Ceili
There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish... and those who wish they were ;)
Colin Farrell or Bono?
Have you ever heard of brown sauce in tea?
Fave club in Europe to get down’n’dirty to?
I’ve still a lot of mileage to cover BUT if I could I would go back 5 years in time to when the beloved Twisted Pepper was still alive and swelling into the streets of Dublin. I’ve always enjoyed an intimate space and well they’re low cut ceilings were for sure a favourite of mine. Otherwise Kompass Club in Ghent is also pretty mad.
How did you get signed with OTB records?
Whenever I started to finishing by first bunch of tracks, which actually were a little hairy looking back. Those tracks gave me a mad boost of confidence to start approaching some labels. At the time I was playing out one or two rips of One Track Brains records cause I was too poor to buy anything. I really loved the label and didn’t really expect a reply, however I got one even if it was 6 months later. We got chatting and I sent them an updated selection. I’d come much further in those six months and they invited me to come meet them in Brussels and spend a weekend in the studio. Glad they never turned out to be insanely well organised kidnappers.
How did they encourage you to work hard enough to secure your first vinyl?
Well they knew after the first year every three months i’d send a new bunch of tracks that I was learning and improving very fast, so they just kept asking for more and that frustration was probably what led to the lead track on my debut EP “Waiting”, thats the track they feel in love with. Once that was sent over, all the rest just rolled. I was the youngest on the label, which consists of a small family of 5/6 artists and I feel they accepted me like the wild nephew. They’re guys who’ve been in the industry for a lengthy time working with people I never thought id be in the same room as and well I’m surprised and glad I didn’t fuck it all up at some point.
The dodgiest thing that happened to 16 year old you during your dodgy house party dj days?
Some local hero speared a guy through the table I had an insane amount of gear loosely set up at about 5am, my amp flew about three feet and I dived to catch it mid air. 😂
What’s coming next for Ceili?
Over the past 6 months I’ve finally put my money where my mouth is and began working on my own label. I’ve wanted to do this for too long and have always overthought the situation. Well not anymore! We have a 6 track cassette coming out pretty soon. I never imagined it getting the heat we’ve already fired up. I started the label as a collaborative project looking to host and invite various talents to come on board and I’m seriously proud of the work thats taking place under Ceili Collective. Every track I’ve received is something I want to hear, play and loose myself to. I’m proud.
Along with this I’ll be heading to Brussels soon to work with OTB. I plan to collaborate with a select few artists over the coming months. Start on tape two I guess. A release on Berlin label Dred Records which features the beginning of a new collaborative alias of mine called “Pedro O’Neill”. My first gig in Corsica Studios, August 5th. And returning to Paris to play the second leg of my residency at Minimal Maxima. Thats all thats on paper for the moment, I think.
courtesy by DYLAN MORAN
interview SASHA MARIA BELL
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