the data that we could, we started to create databases of criminal and deviant Irish women to try to see commonalities in experiences. What was your ideal outcome and did you achieve it or even surpass it? We wanted to examine experiences for women classed as sexually deviant, bad mothers and criminals and we were amazed by the sheer number of Bad Bridgets! We wanted to investigate experiences of those who might not have realised their ‘American Dream’. I don’t think that either of us was expecting to find so many Irish women arrested, tried or punished. We have also been surprised and delighted by the enthusiasm and interest that people have in the project, and we’ve enjoyed bringing to light the different stories of our Bad Bridgets. You must have heard some fascinating stories over the course of your work. Could you share your favourite with us? We have so many favourites! It’s very difficult not to get lost in each individual story, especially when the records give an insight into the personalities of the women involved. Some of the stories of poverty, hardship and separation from family members are very difficult to read about. One of the most unusual Bad Bridgets in our research was a serial killer named Lizzie Halliday, who was the first woman in the US to be sentenced to death by the electric chair. We feature Lizzie on one of our pop-up exhibition stands, not because she’s a favourite, but because she’s particularly unusual. Lizzie, who is reported to have migrated from Antrim as a child, was described by the New York Times at her death in 1918 as the ‘worst woman on earth’. She had been married six times by the age of 30. Her involvement in her husbands’ deaths was unquestioned until her sixth husband was discovered under the floorboards of their house and two neighbours, Margaret McQuillan and her daughter Sarah, were found dead in a nearby barn. Lizzie’s perceived ill mental health saved her from the electric chair. She was incarcerated in an asylum, where she would go on to kill an attendant, Nellie Wicks, by stabbing her with shears. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned about Irish women at the time through this project? We’ve learnt a great deal about the hardships of many Irish women, and the difficulties that they experienced both at home in Ireland and after emigrating to North America. The fact that in the mid-19th century Irish women were the immigrant group most likely to be deserted by their

husbands was quite a startling fact, which doesn’t say much for Irish men! It is always heartening though to come across stories where Irish women are standing up for themselves, when they are refusing to bow to authority. We have a great example of a young single mother who reportedly told those running the charitable Home for Friendless Women, that she was staying in, that she saw no shame in her circumstances and wasn’t sorry at having given birth outside marriage. They were very shocked at her attitude! Human trafficking among young Irish women in America seems to have been a huge issue. Did your research around this surprise you? Human trafficking was definitely an issue at the time and there were fears that Irish girls and women would be tricked at North American ports to enter the sex industry while under the illusion that they were being taken to work as domestic servants. It’s difficult to determine the extent to which this actually occurred. Very few of the women in our sample who were identified as prostitutes suggested that they had been trafficked or duped in this manner. Concerns regarding women being trafficked or tricked into prostitution were very common in Britain and Ireland at the time as well, as a way of explaining why women would become prostitutes. Some homes were built specifically to cater for young Irish women arriving in cities, and many organisations met young women arriving at ports to make sure that they were not lured into what was considered a life of sin.

because in the mid to late 19th century Irish women were regularly the largest group in prisons, workhouses, almshouses and asylums throughout North America. Women who drank were often condemned as bad mothers at the time, especially when there was evidence that they bought alcohol rather than clothe, educate or feed their children. Undoubtedly there was ethnicity-based discrimination, as well as fear that the large numbers of very poor Irish immigrants who were arriving in their thousands would place increasing demands on the charitable institutions of North American cities. By the end of the 19th century, many of the Irish had improved their social and economic positions and there was more concern about the new immigrants coming from Italy, Russia, Greece, and other Southern European countries. Did anyone uncover a familial connection through a Bad Bridget story? Many families don’t actually realise that they are related to one of our Bad Bridgets! An arrest or trial overseas would generally have caused embarrassment or shame at home at the time, even though in many cases it reflects the hardships and challenges that women faced in North America. These were often the stories that did not make it into letters home or were not kept and passed down the generations. That is why it is so important that we are able to tell them.

Is there one resounding learning you’re taking away from your work? There were many different migratory experiences. Even among our Bad Bridgets the stories are so different, each women had her own challenges and troubles and dealt with these in various ways. These stories reveal how little it took for life to take a turn and for things to go wrong in a city where an Irish woman might not have a strong support network. The stories of those who endured hardship need to be remembered alongside those for whom things worked out well in a new country. What’s next project?

for

the

Bad

Bridget

We have a talk coming up at EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum, so we’re really looking forward to that. We are also working on the book of the project, as well as other outputs, and we see lots of potential in finding out more about the Bad Bridget experiences elsewhere. Watch this space! The talk ‘Bad Bridget: Criminal and Deviant Irish Women in North America’ takes place at The Irish Emigration Museum on February 27.

Can you see a link to how Irish women were treated between 1838 to 1918 to how they are treated today? Irish women generally have a much more privileged position in North America today than in previous centuries. At a recent workshop that we organised at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland with historians and practitioners in the field, Megan Parker-Johnson, an immigration attorney in Boston, and Catherine Griffin, a public defender in New York, demonstrated how other groups have experiences today that resonate with our Bad Bridgets in terms of the discrimination that they experienced, and the fears that they were dangerous, diseased and were arriving in huge numbers. Why were Irish women so poorly treated and seen as drunks, bad mothers and, sometimes, sex slaves? Did religion play into it? Was it xenophobia or a class issue? There are lots of factors that led to negative attitudes towards Irish women. The press played a part in creating a stereotype of the drunken Irish woman, but there was also some reality behind this stereotype

Elaine Farrell

Words: Eric Davidson

ince Sleaford Mods officially formed in the late 2000s, Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn have become emblems for modern British punk. Embodying the idea of the genre, while sounding lightyears away from what it sounded like in its heyday in the 70s/80s, is no easy feat, but that’s down to the duo’s attitude and gimmick-free approach to their craft. They put out their latest studio album ‘English Tapas’ on Rough Trade Records in March of 2017, and have since worked with British institutions like The Prodigy and Leftfield. The pair are now ready to release their fifth studio album entitled ‘Eton Alive’, arriving in February 2019 on Jason and Andrew’s newly formed label Extreme Eating. It’s their first album since parting ways with Rough Trade Records. Jason says that the title of the new record speaks for itself, “Here we are once again in the middle of another elitist plan being digested slowly as we wait to be turned into faeces once more. Some already are, some are dead and the rest of us erode in the belly of prehistoric ideology which, depending on our abilities and willingness, assigns to each of us varying levels of comfort that range from horrible to reasonably acceptable, based on contribution. So after the digestive system of the Nobles rejects our inedible bones we exit the Arse of Rule, we fall into the toilet again and at the mercy of whatever policies are holding order in the shit pipe of this tatty civilisation. It is here our flesh regenerates as we rattle into another form, ready, and ripe for order”. When we spoke with Jason Williamson he was putting the finishing touches on ‘Eton Alive’. It was also just after the Grenfell Towers tragedy, and on this topic he said that the revolution is anything but imminent.

It’s a melting pot at the minute, there’s so much going on you can’t help but take notice of it. But at the minute I’m just being a spectator, and not necessarily writing too much. And how have you found the reaction has been to the more personal material? With political songs, it’s easy to rouse an already angry audience…

There are a lot of differences. You get a lot of lads, you get lots of hipsters, you get a lot more women, a lot more younger people. Which is fantastic. You get a cross-section of people, which is really good. I was speaking to the band Ho99o9 a few months ago and they discussed black rage and the rage of the disenfranchised in America. It seems that the divides in the UK and the US aren’t all that different at the moment. Do you see some sort of revolution brewing in either country? Or are people too placid? I don’t know really. I don’t think so at the minute. It should have kicked off in London last week after what happened [the tragic Grenfell Tower fire], but it didn’t. These things take time. We’re really ran by fear, so standing up to the people that control us is quite a nightmarish scenario. A lot of people feel powerless, that’s what we’ve been made to feel like. Why do you think Grenfell didn’t open as many people’s eyes as it should have? Why didn’t more people stand up? People have their lives to live, haven’t they? You can sit there and you can feel sadness and anger, but what are you going to do? Are you going to cart your family down to London and start kicking off? You’re not going to do that, are you? Nobody will. It was the residents and the people connected to them that were kicking off. Obviously there were a lot of people helping them, but a movement of anger or an uprising is just not going to happen. I’d be very surprised. Most people hate the government with a passion, but that’s not enough to motivate them to anything more than continuing to hate them and carry on with their lives.

I’m going to avoid talking about the election with you, because I know the latest record [‘English Tapas’] is a lot more introspective and you’re probably bored talking about it. But after making a more personal record, do you find yourself getting the urge to discuss what’s going on around you more? I still do talk about stuff that’s going on around me, but yeah, there are more inward-looking tunes this time. I do it because it interests me though, if it’s not interesting me at the time I won’t write about it. It’s whatever you feel is a valid subject for the song. The new stuff I’ve been writing [post‘English Tapas’] has been again about things that are going on around me, just trying to communicate the day-to-day… Things are a bit boring aren’t they? Life goes on, it potters on, and you might be happy and you might be doing this or that, but there’s always this thread of creeping boredom.

You went full time with the Sleaford Mods project only relatively recently. How has your audience changed in that short time?

I read in an interview that you said there are 40 year olds still doing coke and drinking vast amounts of lager on their own, but the euphoria is gone. Do you think those distractions are a major issue in subduing people?

I’ve not been playing much of that really. Some of those songs really aren’t gig songs. They’re not fast enough, or they’re not busy enough for a gig. If we release an album there might be around 12 songs, but only four or five of them will be worthy of playing live. At the same time, where do you stop with that? When do you start sacrificing what you want?

Yeah course they are. There’s still a big chunk of society, younger people who do that. You’ve got all of that tied up with consumerism, people’s responsibilities in terms of property, jobs, they have to pay the bills… They’re not going to rise up. They’re too laden with stuff that’s been shoved on top of them. It would take a succession of things, something like what happened last week to happen twice a week, before there would be a major uprising. People don’t want it! People want calm, people want peace. They don’t want to rise up, they just want to get on. Sleaford Mods play The Academy on February 8. 45

Words: Rosie Gogan-Keogh Illustrations: JosĂŠ Mendez

“I THINK THE ART WORLD IS PROBABLY MORE THE SPACE TO EXPRESS

FRUSTRATIONS, BUT IN MY TYPE OF WORK, I FIND PEOPLE DON’T WANT THAT.” 48

osé Mendez’s bright and bold style has appeared in campaigns for brands like Converse and Spotify, graced features in the BBC and It’s Nice That, and has also taken him to work on large scale creative projects from LA to Bali. Ahead of his Hen’s Teeth, Fade Street print release next month, we caught up with the Spanish illustrator to chat about his graffiti roots, dreams of designing a skatepark and his plans to find his crew and open his own studio in Barcelona. Tell us about your studio or where you work? It varies a lot. During the last year I’ve been moving from different locations. In Bali my studio is in my home. But I have a really good space to work and I’m surrounded by really inspiring people and artists. I spend a lot of time between Barcelona, London and Bali. Back in Barcelona I have a shared studio with other artists, designers and illustrators and in London I have a similar set up as well. What’s a typical work day like for you? Do you have a routine to get into your creative space? Normally when I wake up I will run and exercise a bit. I will meditate for 15 minutes, then I have breakfast and begin organising my day, so read my email, that will be the most boring part I would say, but we all have to deal with it. Then I will start to do some creative work. Right now that I’m in Bali at I’ll finish at 5:30pm and go surfing for an hour. When you began your journey to becoming an illustrator, you started in the graffiti scene in Madrid, how do you think that grounding in graffiti has influenced your style and how you work?

I definitely think it has a lot to do with colour, because you can’t experiment with different types of colour normally, that’s how a lot of these ideas started for me. I guess somehow I brought all of that over from graffiti. And also when I paint murals now, of course. Back when I started experimenting with graffiti I was working in large scale so that helped me a lot.

Was there a particular moment where you realised you wanted to move away from graffiti and become an illustrator? I started painting graffiti in Madrid then after a few years when I was 18 my parents decided to move to a smaller city near Madrid. I think I used graffiti a lot as therapy because I felt like a total outsider. It was a small town and graffiti appealed to people, but there was also a kind of jealousy because your name appeared more places or because you had better with technique or something. I remember it was like a sort of war in the streets with graffiti and I just thought, ‘I’m really fed up of it’. At some point I felt like I didn’t really belong to the crew there. And also what happened in Madrid, it wasn’t fulfilling so I decided to focus my energy on other areas. I wanted to learn other techniques so I just moved on. I started a degree in graphic design and then I realised that it wasn’t really for me when I moved to London and worked in a graphic design studio for a few months. I decided then to focus on illustration which was something that makes me more happy and I was more comfortable with. And you still do quite a lot of murals. Is that a format that you feel most comfortable in or is there a particular mode that you prefer working? I like painting murals because it’s something really social. You have instant feedback from people. You can meet artists and people who pop by and you can show your art to the world. Also I like when you see something in bigger scale it has different feeling about it. You can do something like a poster on your computer and it can look awesome, but if you do the same thing in bigger scale in the street, it has bigger impact. And also you just feel better seeing it like in bigger scale. Humour is crucial to your work, do you find, do you find increasingly brands and publications are looking for more of that humour to try balance with the shit that’s going on everywhere else? I feel humour is much appreciated by people. It works better with all sorts of things. People like to see positive things, they want to see humour. Brands especially

want that as well. They don’t want anything that is really strange or pessimistic. I think the art world is probably more the space to express frustrations, but in my type of work, I find people don’t want that. So in your personal work do you try and explore more political or social issues or do you try to keep it light-hearted? Normally I try to represent how I feel about things. A couple weeks ago I drew something criticising the plastic that’s in the ocean here in Bali. It’s a huge issue and I felt like I wanted to just draw something. But I don’t think that my work is about criticising things but if something bothers me, I will try. Tell me about the studio you’re going to open in Barcelona, what are your plans for that? My idea is getting a space where I can do bigger scale work and keep on doing illustration, animations and advertising. There will be two parts: the commercial part and the artistic part of it, which will be for installations, exhibitions and larger scale work. I want to create a team to work with, to develop more ideas. So far I’ve been working pretty much on my own. But I think it’s time to develop more ideas and I can’t keep working by myself to achieve that. It’s time to take to take a step forward and grow up! And find your crew? Yeah, that’s another thing about being an artist is that it’s a really solitary path. I want to be with a group of professionals that I can be around and feel like a team. So building a studio is a huge ambition of yours. What other ambitions are you still hoping to fulfil? Right now I’m going to design a skatepark. I’m going to design this skate park in 3D and try to pitch it to some brands. I want to make it real, I want this to happen and make a proper skatepark with all of my characters. José Mendez latest illustrative print will be released by Hen’s Teeth, Fade Street in March.

Wolfgang Tillmans Rebuilding the future Words: Aoife Donnellan Photography: Wolfgang Tillmans

Wolfgang Tillmans Elephant Man, 2002 ÂŠ Wolfgang Tillmans, courtesy Maureen Paley, London

t’s safe to say I was terrifically nervous about skyping Wolfgang Tillmans; one of the most famous photographers in the world. He was the first photographer, and person outside of the UK, to win the Turner Prize, and is federally decorated by the German State. If you haven’t heard his name, then you’ve seen his work [the cover of Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ for example]. Living between Berlin and London, Tillmans is a cultural icon. He arrived on the arts scene first as a fashion photographer capturing his surroundings in the 80s and 90s. His work was published in magazines such as i-D, Spex, Interview, SZ Magazin and Butt. As time went on, Tillman’s art became politically oriented, inspired by LGBTQ+ rights and the AIDS crisis. In preparation for the interview I went to IMMA to see Tillmans’ latest collection Rebuilding The Future. This exhibition is a beautiful display of mini-universes with textures of bodies, rock, sand and natural landscape. Some pieces are large-scale, all-consuming, Pollock-esque rectangles of colour, while others are lists of dates and pictures of airport signage. As I sat virtually opposite Wolfgang Tillman, he wore a blue woollen jumper set against a while wall, surrounded by photographs. I imagined his surroundings and pictured an inspiring minimalist location, looking across the skyline of Berlin. We began at the beginning and he explained why he gravitated toward photography. “I guess from an early age I felt the desire to contribute to society in some way. I always had an interest in contemporary life and culture, but I didn’t feel particularly artistically talented. I mean, I was never spotted as the one that is super skilled in drawing for example in school, and [laughs] I was actually rather bad in class, as well as in music, so I was actually lucky that I grew up not being treated like the talented one; ‘Here is the one that is going to be the artist’. It allowed me to be independent and develop photocopying as my medium of choice... It was a gift not to be detected.

Wolfgang Tillmans, Rebuilding the Future, 26 October 2018 – 17 February 2019, Installation view IMMA, Dublin, 2018. Photo: Ros Kavanagh

At this stage in his career Tillman had become fluent in the language of the photograph. He told me why the medium was innate in him. “I guess I had a way of looking and still have a way of looking at the world, and at things, and at people that can be expressed possibly in different ways. I found that the camera is the way in which that I could speak most fluidly and that’s for different reasons. Like for example, the seeming artlessness of photography, the lack of gesture, it allows me to be more selfeffacing than in an oil painting.” The beautiful ease of the gestures in Tillmans’ photographs are often mistaken for spontaneity, but he explains that he doesn’t like privileging staged photographs over found moments. “Like just having found something puts staging over finding something. I never felt that way, I felt that because to find something you need to recognise it, and that’s as hard as seeing it, or as finding it, and as hard as staging it.” Examples of both staged and natural scenes can be found in IMMA.

“The Paper Drop pictures, in the second last room, those are of course, 100 per cent set up and only made for the purpose of that moment... While certain pictures of people, like Lutz and Alex Sitting In The Trees, they of course didn’t just happen to sit naked in trees [laughs], but they looked like it. Then the picture of Johan and the Deer looks completely staged but really was a moment that I saw, and I just froze it. Sometimes life can be more surreal than the brain can imagine.” I cannot do the Paper Drop images justice using language, but I’ll try. Their subject is light playing with folded paper in the shape of a water droplet. For Tillmans, the “sharing of a moment” is the most important aspect of photography. I wondered if the artform is a gateway into his perspective. Which does he favour: his eye or his mind? Is it philosophy or aesthetics that inspires him? “It’s interesting, language is very binary... You cannot invent a theory of thought that is less interesting than the picture, if the picture isn’t interesting. If the thought is more interesting than the picture, the picture doesn’t work.

Wolfgang Tillmans red lake,Â 2002 ÂŠ Wolfgang Tillmans, courtesy Maureen Paley, London

Wolfgang Tillmans Faltenwurf (skylight), 2009 © Wolfgang Tillmans, courtesy Maureen Paley, London

“At the same time, the gaze, the way you look at the world, is only as interesting as your thoughts about the world… If you’re boring, if you’re having boring thoughts, or if you’re not interested in the world… I mean it sounds very simplistic, but I find that to be true whenever I think about it.” The way Tillmans perceives and presents the world is how he makes his living and he doesn’t confine his creativity to photography. photography; he also dabbles in soundscapes. “I observe from musicians that they tend to want to re-record a take, and I observed it goes completely against my instinct with how I work with a camera because for me there isn’t another take… To think you can go back a few hours later and do it seems impossible to me.” He is particularly concerned with current socio-cultural changes in technology. His sound installation ‘I Want to Make a Film’, is a playful piece about the power of a smartphone. The title sets a humorous tone and I found his treatment of technology refreshing. It wasn’t contrived and it wasn’t prescriptive. Frequently technology is represented in a laboured fashion, in literature as well as visual art where social media is always the devil incarnate. Tillmans manages to describe interactions with tech in an authentic way. “It was recorded without rehearsal. It just came to me as I was walking through Hong Kong a year ago. I somehow kept the thought I had and walked straight back to the hotel, switched on the voice recorder and fell on the bed and spoke the whole thing just how it poured out of my head. It was completely unedited, and it came out like that. As a listener I think one picks that up.” Authenticity is something that Tillmans frequently seems to achieve with his art. His large-scale works afford an intimate glance into how he comes into contact with the world. He spoke to me about the pressure on art to be universally accessible. “The thing is, art is not an absolute. It is not like breaking bread, you have to make certain things the right way. For a Guinness to be a Guinness it has to be done in a specific way. Whereas art is a highlyspecialised mind game and a thought construction... The only problem is that it is possibly the only field of expertise where everybody, 100 per cent of people, feel entitled to an opinion and a judgement, which is quite striking… People wouldn’t do that immediately about philosophy or nuclear science.” Tillmans’ eloquence is interesting to navigate in person. It is evident that he meditates on the power his work wields as well as his responsibility as an artist. For someone who has been a photographer for over 30 years he has built up a tremendous belief in the power of art.

“I mean you have to trust that the work is also standing on its own two feet and it doesn’t always come with a prescription or instructions. Because if there is only one way to read it, then I would say that it is an illustration and I don’t like my art to be an illustration. What I love about art, when art works best for me, is when I can move around within it in my head and somehow feel free to see different things from different angles. Sometimes the work makes itself, and only later I learn and understand what interests me.” I brought up his piece. ‘We Are Not Going Back’ - a table of rocks, of various sizes, alongside a photograph of said table. For no particular reason I just ended up smiling when I saw it, in the middle of this influential exhibition, here was the ultimate conclusion that photography will never fully represent what it attempts to capture “I mean, this work it came from play, but it was also an experiment which took me 30 years to make and when you see it, it’s actually quite devastating how flat and incapable photography is. We think when we see a photograph independently from its subject, it’s a fairly realistic representation of the subject, but when we see the stone right next to the photograph of the stone you just realise how much is lacking.” The smaller 4x6 works in the Rebuilding The Future which captured my imagination as I almost expected to see my family on holidays staring back at me in these familiarly sized works. I asked Tillmans how he chooses his themes. “I found that I didn’t always agree with widely-accepted value attributions… I’m hesitating because I don’t want to sound overly simplistic or romantic but there is actually something about meditation

and spirituality. I’ve read a lot of the Indian philosopher Krishnamurti and something resonated very strongly with me when he was asked, ‘How do I meditate correctly?’ He said, ‘That’s bullshit, don’t meditate correctly’. ‘Correct’ is wrong from the start. If you are just able to look at something and somehow take it in and somehow engage with it for however long without predetermined thought, you know in an openness and directness? That is meditation.” Tillmans is frequently championed for attempting to both find quiet in the extraordinary, and for making the ordinary extraordinary. His work feels familiar but also curious. He elaborated about why this works for him explaining that to see a fold in fabric with the imprint of a body behind can be an “incredible sensual sculpture” while something as classically celebrated as gold can be “just a metal.” “Ultimately all the shit in the world we’re seeing today is coming from judgemental eyes and wrong, premature attributions of value.” His insistence on maintaining openness is integral to allowing his work to penetrate the psyche of the beholder. He’s the visual Seamus Heaney; here to capture the lost moments of beauty in the every day. I feel he has an awareness of what it is to be a prolific artist and of the responsibility that entails. For anyone who has been to see a Tillmans exhibition, you’ll understand the range of existence that he has been able to capture over his career. For anyone yet to see one, you have until March 10. Rebuilding the Future by Wolfgang Tillmans runs until March 10 in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).

Wolfgang Tillmans, Rebuilding the Future, 26 October 2018 – 17 February 2019, Installation view IMMA, Dublin, 2018. Photo: Ros Kavanagh

captain SKIN DEEP:

agne Words & Photography: Ellius Grace

t seems Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 found decoration of the skin enthralling. 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 have 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. Today, I have my condition under control, but I still use tattoos as a way to decorate myself, tell my story and most importantly be the master of my body. Today, tattoos are a part of pop culture, no longer existing only on the fringes of society. Instagram is filled with artists and inspiration. More people than ever are getting pieces and no longer will a tattoo ostracise you from a job. With this increasing saturation comes more great artists, and through this series, I will explore some of Dublinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tattooers. In each of these features, I will record the process of being tattooed by an artist, along with an interview and photographs to show the individual character of each person. What better way to showcase an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work than to get a piece from them? This month, I talk to Agne Vaiksnoraite, the artist who gave me my first tattoos in 2017. She hails from Vilnius, Lithuania and tattoos in True Black Tattooing, since moving to Dublin almost 10 years ago.

Best tattoo/client story? One beautiful one pops into my head. On my first visit to India I met a lovely Indian lady, and she wanted little tattoos on her face. I was honoured to tattoo old traditional Indian tattoo symbols on her. It was a beautiful moment, being in India and being able to do native tattoos for an Indian woman. I met her years later and the tattoos looked great, made me feel blessed to be a part of a culture which inspires me a lot. Why did you choose hand poked tattooing over machine tattooing? I started with hand poking and fell in love with it. It is an old spiritual and most beautiful traditional technique. It requires patience and accuracy. As a craft person I have been working with a needle more than 15 years, and handcraft skills make this tattooing technique my own. I was always drawn to ancient history, tradition and symbolism. Old traditional hand poking tattoo techniques speak to me more than I can explain, ‘All dots just connected’. When did you start tattooing in Dublin and what attracted you to the career?

You gave me my first ever tattoos. What were your first?

I have been living in Dublin for nine years, and started tattooing two and a half years ago. All my life I was attracted to tattoos, tattoo art, tattooing, everything about it. The first tattoo I got when I was 16 years old, by my friend, and after that there were many more... I was surrounded by tattoo art/tattooing since I was 15, and learned a lot about it without trying because it was more than interesting - it was magic.

I always feel honoured and happy to do customers’ first tattoos, it is such a meaningful experience for both of us. My first tattoo I got when I was 16 years old, by my friend. The tattoo was done with a sewing needle, and they used pen ink. It took a few sittings to finishand is of barbed wire around my ankle. It’s my favourite tattoo as it represents the start of the most amazing journey of my life. At the time I was sleeping with my socks on for a year hiding it from my Mum [laughs]!

As someone not originally from Dublin, what do you think of the city? Do you think it has changed you much during your time living here? I think it changed me very much. It is a beautiful city with beautiful people. I was able to follow my soul, dreams, and passions here more than ever in my life. It changed my way of thinking. A utopian land land I sometimes call it. Not everything is sparkly, but pretty damn amazing. Does Dublin provide you with much inspiration for your art? Absolutely. I am from Lithuania and I chose to live here in Dublin. Inspiration is a very important part of our craft.The culture, the people, the outlook of life here, every day brings new inspirations. That’s the beauty of life, the magic of a new day. Also I get to travel a lot to different countries to tattoo in different places, so it’s a great mixture of inspiration. Do you draw hometown too?

inspiration

from

your

From Baltic symbolism and old traditional ethnic crafts. I have a feeling that I would like to further explore old Lithuanian handicrafts and traditions. 58

I love the conversation and the time spent with a tattoo artist while getting a new piece. Have you formed many friendships with clients? I feel that tattooing is a very intimate process. You get to spend quite some time with customers, sharing your energies and personal space. I feel blessed to be able to have such an impact on another human being, and to feel their trust. Could you describe the atmosphere in your studio? It is a peaceful, beautiful, inspirational space to work. I work surrounded by my good friends who are incredible tattoo artists. It is the best place to learn, grow, and be inspired. I am honoured to work there. @hands.inked

Irish Artist Spotlight:

ROSS CARVILL H

ello, I am Ross Carvill. I have not really put a label on what I am and what I do. I am not sure if I will ever put a label on it, I just like to make things. Illustration, latte art, food styling, photography and exhibition design are some of the things I do. If I am not making or doing things every day I literally feel agitated! I have just had a large solo exhibition called #stilllife and it was overwhelmingly successful and I am very happy with how it went. I guess I am just excited to keep expanding on what I do and there is lots to come in 2019. @ross_carvill

01–03–2019

Wigwam

Electric Deluxe

Headstrong Records

Campaigning to change Irish nightlife

www.giveusthenight.com

CLUB GUIDE

February 2019 SAFEHAUS X FAC MAGAZINE

The two collectives team up for a full venue party “as we bring you on a journey through techno, electro, acid and breaks” in the basement, while live hip hop artists take over upstairs. For fans of: Randomer, I Hate Models, Dax J Thursday February 7 Wigwam €5-€8

THE MAGICIAN

A club artist who’s also broke into the mainstream by working with artists like Lykke Li, Clean Bandit and Years & Years. For fans of: Secondcity, Low Steppa, Le Youth Friday February 8 Opium €20

SARAH MOONEY

Since 2014 Sarah has played at some of Ireland’s biggest festivals like Life, Electric Picnic Longitude and Boxed Off. She has also supported some of the best international DJs around. For fans of: Stephan Bodzin, Tale of Us, Patrice Baumel Saturday February 9 39/40

OR:LA

One of Ireland’s most impressive electronic music exports is having a homecoming tour, including an intimate basement set in Wigwam. For fans of: Palms Trax, Shanti Celeste, Objekt Saturday February 9 Wigwam €15 - €18.25

FISH GO DEEP

House DJs and producers, Greg Dowling and Shane Johnson, aka Fish Go Deep, are legends of Irish club culture. For fans of: Kerri Chandler, Mood II Swing, Terrence Parker Saturday February 9 Kaizen Bar €14.60

JEREMY UNDERGROUND

Parisian DJ and record enthusiast Jeremy Underground makes his return to Dublin for a night of straight up house. For fans of: Moodymann, Larry Heard, Theo Parrish Saturday February 9 Index €16.70 - €27.84

PEACH

One of the most exciting names in modern dance music comes to Dublin for an intimate set in Tengu. For fans of: Presumer, Octo Octa, Palms Trax Friday February 15 Yamamori Tengu €7-€10

LAURENCE GUY

CJ BOLLAND B2B T99

DJ FETT BURGER

MIND AGAINST

CLERIC, INLAND & MORE

ORPHEU THE WIZARD

CROMBY

RANDOMER

Laurence Guy has been making and playing music for a long time, but it seems that now he’s really found his sound. For fans of: Ross From Friends, DJ Boring, DJ Seinfeld Friday February 15 Wigwam €5-€10

Together with his brother, DJ Fett Burger started the highly acclaimed Sex Tags Mania label. Catch his return to the city this month. For fans of: Jayda G, O’Flynn, Peggy Gou Saturday February 16 Yamamori Tengu €10 - €12

True Spaces is the first in a series of BYOB parties taking place in some special locations, with big line ups and a real focus on atmosphere. For fans of: Parallx, Setaoc Mass, Under Black Helmet Saturday February 16 Secret Location

Cromby is an Irish DJ and producer residing in Berlin who recently released on Bicep and Denis Sulta’s labels. For fans of: Hammer, Bicep, Brame & Hamo Friday February 22 Pygmalion

R&S legend CJ Bolland is going back to back with pioneering Belgian project T99. For Fans of: Dax J, Thomas P. Heckman, Stranger Saturday February 16 39/40

A project which draws from the roots of IDM, house and techno, Mind Against are the Italian-born, Berlin-based duo coming to Dublin via Melodic this month. For fans of: Tale of Us, Mano Le Tough, &ME Saturday February 16 Button Factory €15

New collective Bubblegum have made quite an entrance to Dublin’s club scene, now they welcome an international guest to Button Factory. For fans of: Antal, Hunee, Job Jobse Saturday February 16 Button Factory €7-€10

With Tommy Holohan and Niall Cleary on support, this is shaping up to be a night of tough and thoughtful techno. For fans of: Blawan, Overmono, Perc Friday February 22 Index €15

N A E T H - P O O L H A L L LOV E R S O U T 1 5 . 0 2 .1 9

M OV E S LOW R E C O R D S .C O M

JUNE 29TH 2019

HIGHERVISION.IE

s far as stars go in today’s electronic music landscape, Derry’s Or:la is on the fast-track to becoming an headline name worldwide. Since her breathtaking performance at AVA’s Boiler Room in 2017, she has taken the globe by storm through her vast collection of music which she showcases in sets in clubs week after week. Rather than resting on her laurels and expecting everything to come her way, she has developed her and Breakwave’s label, Deep Sea Frequency, as well as releasing one of the most interesting EPs of 2017, ‘Farewell 24’, via UK powerhouse Hotflush. On top of all that, she is a staple on a litany of summer festival lineups and has solidified her position as one of the most unpredictable acts on the go with last year’s Boiler Room, Moscow appearance, where she shared the lineup with the modest bunch of Derrick May, Overmono, Truss and more. The world is her oyster and now it’s her time to capitalise.

How have the past few months been? Has it been difficult to adjust to life on the road, now you’re playing so frequently?

DJ Seinfeld dropped ‘Sakura EP’ on Deep Sea Frequency. How did that release come about?

The past few months have been hectic, but amazing. I don’t mind travelling solo and it’s great to be able to see a different country every weekend, even if that has to be done alone. I’ll get to see Japan and Seoul on a mini Asia tour, two places I’ve always wanted to visit. I’m so grateful to be able to travel while doing something that I love as a career.

I first met DJ Seinfeld a couple of years ago when I booked him to play at a party I ran in Liverpool called Meine Nacht. We got on really well from the beginning and have stayed friends since. After exchanging music on a regular basis, he sent me a couple of tracks that he knew would be up my street, so we decided to release these on the label. I’m really happy to have him on board.

How did you prepare for your second Boiler Room in February, given the impact of your first one? Was it hard to follow up such a big set? The physical settings for both Boiler Room sets were very different, so it meant I could approach my more recent set at a different angle. The AVA Festival set was more party vibes, recorded on a sunny day in June, whereas the second Boiler Room was quite the opposite; a night time set within an industrial warehouse in the heart of Moscow in winter. This meant I could explore and delve into a more dark side of my music taste.

What are your plans for Deep Sea Frequency going forward? Is there a particular sound you’re looking to push? There was never a set ‘sound’ for the label, as we don’t want to create boundaries. The most recent EPs have channeled breakbeat and electro vibes, but who knows what will come after that? A big part of running the label is to be able to give talented under the radar/up-andcoming producers a platform to release their music on, alongside some bigger names. So in an industry where it is so hard to get noticed, we’re always on the look-out for fresh talent.

You’re somewhat more well known for your DJ sets than you are for your productions, even though you have had numerous releases on Hotflush and on your label too. Do you think it’s good in terms of people going with an open mind to your sets not expecting one single track or sound, or is it difficult to push a more particular sound that you have in mind? I like the fact that people don’t really know what to expect when going to see me play live. Some producers suddenly have a big hit which then defines them musically, and leads to an expectation of a certain sound within their sets, which could sometimes result in disappointment if they don’t deliver that sound or a particular track at a gig. Generally my productions are pretty different to my DJ sets. They go a lot deeper and I feel they have a more sombre and atmospheric tone. I don’t feel obliged to make a party hit, not any time soon anyway. Where did your breakbeat style come from? Both your tracks and your DJ sets really fit into an area that isn’t being explored by many bar yourself and the likes of DJ Normal 4 and a few others. I really love jungle and old school DnB, so it probably stemmed from this. When I first got into music production I had a real obsession with ‘The Amen Break’. I would spend hours on end sourcing different breaks, experimenting and manipulating them in different ways. There’s just something about breakbeat that always ignited a real passion within me.

What’s it like coming from Derry rather than Belfast? Celtronic and Jika Jika! are particularly big in Derry, but what was it like growing up as an electronic music fan in Derry? I’m so proud to say that I’m from Derry; it’s such an interesting place on many levels. Growing up as a dance music fan in Derry was exciting. I remember having a fake motorcycle ID and going to see acts like Hot Chip when I was about 16 or 17. Celtronic, a local festival organisation and club night, have supported me from the very beginning and have recently been instrumental in nurturing up-andcoming talent through opening their own studio space, in which people of all ages/ capabilities can rent out and use high-end equipment or learn about DJing, production, hardware. From as far back as I can remember, Celtronic were always pulling in world class line ups so that electronic music fans in the city would only need to step outside their front door to experience hearing these acts live. The new crop of stars in electronic music like yourself, DJ Seinfeld, Mall Grab, Sulta, Peggy Gou, FJAAK and more are all quite easy going and relatable people. Do you think that those sort of figures will make dance music more approachable to the general public, rather than a host of turtle neck-clad, dressed in all-black DJs? I feel that we are slowly moving away from this idea. Dance music was created out of love and inclusivity, and I think that this new, younger wave of DJs really understand and appreciate that. I also think it’s important to be grateful for our fan base which ultimately allows us to play music as a living. Or:la plays Wigwam on February 9.

8 DUBLIN HOUSE & TECHNO COLLECTIVES TO WATCH IN 2019 Words: Karl Guest Photography: Mae Ly Lim

ith bigger capacity clubs closing left right and centre in Dublin of late, smaller venues are now becoming more important. We thought it would be a good idea to take a look at some of the new, upcoming and exciting collectives that are throwing parties in the capital right now, crews who are bringing a unique vibe to the city’s dance community.

Bubblegum Bubblegum are a new collective pushing the sounds of rare zouk, house, Italo and Afro-disco records. This is a club night unlike any other in Dublin at the moment and they’ve been receiving a lot of support. They’ve also got their first international booking coming this month as they welcome Orpheu The Wizard to Wigwam on February 16. They have a number of impressive international acts lined up over the coming months, with announcements coming soon. @bubblegumdub

What’s That Sound? What’s That Sound? is another brand new collective on the Dublin scene. Their main focus will be on the groovier side of house music, but what might set them apart from other collectives is that they are going to be putting a lot of thought and emphasis on the production side of things. They kick off in Wigwam on February 22 with a lineup featuring COEO and Janeret.

Utopia Utopia [formerly known as Freakquency] is a newly rebranded events Dublin-based company. Over the last year they ran a number of techno and electro nights hosting both international and local artists which were received well by clubgoers. This year they’ve come back strong as Utopia and kicked things off with a show in Tengu with the renowned DMX Krew. @utopia.dublin

Distortion Distortion aren’t quite as new as the rest of the collectives mentioned here, but they are certainly throwing some of the most interesting parties in Dublin at the moment and over the last couple of months have brought a number of top quality acts to the capital. Thiunk Moxie, DJ Central, DJ

Sports, Baba Stiltz and Skee Mask. We’re really looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us this year and they’ll be kicking things off this year with a residents party in Wigwam on February 1. @distortion.club

SafeHaus SafeHaus’ main focus has been on house music so far, booking the likes of Mark Blair and DJ Swagger as well as hosting a Shall Not Fade showcase featuring LK and label-head KGW. Their initial idea behind starting the collective was ‘’to bring that house-party vibe to a club setting’’. You can catch them on February 7 in Wigwam where they’ll be having a residents techno party in the basement with Rogue Poets and Burner Records upstairs hosted by the FAC Magazine crew. @safehaus_dublin

Grace Club Grace Club is a new club night aiming to make techno events more accessible to members of the LGBTQ+ community and act as a safe space for attendees to let loose and be themselves. This is further backed up by the collective’s no phone policy, which they hope will encourage people to completely immerse themselves in the music/community aspect of the night. Their launch party takes place in 39/40 on February 2. @graceclubdublin

Flipside Flipside have been around for a while but keep their approach to running events fresh and always make each show a party. They’ve run the majority of their events in the confines of one of our favourite venues, Tengu and through the years the collective have brought over the likes of PLO Man, Skatebard and DJ Fett Burger, who returns to the venue on February 16. @flipsidedublin

Notions The newcomers to the Dublin scene got off to a flying start back in November with their launch party in Wigwam featuring O’Flynn. In the short time since then, they’ve booked a number of impressive artists including Fadi Mohem, Ian DPM and DJ Deeon. We’re expecting big things from them this year as they continue to move forward. @notions_dublin

o begins the post-apocalyptic, scifi thriller story that is Clouds’ latest album, ‘Heavy the Eclipse’. The Scottish do not narrate over their 14-track epic, although Liam’s chipper accent in contrast to Calum’s dead pan voice would have made for an interesting premise. This excerpt is taken from neurealm.net, a website dedicated to telling the story of 2018’s most left-of-field techno project. ‘Heavy the Eclipse’ places us 400 years in the future, both in sound and sight, with the help of David Rudnick, an artist the duo has collaborated closely with over the years. The final product delivers full descriptions of the different crews running Glasgow as it has spiralled into lawlessness, a map of the Neurealm and the folklore surrounding it, not to mention the odd hardcore banger too. Calum breaks what seems like the impenetrable ice of a three-way Skype call in telling me that Clouds are probably the first techno duo to receive fan fiction, then again creating an entire universe for your album isn’t common practice in the realm of techno either. “This guy wrote an article and he was writing about the architecture in Glasgow after World War II after the decades and comparing it to the world of Neurealm. People have been responding and they’ve been interpreting it in their own way, which is kind of amazing and more than we could’ve hoped for.” Calum continues, “I think because the world is so expansive and every time we started thinking about it we’d come up with another part of the world to build and add to the story. When people started getting into it by themselves, it wasn’t that surprising because we hadn’t finished exploring it. All the shit that’s going and all the references to the different crews, once you start thinking about it, it just grows endlessly. Once people start drawing stuff and writing

about it and interpreting it in their own ways, it seems kind of inevitable.” While Clouds aren’t shy about producing incredibly experimental music, despite their more well-known club-sounding tracks, unfolding a project as out-there as their newest album made for a daunting task says Calum. “It took us two years and we didn’t really have anything else set up over those two years to do, so it’s basically all we did for two years which is quite a lot for just one project. Once you finally release it out to everyone, it’s a bit daunting, but it’s been really good.” Liam echoed the same sentiment, his voice eschewing a brief sense of relief, “Especially because it took so long for it to come out since we’d finished the music, we had kind of held our breath like, ‘Fuck, how’s this going to go down?’, it’s been a huge relief that it’s been well received, because I was pretty terrified.” During an interview with Blawan last summer the Yorkshire producer questioned why so many techno producers stray so far away from their club sound when approaching an album. Liam weighed in on this topic too. “We’ve always liked the idea that albums are very different from EPs and your club records. When it comes to an album you can allow yourself a lot more time to make it.” Calum expanded further on what their intentions were when making ‘Heavy the Eclipse’. “You want to make a statement of sorts. We wrote two records and we’ve been doing this almost 10 years, so there’s a lot of time to think about it in between each record. If you are going to do two in 10 years, you want it to be a bigger project. The album format, although it’s getting more and more left in the past with streaming and stuff, it’s a lot better than putting out a series of Eps.

“In terms of concepts I guess we thought that techno has this aesthetic or this idea behind it regarding the future and scifi. Especially the scene that we’re in, it’s this dark, grim world and no one does it fucking well at all! I’m not saying we’re the only techno artists doing cool sci-fi shit, obviously not, but we wanted to give it a shot and see if we could come up with something that we thought was cool. “I think we’re definitely more musicians than DJs,” Liam interjects, with Calum nodding in agreement. “Obviously, we make a lot of club music, but that’s more so deviating from what we actually want to do which is making music like this. We like writing club music as well and it’s a lot less of a strain to do that. We want to make money from this and it’s kind of difficult if you’re not DJing, so you have to find a balance. “I get what Blawan said, a lot of artists who usually just make techno try and write an album. What they do is different shit and they’ve never given proper song writing a shot and when it comes out, you can tell.” To any casual fan, a ‘Neurealm’ label would have housed the record, but it was in fact released on the legendary Electric Deluxe imprint, spearheaded by the iconic Speedy J in Rotterdam. Having released previously with the legendary Dutchman, the decision made sense. Calum says the process went much further than just a string of emails. “We’d been working with Joachim [Speedy J] at Electric Deluxe for about two years before we went and recorded the album in his studio. The idea always was to do it on ED. We recorded it in his studio, we’d released our last couple of records on his label, he really gave us the freedom to do whatever we wanted with it, with the artwork and concept of it. Whereas a lot of labels would’ve asked us to reign it in a bit. He said that it needed to be what we wanted it to be and not to compromise at all” Liam’s more upbeat tone dims for a minute as he stresses how key the Rotterdam native’s help was in getting the record over the line. “Even with the delays, some of the press people we were working with were asking us when it’s going to be done, over the course of 14 months. Joachim kept saying if we were going to do it, we’d have to do it properly, we can’t hold back any of the expenses, we’d have to do it 100 per cent or not at all. That’s a big reason why we did it with him in the first place. It would’ve been quite rude, actually, to use his studio for two weeks and put it out somewhere else!” On the topic of external help, it would also be rude not to mention David Rudnick, the hands that sculpted the look of the Neurealm. While the album holds its own on the music front, the artist’s work goes much further than whipping up a 90s rave flyer and making it an LP cover. Instead, we have a full dimension of anarchic crews fighting for a city in ruin, something Calum doesn’t take for granted.

“The whole concept of the thing was built with David. It’s definitely a collaborative thing, the music was all ours, but when you see the posters, artwork, website or the story, we didn’t just write the story, we wrote it with him and to be honest, he had a lot more input when it came to fleshing it out than we did. From there, we quickly move from Clouds the musicians, to Clouds the DJs. Their DJ sets have been a mild source of controversy for years now, with the duo always having a penchant to throw heaps of trance and happy hardcore into their sets, much to the delight of the keener ravers, but not impressing the central-Europe techno elitists. Their biggest show since the release was their ‘Return to Mono’ all-nighter in the iconic Sub Club, where the pairing was left at the controls for four hours. An exciting prospect for the diehards and an overdue show in Scotland’s nightlife capital. “It was two years ago at least since we’d done a Clouds gig in Glasgow,” Calum begins. “For the past few years we’d been trying to play all original Clouds stuff, so doing four hours of all original stuff was quite nerve wracking. We played one edit of a Tiesto tune and a couple of tracks at the end weren’t ours, but bar that it was all our stuff. We’ve written quite a lot of ambient stuff, stuff we usually wouldn’t play or write, just to play at that.” “It’s cool when you think about being in your home country and being able to do it there and show people what we’ve been doing, especially since we hadn’t played there in some time,” Liam continues,

sounding a touch giddier in knowing we were getting onto the topic of trance. “Sub Club’s pretty well known, so to be given the full night was a bit special.” While it can seem like all fun and games from the outside looking in, deviating so far away from their productions in their DJ sets can have adverse effects on booking requests, which is a key part in maintaining both relevancy and earning a living in such a competitive market. Calum stresses that their switch to original sets was borne more so out of individuality than looking to please a disgruntled techno militia. “Now that we’re playing our own stuff, we will throw in our own edits of course. There’s just a good euphoria when it comes to playing trance. There’s a lot of people playing trance in techno, and maybe that had a hand in making us switch up to playing our own stuff in sets. There were a lot of reasons, but that’s one... When we do the Headstrong sets, we play some tracks that people might find cheesy, but it’s happening less and less.” Headstrong is Clouds’ collaborative label with fellow techno powerhouse Randomer, who put together a four-track stomper for the last release. Through the emergence of Headstrong and its distinguished sound in both Randomer’s Dekmantel Boiler Room and Clouds’ contribution to the Dekmantel podcast, it seems as though the duo have finally found a home for one of techno’s most unquestionably moving club sounds. “We needed to [make a clubbier sound], most of that stuff had been written after the album came out, between the start of 2017 and now,” Calum asserts, showing that

while the pair aren’t rigid in their output, it’s organised chaos. “Our next EP will be out in March or April on Headstrong, but that stuff is more club focused, maybe more warehousefocused even. We thought it was good to put something out after the album. There are people who want to hear us putting out club tunes which is fine, we have fans that want Clouds club music. We wanted to put that out and let people know that we’re still making techno. “After the Dekmantel mix we definitely had an uptake in bookings! I think promoters were waiting after the album, not knowing what we were going to sound like. We made that mix to promote the record, but no one wanted to put it out, bar Dekmantel who were up for it. Everyone passed on it!” Laughing off the fact that one of the year’s most exuberant techno mixes had been heavily slept on, with the pair denying the opportunity to name and shame those at fault, the ‘L’ and ‘C’ icons on the screen slip away after a quick round of goodbyes. Clouds are a paradox, one the techno world will never fully lay claim to. Their reluctance to stick within the genre’s strict parameters is something that has distinguished them as much as it has held them back, but their latest middle finger to the status quo has been their biggest and most successful yet. They’ve shown that maybe this world wasn’t built for Clouds at all.Maybe Neurealm, that ‘grim, rave state of factional warfare, ’is where they’ve belonged all along.

Clouds play Wigwam on March 1. 77

“I THINK PROMOTERS WERE WAITING UNTIL AFTER THE ALBUM, NOT KNOWING WHAT WE WERE GOING TO SOUND LIKE.” 78

House. Techno. Booking. Management. Agency. www.thebuildingsociety.agency thebuildingsocietyagency thebuildingsociety 79

NEW YEAR,

NEW YU. Words: CaitrĂona Devery

lunar-based moveable feast, Chinese New Year falls on February 5 this year, but is generally celebrated for a two week period. 2019 is the year of the pig, a happy and chubby creature symbolising prosperity and abundance. Food is at the heart of Chinese New Year celebrations and there are certain important traditional dishes. Dumplings, irresistible stuffed dough baubles, are big, especially in the north of China where they are prepared at the start of the festival. There are also sweet, round dumplings called tangyuan made from glutinous rice flour and served swimming in a sweet dessert soup. Nian gao, sticky rice cakes, are popular in the south. It’s a time for auspicious foods, particularly those with linguistic coincidences; like yu, which means fish, but also abundance. Or ji, which means chicken, but sounds similar to the word for luck. The owner of Lee’s Charming Noodles on Parnell Street, Jie Liu, says that in China people tend to eat at home for New Year, but while living away Chinese people are more likely to eat in restaurants. When picking spots to feature, I avoided any such metrics. I’m bored of the tired old trope that somewhere must be good “because lots of Chinese people eat there”. Not that it doesn’t likely have a ring of truth to it, but because it sounds like the Chinese customers merely exist to validate the reviewer’s amazing nose for authenticity. So, you’ll be relieved there are no surveys in this article. No headcountof any ethnic groups at all. I was too busy stuffing my face. The Chinese restaurant scene in Dublin caters for many tastes. From high end spots like China Sichuan, to fast-food hotspots like Temple Express and the Oriental Emporium, there are many places to try if your taste buds hanker for the real deal. The closest we have to Chinatown, Parnell Street, is an obvious destination, as is Capel Street. But there are gems dotted all over the city.

M&L Cathedral Street In the unlikely location of a side street off O’Connell Street, M&L is a Chinese island of spice, heat and comfort. A little more curated toward the Irish market and a tad more polished than some of the Parnell Street joints, it also foregrounds bold Sichuanese dishes while still serving some of the classics you might associate with older Chinese restaurants in Ireland. My personal litmus test, dumplings, come steamed with beef or pork and prawn. They are softly supple, perfectly pleated morsels laid out in a circle. I hear the beef dumplings are even nicer. Chilli oil and soy make a great dip. We went old school with some very moreish sesame prawn toast, and tender, fatty Peking duck with crispy flavourful skin, served with pancakes, cucumber strips, and a sweet, thick sauce. They do familiar favourites like ribs, chicken satay, chicken and sweetcorn soup, but the chef’s recommendations are the real gold in M&L: deep fried chicken with dry chilli and crispy peanuts is a star choice, and there are lots of meats braised and stir-fried with a variety of sauces and spicy Sichuan flavourings, and lots of seafood.

Xian’s Street Food South Anne Street A gift from Galway to the capital, Xian’s Street Food is the sexy street food spot I’ve been waiting for on the Southside. Xi’an in China’s Shaanxi Province was the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. It’s one of the most ancient cities in China, rich in culinary history and influences including Islamic. The flavours are pungent and rich and the menu draws on this repertoire with some classic Sichuan additions. It’s a casual set up where you order at the counter. There’s a spotlight on noodles which are hand-pulled in front of your eyes in the open kitchen. The process is repetitively hypnotic and the noodles are fresh and delicious. They form the basis of hearty, spicy soups and saucy dishes like the classic sesamepaste and Sichuan pepper Dan Dan noodles and Xian’s special wideboy Biang Biang noodles, onomatopoeically titled after the counter-slapping sound of making them. The nicely-priced bites section is spot on; roujiamo are Xian style flaky-bread burgers and come with variety of fillings including veggie. They do light, crispy fried dumplings and a sophisticated spice bag. The best surprise for us was the glossy golden crispy buns; doughnutty bites that are served hot with pale and delicate condensed milk for dunking. Their vegan salads are super fresh and filling. Excellent condiments on the tables too.

Asia Market

Hilan

Drury Street

Capel Street

Asia Market was opened by the Pau family in 1981. It sells not just Chinese, but ingredients from all over Asia. I met the director, Eva Pau, who tells me there are different New Year greetings that vary on who you’re talking to. A good all rounder is ‘dai gat dai lei’; good luck and prosperity. She also recommended some signature Chinese New Year food items. Dumplings, you’ll be happy to hear, are key. Make your own with fresh or frozen wrappers; jiaozi for the north Chinese version. Easier still, there’s an impressive selection of pre-made dumplings (including ‘Irish Artisan Dumplings’, made in Bray) in the freezer section. Making your own dipping sauce with Chinkiang black vinegar, its fermented acidity sets off the salty umami of soy sauce. Skip the insipid sweet chilli gloop and go for chilli oil (with black bean or crispy prawns). Snacks are also traditional, serve a mix in a round ‘prosperity tray’ dried fruits, candied and preserved: winter melon, plum, red dates, as well as seeds (symbolising fertility) like pumpkin, lotus, sunflower and red melon seeds. Rice cake, nian gao, comes sweet or savoury, and it represents prosperity and success. They also do the ingredients for red bean paste or black sesame tang yuan or sweet dumpling so you can make your own dessert soup. Asia Market are celebrating Chinese New Year with events all week including a dumpling day and tastings.

Hilan is a Chinese and Korean spot, a buzzing restaurant with a busy stream of international customers eager to try their hand at cooking their own dinner over Korean barbecue or in the Chinese hotpots. A hotpot is a satisfying, communal and interactive experience. There’s a set price per person, you cook your own pre-sliced slivers of meat or seafood, vegetables and noodles in various broths in a Beijing carbon hotpot on your table. They also serve Korean and Japanese dishes so the menu is vast. Within their Chinese offering they serve some Hunanese dishes which can be even spicier than Sichuanese so if you like it hot, try the Hunan style stir fried chilli lamb or pork belly. We tried the classic Sichuan dish, stir fried green beans which came with hot chilli and fermented black bean flavours. It’s a tasty dish, though my friend thought it a little oily. If you’re the adventurous type, Hilan is a good spot to take a gamble on something new: the menu features tripe, jellyfish head, chicken gizzards, pig’s ear and geoduck (weirdly a mollusc, not a duck, who knew?), but plenty of ways to play it safe too.

Lee’s Charming Noodles Parnell Street Charming Noodles lives up to its name. It is charming, and there are noodles. They say they were the first Chinese restaurant on Parnell Street. Current owner Jie comes from North China and is charm personified. Charming Noodles is bright and neat, the staff are friendly, and the menu is a mixture of familiar and more traditional Chinese food. Daintily crumpled, steamed or panfried dumplings (pork and cabbage or prawn and chive) are handmade in the little kitchen downstairs. The Laoganma (old grandma) roasted duck dish is addictive, stir-fried with an intense and potent Sichuan chilli oil. Hand-pulled egg noodles live up to expectations. You can choose soup noodles (braised beef is rich and tasty), chow mein, or pan fried. There is a strong Sichuan influence on the menu, as Jie explained it is popular with both Chinese and Irish customers. If you like intense, salty flavours, try the Mapo Tofu or spicy cumin lamb. There are lots of meat-free vegetable and tofu options. They also sell whole fish if you want to encourage an abundant New Year; go for steamed seabass or turbot with aromatic flavourings.

Hang Dai Camden Street Hang Dai is a different beast to the more austere spots on Parnell and Capel Street. It’s owned and run by Will Dempsey and Karl Whelan, long-time fans of real-deal Chinese grub. Entering through the multi-coloured butcher curtains feels like entering another world, a kind of retro-futuristic Hong Kong on acid; late night and transportive. You can forget you’re just around the corner from Coppers and imagine you’re on a date with a replicant. It’s pricier than spots on Parnell Street, but that’s like comparing apples and doorknobs. Will says they’re not purists; this is the Chinese food he and Karl love to eat. They made research trips to Sichuan, Hong Kong and Beijing. The influence of Karl’s French training – on ingredients and stylistic flourishes - gives the menu the feel of an affectionate remix. Which is appropriate given Hang Dai’s serious sound system and hosting of DJs after dinner ends (They had Irvine Welsh DJing there in December). Food wise, Skeaghanore duck cooked Hong Kong style and served three ways has been their longtime signature dish. They are launching a new menu at Chinese New Year and it will feature starters like Ma Po pork shoulder, chicken salad with taste bombs of peanut rayu and sour cucumber, and drunken cockles. Mains include the classic Kung Po chicken made with peanuts and three types of chilli, and clay pot vegetables. Expect some Chinese New Year specials, including a cocktail or two. 83

BURRITOS Words: Caitríona Devery

hat did we eat before we ate burritos? Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes… Burritos. It’s like asking what we did before the internet: a haze descends. Until the late 2000’s Irish people were familiar with the cheeky fajita, but the total meal that is the burrito had yet come forth. Fastforward to 2019 and you might be forgiven for thinking that burritos are the only food people eat in Dublin, such is their ubiquity. Its cheapness and enormity give it elevated status in the affordable-yet-delicious grub rankings. Like many of our food trends the burrito came to Ireland via the States, which put its own excessive fast-food spin on this originally more humble Mexican cowboy food. In a twist of linguistic irony, burrito means Little Ass. In Mexico burritos are less common that you might think and are a simpler, three-ingredient phenomenon. The burrito’s journey to global fast food sandwich supreme started with Mexican immigration to the US in the early 20th century. Their burrito sandwich was soon co-opted by Americans, forming the foundation of Tex-Mex cuisine. In the 1960’s a taqueria in the Mission area of San Francisco made a double burrito with lots of extra fillings, so much so it required a foil wrap to keep it all intact. That Mission burrito is the burrito-daddy of the ones we eat today, as this style was picked up by American super-chain Chipotle, which sparked a million imitators. Salsa and guacamole liven up what could be an overwhelming amount of stodge. A modest amount of earthy, savoury beans (pinto or black, usually) are also crucial. If you want your taste buds to be happy rather than experience a dazed fullness in your belly go easy on the rice and ramp up the extras. Mostly I go for chicken as it’s a bit lighter, but slow cooked and well-spiced pork and beef hit the spot, especially in the winter. Beans, rice, guacamole, salsa and veg fillings make for a very substantial vegan/veggie burrito. My big hate with burritos is extreme tortilla sogginess. Too many wet fillings can make the tortilla go a bit soft and mushy, but maybe you weirdos like that. Here are a few of the burrito joints around the city where you can get your fill. I left out El Grito as it’s been on too many of my lists already, but it is amazing 84

KEE

Boojum Everywhere

P ON ROLL

Blink and another Boojum appears. I think they have figured out how to self-replicate. Boojum is a slick operation, from the assembly line production to the well-trained chirpiness of the staff, and the aggressively street/pop interiors. It’s always busy; there was a queue of sports-bag-loaded-offthe-culchie-bus students ordering carbless burrito bowls when I was there (I’m allowed say the c-word, I’m from Offaly). They do Mexican savoury rice or the gratinglytitled cilantro lime rice (it’s coriander), both of which are a little too stodgy for me. Fillings cover all the main bases: chicken (tasty thigh meat), carnitas pork, barbacoa beef, chilli mince, chorizo and veggie. The naga salsa is lethal hot. They do good beers and the amazing Mexican pop, Jarritos.

Little Ass Rathmines Little Ass – the most literal of burrito joints in Dublin – is a solo-shop operation on the Southside. The menu was the most appealing; it’s just a little bit more creative and descriptive than other spots. They have two chicken options, with ancho chilli and lime-marinated chicken, slow-braised beef and pork, two veggie options (sweet potato or red pepper) and most excitingly the Cha Cha with the incredible Gubbeen chorizo and feta. It’s just a little bit different. The generous cheese is classic Tex-Mex Monterey jack, which is appropriately bland with the perfect melt-consistency and a satisfying, soporific quality. The salsas all have different chillies if you’re into that sort of thing: try the orange and guajillo ‘zesty’ one.

Pablo Picante Four locations across town I triangulated my empirical testing of burritos with a qualitative survey of the burrito’s demographic (a representative sample in Anseo last Tuesday). Pablo Picante was a statistically significant favourite with 35 per cent of the vote. It may not be the biggest burrito, but it’s not the size but what’s inside that counts, right? They call themselves a ‘Californian burrito bar’. SoCal is where the burrito found itself, so it seems perfectly replicated here. There are now four locations. These bars are fun with a lot of attitude, and although almost as numerous as Boojum, are more cheeky in style. The barbacoa is lush and the smokey roasted chipotle the perfect compliment. The beer selection, in Clarendon Market at least, is exquisite: Modelo for a Mexican vibe or Sierra Nevada for the full on Californian experience.

G IN

Hungry Mexican Aston Quay The outlier in this burrito game, the Hungry Mexican, is more of a sit-down restaurant than fast-food, but the prices are not prohibitive so you could just grab and go. The fundamentals of their burrito are the same, but this does not feel like a Californian or Tex-Mex burrito. I had the beef which was deeply savoury and ginormous, a seriously decent option for cheap eats in the city. The tortilla was nicely toasted and unsoggy, with rice, cheese and black beans. Owners Oman and Sonali are themselves vegetarian, so the nonmeat options are more imaginative: seitan or plantain. They are also not afraid of heat, the habanero salsa is intense. Oman says, “When we say hot we mean hot”. Fronting as the big woman (what’s the female equivalent of macho?), I pretended I could handle it, but I was almost about to cry. Irish brewers Alltech make their Mexican lager, and they also claim to make Ireland’s largest chimichanga. A challenge if there ever was one.

Burritos & Blues Wexford St and IFSC Burritos & Blues were the first casual burrito bar in Dublin, opening in 2004 in Ranelagh. Their early adoption means they win at websites (www.burritos.ie is their domain). It closed for a few years, but reopened again in 2010 which really marked the start of Dublin’s full-blown obsession with burritos. There are two in Dublin, the one on Wexford Street is a late night beacon for those searching for soakage. It’s good value and the portions are generous. The star fillings are beef barbacoa, pork carnitas, adobo chicken or steak if you’re feeling fancy. There are also two vegetarian options: bean and cheese or fried peppers and onions. It’s a decent burrito, and I’ve heard loads of people swear by it. Their lime rice is light and undistracting, and they also win the guac game: it’s only 75c.

Dublin restaurant of the month:

VARIETY JONES z

oincidentally this is our second Silk Road reference this issue. This one not to the city in Shaanxi, but to the murky route that was the first darknet marketplace for drugs. The unlikely sounding Variety Jones was the pseudonym of a man working in its higher echelons. How very 21st century. Barely open a wet week (since December), this variety of Variety Jones is a casual spot on Thomas Street. Brothers Keelan (chef) and Aaron (front of house) Higgs have been flat out the past three months and, now, it’s on. The menu has been designed around togetherness and sharing. Keelan calls it modern Irish food but this is stated without a fuss. There’s no song and dance about provenance, it’s taken as a matter of course, and the style of cooking looks out rather than back. Dishes are made with Irish ingredients, Keelan says, “if it makes sense”. So brown trout, oysters, butter and barley share a page with Comte and capers. There’s also an open fire; a hearth upon which some dishes will be cooked. Keelan has a fine dining pedigree, having work with Chapter One, the Greenhouse, Luna and Lock’s under his belt, as well as a two Michelin star restaurants in Italy. He says he left Ireland because there was nothing happening, but then it dawned on him that nothing would happen unless people stayed. So he came back. Here’s to both substance and style. @variety_jones

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

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

ICE CREAM Murphy’s Wicklow St. murphysicecream.ie Scoop Aungier St. & Ranelagh scoopgelato.ie Storm in a Teacup Skerries Gino’s Grafton St., Henry St. & South Great Georges St. ginosgelato.com Sun Bear Gelato Dawson St.

Picado Mexican Pantry Richmond St. picadomexican.com

COCKTAILS

SEAFOOD

Drop Dead Twice Francis Street dropdeadtwice.com

Fish Shop Smithfield fish-shop.ie Rosa Madre Temple Bar rosamadre.ie Bastible South Circular Road bastible.com Klaw Temple Bar klaw.ie

Delahunt Lower Camden Street delahunt.ie Drury Buildings Drury Street drurybuildings.com Peruke & Periwig Dawson Street peruke.ie The Liquor Rooms Wellington Quay theliquorrooms.com

Catch-22 Clarendon St. catch-22.ie

CHINESE

OYSTERS

Lee’s Charming Noodles Parnell St.

East Café Bar/King Sitric Howth kingsitric.ie

Hang Dai Camden St hangdaichinese.com

Seafood Café Temple Bar klaw.ie

Hilan Capel St.

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 Meet Me in the Morning Pleasants St. mmim.ie

Mak Ranelagh mak.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 Coke Lane Pizza Lucky’s, Meath Street and The Glimmerman, Stoneybatter @cokelanepizza Big Blue Bus The Bernard Shaw, South Richmond Street thebernardshaw.com Dublin Pizza Co Aungier Street dublinpizzacompany.ie The Yarn Liffey Street Lower theyarnpizza.com Sano Exchange Street Upper sano.pizza

COFFEE Coffee Angel A number of locations around the city coffeeangel.com Network Aungier Street networkcafe.ie Two Boys Brew North Circular Road twoboysbrew.ie Shoe Lane Tara Street shoelanecoffee.ie Nick’s Coffee Ranelagh @NicksCoffeeCo

VIETNAMESE

Lee Kee Parnell St.

Pho Viet Parnell Street phoviet.ie

JAPANESE

Pang Kevin Street lovepang.ie

Yamamori Tengu Great Strand St. yamamori.ie

Jolin’s Vietnamese Coffee House Portobello

Michie Sushi Ranelagh michiesushi.com

Bun Cha Moore Street buncha.ie

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

CHAR SPRING 2019 ISSUE

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