Meet the artists tipped for success on this year's RTÉ 2FM Rising list...
"I didn't really know where I fit, I was always in the middle of a lot of things," explains Sprints vocalist Karla Chubb. "I grew up queer, but I was very much in denial about it and it took a long time for me to accept myself. I didn't want to be what anyone thought I was. I wanted to be what I wanted to be."
Though Dublin quartet Sprints' debut EP Manifesto, released at the start of 2021, may have taken the title for itself, pretty much everything that goes into the band's cathartic punk battle-cries can be seen as something of a call-to-arms: an attempt to silence the internal doubting voices, to fight against the outdated social tropes that box in individuality, and to provide a space of solidarity for those kicking against the same pricks. Everything that goes into Sprints is, essentially, about being what you want to be.
Formed in 2019 when Karla, guitarist Colm O'Reilly and drummer Jack Callan - already playing together under a slowly-dwindling former guise - had the lightbulb moment at a Savages gig that they too could play the music they actually listened to and loved, Sprints (completed by bassist Sam McCann) have barely paused for breath since.
2020 debut AA side Kissing Practice/The Cheek immediately landed them a fan in BBC 6Music legend Steve Lamacq and, as the year played out, early support from the likes of DIY, NME, So Young and more. Cemented by the reception to Manifesto, it's allowed them to dig even deeper into their policy of honesty.
Now, more confident in their opinions and identities than ever, their recent EP Modern Job (produced once again by Gilla Band's Daniel Fox) takes these ideas - that the personal is innately political, and that expression and using your voice is fundamentally crucial - and solidifies them even further. As Karla states, Modern Job is just really my entire life's crisis in one song," and from the title track's frustrations at the one-size-fits-all limitations of the 'nuclear family' outwards, Sprints' latest is a vital, visceral next step.
Find out more about this year's RTÉ 2FM Rising list here.
