MacD on Music: Angels With Dirty Faces

This past Thursday saw the incredible Rock For Pride concert take place in Sandino’s.

The gig, marking thirty years of Foyle Pride, featured yet another incredible line-up (in a summer that’s been full of them) of String Cut Puppets, TomCat, Emily McCormick, Ainé Sweeney, The Marra and Dirty Faces.

Last week, I spoke with the first two acts on that list about the gig. This week, I’m going to be chatting to the main event of the night, the brilliant Dirty Faces.

Dirty Faces, the rant-hop duo made up of vocalist Josh O’Kane and bassist Lorcán Hamilton, have been one of the most exciting acts on the local scene for the past few years and put on an electrifying live show, as most-recently confirmed at the Melter gig (also featuring TRAMP and The Marra) a few weeks ago.

What do you think about Rock For Pride and what it's about?

(Josh) It's a celebration of life, love, and protest. That people can live their life without harm, love without scrutiny, and make a meaningful stand against hate and homophobia when it's presented in this city and anywhere else.

Derry has a rich cultural history of both protest and music, and Rock for Pride is the perfect combination of both of those things-which accurately represents Derry's spirit and people-power movement. We're very proud to play our part on the 30th anniversary of Foyle Pride.

Are you looking forward to the gig?

(Lorcán) Of course we're looking forward. Who would miss a Rock for Pride? Myself and Josh love singing songs and this will be our third time playing, and to headline this year adds to the excitement of showing off some new material, so our dancing shoes will be on. This gig is a great build-up to our upcoming tour in September.

What do you think about the other acts on the bill?

(Lorcán) We recently done a gig with The Marra and they are some band! We love their new single 'That's Just the Way'. Tom Cat are also not to be missed.

They supported my other band Selador in Dublin-the girls have some vocals harmonies. A lot of diverse acts and that-what u want for these types of gigs to grab all emotions.

Now, onto other business. Belfast-based trio Chalk, made up of Ross Cullen, Luke Niblock and Ben Goddard, have recently been announced as the first-ever Irish awardees of the Featured Artists Coalition’s (FAC) Step Up Fund, powered by Amazon Music.

Chalk’s image-driven soundscape, influenced by their love of film and the emerging Belfast dance scene, is “composed of wailing guitars, a relentless rhythm section and a raw, visceral spoken-word style. Following the release of their debut EP Conditions, Chalk embarked on a sold-out headline UK/IRE tour, highlighted by two performances at The Great Escape in May. Now with European Festivals and a slot at Reading & Leeds on the horizon, the Irish trio have secluded themselves, working on their next project.”

Chalk’s debut EP, ‘Conditions’, was released in May. The band, speaking about the project, said it’s “our way of summarising everything that life brings to us as people, both good and bad, in our dreams and in our relationships, in our struggle to find out who we really are, wrestling to discover what our purpose is, and where we belong in this world. We feel that 'Conditions' captures the essence of everything we've touched on throughout the EP and brings all of these emotions together, to a sort of catharsis. It's our way of pouring out how the world has impacted us over the past three years, and how all of us have changed as a result."

Chalk are one of the twelve artists chosen for the Step Up Fund. The fund is “decided by a panel of independent industry professionals and drawn from across the UK, these hugely distinct talents represent an incredibly wide range of genres, and include an Ivor Novello Rising Star nominee, a winner of BBC 3’s The Rap Game, a band who recently performed on the main stage at TRNSMT and artists championed by the likes of Grimes, Gilles Peterson, Iggy Pop and Casskidd. Chalk themselves recently announced festival slots in Austria, France and The Netherlands, as well as a much coveted spot at this years Reading and Leeds Festival and Ireland Music Week.”

So, that’s it for this week, which means it’s time for the socials.

Dirty Faces can be found on Instagram @dirtyfacesderry. Chalk are @chalkband and Foyle Pride is @foylepridefest.