Fontaines D.C.

Fontaines D.C. are an Irish post-punk band formed in Dublin in 2017.[1][2][3] The band consists of Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O'Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan III (bass), and Tom Coll (drums).

Fontaines D.C.
Fontaines D.C. performing at Loose Ends festival Amsterdam, 2019
Background information
OriginDublin, Ireland
GenresPost-punk, indie rock
Years active2017-present
LabelsPartisan Records
Associated actsIdles
Shame
The Murder Capital
Websitefontainesband.com
Members
  • Carlos O'Connell
  • Conor Curley
  • Conor Deegan III
  • Grian Chatten
  • Tom Coll

After meeting while attending music college, and bonding over a common love of poetry, the band began self-releasing singles and performing live regularly, signing to Partisan Records in 2018. The band's debut album, Dogrel, was released on April 12, 2019 to widespread critical acclaim, winning 'Album of the Year' accolades from both Rough Trade and BBC Radio 6 Music,[4][5] and was nominated for the Mercury Prize and Choice Music Prize.[6]

The band's second studio album, A Hero's Death, was written and recorded in the midst of extensive touring for their debut, and was released on July 31, 2020.

History

Formation

Carlos O'Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan, Grian Chatten, and Tom Coll met in Dublin while attending music college at BIMMI in The Liberties, Dublin.[2][7] They bonded over a common love of poetry[8] and collectively released two collections of poetry, one called Vroom, inspired by the Beat poets (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg) and another called Winding, inspired by Irish poets (Patrick Kavanagh, James Joyce, W. B. Yeats). None of the published poems were translated into songs, but the track "Television Screens" on their debut Dogrel started out as a poem and was turned into a song.[9]

Lead singer Chatten is half-English (his mother is English and his father is Irish)[10] and was born in Barrow-in-Furness,[2] but grew up in the Dublin seaside town of Skerries.[11] Prior to starting Fontaines D.C., Chatten was a part of local indie rock bands Gun Runner and Thumbprint, serving as a drummer and guitarist/singer respectively.[12][13]

Coll and Deegan hail from Castlebar in County Mayo, while Curley is from Emyvale in County Monaghan, and O’Connell grew up in Madrid, Spain.[7][14]. Deegan is regularly seen wearing Mayo GAA clothing during live performances.[15]

The band got their name from a character in the movie The Godfather called Johnny Fontane, a singer and movie star portrayed by Al Martino. Fontane was godson of Vito Corleone. Originally they were called The Fontaines, but they added the initials "D.C." when a band in Los Angeles had the same name. The initials D.C. stand for "Dublin City".[16]

Early career

Fontaines started out self-releasing singles. In 2015 they were going to release their debut with music journalist John Robb Louder Than War label [17]. In May 2017, Fontaines released the single "Liberty Belle" followed by the split "Hurricane Laughter / Winter In the Sun". "Liberty Belle" is in homage to the Liberties, a neighbourhood in Dublin where many band members lived.[16]

In 2018, Fontaines released the single split "Chequeless Reckless / Boys In The Better Land" and "Too Real".[9] Stereogum, who premiered "Chequeless Reckless" in early 2018, described their sound "a synthesis between post-punk, garage rock, and a kind of gritty, urbane sense of rhythm and narrative" and naming them a Band To Watch.[16]

In May 2018, Fontaines played an in-studio at KEXP in Seattle,[18] which provided high level exposure in the United States.[19] In November 2018, the band signed with Partisan Records.[2]

They released music videos directed by frequent collaborator Hugh Mulhern. The video for 2018's "Too Real" was inspired by The Pogues's 1985 song, "A Pair of Brown Eyes" and the band Girl Band, among other concepts.[9] The 2019 video for the song Conor Curley co-wrote called Roy's Tune was directed by Liam Papadachi and was inspired by Curley's late night walks home from a job at a burrito shop.[20]

Fontaines received tour support from Irish Arts Council which allowed them to tour internationally.[21][22][23] They also received grant funding from RTÉ 2fm.[24]

Dogrel

On April 12, 2019, the band released its debut album Dogrel on Partisan Records. The title "Dogrel" is an homage to Doggerel, working class Irish poetry[10] – 'poetry of the people' – that dates back to 1630. It was popularized by William McGonagall and later Ogden Nash.[16][25] The record was recorded live on tape.[26]

The NME said that "Dogrel proves that early-days pinning as punk’s next great hope was perhaps premature – there’s far more to Fontaines D.C. than your typical thrashed-out, pissed-off young rebellion."[27] The Guardian gave the album a five-star review, hailing it as a "perfect debut", and commending Chatten for embracing the Dublin accent. Paul Duggan gave the album an unprecedented 10 bananas out of 10.[28] The Times said that their "Shouty post-punk bands are making a surprise comeback in 2019, with this brutal but articulate Irish bunch emerging as one of the most captivating. Capturing the feeling of living in Dublin as it balances historical weight with financial upheaval, the singer Grian Chattan makes his statement of intent by announcing in a monotone rant on the opener, Big: “Dublin in the rain is mine, a pregnant city with a Catholic mind.""[29]

In 2019, the band extensively toured 50 cities throughout Ireland, Europe, and North America. They have toured with Shame and [19][30] Idles.[9] They played nine sets at SXSW 2019 over the course of five days, selling out venues, and count Girl Band as a major influence.[26][31]

They were the musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on May 1, 2019.

They were supposed to perform at the Glastonbury Festival,[32] this was going to be the 50th anniversary of this festival but it had to be cancelled due to the increasing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.[33]

A Hero's Death

The band released their second album on 31 July 2020, titled A Hero's Death. The band released the title track on 5 May 2020; the music video features Aidan Gillen. Chatten described the single as "a list of rules for the self".[34]

Band members
Grian Chatten with Fontaines D.C. at Haldern Pop Festival 2019
  • Carlos O'Connell – guitar, backing vocals
  • Conor Curley – guitar, piano, backing vocals
  • Conor Deegan III – bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals
  • Grian Chatten – lead vocals, tambourine
  • Tom Coll – drums, percussion, guitar

Discography

Studio albums
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and sales shown
Title Details Peak chart positions Sales
IRE
[35]		 BEL
(FL)
[36]		 BEL
(WA)
[37]		 FRA
[38]		 GER
[39]		 NLD
[40]		 SCO
[41]		 UK
[42]		 US
Heat
[43]
Dogrel 4881637592934914
A Hero's Death
  • Released: 31 July 2020
  • Label: Partisan
  • Formats: CD, LP, cassette, digital download, streaming
 298281412122
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
IRE
[35]		 SCO
[45]		 UK
[42]
"Liberty Belle"[46] 2018 ——— Dogrel
"Hurricane Laughter / Winter In the Sun"[47] ———
"Chequeless Reckless / Boys In The Better Land"[48] ———
"Too Real"[49] ———[upper-alpha 1]
"Big"[51] 2019 ———
"Roy's Tune"[52] ———
"Boys In The Better Land" (re-release)[53] ———
"A Hero's Death"[54] 2020 9030—[upper-alpha 2] A Hero's Death
"I Don't Belong"[56] 86——
"Televised Mind"[57] ———
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charted songs
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
IRE
[35]		 BEL
(FL)
Tip
[36]
"A Lucid Dream" 2020 8428 A Hero's Death

Notes
  1. "Too Real" did not enter the UK Singles Chart, but peaked at number two on the UK Physical Singles Chart Top 100.[50]
  2. "A Hero's Death" did not enter the UK Singles Chart, but peaked at number 67 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart.[55]

Awards and nominations
Year Organisation Award Work Result
2018 DIY Class of 2019 Themselves Included[7]
2019 AIM Best Independent Track "Boys In The Better Land" Nominated
[58][59][60]
Best Independent Album Dogrel
Hyundai Mercury Prize
Q Awards Breakthrough Act Themselves
Rough Trade Albums of the Year Dogrel Won
[61][62]
BBC Radio 6 Music
NME The 50 Best Songs of 2019 "Big" #5[63]

Works and publications
  • Vroom (self-published) – poetry chapbook
  • Winding (self-published) – poetry chapbook
gollark: I think most of it does, really, but often in different ways.
gollark: The grammar appears to be missing things like flat earth, COVID-19 secretly not actually being contagious because something or other, Bill Gates, birds as government spy drones, government-generated cognitohazards in Facebook, periodic table "skepticism", and all that.
gollark: Artificial intelligence is hard and annoying to do, but artificial stupidity is really easy. Although it is harder to match the full range of stupidity of humans.
gollark: It has too many spaces in it, but I guess bad grammar is a conspiracy thing too.
gollark: ... I mean, "stimulant" doesn't mean "magically makes everything function better".

References
  1. Byrne, Niall (6 January 2018). "New artist of the week: Fontaines D.C." The Irish Times.
  2. Barshad, Amos (31 July 2019). "Irish Band Channels the Spirit of Punk, and James Joyce". The New York Times.
  3. Nguyen, Dean Van (5 April 2019). "Irish punks Fontaines DC: 'You can feel the growing Anglophobia'". The Guardian.
  4. "Albums of the Year - 2019". Rough Trade.
  5. "BBC - BBC Radio 6 Music announces its Albums of the Year 2019 - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
  6. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/choice-music-prize-irish-album-of-the-year-revealed-1.4194533?mode=amp
  7. Richards, Will (14 December 2018). "Class Of 2019: Fontaines DC". DIY.
  8. Smyrk, Katherine (9 May 2019). "Articles: Reasons to Check out Fontaines D.C., the Poetry-Inspired Irish Punk-Rock Band Behind Triple R's Album of the Week". 3RRR.
  9. Wadsworth, James (13 January 2019). "Interview: Fontaines DC: Currently The Second Most Important Dublin Export to Guinness". Underscore Part 3.
  10. Villarba, Izel (10 April 2019). "Waxing Romantic with Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C." Alt Citizen.
  11. Power, Ed (5 April 2019). "Fontaines DC: Dublin city rockers". Irish Examiner.
  12. "Gun Runner". www.facebook.com.
  13. "Thumbprint". www.facebook.com.
  14. "Band Profiles: Fontaines". IrishMusicDB. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  15. Berry, Darragh (May 2, 2019). "Watch as Dublin band Fontaines D.C rock Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show". dublinlive.
  16. Leas, Ryan (16 January 2019). "Band To Watch: Fontaines D.C." Stereogum.
  17. https://louderthanwar.com/new-band-of-the-day-the-fountaines-young-band-save-rock-n-roll/
  18. Richards, John; Fontaines D.C. (14 May 2018). "Fontaines D.C. - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)" (Live in-studio). KEXP-FM.
  19. "Neu Pick: Dublin's Fontaines D.C. prove an intoxicating live prospect with electrifying KEXP session". DIY. 25 July 2018.
  20. Renshaw, David (6 March 2019). "Fontaines D.C. show their tender side on "Roy's Tune"". The FADER.
  21. "Culture Ireland Forms - Outcome Grant Autumn 2018". Irish Arts Council. 2018.
  22. "Culture Ireland Forms - Outcome Grant Spring 2019". Irish Arts Council. 2019.
  23. Cronin, Ruth (25 April 2019). "Culture Ireland have issued funding to a host of Irish artists and bands for international touring". Nialler9.
  24. "First Music Contact Monthly Newsletter". Create Louth. 12 February 2019.
  25. Cole, Kevin; Fontaines D.C. (28 May 2019). "Fontaines D.C. - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)" (Live in-studio). KEXP-FM.
  26. Crook, Oliver (10 April 2019). "Feature: Fontaines D.C. Channel Past Poets to Ponder Ireland's Future in Debut 'Dogrel'". Atwood Magazine.
  27. Connick, Tom (11 April 2019). "Fontaines D.C. – 'Dogrel' review". NME.
  28. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (12 April 2019). "Fontaines DC: Dogrel review – boisterous Irish punks' perfect debut". The Guardian.
  29. Hodgkinson, Will (12 April 2019). "Fontaines DC: Dogrel review". The Times.
  30. Sims, Paige (12 April 2019). "Fontaines D.C's Grian Chatten discusses all things "Dogrel" [Interview]". EARMILK.
  31. Manno, Lizzie (15 April 2019). "Irish Rockers Fontaines D.C. Want to Bring Romance Back to the City". Paste.
  32. "Glastonbury 2020: all you need to know about dates, line-up, tickets and more for the 50th anniversary festival". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  33. Bakare, Lanre; Morris, Steven (2020-03-18). "Glastonbury 2020: festival cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  34. "Fontaines D.C. announce new album 'A Hero's Death' and share single". NME. 2020-05-05. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  35. "Discography Fontaines D.C." irish-charts.com. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  36. "Discografie Fontaines D.C." (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  37. "Discografie Fontaines D.C." (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  38. "Discography Fontaines D.C." lescharts.com. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  39. "Discographie von Fontaines D.C." GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  40. "Discographie Fontaines D.C." dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  41. Peak chart positions in Scotland:
  42. "Fontaines DC: full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  43. "Fontaines D.C. Chart History: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  44. Paine, Andre (7 August 2020). "Fontaines DC's label boss on the band's big chart result". Music Week. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  45. Peak chart positions in Scotland:
  46. "Liberty Belle - Single by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  47. "Hurricane Laughter / Winter In the Sun - Single by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  48. "Chequeless Reckless / Boys in the Better Land - Single by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  49. "Too Real - Single by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  50. "Official Physical Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  51. "Big - Single by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  52. "Roy's Tune - Single by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  53. "Fontaines D.C. have dropped a brand new track, 'Boys In The Better Land'". Dork. 10 April 2019.
  54. "A Hero's Death by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  55. "19 June 2020 - 25 June 2020 UK Singles Downloads Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  56. "I Don't Belong by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  57. "Televised Mind by Fontaines D.C. on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  58. "AIM announces 2019 Independent Music Awards nominees". Association of Independent Music. 24 July 2019.
  59. Snapes, Laura (25 July 2019). "Mercury prize 2019: The 1975, Dave, Cate Le Bon and Idles shortlisted". The Guardian.
  60. Embley, Jochan (13 September 2019). "Stormzy, Dave and Little Simz among Londoners nominated for 2019 Q Awards". Q Awards. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  61. "Albums of the Year - 2019". Rough Trade Records. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  62. "6 Music Recommends Albums Of The Year 2019". BBC Radio 6 Music. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  63. "The 50 best songs of 2019". NME. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
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