Anarchic Limerick comedy (and otherwise) duo Rubberbandits are set to play brand new shows in the coming weeks in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast. We caught up with Blindboy and asked him the big questions of the day...
It's been a pretty good year for Rubberbandits. It began with one of their songs appearing in Trainspotting 2, continued with a series of documentaries on RTE, and a TV series on MTV that was "so groundbreaking it only aired for one episode".
They also played 60 sold-out shows in the UK and now the men who've made the plastic bag levy so very chic are writing a book, The Gospel According to Blindboy, and presenting their new show. It's called Gammon Wranglers and they bring it to Dublin, Belfast and Galway this September and October.
Gammon Wranglers is an all-new show - what can we expect?
Blindboy: "Brand new Songs, that haven’t been heard before in Ireland, and a new show around that."
How do you write - is it a disciplined nine to five brainstorming session or do you take inspiration from whatever pops into your heads?
"It’s a mixture of the two, honed over the years. When you’re younger, and you figure out that you’re creative, ideas just pop into your head when they feel like it. For me it was usually in the shower or just before bed. When you become a professional writer or artist, the skill is to be able to allow good ideas to flow from your head on command.
"The hardest part of writing is having the discipline to sit your arse down and do it. To not procrastinate, to be aware of the fear of failing, or coming up with sh*t ideas, and just sit down to write anyway. To embrace failure as an inevitable and welcome part of the process. When I was writing my new book, I had to be very disciplined.
"Because I had five months to write 80,000 words. What I did was take my laptop to bars and cafes. When you physically sit yourself in a public place to write, you simply have to do it. At home you’ll distract yourself. But in a bar, with a laptop, then you’ve no choice. So I did this a few times a week, and was writing about 4000 words a day.
"I’ve been writing TV and music for years now, so I can flick on my creative switch through continual practice. Ideas just flow from me in a very stream of consciousness way, because I can silence my inner critic. The voice in your head that decides whether something is good or bad, is the enemy of writing and ideas."
What were you like in school - second toughest in the infants or class clown?
"I hated school, I had very low self esteem, was emotionally immature and had mental health issues. I wasn’t academic at all, and my particular school didn’t value arts. I wanted approval from my peers because I was insecure; I found this by being the class clown, and being the one who made everyone laugh.
"We started releasing the first Rubberbandits material when we were in Junior Cert I think. I was such a class clown, that the lads asked me to record some of the sh*t I’d be saying, that’s how it started. I failed my Leaving Cert badly. I had unreal craic in school, because of all the messing. But I wasn’t at all valued for my creative abilities, I was overlooked completely."
Do you care about how environmentally unfriendly you’re being or do you have a Plastic Bag For Life?
"We continually reuse bags, we’re grand."
Brexit - what will happen?
"Britain will become a poorer country, but this might spur them on to elect someone like Corbyn and they could see greater economic equality."
Should Trump visit Ireland and would you protest?
"He enables racists, we shouldn’t be supporting that."
Comedy heroes?
"Chris Morris, Flann O Brien."
Comedy zeros?
"I don’t want to be a critic; I’ll keep my mouth shut. Art is totally subjective, who’s sh*t to me, is class to someone else. And both of us are correct in our own way."
The Gospel According to Blindboy is published on October 27. It’s described as a "surreal and gender-defying" collection of 16 short stories accompanied by your visual art. One comparison is that the book is like Kevin Barry meets Flann O’Brien. Are you happy with that description?
"I’m flattered as f*** and a bit embarrassed. I sent some of the early stories on to Kevin when I started writing the book, he gave me some feedback and a few tips on writing. He’s a f***ing legend and the greatest living writer in this country."
You tackle Ireland’s suicide epidemic and the stigma around it in your latest song and video. It’s called Sonny and so far it’s had 290,000 views on YouTube. Do you think people are finally realizing the extent of the problem?
"I think people definitely were aware. Suicide and mental health/illness affects every family in the country. It’s the powers that be who have their fingers in their ears. We’ve tried as hard as we can to use our platform in any way to be part of the proactive solution to the mental health crisis. The government is the only ones who can be properly reactive to it though. And that’s what’s needed a reactive solution."
In terms of shock tactics, where do you draw the line?
"I’m not going to shock anyone in bad faith. The context and intent of shock tactics must be in good faith."
We had an update on your album recently. You said you "mastered Sonny on analog equipment, due to my obsession with 70's and 80's audio fidelity. I'll never go back to digital mastering." What’s the attraction?
"The thing that people don’t take on board with the Rubberbandits is that we take the music very seriously, even though we look like a pair of ejects with bags on our heads. I play guitar, bass, piano and I’m a music producer. Because of this, I’m obsessed with how music sounds. Digital recording can be very harsh, particularly mp3s.
"They are far too loud, and a lot of clarity is lost. I record all our tunes digitally, but I have them mastered on analog equipment. This is like a nice little compromise that allows the music to be loud as f***, but you can still hear each individual sound if you search for them."
Alan Corr @corralan
Rubberbandits - Gammon Wranglers is at Vicar St, Dublin on Saturday, September 30, Mandela Hall, Belfast, Saturday, October 7, Cork Opera House, Friday, October 13 and Roisin Dub, Galway at the Vodafone Comedy Carnival Galway, Thursday, October 26.
