Big Dish Go pres. Audio Bullys DJ set

robbie against

Hope all is cool! We just wanted to let you know about our christmas party happening 20th December in The underground @ Kennedys. We got some special chrimbo guests with the musical creature that is the Audio Bullys who are going to be rocking out a DJ set.

The Guardian.........

"they mix everything from punk to electro, house and disco, and end up like a delirious collision of the Specials and Basement Jaxx"

Q magazine..........

"Some of the sharpest beats and catchiest tunes ever to grace a dance LP"

In support on the night we got the raw talent of Rob Murphy and Dan Mac, fresh styles coming from Paddy Duffy and our very own Big Dish Go resident Gavin Feeney.

Doors open 10.30pm

Tickets are €15 before 12pm and €17 after.

The underground
@ Kennedys
Westland row
Dublin

Fintomiginto

Sounds great lads, Looking forward to this 1.

robbie against

"I know you couldn't love me if I weren't the real deal"

Audio Bullys. Right Round The World. 2008.

What does "punk" mean? Does it exist? In 2008, where would you find it? For a word that is bandied about with such enthusiasm, particularly in music journalism, these are surprisingly difficult questions to answer. Certainly, you won't find anything of the spirit of 1976 in the obvious places: at the reformed Sex Pistols' arena gigs; on Green Day albums; in t-shirt designs at TopShop; on nostalgic BBC4 documentaries.
No, you have to think laterally. Look in unusual places. Which, on Tuesday April 8, 2008, would have meant searching out a warehouse in Notting Hill, where you would have found Audio Bullys recording the video for 'Gimme That Punk', one of the stand-out and most telling tracks from their new album, 'Sunday Night Fever'.

The title, and the fact that (the legendary) Don Letts was directing the shoot, are less important than the sound and spirit of said track. Over an evil, jump-up electro-rock riff, that, as the ABs approach their third album, still sounds unique, it sees the duo celebrating 30 years of righteous heroes from The Beatles to Biggie to Soulwax

It is a roll call of musicians and movements who've brooked no interference; who've done their own thing, often on a shoestring; who've stood alone and broken moulds; who've looked good, rocked hard and done so with honesty and integrity. It is a roll call of people who, in their own different ways define the essence of "punk".

For Simon Franks and Tom Dinsdale, the track is a reminder, ultimately, of who they are. Franks nods: "I like the attention to detail in those youth cults, be it mods or new ravers. I liked all that new rave stuff. It was refreshing. But I do like us, as Audio Bullys, to stand on our own two feet, and not be caught up in any scene."

Standing on your own two feet - growing up, in fact - has very much been the theme for the duo over the last couple of years, after they parted company with Source/ Virgin, following the release of their second album, 'Generation'.
Their decks 'n' FX "live show", with Simon upfront MCing, was still in huge demand abroad, from Serbia to Holland, but, the duo were tired of it all. "We were in this void of half-DJ, half-live, with no real plot of a show," says Simon. "It worked great in the early days, in little clubs. We were getting out of it, and we could get away with it, just on excitement. But, by the end of the last leg, the passion had gone out of it."
They had to regroup and refocus. After a little tentative recording in a pro studio, they returned to Tom's bedroom set-up in Richmond, working in the same DIY way they had when they produced early hits like 'We Don't Care'. Tom laughs: "Acoustically, it's a **** room. With little monitors. And we have to keep it really quiet, because the magic will often happen at two in the morning. But you can still write a hit in there."

Simultaneously, Simon and Tom started putting a proper "electronic rock 'n' roll" band together, to play live. Simon's brother, Jimmy Franks (guitars) and Terry Donovan (drums) were recruited, and this new four-piece started playing club gigs, from 93 Feet East to underground parties in Edinburgh, re-engaging with their hardcore fans and discovering the joys of playing as a full band in riotous British clubs. "Those gigs have just been mad," says Simon. "I don't like being looked at as a dance act anymore, I've got to say. But I suppose we've always been like that: a hybrid. Going back to 'Ego War', it was electronic music with rock 'n' roll lyrics and a hip-hop influence."

After the stifling atmosphere of being on a major label - they liken the experience to a public school: a system of headmasters, prefects and "little kids", the bands, being told what do - this period of absolute creative freedom has reinvigorated the ABs. "Now, me and Si know exactly what we want and we've got control over all of it: videos, artwork, music," enthuses Tom. "I'm just excited again."
ABs renewed self-belief is evident throughout 'Sunday Night Fever', but particularly on 'Shiva'. "I won't ever quit. No, no, never ever. Not until this song makes the whole club shiver," promises Simon, atop dark, stomping electro. Serrated guitars and FX fizz and arc through the sweaty, late-night chaos that the track conjures up.

Elsewhere, however, these 10 tracks - to be released on the Bullys’ own label, through Southern Fried - are notable for their vulnerability. 'Twist Me Up', which features Madness's Mike Barson on piano and Suggs on backing vocals (the Bullys and Nutty Boys are old friends) is a supra-catchy, well-observed tale of modern romance gone wrong, all barred phone-calls, emotional inarticulacy and jealousy on the dancefloor.

A jolly romp, compared to the brutal 'Gimme That Punk' (which is already getting plays on Radio 1), both illustrate how adept the ABs are at crafting leftfield hits. Their tracks merge a peculiarly British set of influences: ska, hip-hop, rave, electro, kitchen sink (indie) pop, post-punk, grime, into a peculiarly British kind of triumphant pop.

Tracks like 'Disco', 'Radio' and 'Sunday Night Fever', meanwhile, while full of the energy of London and clubbing, repeatedly, return to the hollowness at the heart of 24/7 partying. About 18 months ago, the duo were deep in a period of heavy clubbing, with weekends regularly stretching well into the next week. Now and then, they still like to cut loose. But it's rare now. Audio Bullys pronounce themselves "slightly bored" with drugs, and with being around people who are "just aimlessly raving" their days away, with no purpose. The new look ABs are too busy for that: the last year has been about getting fit, working hard and staying focused on 'Sunday Night Fever'.

Plus, if you curb your clubbing, you don't have to spend time with the sort of cynical, coked-up clubland "character" depicted in 'Dope Fiend', which features vocals from ABs' mate, Mad George. Somehow (probably because ABs make bolshy music and Simon sing-chats in a normal working class London accent), ABs have found themselves dubbed ‘lairy geezers’ by certain journalists. But 'Dope Fiend' puts the record straight. Simon: "When people aren’t in your world, particularly in music, they typecast you. People at college used to go, 'you're a geezer'. But that's not me at all."
It is time for the world to get to know the new and improved Audio Bullys. It is time for the world to get to know the real Simon Franks and Tom Dinsdale: two young men with music in their hearts, fire in the collective belly and the chops to make Britain's best clubs rock, and rave, and skank, and pogo. All at once.