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JUNE-JULY 2022 music which they might never have
encountered on their own steam, and equally you can also plug in softer or more fun elements into a more considered lineup or space without diluting the programme. I hope that the personal nature of Homebeat as a project is reflected in the line ups I curate - and to be fair IMMA have been super open and supportive of the direction from the start. The one piece everyone wanted was two distinct programmes over the two days - Friday is definitely a party and a more future focused line up, while Saturday is very much designed to be a more relaxed mid summer’s evening with a gentler soundtrack There’s no end to the amount of talented artists coming out of Ireland at the moment, how difficult is it to pare this down and get the balance right on a lineup? Well, I think the difficulty for me is taking it all in. There are so many amazing bands and acts, and so many different platforms and niches to explore that it can be daunting. I guess I just follow my nose and my ear, and my natural curiosity about new music and acts is what led me into all of this in the first place - so in some ways I am fairly attuned to the whole thing at this stage. If anything it is a dearth of spaces that suit the various types of music I gravitate towards which makes programming so difficult - and why working in a space like IMMA is so exciting. In terms of diversity, I think it is important when you get the opportunity to programme a space with national weight and importance behind it - that the programme be reflective of the society as a whole. Ireland has changed so much in the 10 years since Homebeat started, and it is exciting and challenging to keep abreast of the speed of development in the music sphere - I was very conscious of that here, and I hope the programme reflects a little bit of everything good that is going on here at the moment across a broad sweep of genres and moods. It’s wonderful to see cultural spaces put on events like this, should other cultural spaces be more proactive here? I probably have been fiercely critical of the lack of public space and space for music at times, but when you do see spaces like IMMA, Collins’ Barracks and more opening up you have to give credit where credit is due and give them some props for making their space available to a wider audience. Of course this in turn brings people to the institution, but we are not blessed with a lot of very accessible public spaces in Dublin especially, so it is heartening to see spaces like IMMA being used in such a fashion. In saying that, insurance and licensing laws make it hugely prohibitive to do this on a wider scale - we have so much public space and cultural spaces which simply cannot simply host events due to these and many other issues. Music is not really designed to be played in bars, it was designed to be played in spaces which facilitate its experience and enjoyment - we are missing out on this in this country massively. It is still very disappointing to see our parks and many other public spaces used so sparingly, but that is all part of the reason I am excited to work with the wonderful space in IMMA. IMMA SUMMER PARTY - ‘CONTINUOUS PATTERNS’ Friday 15th + Saturday 16th July. Irish Museum of Modern Art IMMA, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8.Doors: 6pm. Tickets from www.eventbrite.ie. Over 18’s only. Continuous Patterns is produced by Homebeat. PAGE 17