Band and deliver
Never mind the naysayers, Dublin 2006 is spilling over with white hot talent. Steve Cummins and Shilpa Ganatra run the rule over the capital's new breed.
Steve Cummins & Shilpa Ganatra, 08 May 2006
It’s Camden Crawl 2006. You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a GHD-users convention, what with all the ubercool haircuts swarming the streets of the London indie Mecca.
In fact, it’s the night when hotly-tipped bands and those reaching for the next level congregate in Camden’s legendary venues to showcase just why they’re causing such a buzz.
Last year, relative ‘nobodies’ such as Mystery Jets and Maximo Park were part of the 40-odd bands, with The Chalets squeezed in as sole representative of Ireland. This time around, both The Marshals and Humanzi have been invited across the Irish Sea, and plenty of people are wondering why the hell Director, The Flaws, The Blizzards and Channel One, among others, weren’t given the Crawl’s seal of approval.
For Dublin 2006 is white hot with bands reaching a standard not seen for years. In an era where the industry is increasingly reluctant to invest in new blood, a disproportionately high number of acts within the island’s capital are poised to release debut albums on majors labels. It seems that conquering Ireland is not enough for these bands, not when there’s worldwide domination to consider.
“London’s such a difficult place to play because they’ve heard everything before,” explains Michael John, frontman of The Marshals. “Every band passes through here, so it takes that little bit more to impress.”
The band have just finished soundchecking at The Purple Turtle, where they’re playing alongside Morning Runner, Switches and the new mutation of the Beta Band, The Aliens.
Is it more important to them to break in the UK than in Ireland?
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation, before laughing at the curtness of his response. “Ideally we want to make it in both places, but the UK is more of a jungle. It’s much bigger and more competitive. You have to go all the way from Aberdeen to Exeter, trying to play to as many heads as possible along the way. If you can make it over here, it’s a testament to how good you are – that’s the way to look at it.”
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