What do you really think... (1 Viewer)

[Daniel]

Just wondering what everyone on here really thinks about the whole punk/hc/diy etc "scene" in Ireland over the last year or so. What do ye all think of the quality of Irish bands around at the moment, the shows, venues, zines, labels and everything that goes with all this.

I'm sure alot of people here have lived in other parts of the world and experienced shows all over the world on their travels. How do these compare to here?

I'm asking this as i have been browsing the net alot at work and there seems to be an awful lot going on around the world and i'm not sure that Ireland is keeping up... maybe ye know otherwise and the net is "only the net".

I'm not giving out like... just wondering like.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

I wonder how many people will be really honest,and how quick this will descend to the usual crap.
I've not been to many gigs in the past year or so,and to be honest,I feel I've missed nothing.
Before that however,I for a long time have thought there have been too many gigs. Especially of bands I know nothing about. Fair enough,I can hear a song or two on myspace or whatever,but there's a lot of bands touring europe and even the uk I would be way into seeing who skip ireland. Obviously this is not necesarily the fault of irish promoters,the bands may show no interest to begin with.
I'd be curious as to how many bands who play here are any way familiar to the audience they play too before they play in ireland. It seemed at one point a lot of the bands who played here were already known to some degree. Records were available in shops etc,times have changed a lot so maybe that's just the way it is now.
I've always thought that ireland is very unique and doesn't really follow trends in hardcore as such though and that's one of the things I've always liked. I think it seems to be splitting a bit more now with a lot of different little scenes. I have no idea how easy or worthwhile trying to have them cross over would be,I know a few people have tried.
Having said all that remember,I've not been going to many gigs recently so prove me wrong.

Things I'd like to see:
more fast bands(with no metal influence)
more mixed line ups at gigs
more local band releases(on vinyl of course)
a decent local label,serioulsy Rejected/Control is missed
more decent distros,and more people supporting them(maybe Skubol will have some impact here,for dublin anyway)
less drinking cans too close to venues
more decent bands in general
less shitty gigs
more good gigs
more uk bands playing here
more european bands playing here
and I'll probably think of more later. Maybe I should give it some thought when I'm less jaded.

 

[Daniel]

I
more fast bands(with no metal influence)
more local band releases(on vinyl of course)
a decent local label,serioulsy Rejected/Control is missed
less drinking cans too close to venues

agree alot with all that especially. The can drinking is even a problem in Galway now. The pub owners have said nothing yet but some day the shit will hit the fan..

 

[skubol]

fev words from me.
the worst thing here is that there's no touring bands coming over here. there are some of course but i'd say most of the time it's not the first league if you know what i mean.
i had a felling that irish scene is a bit isolated because of that from what's going on in the punk scene in europe.

gigs are booring and most of the people going there just to meet friends or drink a beer.
venues are crap especially lower deck. people sitting on the chairs during punk gig. wtf?
"kennedys" was the best and i wish gigs come back there.
seomra spraoi as a venue looks interesting, we'll see what's gonna be reaction of the neighbours after first gig.

best thing in irish scene is that people are extremelly nice and friendly.:heart:

label that i'm doing is going pretty well, not because people are interested in records but because there is a very small group of people who buying a lot's of records from me. i think there is no more than 50 people in the whole ireland who are interested in buying records. half of them are foreigners.
i'm still on a minus around 1200 euros but 3 months ago i have 3000 on minus.
breaking point is coming very soon and theres gonna be a big party in my gaff when i reached this point.
irish bands that i help with releasing their records (tunguska, easpa measa)are really well known in europe and i'm happy about it. you can get their records easily from 60-70 distros around the world.
the freebooters cd/lp coming sooner or later

 

[Janer]

Going back to the early days of Punk was even worse for touring bans coming to Ireland...honestly!!!!!!
The troubles were always an excuse for them too.........
I have pm'd a few bands lately but the line back is that they will always incur a loss coming here.....we live on an isolated island I guess.

The Punk scene in Dublin is poor compared to Belfast too, sure people may say I live in the past but when I go to gigs in Belfast they are so different to Dublins, the problem down here is that more people are into crusty/HC down here and as someone said earlier while it would've seemed silly saying this 10-15 years ago there are just too many gigs on here, diluting the already small crowd that we have here in Dublin.
I mean I am going to the Demob gig next week and tbh Demob are not that great but they are one of the few proper Punk gigs on in Dublin this year, last one was another average Punk band 3CR.
While they were average bands I still enjoyed those gigs better then the other gigs.
(Oi Polloi was prob the highlight gig so far this year but they pld a very short set)
Skubol's post was fairly accurate too, great thread Daniel too.
Can u imagine if we hadn'tve have Leechrum though!!!!

Bottom line is we get more touring bands then we did 20-30 years ago but alas we live on an island, or as Sir Bob said an "island of dreams".

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

Another thing I'd like to see,is when bands record a demo,they make it available on tape or cdr. It would seem that many bands record a demo and even mates are lucky to get a copy.
Songs on myspace does not equal a demo.

 

[cesspooldublin]

i agree with a lot of what's been said so far, as for this "more fast bands without metal influences" - this always cracks me up.Maybe people should stop whining about it and start bands . Also "More good gigs, less shitty gigs" is an extremely cheeky thing to say in a paragraph where you've said you've not been to many gigs this year Gary. I haven't either, but I know i've missed a lot of good stuff. Without meaning to sound like a smartarse - define a "good" gig for me?

My only major gripe about the "DIY" scene is how keen people seem to be to cross over into Phantom/Hot Press land lately. It's a bit of a grey area, and I'm certainly not condemning anyone for doing so, it's just weird seeing mates play mcd/whelans type gigs. I'm personally in a situation where I have to deal with a "proper" venue at the moment to put on a touring band, and the whole cost/paperwork end of it has been a reminder why I prefer to do things DIY in the first place. It's a one off, it's making me very uncomfortable, and I can't wait to get back to doing a noisy fast band in a shitty pub asap.

See thing is, while I don't begrudge any band popularity, and have been around long enough to know that it can feel incredibly limiting playing the same songs to the same people over and over again, I've definitely noticed there seems to be a couple of bands who've popped up lately playing the DIY/Hardcore circuit who clearly couldn't give a fuck about DIY, and have their eyes on the prize as it were. I've put one or two of these bands on. I won't be doing it again. I'm also old enough to know at this point that slagging them on the internet is a futile exercise that does nothing. Good luck to them and all, but maybe folks should be a bit more honest about their intentions.

I dunno, I've been thinking a lot about this kind of thing lately, and I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. Noone else seems to be bothered by it.

otherwise,no complaints.Sure, venues are crap but I dunno, I like the Lower Deck. Plus with the likes of Apes of Wrath, Carosah, Crowd Control, Divisions Ruin and all having popped up in the last few months, plenty of hope for things yet.

 

[cesspooldublin]

oh, label wise - while it's not all to my taste, looks like Armed Ambitions are going to be come a force to be reckoned with. Rimbaud & Skubi are doing good stuff, Hideaway house could be good if they grow a pair and do and Apes of Wrath record..and..well,hopefully the amazing "one release a year" Cesspool schedule may pick up next year if all works out to cover the heavier/noisier/weirder end of things.

Overall I feel more "posi" (ugh) about the scene nowadays than I have at any point in the last 5 years, even if I have certain reservations and amn't as involved as I'd like to be. I've tried this year to do less moaning and more getting shit done, and it's kinda worked. Gigs I've put on , particularly in the last 3 or 4 months have been the most enjoyable and successful I've done thus far.

 

[Daniel]

(Oi Polloi was prob the highlight gig so far this year but they pld a very short set)
Can u imagine if we hadn'tve have Leechrum though!!!!

Ha Ha, i thought the Oi Polloi set was too long...
Leechrum was very important for getting everyone together. We defo need more festival type things in the sticks where people get to hang out proper and have a chat before "getting the last bus home" etc.

 

[Daniel]

Another thing I'd like to see,is when bands record a demo,they make it available on tape or cdr. It would seem that many bands record a demo and even mates are lucky to get a copy.
Songs on myspace does not equal a demo.

You see alot of bands turning up at their gigs with out any cds/merch at all now... well Irish bands anyway.
Thats myspace for ya... its the same with gig posters. Great designs in full colour all over the net but most of them never seem to get printed and put up around town.

 

[Denver Max]

Good Things
-Good sense of community
-Lots of great bands playing different styles
-Lots of people who work their asses off ie. gz/porco dio/cesspool/seomra spraoi etc.

Im going to agree with alot of what skub said on the negative stuff
-Lame attitude from people about bands/gigs etc. Seems that people are really into the music anymore, but just don't know what else to do so continue to go to gigs. There are particular groups that you can be guaranteed will only come if their mates band is playing.
-Shit venues. Not much we can do about that except pray gigs become a regular thing in Seomra Spraoi
-Not enough people buying records. Seriously, its fucking bullshit that skuby can have a really great distro, and no one buys anything. I think this ties back into people not giving a shit about the music.
-Splintered scene. Moshspace/PFI/Hideaway/GZ etc. All diy and rooted in punk. Why isnt it just "the punk scene"?
​

 

[Daniel]

My only major gripe about the "DIY" scene is how keen people seem to be to cross over into Phantom/Hot Press land lately. It's a bit of a grey area, and I'm certainly not condemning anyone for doing so, it's just weird seeing mates play mcd/whelans type gigs. I'm personally in a situation where I have to deal with a "proper" venue at the moment to put on a touring band, and the whole cost/paperwork end of it has been a reminder why I prefer to do things DIY in the first place. It's a one off, it's making me very uncomfortable, and I can't wait to get back to doing a noisy fast band in a shitty pub asap.

See thing is, while I don't begrudge any band popularity, and have been around long enough to know that it can feel incredibly limiting playing the same songs to the same people over and over again, I've definitely noticed there seems to be a couple of bands who've popped up lately playing the DIY/Hardcore circuit who clearly couldn't give a fuck about DIY, and have their eyes on the prize as it were. I've put one or two of these bands on. I won't be doing it again. I'm also old enough to know at this point that slagging them on the internet is a futile exercise that does nothing. Good luck to them and all, but maybe folks should be a bit more honest about their intentions.
QUOTE]


I think some people like to play decent venues with a good sound system sometimes and they like to know what people ( Hot Press, radio stations) think about their stuff. You don't see that many Irish music fanzines with reviews any more so sometimes you don't have a choice but to get an opinion from the more mainstream publications. I am for example sending the Only Fumes & Corpses CD to all sorts of places to get some feedback... mates telling you "its deadly" is grand like but it would be nice to get some honest opinions.
Some DIY promoters put on the odd biggish band with guarantees to make bit of cash... which usually goes back into the "scene". I made some cash of Sunn 0))) last year which bought some new PA gear etc.

Yo.. name the bands who have their "eye on the prize". Go on, do it.

 

[BC]

i personally think the current independant (and i mean the word in the most literal sense : not refering to notions of genre specifically) music scene in ireland is incredibly exciting and rewarding at the moment, more so that it has been in a fair while.

i dont see the "scene" being restricted to "hardcore" or "punk" at all; i think to do so is to operate from a fairly blinkered and conservative viewpoint. it's an unfortunate reminder that for many, involvement and appreciation of music is seen as a means of adopting an identity. thankfully, the incredible variety and versitility of acts is evidence of the willingness to transcend the strained restrictions of categorisation.

to me, the "scene" would include terrordactyl, zorilla, drainland, mongolia, united bible studies, papercut, thingumajigsaw, jenny and the deadites, hooray for humans (relevantly containing members of my remorse and eachtra) ghastly grimey orchestra and so on... that's an incredible wealth of really wonderful talent right there. and, notably, these bands dont sound alike whatsoever. what does link them is not only geography and personal familiarity but most importantly independance, a d.i.y. attitude / process / background, open-mindedness, a sense of fun (in terms of the pleasure taken in creativity exercised rather than frivolity) and the fact the music of all these acts comes from the heart.

the last couple of years has been so exciting for irish independant music. i hope to see more of this diversity and open-mindedness, since it makes for some incredibly rewarding results. it does require you go to gigs, yes, but that's what it is about, and it does need your support. the situation with venues has been fucking awful in dublin for a long time now, and i'll agree it's not helped by people taking the piss and drinking from cans etc. it's not like the price of going to a gig in the lower deck on a thursday is going to break the bank, and sure, you will see / hear some bands that dont do it for you. but i have found such gigs to be far more rewarding than any others in recent years.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

You see alot of bands turning up at their gigs with out any cds/merch at all now... well Irish bands anyway.
Thats myspace for ya...quote]
Exactly,I wouldn't care too much but a lot of bands will mention they have a demo available. Available where exactly.

 

[Janer]

Ha Ha, i thought the Oi Polloi set was too long...
Leechrum was very important for getting everyone together.

wE RAN OUTTA TIME IN tHE lOWER dECK, i TAKE IT YOU WERE AT THE gALWAY GIG?

OOPS CAPS.

 

[cesspooldublin]

Yo.. name the bands who have their "eye on the prize". Go on, do it.

No!That's my whole point!I'm not getting back into this shit stirring stuff haha!!! If you must know I'll tell you who and what I'm talking about privately some time.

No like I understand what you're saying Dan completely about sending stuff out to other outlets, and I'm kind of all for it, like I said earlier I don't really begrudge anyone anything at this point, it's not like I've never sent my own bands' stuff into the likes of Terrorizer etc over the years (and I'm interested to see if Corm writing for a "proper" music magazine will result in Irish hc bands getting some coverage, which would be great as far as I'm concerned). It's more i've just gotten a buzz off one or two bands recently that they were playing hardcore gigs for the sake of playing a gig, and really didn't give a shit about any of the other bands,people or whatever there, that this wasn't a "community" that they had any vested interest in if you like. Having said that, I also put on a couple of hip hop bands who were the most punk as fuck, DIY or die thing you can imagine in terms of their ethics.

As for the "merch" thing - we've had that problem.That's cos we keep selling out of them quicker than we can make them.

Brian - I agree pretty much with everything you said, but for the sake of this board I'm specifically referring to bands who would clkass themselves (wether eexclusively or not) as being punk or hardcore bands.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

I think one of the things that happens with some bands is that once they start playing slightly bigger gigs,or get a mention in more mainstream music press,the diy scene yells "sell-out" and wants nothing to do with them. I'm sure at least some of the bands who become more popular would be willing and maybe evn love to continue playing to more diy audiences. I also reckon were this to happen it would be quite healthy.

 

[bombidol]

best thread in years on here. I agree with a lot of the thoughts expressed. The biggest problem is the division between scenes I think. like its been said, Moshspace, PFI, Eirecore, GZ etc etc all started off as groups of mates putting on gigs etc so it becomes a case of not all these groups of friends know each other so its stays fragmented. On any given night in Dublin there could be a handful of gigs on all over the city instead there should be one gig with the killer line up that attracts people from all the scenes.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

On any given night in Dublin there could be a handful of gigs on all over the city instead there should be one gig with the killer line up that attracts people from all the scenes.

aka-too many gigs.
Does moshspace etc have a forum they use? It would be interesting if a similar thread was started on other forums to see wht comments would be made there.

 

[pete]

i blame the internet