Bricknasty enlist KhakiKid on ‘Fashion’ & sign to FAMM label
Bricknasty have released a new single following last year’s ‘Ina Crueler’.
‘Fashion’ features KhakiKid on vocals and is the first release of the band on the UK label FAMM, home to a roster that includes Jorja Smith, Enny and Maverick Sabre.
‘Fashion’ is about the shunning trends that your peers are following, and doing your own thing.
‘Fashion’ centralises around their mutual disdain and distrust for trends in fashion and social media; “they aren’t worth the piss they’re printed on, it’s not something we give a shit about at all.”
Watch the video for the song directed by Willow Kennedy.
Catch Bricknasty on TV on Other Voices on Thursday 23 March on RTE2 & RTE Player.
Bricknasty are at Beyond The Pale Festival this summer.
Bricknasty
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About Bricknasty
With collaborations a key part of their craft, Bricknasty’s core iteration began after vocalist / guitarist Fatboy connected with producer Cillian McCauley via Soundcloud. Expanding from 2020, they are now joined by Dara Abdurahman (bass), Korey Thomas (drums) and Louis Younge (sax/keys). As the band’s members have flourished, so too have their songs, with each individual contributing to both existing demos and the wider texture of the collective’s identity and vision. This process is evident in previous single ‘Ina Crueler’ – a distinctive, fully-formed display of the group’s obvious synchronicity. From infectious energy and soulful chords to soft, woozy vocals, together Bricknasty’s music effortlessly traverses RnB, neo soul, jazz and psych citing influences such as D’Angelo, MF Doom, and Timbaland. This harmony extends to the band’s live shows too, which have caused a groundswell of word-of-mouth buzz in Dublin and beyond including performances at Eurosonic, Other Voices, Cork Jazz Festival and a support slot for Cordae.
Central to Bricknasty’s story and anarchic approach is Fatboy’s experiences growing up in the Dublin suburb of Ballymun, a district known for its social problems including drug abuse, unemployment and high crime rates. With external prejudices further nourishing this notoriety, its residents were rarely granted the opportunity to present their own perspectives. “It was coming off the back of the heroin epidemic in the 90s and there was loads in the news about Ballymun and the type of people who lived there”, he reflects,“But anyone what lived in them flats at that time will tell you they were unreal to live in and the sense of community was very strong.”
Raised between two of the towers known as the Ballymun Flats, Fatboy’s home was the reluctant poster child for the area’s infamy. Built in the early 1960s to serve the city’s swelling population, the group of high rises were unceremoniously demolished in the early 2000s to make way for new developments. The trade off for this ‘regeneration project’ was the dispossession and displacement it left in its wake. Whilst the physical backdrop of Fatboy’s childhood was erased, the memory of its soundscapes pulses on – with everything from traditional ballads to hip-hop, rave and 90s garage blaring from its doorsteps.
Where Bricknasty now very much diffuses the scope of its members varying influences and personal contexts – Fatboy’s experiences certainly inform and epitomise the central ethos of their craft – one that is unafraid to tackle heavy themes, yet forges ahead in a spirit of innovation, resilience, visibility and optimism. As well as the collective wit and community pride which bonded Ballymun’s residents, and indeed many of Dublin’s working class areas, its rich creative undercurrents have spawned some of Irish music’s most influential acts, including revered Hip Hop crew Urban Intelligence and the legacy of their label Workin’ Class Records. Following in the footsteps of these predecessors and paired with a tight knit group of musical peers including Tebi Rex, Khakikid, Tomike, Ahmed With Love and DeCarteret – Bricknasty are at the forefront of a new wave in Ireland’s rich tradition of creative innovators.
