TD 1
“Did you like us?” asks Andrew. “Fuckin’ deadly m
an” is the succinct reply. brother had a pirate radio station and would be putting on raves and into the Dead Kennedys and R’n’B. We weren’t brought up with trad like it was Gaelic. We were into everything – Jamaican dancehall, hip-hop and some country. It was all DIY and a problem with authority.” After going their separate ways to be with former, briefly, loved ones, they reconvened in Dundalk in 2015. “I was living in the Netherlands and Andrew in Hong Kong.” says Charles. “I’d gone to BIMM and I hated it,” he claims. “I was 18 and didn’t want to live at home,” adds Andrew. Invariably, they attract a cast of characters into their orbit, genuine friends and fodder for material. Whilst having a pint in Toales’s, an assuming trad bar on Crowe Street, a punter sidles up to our conversation to compliment them on their Glastonbury fundraiser there the night before. “Did you like us?” asks Andrew. “Fuckin’ deadly man,” is the succinct reply. This aligns with their own take on Dundalk, “Fuckin’ great. It’s shite as well.” Their DIY ethos means they do literally everything, from arranging their gigs, transport, accommodation, t-shirts, stickers; whatever it takes to keep the show on the road. “We’re learning as we go along. It’s amazing how many fields you have to become fluent at like graphic design and marketing. So much fucking shit,” says Andrew. It has, of course, led to a moment or two. “We were asked to do a fundraiser in the Spirit Store around the time I was doing a course in the youth centre,” says Charles. “All the kids were mad about TPM so one of the women said ‘ye’d be great to do a set for this fundraiser to bring him home this guy who died abroad’. How do you refuse it? Out of politeness we said ‘yes’. We got down on the night and there was this weird vibe about the place, not much fun, the family was sitting around telling stories about him and on the back of the stage there was this huge projection of him lying on a sun lounger with two bottles of Coors Light and sunglasses on his head with the words RIP underneath.” ➝ 46