setteesounds

DOMINDA: a portmanteau of the phrase ‘Don’t mind that.’

see also: Dublin band.

💙setteesounds are always listening💙

Dominda, a fivepiece from Dublin city, are our first band of this evolution of SetteeSounds. Laced with something addictive that I can’t really put my finger on, Dominda thrive purely with the notion of their name, don’t mind that. Their music is sometimes calm and relaxed, but sometimes, a beautiful juxtaposition is created, with at one stage, ‘up to two costume changes, a joke, and a Nickleback cover [on stage].’ They don’t take themselves too seriously, but at the same time, there is an intensity and ferocity to the way they speak about the band and the music they create. All met in school, they started playing together at a young age, but began to take music semi-seriously after lockdown. “We’d all be hanging out, music is just a part of it,” is a comment that is shared multiple times from each of the members, “we started taking it more seriously post-lockdown…It was in that immediate, ‘you can hang out with four people at a time’ situation.”

Originally, the lineup consisted of Barry Lysaght, Seán Curtis, Ruaidhrí Whelan and Stephen Curtis playing covers together. Luke Cunningham, also known as My Friend Luke, joined later on as the bass player, he then became a vocalist and guitarist within the band. This lineup of three guitars, two of which are vocalists,  a bassist and a drummer is unusual but it works incredibly well. Their first gig as a five piece was in Fibber Magees but they have played many of Dublin’s favourite venues, such as the Workman’s Cellar, the Soundhouse, Bellobar and the Lighthouse in Dun Laoghaire.

When discussing influences, there is a huge emphasis on how different they all are. Between the five members, there is a huge variety within musical influences but also the levels in which they are all ‘classically trained.’ Drummer Seán Curtis had completed all eight grades in piano before he even touched the drums, but claims his influences musically to be heavy and ‘almost metal’ rock. There is also talk of the difficulties when first playing together, ‘Rock can be very straightforward, it’s very in time and you can just thrash around with it, especially on the drum kit.’ This is in huge contrast to what Luke Cunningham primarily plays, ‘which is very melodic, and syncopated a lot of the time, it’s very jazzy.’ They agree at the start it was a bit all over the place but throughout their new EP, you can tell they have found the perfect sweet spot. (More on this coming later.) There is lots of talk of, ‘old punk and then new punk.’ Cunningham first learned flamenco guitar  off of a CD that came with a DVD that showed you how to play like Rodrigo y Gabriela which are a Mexican acoustic guitar duo. The essence of not taking it too seriously prevails throughout the interview, as they say they ‘don’t learn the chords, we just learn the shapes.’ Lysaght mentioned a lot of his guitar playing came from, ‘being trotted out at sing songs with my parents, and they would be like, Sing for me.’ He continues on saying at the moment, he is playing a lot of blues rock but was once interested in alternative tuning and, ‘stuff that looks a lot more complicated than it actually is.’

(They say he is good at ‘shreddy guitar’ and I promised I would put that in. I stick to my word.) Ruaidhrí (also referred to as Ru) is into more singer-songwriter stuff, ‘he’s very Dermot Kennedy and he has a very kind heart.’ 💙

In terms of songwriting, they mention that Ru had a lot of stuff written for himself, but that it sounds different due to the fact the whole band is playing it now, not just him. The evolution of not just the band but also the music they make keeps coming up in the conversation and I think it is such an interesting topic, seeing as they have known each other and been playing music together for over twelve years. (Their SoundCloud bio says they were formed in 2012. Their words, not mine.) Their two previous singles, Stranger and 3am were written separately by Cunningham and Whelan but on their upcoming EP, there are tracks written with the band in mind rather than their solo gigs, and tracks written together. ‘We’re learning a lot about songwriting,’ Cunningham mentions when talking about the EP, ‘but also the fact that we don’t know much about it is really good, because we end up doing bizarre things that really work.’ They all claim that the two different types of song writing within the band work so well together: Cunningham is very literal in what he is saying, whereas Whelan is mentioned as being more conceptual, ‘the idea of a woman versus the woman.’ They go on to say they don’t focus on hook based music, and that sometimes the chaotic nature of the band can impact the listenability, so much so that one of the songs off their new EP has two different choruses because they are constantly changing and writing. They also refer to one of their goals with creating music: to make it as exciting as possible.

This is SetteeSounds and of course, we focus on artists you can find in this wonderful city and see live. Dominda mentioned Ispíní na hÉireann, The Scratch, Bricknasty, Kean Kavanagh and Kojaque, Artsipolo and Azerty as some of their favourites coming out of Dublin. Cunningham believes, ‘you could probably go to a gig every night of the week in Dublin,’ and he is so correct. From open mics to music college gigs, to international acts and national acts on larger stages, to comedy clubs and even raves, there is always something going on in Dublin. (Follow @setteesounds for good gig recommendations and @lastminutecraic on Instagram because you will always find something fun to do! Okay back to regularly scheduled programming.)

Dominda’s fun fact is that they have a song written about a pub they were all barred from. The name of the pub is the title of the tune. We cannot disclose this information at this time.

Their sixtrack EP is being released on February 23rd, with two singles being released on February 2nd and February 9th. When I met Dominda in October,  the EP was just after being recorded and was about to be mixed and mastered. The excitement that can be seen throughout this whole interview was so crystal clear when they were discussing the EP. Recently, I got the opportunity to listen to it and without giving too much away, it is one of the best things to come out of Dublin in a while. It is a collection of music that is so well rounded, the five members compliment each other musically so beautifully. The mixing and mastering on it is also absolutely out of this world good. A SetteeSounds staple is that we don’t listen to shite music. Dominda have no need to worry, we will be absolutely blasting the EP once it is released. For now, my favourite track is their first single, ‘Meet Me in The Morning.’ So. Fucking. Good. 

It might be the most perfect EP for the Spring. (Especially the third track. I will inject it into my blood if I get the chance.) If you are free on March 30th, their EP release gig will be in the Workman’s Cellar. Do go and support them, there is something special here.

💙setteesounds are always listening.💙