Welsh folk tradition involving a horse skull mounted on a pole

Nobody ever said the music industry was going to be easy. The reality for artists trying to make it is that there are, on average, over 20,000 new songs uploaded to Spotify, Apple Music, and other major music streaming services every day.

It’s a figure that upcoming artists may not want to hear but can’t ignore, however, it still doesn’t stop some artists from trying to make it.

Throughout the chaotic wildness and drunken affairs that are associated with Dublin city nightlife, there is also the hard and often inspiring work created by the nightclub DJ’s, among them are a group called LOST, a faction of upcoming DJ’s, some with close links to DCU.

Rossa Doherty, who goes by the DJ name “Pagan” recalls the grassroots of the group and where it all started.

“LOST began at the end of my first year in college. Despite being focused on running our own nights, our first regular gig was actually run by someone else, and we were booked as the resident DJ’s in Opium on Wednesday nights. Those initial first gigs were a great starting off point, as we had to quickly adapt to each other’s style of DJ’ing, as well as curating the line-up in the fairest way we could.” he said.

“Then, just before the Christmas break, we

finally found a venue that would take us and we began planning for our Dublin launch night.”

From the beginning, LOST knew they had to stand out if they wanted any sort of longevity, so they invested the money they had earned from the opium residency into the production side of the night.

“The event ran really smoothly in the end, and I think as a result of our efforts in finding a unique venue, having the place look great, and our residents playing great sets, there was a good buzz about LOST from that point on. We went on to run two more sold-out events that semester, as well as being booked for a variety of other student events, like the Style Soc’s Fashion Show afterparty, and the student race day after-party in Tramline,” Doherty said.

However, no great business goes without its challenges and difficulties, and the music business is no exception. There is no denying that it’s a strange time to be a collective in Dublin. On one hand, you’ve got the biggest number of people that enjoy house and techno that the country has seen in maybe 20 years, as is demonstrated with the success of festivals like Life

and Boxed Off. However, it’s becoming harder and harder for smaller collectives like LOST to put on shows in Dublin.

“DJ’s fees are rising astronomically, more competition seems to be cropping up weekly, and worst of all, all of our favourite clubs are shutting down. Venues like Hangar, or smaller ones like the Bernard Shaw and South William, are a terrible loss for the city. These days, we’re having to book venues months in advance, or take chances on dates that could be dodgy, just because you won’t get a venue otherwise,” said Doherty.

LOST however, hope to continue their hard work into 2020 with their first night in Wigwam, one of Dublin’s most iconic underground venues, on December 12th. As well as that, LOST hope to continue to bring international guests over. “Despite the ups and downs, it’s a great feeling being able to book an act that you’ve loved for ages, and then showing your crowd why they should love them too! We’re still loving what we do, and are looking forward to growing LOST in 2020,” said Doherty.

On one of the first stops of his ZUU European tour, Denzel Curry took The Helix by storm on Thursday, December 5th.

Curry makes his return to Ireland not long after his last two Irish gigs. One, which took place in the Olympia late last December, as well as a show during Longitude 2019. It was at this show in July, where he injured himself after falling off the stage during his set.

Curry laughed it off at the beginning of the show, commenting on how different he is now compared to the last show. He mentioned his now short hair, his improved fitness level and the now healed leg that he injured.

It was an eventful evening even before the opening act began, with The Helix being evacuated due to a fire alarm going off inside. Not too long after, however, the crowd reentered the venue to see opener guapdad4000.

The opener was a short and sweet set, with plenty of crowd interaction by guapdad4000. He managed to pick up a Republic of Ireland jersey from the front row of the crowd, and was quickly belting out “Costa Rica” dressed in green.

The crowd contracted quickly as Curry emerged to the opening sample of “ZUU”, the title track of his latest album. Mosh pits formed as the track hit the main chorus and the bass exploded across the venue.

Immediately after finishing “ZUU”, Curry transitioned to “RICKY” and blasted the crowd with distorted vocals and synthetic beats. Curry was in great form across the entire gig, hyping the crowd with his performance on the stage and his lyricism.

He didn’t stay strictly to his own songs either, performing “Look At Me!” by the late controversial rapper XXXTentacion. Not only that, but he performed his half of the track “Psycho”, which was a collaboration with British rapper Slowthai. The horror soundtrack style of the song translated fantastically to the stage, with Curry flying around the stage at top speed.

His critically acclaimed song, “CLOUT COBAIN” off his critically acclaimed album “TA13OO”, received roars from the crowd as Curry started it.

At some point around halfway through the gig, an Irish flag was tossed up on the stage, which Curry quickly picked up and bounced about the stage waving it above him. Chants of “olé” had also erupted throughout the venue at multiple times.

The crowd went absolutely berserk has Curry played one of his most well recognised songs, “Ultimate”, before leaving the stage. Mosh pits opened immediately as the first beats of the track came on over the speakers. Curry unleashed a flurry of energy as he belted out bar after bar of the song as the crowd threw themselves around like ragdolls. Fans weren’t waiting long before Curry returned to the stage for a final tune, with his cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade”. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the final lines of the song played, with even more chants of “one more tune”.

The whole show was stellar, with Curry’s powerful energy and the amazing setlist elevating