“On August 13, ‘Patrick’ will debut as a standout track from the album ’73 Dame Street,’ showcasing a unique indie sound. Crafted in the intimate setting of a bedroom above Dublin’s iconic Olympia Theatre, the song intertwines dreamy, guitar-driven melodies with cool, direct vocals. The accompanying VHS-filmed music video, inspired by a late night in Dublins queer-rock scene, brings a retro, artsy aesthetic that perfectly complements the track’s nostalgic vibe. ‘Patrick’ is an evocative exploration of modern love and identity, wrapped in a lush indie rock and alternative soundscape.”
I set out to write about a single but then discovered there was a VHS video and even an EP to explore. Consequently, I decided to feature everything and ask a few questions. The artist provided extensive, detailed answers, which I absolutely loved. Their responses served as a fantastic introduction to both the artist and the EP, leaving me wondering how I could possibly add to it.
The EP itself is a dreamy, lo-fi bedroom rock masterpiece with an incredible atmosphere that has completely enraptured me. It’s been my pleasure to continue discovering talented musicians from Ireland, a country I have a deep fondness for. I have many cherished memories from traveling around the Irish countryside, so I’m thrilled to uncover more and more gifted artists from this beautiful land.
I won’t say more, so I’ll leave you to savor this exceptional EP and explore the story below:
What inspired me to start making music?
Maybe it was the fact that I was always getting in trouble in music class in elementary school (6 years old); And the lifetime consequences of that (haha). But I’ve always been someone who made music. And I was very self driven at that. No one in my family was a musician. But growing up around the midwest, namely Milwaukee Wisconsin, exposed me to a lot of the ‘emo’ DIY styles that were popular in the area at the time. And Myspace being popular at the time had really exposed me to some crazy-unique styles. I remember attending a show in Madison with BrokenCyde, BOTDF, and Jeffery Star at The Loft; and that venue could fit less than 200 people. Everyone was very driven to express themselves.
What made me want to write my own songs was Green Day’s album ‘American Idiot’. It was an album that I listened to and learned how to play in its entirety on guitar, bass, and drums. It introduced me to the idea of the concept album. Songs like ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ and ‘Homecoming’ changed my world; When I heard that you could tell a story in the alternative rock format. It changed my world. I was obsessed with music, storytelling, the art, the videos; the concept… In turn, I started creating music and art in any way possible.
When I got to highschool I got into a trouble freshman year and transferred to a catholic highschool where the arts flourished (Pius XI). I had a few teachers that taught me some great things. But Pat Frederick, my visual arts teacher, taught me what ‘art’ was… And that ‘art’ could really be anything you want it to be… I was trying everything out; painting, printmaking, choir, theater, performing, etc… you name it. I loved Milwaukee and I loved making art. But I knew I eventually wanted to pursue ‘something’ bigger. But I didn’t know what that path was.
What was the most challenging thing in my artistic path?
Fast forward to when I turned 18. I left Milwaukee to go to a school called Calarts outside Los Angeles. I had gotten acceptance for visual arts and music; but chose to just pursue music.
Moving from a small midwest city to Los Angeles was quite a trip.. Small fish, massive pond. I was exposed to so much at an incredible rate. Especially at Calarts there were some amazing musicians and it could make things very intimidating. My first year there I met a guy named Rob Tilden (BOYO) and he gave me a glimpse into the process of creating indie rock, and the LA garage rock scene, Burger Records, Danger Collective Records, The Smell etc… It was inspiring to say the absolute least. The scene at that time was magical.
But there were also a lot of other scenes going on as well… Like the electronic music at Low End Theory; I like to think of Daedelus and Shlohmo. As well as the underground emo-rap scene; lil peep, lil tracy, fat nick, xxxtentacion, etc… To be honest, With so much going on all the time it was always a challenge in trying to figure out how to compartmentalize my ideas, and in turn pick a genre. But I did go to LA to explore quite often…
My second year at college I moved into a house with some very close friends and was in a tight musical circle with Alex (Maux) Max (STAAF), and Ari (AriG). I swear it was like we never told each other to turn our music down. We used Ableton – day in, day out. Discussed crazy topics, downloaded plugins, used MAX MSP, Tape machines, cassettes, and smoked large amounts of legal marijuana. In the essence, we were always bringing people over to that house.
I can recall this one time I was working on music in my bedroom and I heard this guy across the hallway in Ari’s room. He was singing a sentence over and over again. Very loudly with such a characterful voice. And he was doing a vocal double and kept singing the same sentence on-and-on for 6 hours. I was so curious as to who could do this for 6 straight hours; But also in this specific vocal-tone as well – It was borderline crazy. When I went to Ari’s Room it was Oliver Nickel (Oliver Tree). This was before he blew up. But nevertheless, at that specific time, I thought to myself. 6 hours on the same fucking sentence… If I really wanted to do this… I needed to give it everything. I needed to give my life over to music. And that Idea became a challenge in itself…
I tried everything I possibly could. And my artistic practice led me to be inspired by the likes of Deerhunter, Beach Fossils, Youth Lagoon, I got heavily into cassette culture, 4-track recorders, and lo-fi rock.
The second album that changed my life was Halcyon Digest by deerhunter. The way in which the guitars are layered lead on the album lead to a certain texture – that only the combination of producer Ben H Allen III and Bradford Cox could produce. Cox’s sincerity on ‘Helicopter’ opened my mind up to what it felt like to live through my twenties; something that is very ‘transient’ in its nature. And his use of effect pedals is one of the most creative processes i’ve seen. It’s quite inspiring. I ended up forming a band and recording a noise rock album at a house in Val Verde. There was a lot of trial and error of my projects. I was feeling very self-conscious of my process, and that I wanted to try something new.
I would often go thrifting at The Salvation Army in Stevenson Ranch with my friend Ann who I was in a band at the time called ‘Yano’. We’d find some crazy things there. Cassette recorders, speakers, amplifiers. But also Video cassette records. One of them being a Panasonic VHS tape recorder. We used that recorder and started an emo-rap project filming videos and navigating the soundcloud culture that was flourishing at the time. It was really fun but when I graduated college – I decided to leave LA.
It was a tough decision. But I felt the need to run as far away as I could – to put myself in a place to know absolutely nothing. And so I chose to do a Working Holiday in Dublin, Ireland; but bring all my equipment with unsure intentions. That was back in 2019 and I haven’t gone back even once. I was supposed to be here only for a year – I don’t have an EU passport. But when Covid happened – everything got displaced; and I ended up staying in Ireland. That in itself was a huge challenge. During covid – for 3 entire years the Irish government would extend our visas by small increments of time. I was always wondering if we would just be asked to leave immediately one day. At the end of that visa. I was sure I was going to go to New Zealand but one thing led to another and I made ways to go and pursue a masters degree in Music & Media Technology. Which I graduated from last year.
What keeps you making music?
You know. After LA – I took a complete break from music. I was mentally taxed from the LA scene and my bachelor degree alike. So the moment Covid happened I realised I needed to express the life that I was living. I wrote the song ‘Gold’ and released a video under the name Haze in a Maze. and then bought a Fostex 4 track and began writing and recording songs all analog. I got very comfortable writing and felt I was expressing myself without caring much about the sound being pristine. I also went on ebay and bought a VHS-c recorder and started recording videos again. Eventually I got back on to Ableton and decided to fuse the sound and recorded 73 dame st.
Nothing really keeps me making music. I make music because I have to. I feel a void if I don’t. But I guess I could say that for all art. When I attended I was introduced to the field of visual music by one its key researchers Maura McDonnell. Maura taught me to believe in myself and that ‘art’ was a lot more
interconnected than one would like to believe. Artistic practice becomes research if you have done it for long enough. She (re)introduced me to influential figures such as Oskar Fischenger, Harry Smith, Paul Signac, Georges Seaurat, Dziga Vertov, and Walter Ruttman.
With Maura, I ended up writing a masters thesis where I explored the idea of a city symphony film taking place within Ireland being filmed all on VHS. This idea ended up being ‘The Fairy Trail’. Which explore various pride-festivals among the island. The short-film is being released in parts on my instagram page (@bess_bear_24). With ‘patrick’ and ‘gold’ from 73 dame st being in the 4th video.
What would you dream to do if anything was possible?
I would say I am a dreamer but outside of the obvious impossible – like meeting Karen Carpenter, Basquiat, or Wendy Carlos – my dream is to get connected with more people all over the world and create new works that push boundaries. I
I’d love to play festivals! Best especially Best Kept Secret in the Netherlands and Beyond the Pale here in Ireland.
I guess if I had to say one impossible dream. It would be to make a record with Ben H Allen III. I am just a huge fan of Ben’s discography as well as his use of analog equipment in some of the most unconventional ways. The way in which he can build the space in a track is unparalleled to any indie rock producer that I have come across. His work on Wondrous Bughouse by Youth Lagoon as well as Combat by Hazel English are two prime examples of why he inspires me. He’s a very DIY guy in his career path.
Check out my new album 73 dame st on all music platforms, as well as the VHS music video for ‘patrick’ and ‘gold’ on my youtube.
Written by Filip Zemcik
