Mob Fandango
I caught up with Daniel Groenland and John Paul Malone from Mobfandango, last years Rising Stars winners, to see what life’s been like since their big win last May.
Mob Fandango’s story is both dramatic and impressive, yet the group’s vocalist and flautist, Danny Groenland, modestly describes it as your typical “cheesy, Hollywood storyline”.
Two years ago eight members of the group turned up at the leafy entrance of Merrion square carrying nothing but a generator, some instruments and an amplitude of soul. The group were just starting to get into their groove when the festival’s “soul police” (Dannny’s words… not mine) came and stole their thunder. “We got through a song and a half before we were told to leave. Security said we were posing a health risk by using the generator because it could explode”, Danny reminisces.
Dublin City Soul Festival, 2010, will prove quite different for the eleven members of this musical mob. Just two years after being politely asked to leave the festival’s main event, the group will now be headlining it – power to the mob!
“Personally I’m ecstatic, I can’t even believe it”
Rising Stars ’09 Mob Fandango backstage after their Soul Picnic appearance
Rising stars winners of 2009 have a humble outlook. This becomes increasingly more apparent as the interview progresses. Danny expresses his disbelief and gratitude for being able to play in the Rising Stars competition, never mind winning it, or even featuring at its main event. “Personally I’m ecstatic, I can’t believe it.” He even goes so far as to say, “when we won the competition we were quite surprised, but then when you think about it there can’t be that many soul bands in Dublin”.
However modest the mob is, they’ve received a lot of attention since bagging a winner last year. Danny says “we got more gigs after it. Even if you write winners of the Dublin soul festival after our name, it sounds amazing. We also had a few other wins.”
The band’s vocalist, John Paul Malone, or ‘Jazzy Nice’ as he’s called, agrees saying “I think Chris [Maher] definitely did a lot of work for us as far as promoting the band. Chris has been a great help… but ya it has definitely helped us, definitely pushed us. We progressed since winning it and it was a big performance in front of so many people. All these kind of things always give the band a push.”
Mob Fandango live at Musical Youth Foundation Launch Party
“An alternative to alternative music”
John Paul feels there’s “too much indie music out there” and the festival provides a much needed break from this hackneyed genre. The colorful mob wants to offer “an alternative to alternative music” by moving away from your average indie band sound. Danny says “we’ve decided to stop doing the battle of the bands because it’s usually just us and about four or five indie bands that sound the exact same and one of those bands will win. Usually the crowd will be confused at the start [when we play] and then by the end they’re really digging it. They seem to forget. It’s a real struggle to win over people like that but it’s a challenge. We love it.”
“By the end of it people were dancing on tables and going mad”
Mob Fandango’s music provides the perfect antidote to today’s recessionary blues. Their up-beat textured harmonies, groovy bass lines and funky brass melodies are enough to get even the most hardened Big-Brother-junkie off the couch and out on to the dance floor. Danny describes the scene at a recent gig in Dun Laoghaire I.T when they provided a much needed pick-me-up to a mass of downcast students. “We played… just after this heavy punk band and the mood in the room was really subdued and we were like right let’s do it. So we started off slow and by the end of it people were dancing on tables and going mad and stuff. Like, you can get involved if you want to. You don’t have to, you can sit and watch it as well. There is a lot going on.”
The majority of the mob met in NUI Maynooth while studying music degrees. Danny believes their classical training can sometimes act as a hindrance. “With soul and funk, that’s what it is, it’s from the soul, it’s more important to feel it. When our trumpet players joined the band they had never heard or played anything like that before, they didn’t know what to do. Now they’re really funky but we’d have to write out the notes the rhythm the rests and everything. Now there’s no need for that.” A classical background has its upside however. John Paul feels “the practical side of the course helped structure our music.” Danny adds “it definitely helps when you’re writing for brass; writing up the parts”.
“Our music evolves from ideas. One of the guys might start with a funk song or hip hop and then it grows from there”
Mob Fandango’s music enjoys an organic process. “Our music evolves from ideas. One of the guys might start with a funk song or hip hop and then it grows from there” says John Paul. Danny describes the diversity of the mob’s influences when he says, “we all come from different backgrounds. Jazzy Lips (aka John Paul Malone) was in America for seven years, but he was really influenced by hip-hop and rap. Everyone brings something different to the mix”, from Radiohead to heavy metal, but a common interest in all things soul unites the eleven musicians.
full of passion…
“We’re recording an album of all the tunes we’ve written in the past few years”
The group is excited at having started their new album. “We’re recording an album of all the tunes we’ve written in the past few years. We’ve a rake of originals. We’ve got about sixteen but we’re putting the ten down… we started in September but it’s taking longer than expected because there’s twelve of us. The thing is getting people in the room together but everyone is really committed.” The mob are taking things slow but hope to have the recordings fully finished by April – just in time to entertain us at the soul picnic. “There’s a lot of new ideas and new songs… some of it’s poppy and some of it’s real raw. It’ll be interesting to see what people think of it… once the album is out we can use that as a tool and hopefully tour Ireland” says Danny.
“We’ve no delusions of grandeur but it would be nice to actually make money off of music”
Mob Fandango have no “delusions of grandeur” but Dannny adds “it would be nice to actually make money off of music.” With eleven individual claims to any profits the band might make the musicians certainly aren’t in it to pocket the cash. They’re all either in college or out working. “I think if we were in it for the money we would have stopped a long time ago” says Danny.
Danny ends on the same positive note that exudes the entire interview. He expresses his appreciation for the platform the Dublin City Soul Festival provides. “More and more things like what Chris and his team are doing, and some new acts that I see, I think there’s a gradual move towards that style of music, which is really inspiring, it’s great.”
what a hot and hunky band
Danny that jacket’s mingin’
Great read, glad I stumbled across this page. Looking forward to this years Soul Festival. R.
Hi there!
My band just recorded our first proper song!!!
Please have a look, we’ve learnt a lot from your blog!
xxx