MacD on Music: Guess Who’s (Ko)Back

When you think of Derry music, the first thing that comes to mind would probably be guitar bands or Phil Coulter.

Of course, for anyone reading this, you already know that we’ve got so much more to offer. In recent times, the Derry rap scene has been steadily growing, and this shows no signs of changing any time soon.

A few months ago, I spoke with KOBACK about his second album ‘Signs’. Now, he’s branching out into live events, with his new platform L.I.O. Presents, providing “a dedicated space for local talent to be heard, celebrated and supported”. The first L.I.O. Presents gig is coming up now on August 13th, with a line-up featuring some of the best talent from across the country.

I caught up with KOBACK recently to talk about the gig and what he’s been doing since the release of ‘Signs’: “The album’s been going well. It’s had a lot of success with the radio, through iRadio and the BBC. I’ve a very good relationship with Taylor [Johnson] now. He’s been supporting us a lot. We’ve got Lewis from NuMuze as well, and we’re trying to build our own thing with L.I.O. [Let It Out]. We have our first event now on the 13th, and we’re going to be a part of Féile for the first ever show, and they’ve given us a headliner, to basically spice up the night. SELLO is going to be joining the line-up. We can still make the show free too, which is good for a lot of people. It’s all go, out of nowhere.”

“We’ve got a massive line-up. We’ve got KIDD, who’s coming up from Dublin, Yamiyo, who’s from here in Derry. We’ve got DONNNRUA, from Belfast. They do a mix and match of Irish and English, and they do it as an R&B and hip-hop type of thing. There’s a boy called Téga coming up. He’s a jazz/R&B/hip-hop kind of infuse. It’s a very stacked line-up, and I’m very excited for it.”

Speaking about how it all came to be: “I opened for Curtisy at the All Kinds of Everything festival, and I thought, even though I wasn’t one hundred percent in the performance, this seems to be something I should do. I should put on my own show, not just open for someone. I haven’t really done a KOBACK show in Derry yet, and I thought I’d do one and see how it goes.

“If it’s successful I could see about bringing these style of events into Derry at a more frequent level. I’ve got a really good relationship with the ones in Sandino’s now as well, so hopefully we can keep that as the overall venue going forward.”

“We want to make it as big as we can. This one’s free, so anybody can come and experience it. That means then that people can have that feeling of ‘That was a class event. Let’s go to the next one’, so we can start looking at smaller, local artists that we can bring on as headliners, get them their own wee show. I’ve done everyone their own personal poster, just to make every artist feel as special as they can.

“I want to do something different than what everybody else is doing. I feel like everyone else is like ‘Let’s get the small guys on. It’s easier not to pay them as well’. We want to bring people along because they want to be invested in the show, someone who has an interest in what we’re doing, the message we’re putting behind the stuff. If they’re all for it, we’ll give anybody a slot.”

And that’s it from KOBACK. The first L.I.O. Presents gig is coming up on August 13th in Sandino’s. Along with those mentioned above, the gig also features RUBBERNECK, CMCL, and DNUOS with KOBACK himself and SELLO headlining. It’s free entry and doors are 7.30.

Now, onto other business. First up, new music from Boy M5, who return with their new single ‘You Are The You’ (out now), an “an uplifting, guitar-driven indie rock song about trying to tell someone that they are the reason behind everything you do”.

Boy M5 are Kyle O’Neill (vocals and guitar), Nigel Hegarty (drums), Caoimhe Bell (keys and synths) and Nyree Porter (bass) and combines “sharp songwriting with a powerful, full bodied sound that hits hard both live and on record” and this latest track “moves the band a further step forward into the realms of big harmonies, drum hooks and a breakdown to leave a lasting impression on the listener”.

Lastly, we have another gig with another stacked line-up. This one is happening this Saturday in Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin and features Cora Harkin, Dylan Bradley & the Heat, Eimíle, Growing Pains, rOwdy and Siân(na), also as part of Féile.

Tickets are £5 or £8 on Eventbrite and it starts at 8pm.

Finally, time for the socials. rOwdy can be found on Instagram @r0wdy_band, Growing Pains @growingpains_band, Eimíle @eimile__, Dylan Bradley @dylanbradleyheat, Cora Harkin @coraharkinmusic, Boy M5 @boy.m5, L.I.O. Presents @lio_presents and KOBACK @itskoback.