Co-organizer Stevie Lennox writes for Culture writes about his project A Litany Of Failures, a new compilation offering (in their words) 'a snapshot of independent, defiant identity in the oft-conveyorbeltised world of Irish music'.
In every aspect of music – writing it, writing about it, or booking it - my guiding principle is to side with those ambitious in their pursuit of creating something unique to themselves. It’s always been about those fearless heroes playing to a handful, for a pittance. This is why I’m not a rich man. Those in DIY bands who don’t check their expectations at the door, do not last.
So what do they do this for? Some inherent masochism? A t-shirt sale, or the excitement of someone really getting your band for one night - a fleeting success that soon blows over.
So obviously, when Danny Carroll (from Shrug Life) and Paul O’Connor (from That Snaake) got in touch to continue what we started in 2016 with the four track EP A Litany of Failures, how could I resist?
Spread across the corners of Ireland – Belfast, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Dublin, Galway & Limerick – "wielding their antiquated guitars and toiling in obscurity", we’ve now had 18 artists chip in for 300 double gatefold LPs, playing an integral part in crafting what we hope is a diverse, permanent document that captures an island-wide moment. Reassuringly, everyone threw themselves wholeheartedly into the endeavour under one shared goal. We agonised over the flow and mood of its four sides, throwing a few curveballs and recruiting a broad range of bands - some wizened, some new. We led with the wonderful Sunday Morning With Nate, the debut release from Postcard Versions.
Some of us are graphic designers, writers and filmmakers, so, following the central tenets of indie underground mantra We Jam Econo, we pooled our resources into crafting a veneer that looks just like the real thing. Social media and YouTube is our billboard space - Billy roll and amenable butcher-permitting - Bandcamp is our mail order catalogue, and affordable pressing at Dublin Vinyl and online distribution services mean our music can sit alongside the world’s favourite stadium-fillers.
Having spent time with the record, a few cultural parallels have begun to rear their head. They lie in Big Monster Love’s Casio keyboard reclamation of trad, in Dott’s perfect pop song about consent, or Alien She’s immersive, psyche-confronting nine-minute piece written during Storm Emma cabin fever. Shrug Life documented a period of psychosis, and my own contribution about unproductivity and self-rejection seems to have been a therapy now proven to have minor success.
Listen - Danny Carroll and Paul O'Connor talk A Litany Of Failures with 2FM's Dan Hegarty:
Maybe some curious kid’s aunt or uncle will hand them this artefact in 20 years, saying "this was my life during a strange time". By encouraging the growth of infrastructure, we may not change the island’s landscape, but the journey across might now feel less daunting. Even at the Dublin Litany launch, I spotted unacquainted band members singing along to each other’s tunes – which looks suspiciously more like mutual respect than nauseating networking. One or two of us might chip away to success, another might peak here and call it quits. In any case, it beats shedding a solitary tear in Fibber’s smoking area, muttering "there’s no scene in this town".
A Litany Of Failures is available now - get a copy here.
