We’ve gotten a few messages about the Notes On Rave In Dublin screening and party that’s we’re organizing on December 1st with Con Artist. Basically, yes – it’s THAT Kevin Barry. Author of City Of Bohane and Beatlebone fame.
Beatlebone won the 2015 Goldsmith Prize. It meshes truths, semi-fictions, and lore into an intimate portrait of John Lennon and weaves together fragmentary folk memories of Ireland’s lost countercultures of the 1970s. Kevin gave a great interview to a blog called The Point Of Everything a few years ago. He talked about living in London in 1988 and discovering the sounds of acieeed.
Here he is in his own words:
“I went to London for a summer in 1988, with a couple of mates from Limerick, and we were kind of, I dunno what we were listening to at this stage – it was a weird time; the Smiths were gone and broken up and all that, so we were kind of old before our time. We were listening to fucking Leonard Cohen and Neil Young and things like this, and you’re searching for something new without realising it. And then suddenly, around Camden Town, seeing all these young fellas in dayglo clothes, eyes popping out of their heads, going to this thing in the Camden Palace called Feet First – we were going, what’s this? And going in and it was acid house.
And of course, straight away, the next day we had the orange jeans bought, we were all on acid and we were into nothing else only house music. Came back to Limerick then and of course there was no house music scene in Limerick, so eventually, about 1990, 91, myself and a mate, Aoife Ni Conna, who’s still a very well-known house DJ and hip-hop DJ, we started to put on nights around Limerick, often getting DJs from Cork, cos Cork had more house DJs, and down from Galway, in various nightclubs around Limerick, putting on things with dodgy, ravey names. But it was great.”
About a million years ago, we also approached Kevin to offer up some of his suggestions for what would soundtrack his City Of Bohane – as it’s filled to the brim with characters winding down to Calypso and dub, fado and ska. He came back with he called “Six Songs for Bohane”.
This dubwise selection was published in #rabble6 with an amazing illustration by our one and only Tommy Rash.
It’ll be our pure pleasure to have Kevin along to share further memories of his raving time with his old mucker Aoife and the other guests on December 1st.
Check out Eventbrite for further details and all that ticket lark.