It’s under a week until Foo Laa Fest at the Ulster Sports Club – probably the strongest top-to-bottom Irish lineup Belfast has seen this year, and one that rounds up the second year of Dillon O’Brien’s music promotion, Fooligan. Taking place on Thursday 5th December, TTA cover stars M(h)aol, Silverbacks and 2024 NI Music Prize winners Problem Patterns top of the bill, with some of the most exciting rising stars round there too.
For those who don’t know Fooligan, can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to over the last while, and what drives you as a booker? What is it in an act that really makes you want to put on a show?
The main drive behind Fooligan has been to create greater interconnectivity in the arts across the whole island. There is an unending amount of talent across the whole island, but I thought there was a lack of people championing acts to grow outside of their own cities, let alone from North to South. So, with Fooligan that’s what I wanted to do, create a platform that brings together artists and audiences from across the island. Every show I put on for Fooligan, I personally love the music from the artists that play – that’s what makes promoting so enjoyable for me, but I’m typically drawn to an act I find exciting, where there is a real sense of passion for their own music.
Can you pinpoint what it was – be it a gig, scene, or artist, that was a turning point for you, and led you to decide to pursue music promotion?
Going to gigs has always been a big part of my life, I always found so much joy in live music that I didn’t always find in other aspects of life, but I the first experience I had in a music promotion setting was with Volume Control. It’s a program run in the Oh Yeah that gives young people a chance to be involved in their local music scene. This is where I got the taste for live music promotion, and I realised that this was something I could do, not just a farfetched dream.
As an islandwide publication, we see the benefits of joined-up thinking regarding the arts as a community, perhaps like yourself – but it’s a rarity to see an independent promoter cast the net wide and organise across the island. What was it that made you decide to be an islandwide promotion?
I was living in Dublin and going to gigs nearly every night, seeing all kinds of artists – but one of the most consistent things I was noticing was a lack of artists from outside of Dublin playing in the city unless they were bigger, more established acts. It made me think about the Irish music scene as a whole and I deep dived into the music scenes of a lot of the counties across Ireland and Northern Ireland and found there were so many artists creating their own unique sounds but no getting the chance to show case their music too far out of their own cities. This didn’t sit right with me. When you look at the UK, you see new bands playing across the whole island and I couldn’t help but wonder what’s stopping that from happening here.
You’ve really started to make some impressive bookings both nationally and internationally – what would you say is your personal highlight so far?
Without a doubt working on the A Place To Bury Strangers show earlier this year was a big highlight. It was the first international act I have worked with, a big thanks to Gabriel Picco at Live Tonite for making that happen. It was a surreal feeling working with a band as talented as APTBS, being able to see them live and witness the energy their live set radiates was incredible in itself, let alone promote the show – it was truly special. I really enjoyed working with The Cliffords earlier this year as well they’re an incredible band that if you haven’t already heard of them, you’re going to be hearing about them. Other favorites include Makeshift Art Bar, Shark School, I Dreamed I Dream, Stratford Rise…the list keeps going.
Is this the first festival you’ve put together?
This is the first festival I’ve put together, but it won’t be the last. I plan to make Foo Laa fest an annual event with my sights set on growing it each year.
Can you tell us what drew you to each of the bands on the Foo Laa Fest lineup? What can we expect from the evening?
I wanted the line-up to be filled with artists that push boundaries with their music. I think Ireland has always produced musicians that are in defiance to the norm and of course in Northern Ireland we have a deep-rooted history of punk music and culture, this has always been a big influence personally and I wanted Foo Laa Fest to showcase artists who defy the norm in their music be it sonically, lyrically or both. I think I achieved this goal and I’m buzzing to have all these acts at Foo Laa Fest. What you can expect from the evening is energy and lots of it, no two acts are the same – I’d encourage everyone who comes to Foo Laa Fest to bounce between the two stages. If you haven’t heard of one of the artists before give them a chance and I’m sure you will discover a new favourite. There is a stacked line-up this year with Problem Patterns, M(h)aol, Silverbacks, The Love Buzz, Makeshift Art Bar, Jock, Affection To Rent and Martha Greer. If you’re not there I don’t know where else you’d be!
Can you tell us what acts you have coming up in the pipeline? And is there anyone you’re hoping to work with soon?
Next year confirmed so far, we have Welsh Indie rockers The Tubs in Ulster Sports Club, April 2025. It’s set to be a great show, and they have a cool sound with a Celtic influence that I’m intrigued to see live. There are a lot of Irish artists I want to work with – Cardinals, Adore, Enola Gay to name a few. Outside of Ireland there is a long list of bands I’d love to bring over Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Mary in the Junkyard, Radio Free Alice, Opus Kink and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. 2025 is going to see a lot more from Fooligan, a lot of new artists I haven’t worked with before, and hopefully a lot of artists returning for shows and reaching new heights.
What are your goals as a promotion, and how would you like to see Fooligan grow and branch out, if at all, over the next while?
I have a lot of ideas on how I would like to grow and branch out with Fooligan, I want to be doing more in all aspects of promotion, more consistent shows, bigger acts both locally and internationally, putting on shows in parts of Ireland I haven’t had the chance to yet. I’d love to work closely with artists on bigger projects looking at setting up tours for new bands to play up and down the country. After the first gig in January 2023, I began to branch Fooligan into the artist management world working with an incredible band from Belfast, Makeshift Art Bar, which has been great it has given me new insights on the industry but has also allowed me to see a band grow. I have really enjoyed being a part of the process, it’s definitely something I have been looking to grow. With Fooligan I wanted to create more interconnectivity in Ireland but from the management standpoint I want to do that but also bring more Irish Acts abroad and help develop a further reach for their music outside of our own Island. I have a lot of dreams on where I would like Fooligan to lead me. I have always wanted to open my own venue or record label but for now Fooligan is going to keep championing Irish artists and help grow the industry around it in the best way it can.
Tickets are available here for Foo Laa Fest on Thursday December 4th, with a limited number of Early Bird tickets left.
