In their own words….

Icon on Fire is made up of five friends, four of which attended St.Mary’s CBS Mullingar. The band formed in 2008 with three of the five current members, Barry Montgomery (Bass), Brian Masterson (Drums) and David O’Driscoll (Guitar).All band member cite very diverse influences ranging from mainstream pop to hardcore punk. They began to write songs and play gigs in late 2008 with their friend Colum Neville on vocals, eventually playing their first headline gig in their home town of Mullingar in the spring of 2009. It was at this gig that they met an old friend, Alan Coyle, who had played guitar in a band with Barry some years before, drinks were had and words were spoken and it was decided that Alan would join the line up on guitar, providing the fuller sound that can be heard today. Not long after Alan’s arrival, IoF and Colm parted ways, citing commitment issues. Colm was temporarily replaced with David Gillick who played with Icon on Fire through the summer of 2009, however David then left the band in late summer of 2009. A number of singers were   tried out, but to no avail, eventually in winter of 2009, Graham Dowling, a school friend of Brian’s, was called to come to practise and it was decided that Graham would be IoF’s new front man. IoF did not delay in getting back to the live scene, and on 18th December they played their first show of 4 months.

The week following IoF’s first show with Graham, IoF hit the studio to record their long awaited debut single, My Name Is Casanova. The single spent three weeks in the top 5 of the downloadmusic.ie chart.. The three track single highlights their diverse influences, bringing you from classic  rock with melodic metal influences, through pop punk and into the hardcore punk influences heard on The Selfish Gene.. Lyrically they bring you from light hearted whimsy to deep and sometimes darks lyrics, all blended together with a healthy dose of teenage angst..

IoF have a series of gigs lined up for summer of 2010 and hope to see you there.

Rising Stars Winners – 2009
Mob Fandango are 11 musicians who met in N.U.I Maynooth’s Music Department. Drawing on several different musical influences, these guys and gals exist purely to make music that people can enjoy both listening and dancing to. Featuring trumpets, sax, flute and five vocalists, the Mob play a variety of genres, including soul, reggae, funk, folk, pop and r’n'b. This is original music by a passionate band, designed to make you feel good in these times of economic doom and gloom. Both visually and musically entertaining, Mob Fandango are a joyous celebration of all the good things about live music, and are a breath of fresh air to the Irish music scene.

Meet the Mob

Jassniro started his music career in 1990 playing keyboards with the afro band “Kilimandjaro”, with live concerts all over Italy.

In 1991, he joined the afro-cuban band Shalana in Perugia(Italy) , with artists from R.D.Congo, Ivory Coast and Gabon. They played live concerts all over the Umbria region, sponsorized by the local Council and the Perugia University of foreigners (Universita’ per stranieri).

In 1997 he formed an afro-ethno hip-hop duo with Malcolm Kalma from Senegal , playing live on a televised music concert at the Alpheus Club in Rome “la notte dei colori tropicali”.

In 1999 he started recording a studio session with the main object of releasing the song “It’s Time For Love”, with the partecipation of other session jazz musicians and vocalists. Nowadays, he researches music technology and midiphonic programming.

Junah are a Dublin based band who have been working closely together since they formed in 2003. They have secured themselves a solid following with their refreshing balance of contemporary music and classical instrumental integrity. Junah’s highly polished sets are home to their own distinctive mellow sound, which is flavoured by their blends of Irish folk and melodious rock.

Having built up a good list of support gigs (with Aslan, Prenup, The Gorgeous Colours, Kill the Young and Kila) in addition to a European tour; Junah have built and fully progressed their engaging and charismatic stage presence.

Currently pre-producing their debut album which will be recorded in August, Junah are preparing their debut single to be released this June, which has been under production with Karl Odlum (The Frames, Kila, Mic Christopher).

2009 has and will continue to be an important and exciting year for Junah.

James has been travelling on a journey of self discovery and learning which has culminated in the birth of his seminal album “Intro Into Exile”.

Gigging at every available opportunity, James absorbed himself into the experiences he encountered honing his technical skills and deepening his understanding of music.

Exploring new areas beyond standard formats and utilising distinctive instrumental passages and impressive vocal harmonies, James’ music heralds a bold and exciting departure from the “herd”, appealing to an increasingly sophisticated audience that demands more from music. James Guilmartin points to the future for real aficionados of music.

For some time, Dermot Byrne, an alt-country influenced singer-songwriter plied his trade around Dublin’s acoustic music circuit as a solo artist, realising quickly that the so called “scene” was in fact stagnant and overloaded with bland sensitive singer songwriter types he assembled a motley band of musicians to bring a bit more edge to his sound.

The backing band was formed from a cadre of assorted musicians only ever loosely affiliated and often with their own projects members of the band came and went regularly. This band of interchangeable musicians stitched together suggested the name “Dancing Frankenstiens”, in homage to a line from a Duke Special song. Eventually the line up settled and the Dancing Frankenstiens comprised mild mannered metal fan and former “Alan Cant” drummer Cathal Magner and Steve McCormack, a bassist with punk tendencies.

With the line up stabilised regular rehearsals led to regular gigs and the melting pot of influences led to the germination of the new sound, a sort of alt-country acoustic rock played with a “back-to-basics”,”do-it-yourself” attitude, when asked, the band describe this new sound as “Cowboy Punk”

We’ve learned our trade by going to endless gigs and festivals and playing in numerous pubs and venues across Ireland and beyond doing covers of songs that affected us. We’ve pinpointed what we like – the element of surprise in music, passionate and soulful lyrics, wistful harmonies, catchy meaningful riffs – and maybe more importantly we’ve learned the things we don’t want to produce or perform.

The time to begin writing songs from our perspectives took us to Galway in the summer of 2008 and our first gig took place in the Roisin Dubh in February 2009. Since then, we’ve honed our live performances, gratefully had friends join in on stage bringing skill and electricity with them and we are currently writing new material with a view to record in the near future but most importantly gig gig gig…

Listen and hopefully enjoy, push the red button, GO PANDA GO

GinXed are a three piece band from Templepatrick, Northern Ireland. Together they are able to create very distinct sound by using their unique set of influences.

After 3 years spent perfecting their craft as an acoustic covers act, Simon and Raz were able to build up an onstage chemistry, a loyal following, and an enviable catalogue of original material.

Al joined as a drummer in November 2008, when Simon and Raz swapped their acoustic guitars for electric guitar and bass respectively.

The last 6 months have been spent gigging in Belfast and continuing to write more anthemic rock material.

It is now high time the rest of the world realised – “we are ginXed!”