January is a good time for self-care and self-improvement and if you’re a musician, producer, engineer, DJ, promoter, agent or a novice looking to get creatively inspired and talk face to face with your peers at the Music Minds event in Hotel Doolin from January 17th to 19th.
The first edition took place last year and it’s a place to get the juice going about your musical projects, to get inspiration through talks and performances and get advice from experts in their field.
Even better, Music Minds is priced at a very reasonable €27 to €45+ for the whole weekend of activity so it needn’t break the bank as other music/tech festivals often expect you to do.
Some highlights from the two days of discussions, panels, performances and workshops:
- Steve Wall from The Stunning & The Walls will host a discussion on the dark art of mastering with guests Richard Dowling and Fergal Davis.
- The Irish Music Industry – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly – Chaired by Emmet Condon of Homebeat with Eleanor McEvoy – Chairperson IMRO, Claire Byrne – Green Councillor and sustainability consultant for the events industry
Susan O’Neill – Singer/Songwriter and Sorca McGrath Singer/Producer/Mental Health Practitioner - A screening of the PJ Harvey movie A Dog Called Money a film made by Irish director Seamus Murphy.
- A discussion panel on promoting music from rural Ireland.
- Live performances from Daithi, Ships, Bantum, Solkatt, Shakalak, Susan O’Neill,
- Bantum will also be doing an Ableton workshop about his live setup.
- Dr Kerry Hagan a composer and researcher working in both acoustic and computer media will host a workshop in Pure Data (Pd) to begin programming in the environment.
- Music video and animation showcase from illustrator Matt Griffin.
It all looks to be lovely brain food for any aspiring musician or music industry professional, and if you’re not one and looking for a last minute Christmas present Music Minds could be the one.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
