External Sounds @ Body & Soul Festival 2011

External Sounds are delighted to announce that we will be hosting our own Stage at this years Body & Soul Festival, which takes place on the weekend of June 18th & 19th on the grounds of Ballinlough Castle, Co. Westmeath.

After the success of last year’s inaugural event, the organisers have again put together an impressive programme of music and performance arts including theatre, poetry, acrobatics and much more, that is sure to establish the festival as one of the summers top events. Headliners include Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Field, Toro y Moi, Lamb, Lee Scratch Perry, Mount Kimbie, Lisa Hannigan & Don Letts. With a small increase from last years capacity to just 2500, the festival will still be maintaining its small numbers and laid-back atmosphere, but will also be packed full of the usual artistic and musical treats that you would expect from the Body & Soul experience.

External Sounds will host a Stage  in the woodland part of the castle’s beautiful Victorian walled gardens. By taking the good atmosphere and broad musical style of our events and merging it with the atmosphere and ethos of Body and Soul we plan to create something really special. The stage will be a mix of music styles such as Soul, Folk, Funk, Latin, Afrobeat, & Reggae mixed with Disco, & Deep House grooves. Our resident External Sounds dj’s will be joined by special guests such as Trenchtown, Subject Djs, Conall Bailey & Band, Tom Beary, Sarah O’Brien, Dj Pablo, The Getup, Belfast Music Club Djs, and many more still to be announced.

Featured guest artists…

Trenchtown

We are chuffed to have 2Tone/Ska/Reggae band Trenchtown performing as part of out line up for this years Body & Soul festival. Formed back in 1988, Trenchtown are one of Ireland’s finest purveyors of this musical genre, and have consistently wowed their audiences with their bouncy reggae and furious ska sound. The band came to prominence in 1989 when they reached the final of the coveted Hot Press Magazine ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition, where they were narrowly beaten by ‘Just A Philistine’. In their long career they have supported acts such as Bad Manners, The Special Beat and The Motivators, while performing in many of Ireland’s top venues, as well as an appearance at the Brixton Academy in London. For more info on Trenchtown click HERE

Conall Bailey & Band

Singer song writer Conall Bailey joins us on the Stage with full live band to showcase some of his songs from his debut album ‘Finding Holes’.
Two years in the making, `Finding Holes´ featured over twenty artists, some hailing from as far afield as New Zealand. This performance promises to be as eclectic as Baileys´ repertoire of musical instruments. A key figure in the Drogheda music scene the singer songwriter is a founder member of trad six piece The Albaquirky Turkeys and alternative rock band Super Turbo Ninja Club, as well as a regular at open mic sessions. His sound transcends many different styles, and reflects his mixed musical background. For more info on Conall Bailey click HERE

Subject Djs

Subject DJs will be bringing their deep, funky Deep House and Disco orientated vibe to the Body & Soul festival. As resident djs at Subject events they have supported the likes of Horse Meat Disco, Faze Action, Chris Duckenfield, Hercules And Love Affair, Bill Brewster, Jimpster and The Revenge to name a few. As well are running the Subject night they also run the Galactic Beat Club takes place monthly in various Dublin venues. For more info on Subject Djs & Subject Events click HERE

Tom Beary (Scribble Soundsystem)

Joining us for this years Body & Soul Festival is top Reggae/Dancehall selector, and Scribble Soundsystem main man, Tom Beary. Tom is resident dj at Bodytonic’s Scribble night @ the Bernard Shaw in Dublin. He is also a member of the brilliant Scribble Soundsystem, a live band that incorporates Dj’s, Percussion, and MC’s to create a live music experience that is guaranteed to get the room bouncing! When the sun is shining and you need some reggae there is no better man to have behind the decks! for more info on Tom & The Scribble Soundsystem click HERE

Sarah O’Brien

Drogheda native Sarah O’Brien maybe pretty new to the scene, but already has impressed those who have seen her perform, and her stocks have been rapidly rising. Sarah began to cut her teeth less then a year ago playing open mic gigs around Drogheda and from these performances received invitations to play at more established music events such as The Garden Room Sessions, Drogheda Fringe Festival & The Beat On The Boyne Festival. Her folk, and acoustic reggae sound draws influences from the likes of Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling and Scott Mathews. for a taste of what to expect from her performance click HERE

Pablo (Fatty Fatty)

Dj Pablo or Paul Forgarty to his mum, is a definitely a dj who the word eclectic is apply applied. Not one to get tied into one type of musical genre, his dj sets are carefully crafted from the finest cuts of music with funk and feeling no matter what the genre – his ethos is ‘if it’s got a groove to make you move, it goes into the record bag’. No stranger to festival performances, Paul has previously performed for External Sounds at Electric Picnic 08 & 09, as well as playing our stage at last years Body & Soul Festival. For more info on Pablo & Fatty Fatty click HERE

Belfast Music Club Djs

We also welcome our northern brothers in the form of the Belfast Music Club Djs. Their monthly night in Belfast’s Menagerie venue is one of the cities best club nights, with the resident djs sharing the dj box with international guests such as The Unabombers, Mark E, Feel My Bicep, as well as up and coming local talent, and home town heroes such as Timmy Stewart & David Holmes. Their no nonsense approach to dj’ing is a dance floor friendly mix of Disco, Balearic, Post-Punk, Hip Hop, Soul & Psyche. For more info on the Belfast Music Club click HERE

The Getup

The Getup were formed in late 2010, from the ashes of funksters ‘Urban Box Social’. After losing two of the band to emigration, the remaining members Shane and Thomas decided to keep the buzz they had generated going, and recruited a new drummer and keyboard player to form the new band that they describe as being “An original instrumental act with a funky twist”. Staying with the funk, they decided to bring originality to a timeless genre. With inspiration from jazz/funk acts like Soulive to as far afield as post-rock Tortoise, The Getup’s sound creates an infectious dance atmosphere with a multitude of sounds, thumping bass lines and beats that is sure to help you get your groove on.

Craig C

Also joining us for the festivities is Subculture resident Dj Craig C. Craig who is currently based in the UK, has been on the scene for almost 13 years and is a versatile dj but specialises in Hip Hop & Drum & Bass. As well as setting up Subculture, Craig has also been a resident dj with Milk Soundsystem as well as regular appearances at the MUD nights at Dublin’s Twisted Pepper club, where he has supported drum and Bass heavyweights such as ‘S.P.Y’, ‘Shy FX’ and ‘Everson’. To hear some original productions from Craig click HERE

Subculture & External Sounds Presents… Sibin Warm Up Party Ft. Kev Sheridan, Craig C & External Sounds Djs.

External Sounds is delighted to announce that we will be hosting our own area at this years Sibin Festival which takes place at The Millhouse, Slane, on Saturday 30th of April. To celebrate we are putting on a special Warm Up Party in collaboration with Subculture & Sibin.

The warm up party takes place in The Purple Room on Saturday 2nd of April, and will feature Kev Sheridan (live), Craig C (Subculture) & External Sounds Djs. Al…l these local artists will be performing at the festival so we have got together in the purple room for a warm up celebration before the main event.

Our live performance on the night comes from the one man loop maestro Kev Sheridan. His performances are a must see for anybody that has not previously experienced one, Kev use bongos, guitar, vocals and what ever comes to hand with a loop station, to layer up sublime infectious tracks. No stranger to the External Sounds nights, Kev has consistently rocked our audiences since his first performance for us back in McGuinness’s bar in 2007. Since then he has work tirelessly on developing his style and performances, which has seen him become a regular on the Dublin gig scene, as well as playing the last two Electric Picnic festival, and The Body & Soul and Irish Burning Man festivals in 2010.

We will also have Subculture resident Dj Craig C performing on the night. Craig who is currently based in the UK will be returning especially for this event. On the scene for almost 13 years Craig is a versatile dj that specialises in Hip Hop & Drum & Bass. As well as setting up Subculture, Craig has also been a resident dj with Milk Soundsystem as well as regular appearances at the MUD nights at Dublin’s Twisted Pepper club, where he has supported drum and Bass heavyweights such as ‘S.P.Y’, ‘Shy FX’ & ‘Everson’.

As ever the resident External Sounds djs will be on hand to play our usual mix and match of musical delights. We will also have some FREE Sibin Festival Tickets to give away on the night. Admission is 6 Euros and it all kicks off at 11pm.