Mull It Over 011: Champagne Supernova
Ireland's biggest music conference: Output Belfast is back for 2024. Plus, I have a run in with The Obvserver. Featuring KNEECAP (Again).
Last weekend, as I sat reading The Observer over a Sunday morning coffee praying to Bob Dylan that my baby would remain asleep at the back door, I witnessed something arguably more horrifying than an infant rising from it’s merciful, peaceful slumber.
Halfway through a very welcome feature spread on nascent Irish language-infected Beastie Bais KNEECAP, the author - quite understandably taken under by the Alice In Wonderland-like effect of drinking pints during the day in Madden’s Bar, Belfast - described the band, amongst a great many other superlatives as:
‘simply a great band: funny, wild, a brilliant live act, a craic.’
‘a craic’
‘A craic.’ There you have it. I spat my coffee out and woke the baby up immediately. I had to tell anyone that would listen about how the English had once again affronted me and my culture. How did this get past the editor? The same editor that hasn’t replied to my umpteen pitches over the years. How dare they? The English took all they could from Ireland, and now they’re back for more. I threw the paper in the bin. Observe that.
Except that’s obviously not how I felt. It is however, an allegory on the very real and very intense reactions Kneecap have been engendering since their fast rise from the streets of Derry and West Belfast. Mo Chara, Móglaà Bap and DJ Próvaà have been generating, frankly hilarious headlines for not only their (really, very good) music but also their exceedingly silly extra curricular antics.
From unveiling a controversial mural ahead of their Féile an Phobail gig in 2023 to taking the British Government to court, Kneecap also managed to squeeze in debuting their film at the Sundance Film Festival where it was picked up by Sony Pictures for theatrical release - not before, however, turning up in a mocked up PSNI Land Rover brandishing tricolour flares and with ‘KNEECAP’ spray painted on the side. You’ve got to fill your days somehow.
All of the above has contributed to some very sincere but also very moronic pearl-clutching from the usual quarters. Those with an overactive artistic vacuity will never see the joy in provocative music and art. What is going on here, and I’m intentionally skipping over the narrative that we all too knowingly default to here in Northern Ireland - is that this is a punk band with a punk ethos. They are pissing off the adults in the room, riling up governments and having an absolute whale of a time doing it.
Whether a fan or not, that is what art is about.
Some craic altogether.
Output Returns
Ireland’s largest one day music conference returns to Belfast on 12th November 2024, in association with Belfast City Council and Belfast City of Music (UNESCO). Output Belfast will be taking place across the city with the Oh Yeah Music Centre in the middle of town and The MAC Arts Centre, just a stone’s throw away, hosting the daytime shenanigans.
No details have been released yet about the lineup, but expect networking, panel discussions and invaluable advice from industry leaders by day, and an explosive night of homegrown live music across the bustling pubs and clubs of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.
And so herein begins my not so subtle campaign to have Mull It Over involved in the conference. As a punter many times in the past, this year I want to walk right up to the front door and be directed straight to the champagne and canapés just like Noel Gallagher at Downing Street in 1997. The best way to help get me there is by sharing and subscribing to this newsletter. D:Ream, anybody?
It’s a wrap on Issue 011 of Mull It Over. Thanks as always to all of the subscribers and to those who take the time to read each week. Traffic seems to be increasing steadily and the more eyes we get on local talent, the better for everyone. Let’s keep going. As ever, please follow the Mull It Over Spotify playlist below to hear some amazing artists, all hailing from right here in Northern Ireland.