How Dublin Became a Hotspot for Hard Hitting Techno

Irish lads Sunil Sharpe and DeFeKT are killing it right now. Whether individually or in their fearsomely intense collaborative project Tinfoil (whose third EP has just been released), the Dublin-based DJ-producers are at the forefront of a booming Irish techno scene that also features leading lights like Lakker, Kenny Hanlon, TR-One and Automatic Tasty —all of whom will be joining them on the bill at Bloc Weekend in March. Alongside Steve Davis, obviously.

Sharpe has been DJing in his home city since the turn of the millennium, while modular obsessive DeFeKT (aka Matt Flanagan) moved to the city from the small country town of Portlaoise ("literally the most anti-techno place on the planet") a decade ago. Both have been well-placed to enjoy Dublin's apparently insatiable appetite for techno, where new clubs like District 8 and Hangar have seen the great and good of the global scene roll through on a weekly basis, giving the always-up-for-it crowds a little taste of Berghain or fabric on their doorstep.

But it's not all good news. Last year, the much-loved Twisted Pepper – whose tiny, sweat-drenched basement room was a favourite of Ben Klock's – shut its doors, converted to a bar/venue with only occasional dance events. And then there's the ever-present spectre of Ireland's draconian licensing laws, forcing the music to stop at 3am. As a result, Irish clubbers have made afterparties (or "sessions") into an art form, but it's not exactly Berlin.

Ahead of their appearances at Bloc, we got on Skype with Sunil and Matt to suss out the scene from their perspective.

THUMP: Matt, you played Bloc last year. How was it?
DeFeKT:Yeah, it was a live set with the London Modular crew. We all played separately, showcasing what we do, and then we all jammed together for an hour at the end. I think I was the last one left on the stage, it was good fun!

And you couldn't ignore the huge amount of Irish people there!
DeFeKT: They're basically owning that festival – you can't escape the madness. You feel the intensity.

There are about twice as many Irish acts on the bill this year as there were last year. Is that indicative of the health of house and techno in Ireland?
Sunil Sharpe: I think it's indicative of a healthy amount of labels, producers and DJs progressing and doing well. Anyone that I saw on the line-up this year, they certainly don't look out of place. If you rewind back to when the festival started, if you were to see an Irish act it would be like, 'Oh wow, it's someone from Ireland!'. Now, it doesn't stand out as much – it looks right.

Sunil, how would you compare the scene you got involved in back in the early 2000s with the way you see it today?
Sunil: Back then, there was a bit of a split between Detroit techno fans and those who were into a heavier style. The only real label of note was [Detroit-focused label] D1 Recordings. They had a really good scene, but it was very closed-shop and for people – like me – that were into the harder sounds, the way D1 operated was a bit off-putting. I didn't really warm to them too much in those early years. I found them to be a little bit snobby, but I did respect them, and I knew that they were putting out some really strong records.

As D1's label and nights became less active, things changed. I think the scene on a whole is more open to all styles now and not just one. I find newer people in the scene to be less militant, and not judging a track on whether it uses a real 909 or not! Maybe it's in the background somewhere and I'm not noticing it, but I don't feel there's that split in the techno scene any more.

DeFeKT: When I came up at first in the mid-2000s it seemed a bit closed and mystical and hard to get a connection in the scene – especially because I was making electro and there weren't a lot of people doing that here. Obviously I'm a bit more well-known now, but I do think it's more open.

What are the biggest problems that the scene faces at the minute?
Sunil: We've turned into a big-club city, and we've never been able to sustain that for too long in Dublin. Right now, there are four main clubs that are putting on house and techno events every week, and that's too many large clubs, with around 600/700+ capacity. There's no way that that can keep going the way it is for too much longer.

For myself and Matt now, things are changing, but I'm still thinking of the younger guys – they need a good scene and I'm not convinced that the landscape in Dublin is the best that it could be for upcoming [techno] DJs. It's very much focused on big events and that's harder for the upcoming DJ to break through because there's not as much space on line-ups.

When you play abroad, do you feel like you are representing your country and the Irish techno scene?
DeFeKT: I have to say I do, yeah. I think what Sunil and I are doing is important for such a small country. Obviously there are some other big DJs from Ireland, but a lot of them aren't really locked into the proper techno scene. I'll definitely move somewhere in the future but it will still always be about Ireland and about that vibe. The main thing is that you inspire the younger guys. When I travel abroad, I really think about that.

Sunil: I'm very proud of being from Dublin and Ireland and it's very important to me. But when I'm playing in a club, I have to admit I'm not thinking about the Tricolour or anything like that [laughs] – it's just me and the crowd.

I'm proud to be from Ireland and there's nowhere I'd rather be living. I think a lot of people move to other cities to find themselves or improve their circumstances or their creativity and they're just running away from the same problem that presents itself in their [home] city. For me, I've always been very deeply rooted here. So when I leave Ireland I enjoy the trip away, but I'm happy to come back to Dublin airport.

Sunil, I know you have been campaigning on Ireland's licensing laws for a long time. How much of a problem is it for the country's nightlife that the clubs shut at 3am?
Sunil: It is a big problem, and from playing more outside of Ireland I notice it more and more. If we had more time to play with, more revenue could be brought in on the door over the night, and you could have a bit of a rotating crowd. We've never had that in Ireland. It would be amazing if that could happen some day.

Do you think it will?
Sunil: Yeah, I do. Things will change eventually, and I think that everybody saying that they won't is both defeatist and unrealistic. Most things change. One of the big problems is that the nightclub owners—the very people who lose from the nightclub hours as they are—are not getting involved at all. They're not saying anything. We need nightclub owners standing up and saying, 'This is unjust, it's affecting our business, we could employ more people, we could bring more tourism to the city', and that's not even mentioning the stuff they could do for creatives and music people. Just making our country a better place.

A lot of cities sell themselves on the back of their nightlife. We're closing down our cities at the time that most of these places are starting, and it doesn't stand to reason. We're not going to be Berlin, but we can be something more than what we are now.

Finally, can you give us a few tips of newcomers in the scene that you're particularly excited about?
Sunil: I don't like naming too many people because I'll probably forget some, but xerophkz, Nathan Jones, Doug Cooney, Niall Dunne and Sonel Ali. It's been nice to play some of their records out at big events and seeing their tracks work well.

DeFeKT: There's a shitload of young guys coming up who message my Facebook and Soundcloud, and you can see that in the future they're definitely going to make good stuff. They should keep going. I came from the most anti-techno place on the planet, so if I can do it literally anybody can.

Sunil Sharpe and DeFeKT play at Bloc Weekender 2016 this March. Head here for more information.

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